poor pillow pun here - Soap Box Comp
excuse the title...but I was tempted...
You’ve probably heard about it. You’ve read it in the paper. Heard speculation in the lift line. Seen the quiet backcountry gates, the empty carparks at your favourite touring haunts. Avalanches. They’re exacting a heavy toll this season, right across Western Canada and beyond. It’s been a grim time, with too many close calls, and fatalities. The instability persists, and hopefully is acknowledged an countered by caution from all manner of backcountry users. How have I been dealing with it? Skiing pillows. Tree skiing and pillows are two of the finest joys of this sport, and relatively safe if you pick the right ones, areas with no substantial start zones within or overhead. In Alberta, the pillows do tend to crack off at the roots whilst riding them, which can be spicy(be aware!) but at least you don’t have to drive hours from canmore to get there.
In late February, I was home from the FWT for a few weeks, and snow quality was finally on! A persistant slab issue was already causing havoc however, with high accumulations of storm shallow
Lately, I've been home again, and not inclined to leave. So I've been re exploring this area, amongst others. Exploring the idea that the Alberta Rockies can still host some truly great skiing in winter, not just spring ski mountaineering. Below our favourite pillows, we also found some mellow open powder shots for Argentinian Niki, and I think he liked it...
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