Walter, Steve and Jane stop in at the historic Skoki Lodge.
Once we got vehicles unstuck and somewhat parked Karen and Steve ran a great day tour up to Skoki Lodge and back with mostly sunny weather and a few windy sections. A couple of us headed back early and got an early start on the Pub Grub themed dinner and practiced our drawing skills for a confusing game of Pictionary.
Vance, Ivan, Margo and Derry enjoy the sunny weather and explore the valley above Fryatt Hut.
By Steve B
Vance, Margo, Derry, Ivan and I loaded heavy packs and pulks at 9:00 am Friday morning and headed across the frozen Athabasca river and quickly joined up with the Fryatt Valley Trail. The lower section of trail is fairly flat and meanders through the woods offering the occasional glimpse of the Endless Chain Ridge to the east and Mount Christie to the south. Another group had been in the previos week and left a nice track and we had to do minimal trail breaking.
It seems to be the year of back-up plans. Here we are at Mosquito Creek on Friday night, 6 of us chomping at the bit and all looking forward to a great weekend at Bow Hut. But after evaluating the avalanche bulletins for an hour or so, we came to the conclusion it was not worth the risk. For the 2nd time this season the best back-up plan seemed to be Skoki.
It was a fabulous day and after a relaxed sleep (no snoring on ladies trips!) and getting up at 7:00 (or was it 8:00? – it was time change weekend) we were off.
The snow was perfect, got some nice tele-turns in on Deception Pass and made it back to the cars around 6:00 (or was it 5:00?)
Sunday’s ski took us to the Paint Pots in time for lunch in the sunshine and some goofy photos and girly talk!
Fondue Tour stop at Troll Falls
Tour leaders practice team shoveling to recover a buried “victim“
By Marily Stirlchuk
Nine tour leaders from the Red Deer Parkland ski Club had the opportunity to refresh their skills and knowledge with Felix Camire, a highly experienced ACMG mountain and ski guide.((felix@elgato.ca) The refresher took place at the ACC hostel in Lake Louise and at Bow Summit on January 7, 8 and 9, 2011.