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        <title><![CDATA[Kananaskis Country]]></title>
        <description>RSS of Kananaskis Country</description>
        <pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:53:38 -0700</pubDate>
        <link>https://www.backcountryskiingcanada.com</link>
                        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Little Middle Sister Col]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[
Alas, a constricting work schedule is severely limiting my ski days. As it was looking like I&amp;rsquo;d be working Sunday as well as Saturday, J suggested a quick hit of this prominent line from town. I&amp;rsquo;d be able to fit in a ski as well as be able to brag about skiing it from almost anywhere in town. A win win, as far as I&amp;rsquo;m concerned. J got the beta from Mr Buszowski and brought A along for the ride.
&amp;nbsp;



A phone snap of the proposed line from J&amp;rsquo;s driveway. Photo by J. 
&amp;nbsp;

Unfortunately my camera wasn&amp;rsquo;t in working order after getting wet the previous week. Some mad screwing and unscrewing didn&amp;rsquo;t have it reassembled in time so all photos are from the cell phone. Sorry aboot dat eh. 
&amp;nbsp;

We parked up at Hubman and started hiking up the Highline trail by 5.30. The trail is well cleared of vegetation so mad skiers have easy clearance. Where the trail splits however isn&amp;rsquo;t so great. Some bear tracks in the snow had me sweating. An obvious junction took us up Three Sisters Creek, sticking on the right side, then the left, then the right. We didn&amp;rsquo;t really know where to go. After a bit of a sketchy cliff traverse with some coal deposits visible we swapped runners for ski boots and started skinning. We took our skis off again fifty meters up the creek to cross it once more. The snow was iso this low so travel was miserable and vegetation was tight. 
&amp;nbsp;

Another obvious junction split left and we followed it. The trail then split again and I confidently dismissed J&amp;rsquo;s suggestion to stay left and set off right. You wanna follow the left track always. We had a team meeting and decided to never let me lead again and punched straight up to the fan of the line. The isothermic snow had given way to a villainous crust which whispered cruel torments to our ACL&amp;rsquo;s. This would be bad on the down. 
&amp;nbsp;



J spying a line across the valley in case we ever find ourselves on a north facing patio. Next time. A was shouting something about being the best skinner on the mountain which was obviously a lie; I am. 


Putting that aside in the box labelled &amp;lsquo;Problems for Future Me&amp;rsquo;, I bravely punched up towards the line. Within twenty meters the crust gave way to 20cm&amp;#39;s of powder. On the last day of April. Within view of Canmore. We were confused and glanced around to see if someone was playing a mean trick on us. No one came out of the snow to tell us we got punk&amp;rsquo;d so after a couple of high fives we skinned on up to the top. Travel was good with the powder making for an easy skin track. The run is a deceptively mellow 30/35 degrees max at the very top and quickly gives way to a face splittingly great 25 degree open chute. 
&amp;nbsp;



Canmore, or as I like to call it, Cham Lite. Just needs a gondola to access the five or so primo ski lines around town. 
&amp;nbsp;

We didn&amp;rsquo;t manage to make it all the way to the col, a wind slab made us stop just below the ridgeline. After transitioning I gingerly skied down, stopping at a prominent ridge to get some snaps for the ol &amp;lsquo;gram. Fantastic skiing conditions all round. I can&amp;rsquo;t believe we got powder this late in the year at such a low elevation. 
&amp;nbsp;



J learning to turn without jumping. It&amp;rsquo;s a tough skill to learn, but he&amp;rsquo;s getting decent at it.
&amp;nbsp;

The ugly crust reared its head and we had a hell of a time getting out. Things had warmed up and the ski out was difficult to say the least. J elected to skin downhill and all things considered this was probably the smart option. We were pretty stoked to get to our runners on. Passing other recreationalists on the trail we were all too happy to stop and spray about our latest adventure. 
&amp;nbsp;

The line is further than you think. My GPS recorded a 12.5km round trip with 1100m of gain. Quite a bit further back in the woods than it looks but on the whole not the worst way I&amp;rsquo;ve spent a Sunday morning. With this line in the bag and this one visible from almost all of Canmore&amp;rsquo;s more prestigious watering holes J and I are well on our way to becoming the most (un)distinguished skiers in town. 





