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backcountry skiing

Connect the huts

Selkirk Mountain Experience’s playground now includes three chalets and unlimited turns to be earned. _By Matt Coté   Photos Bruno Long Our helicopter pilot navigates the low cloud relaxed and confident. We hug interweaving ridgelines while skeptically absorbing the view of the damp valley below. It’s been an unseasonably warm February in B.C., but as we … More »

Big Mountain 2011

Big-Mountain translates to huge underfoots, lots of rocker and graphic excess. It’s a much smaller segment than the ubiquitous All-Mountain category but this is where the ski strikes back, now influencing the snowboard industry with profiles that slash and smear rather than carve and grip. Big-Mountain boards are typically sold flat since riders can choose … More »

Crossing the Line

TheLine2, photo by Dave Silver

from Buyer’s Guide 2011 issue There’s $50 in my ski pants that says we can beat the $1-billion Vancouver-Whistler Olympic security dragnet. It’s a late February winter day. F-16s circle high overhead in the blue sky as we graze the aisles of a grocery store in Squamish, ambiguous European-sounding accents from Games visitors drifting out … More »

Beyond the Ropes

Last winter’s tragedy at Golden, where a Quebec couple disappeared off-piste at Kicking Horse, will have a lasting impact on search-and-rescue operations Whether it’s the macabre or the simplicity of a mystery, the idea of a missing person can grab big headlines in the media. It’s the stuff of TV shows, movies, books, folklore—and magazines. … More »

Super 7

Mount Roberts, photo by Eric Kalacis

All epic descents take hold of our collective psyches – some become “classics” There are probably a thousand great off-piste runs in Western Canada. These are the runs that skiers dream about, spend the off-season aspiring to and remember longer than any other. Here’s the Hjertaas list of a few of those runs that have … More »

Transceiver Test 2010

The Canadian Ski Patrol System and Canadian Ski Guide Association compare the new three-antenna avalanche beacons with existing technology By F.M.Swangard MD, Bob Sayer, Steve Gunderson ABSTRACT AND INTRODUCTION The minimal safety equipment a person must have in the backcountry in winter is a ?transceiver, probe and shovel. Clearly, nothing replaces the transceiver when a … More »

Short Turns: Buyers Guide 2010

Soup’s on! When it comes to accommodation, Big White is one of Canada’s most complete ski-in, skiout resorts. “Home for lunch” can be as easy as choosing from one of the village’s 15 eateries. One cabin and condo rental agency, Rent Chalets, goes a step further and stocks your cupboards before you arrive—and, for Ski … More »

Kimberley’s Charms

It had been more than a decade since I’d last cruised around Kimberley and been charmed by the oddball characters hanging out in the infamous off-the-trail-map “sun pit,” but all the legendary Kootenay skiing first appeared to require backcountry touring gear and skins. Now, lured by the quiet murmurings of friends from Canmore, Banff and … More »

The Making of a Mountain

Helicopters stood in silence, flags fluttered and people milled about on the broad plateau beneath Saddle Mountain, chatting or munching smoked salmon and other treats from a vast buffet spread on improvised tables carved from the compact spring snow. Mike Wiegele stood in the stiff April breeze and officially announced that Saddle Mountain Resort had … More »

Cats out of the Bag

Hill 2, photo by Bruce Rowles

I’d been itching to ski something really steep, and while a massive snowfall is usually the time to dial things back in the backcountry, our guide at Mystical Snowcat Paradise (MSP) was governed by the same impulse. We started out fairly steep, fairly treed and with snow fairly deep. For the rest of the day … More »

backcountry skiing

Connect the huts

Selkirk Mountain Experience’s playground now includes three chalets and unlimited turns to be earned. _By Matt Coté   Photos Bruno Long Our helicopter pilot navigates the low cloud relaxed and confident. We hug interweaving ridgelines while skeptically absorbing the view of the damp valley below. It’s been an unseasonably warm February in B.C., but as we … More »

Big Mountain 2011

Big-Mountain translates to huge underfoots, lots of rocker and graphic excess. It’s a much smaller segment than the ubiquitous All-Mountain category but this is where the ski strikes back, now influencing the snowboard industry with profiles that slash and smear rather than carve and grip. Big-Mountain boards are typically sold flat since riders can choose … More »

Crossing the Line

TheLine2, photo by Dave Silver

from Buyer’s Guide 2011 issue There’s $50 in my ski pants that says we can beat the $1-billion Vancouver-Whistler Olympic security dragnet. It’s a late February winter day. F-16s circle high overhead in the blue sky as we graze the aisles of a grocery store in Squamish, ambiguous European-sounding accents from Games visitors drifting out … More »

Beyond the Ropes

Last winter’s tragedy at Golden, where a Quebec couple disappeared off-piste at Kicking Horse, will have a lasting impact on search-and-rescue operations Whether it’s the macabre or the simplicity of a mystery, the idea of a missing person can grab big headlines in the media. It’s the stuff of TV shows, movies, books, folklore—and magazines. … More »

Super 7

Mount Roberts, photo by Eric Kalacis

All epic descents take hold of our collective psyches – some become “classics” There are probably a thousand great off-piste runs in Western Canada. These are the runs that skiers dream about, spend the off-season aspiring to and remember longer than any other. Here’s the Hjertaas list of a few of those runs that have … More »

Transceiver Test 2010

The Canadian Ski Patrol System and Canadian Ski Guide Association compare the new three-antenna avalanche beacons with existing technology By F.M.Swangard MD, Bob Sayer, Steve Gunderson ABSTRACT AND INTRODUCTION The minimal safety equipment a person must have in the backcountry in winter is a ?transceiver, probe and shovel. Clearly, nothing replaces the transceiver when a … More »

Short Turns: Buyers Guide 2010

Soup’s on! When it comes to accommodation, Big White is one of Canada’s most complete ski-in, skiout resorts. “Home for lunch” can be as easy as choosing from one of the village’s 15 eateries. One cabin and condo rental agency, Rent Chalets, goes a step further and stocks your cupboards before you arrive—and, for Ski … More »

Kimberley’s Charms

It had been more than a decade since I’d last cruised around Kimberley and been charmed by the oddball characters hanging out in the infamous off-the-trail-map “sun pit,” but all the legendary Kootenay skiing first appeared to require backcountry touring gear and skins. Now, lured by the quiet murmurings of friends from Canmore, Banff and … More »

The Making of a Mountain

Helicopters stood in silence, flags fluttered and people milled about on the broad plateau beneath Saddle Mountain, chatting or munching smoked salmon and other treats from a vast buffet spread on improvised tables carved from the compact spring snow. Mike Wiegele stood in the stiff April breeze and officially announced that Saddle Mountain Resort had … More »

Cats out of the Bag

Hill 2, photo by Bruce Rowles

I’d been itching to ski something really steep, and while a massive snowfall is usually the time to dial things back in the backcountry, our guide at Mystical Snowcat Paradise (MSP) was governed by the same impulse. We started out fairly steep, fairly treed and with snow fairly deep. For the rest of the day … More »

Subscribe and SAVE!

Just $5.00 an issue!

1 year (4 issues) for $20 + tax! Outside Canada is additional for postage.