An Epic Western Snowjourn

Six weeks in the great white open expanse of the northern wilds. That’s right. We’re just too comfortable here, so we decided to get a bit uncomfortable and experience some biting cold. The plan: ski Sun Peaks, Panorama and Revelstoke in central British Columbia, head east to Jasper and Banff, drop into Schweitzer Basin outside Sandpoint in the Idaho panhandle, loop over to Bozeman Montana for a few days to get a taste of Big Sky, then drop into Sun Valley before heading west to Mt. Bachelor at Bend, OR. Eight areas. Six weeks.

There will be weekly posts chronicling the good, the bad, the ugly. I’m hoping for very little ugly, but you know how that goes. Driving over 3,000 miles in our GMC YukonXL is bound to have its moments. I’m banking on our decades of ski trip driving experiences to handle it. Here we go!

Opening Day – The Big Drive

A 6am departure from beautiful Burien, WA begins in a light rain. Only 30 miles into the 571 mile trek at North Bend, it begins to snow. And it snows, and snows, and snows. Chains required on Snoqualmie Pass. We escape that with 4-wheel drive. Over the hump and into Eastern Washington, the snow continues. Through Moses Lake and Ritzville, into Spokane, it’s still snowing.

We stop for gas and personal refueling at Frank’s Diner, an old local haunt with character and good food. Any place that goes through 15,000 eggs and 3 tons of hash browns a month is probably my kind of eatery. It’s not yet noon, so Janice opts for one of their many eggs benedict specials. I go for the Joe’s Special with caramelized onions on my hash browns and a bit of Tabasco green sauce.

From there it’s into Idaho and a turn north on US95. Some ten miles north of Hayden we run past the Silverwood theme park. It lays dormant in grey and white, waiting to awaken from hibernation come spring. Halfway between there and Sandpoint is Cocolalla Lake, where fishermen dot the white frozen waters with their tents and ice fishing shanties. Approaching Sandpoint, Lake Pend Oreille is laying low, its summer banks dotted with landlocked docks and piers, resembling a mass confusion of spindly spider legs and collapsed wooden fingers.

Through Bonner’s Ferry and over the Kootenay River heading to Eastgate and the Canadian Border, it’s still snowing. Northbound on BC95 we pass massive Moyie Lake and cruise through the cute, clean little town of Cranbrook. Here we bypass BC95A that would take us past the ski town of Kimberley to continue on BC93/95 through Skookumchuck and Fairmount Hot Springs to make our long-awaited left turn at Invermere for the last twelve miles to Panorama. In case you’re wondering, it’s still snowing.

Just short of twelve hours we finally reach our slopeside timeshare. Ski in, ski out – the only way to fly. Tomorrow awaits, for our first day on skis in three years. Going on my third set of knees, I wonder what the slopes have in store for me.

Oh yeah, it’s still snowing.

Day 2 – Back on skis!

Monday dawns with broken clouds and sunshine. We leisurely awaken around nine. In the old days, we would have been up and out for the first ride up the mountain. Priorities are different now. I’m just out to prove a much more modest goal: that I can still ski nine months after my third knee replacement and sixth major knee operation. Sticking to the corduroy and the groomers is the goal. Casual relaxed skiing, enjoying the grace of easy carved turns on grippy powder snow. Not working too hard, not too much effort. Just proving to myself I can still do this without having to prove anything to anybody. Who would I be kidding? Those days are past. Been there, done that.

Snapping into the bindings, the skis are heavier than I remember. I’m actually feeling a bit of trepidation, even though I know this is like riding a bike – your body never forgets. We slide from the condo down to the easy chair. A nice warm up run before getting on the Champagne quad to mid-mountain. I feel a little rust. Use a bit more knee flexion buddy, I tell myself. Gotta be a bit more definite about your weight transfer.

Up to mid-mountain and down a couple of runs called Showoff and Old Timer. What’s this? Did they see me coming? It’s coming back now. Carving turns like I know how, if a bit slower than my younger days. Still, a great time. Janice looks as good as ever on skis; she hasn’t missed a beat.

We put in almost four hours, get to the top of the mountain, hit a black and double diamond for good measure, then call it a day. The knees feel surprisingly good, but the arthritic old back is another thing. Gotta pace ourselves for this trip, take it all in slowly. I classify the first day on skis a great success. I’m still smiling.

Days 3, 4 – Panorama

Days two and three on skis are nearly an instant replay of day one. The sun tries to penetrate the cold with marginal success. First runs are greeted with a nice, round 0^o F. at the base. We won’t be joining the first tracks fanatics. We take our time, as the old back needs an hour or two to loosen up and get into the swing of things. In line at 10:30, some of the corduroy hard pack powder still awaits, just like Monday. There’s the hint of a light breeze and being cooler than day one, we stick to the mid and lower slopes.

Great skiing with some fantastic grippy, carving fall line skiing. I start to get into the swing of it, carving quick linked turns down some beautiful fall line edges before switching to fun, highly angulated, high centrifugal force GS turns. Too much fun! I hit the whole run without stopping. Near the bottom I finally pull up, telling Janice (and myself), “I’ve got to back off and not blow it all on the first few runs!” It felt so good. And yes, the back stiffens as the day rolls on. I have to dial it back.

Two more great days. We again call it quits around 2:30 and head to the hot tub. Old muscles like the heat while cordial smiles stimulate conversation with strangers; as always, the hot tub is a dependable communal meeting place for ‘mature’ citizens.

Stay tuned for more installments as we trek deep into central BC and across into the spectacular Canadian Rockies of Alberta before dropping into Idaho and Big Sky country. Let’s go!