&amp;nbsp;]]></description>
            <pubDate>2017-05-05 06:38:38</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/Little%20Middle%20Sister%20Col</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/Little%20Middle%20Sister%20Col</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Retreat! Commonwealth N Couloir]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Despite the forecast calling for an upslope storm, J and I decided that we&amp;rsquo;re faster than the wind and thus could outpace any storm, especially one coming from the big city which doesn&amp;rsquo;t know how to navigate in the mountains. Sometimes I don&amp;rsquo;t know what goes on in my head.
&amp;nbsp;

With the system expected to move in by around noon we set out towards Commonwealth Lake at 7.30. It was dreary which is fine because I don&amp;rsquo;t ski bluebird days. The route up to the base of the N face of Commonwealth Peak is the same you&amp;rsquo;d follow for the Pig&amp;rsquo;s Tail Traverse. After going in the incorrect direction thanks to my sublime map reading skills we made it to the lake, and there it was.
&amp;nbsp;



A terrible photo of a great line. We lost all vis about 3 mins after this photo was taken.
&amp;nbsp;

There was lots of evidence of natural activity on solar aspects and an excellent crust which almost supported our weight on the up. Crust is one of my favourite things to yardsale on as it&amp;rsquo;s just a whole lot of fun so I was pretty stoked. Moving into the alpine we encountered lots of wind blown snow which made travel fast if a little scary. We were able to skin all the way up to the entrance of the couloir thanks to my steep, 40 degree kick turning abilities. 
&amp;nbsp;

I&amp;rsquo;ve always said it&amp;rsquo;s not a day unless you throw in a bootpack so we took the skis off and went up on foot. About halfway up the line we got a good look at the rock step that thwarts so many intrepid ski mountaineers. This year it looked shorter so we felt pretty confident. It was also about halfway up the line when that weather system decided to open the taps, proving that we are not in fact faster than the wind. Spindrift and slough started flowing down, intensifying the closer we got to the step. 
&amp;nbsp;



The obligatory booter. I&amp;rsquo;m fearlessly leading from behind at this point.&amp;nbsp;
&amp;nbsp;

The step itself would be fairly trivial, if not somehow buried beneath an overhanging snow shelf that was imported from Alaska. We dug around a bit looking for some ice which promptly shattered upon closer inspection. Biting the bullet I sunk a dodgy looking tool into the snow and hoisted myself up on it, wincing as it slid downwards. I was rewarded with an extra foot of height and a face full of spindrift, nearly sending me downhill. We repeated this for a while, trading off mouthfuls of snow before giving up. A tumble from this spot would probably have seen us falling all the way down the couloir, pinballing off the walls.
&amp;nbsp;



Spindrift intensifies. 
&amp;nbsp;

Taking cover out of the fall line, we clicked in and hip hopped our way down. The line was quite steep at this point, by my professional accurate estimate a touch more than 50 degrees. A consolation prize was that the couloir happened to be full of powder, no doubt because of its sheltered aspect and the aforementioned spindrift. Skiing was amazing and the flow just kept going down the all the way down fan, until I caught an edge and nearly ate it in the crust. Due to the pesky storm it didn&amp;rsquo;t warm up and break down so we survival skied back to the track and onwards down to the car.



Didn&amp;rsquo;t finish things but it&amp;rsquo;s not going anywhere. At least we got to ski some #powder. 

I always feel down after bailing from a run, but it was definitely the right choice. A fall would have been nasty and with the storm intensifying who knows how much more snow would have fallen on our heads. Now I can&amp;rsquo;t stop thinking about heading on back there to finish the job. 
]]></description>
            <pubDate>2017-04-21 06:32:04</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/Commonwealth</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/Commonwealth</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Trip Report - Miner’s Gully and the S Couloir]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[
With spring hitting the Rockies and snow melting at the valley bottom I&amp;rsquo;m forced to rejoin the ranks of the damned that call themselves 9-5&amp;rsquo;ers. So for the rest of spring you&amp;rsquo;ll be getting more trip reports from me and less FOMO.
&amp;nbsp;

After discussing possible objectives for the weekend we decided on skiing Miner&amp;rsquo;s Gully because it&amp;rsquo;s always there taunting you. We&amp;rsquo;ve always talked about doing the S but I&amp;rsquo;ve never taken these conversations seriously because it&amp;rsquo;s like, far out dude.
&amp;nbsp;

A 7(ish) AM start saw us leaving a vehicle at Quarry Lake for the shuttle to the Goat Creek parking lot and we were kitted out and heading up Ha Ling at 7.45. We elected to hike up in runners and microspikes due to the warm temps. These warm temps also fooled me into leaving my gloves at home so I had to wear the &amp;lsquo;oh sh!t mitts&amp;rsquo; I keep at the bottom of my bag. After being heckled by all the early bird hikers we learnt that we weren&amp;rsquo;t the first ones in line, there was a group in front of us! Picking up the pace we arrived at Miner&amp;rsquo;s col at around 9. There we saw a group of four getting first tracks. Good effort to whoever that was for waking up earlier than us and nabbing the stellar descent first. 
&amp;nbsp;



Can you tell four others have been down here? Plenty for everyone, it&amp;rsquo;s a powder bonanza!
&amp;nbsp;

Miner&amp;rsquo;s Gully was great with plenty of soft windblown snow to open up the day&amp;rsquo;s first turns on. It&amp;rsquo;s a line that looks quite intimidating from all angles until you&amp;rsquo;re in it, probably averaging between 30-35 degrees. It&amp;rsquo;s not that steep, seriously. At the bottom we traversed far skier&amp;#39;s left to poke around and talk about looking at the S again. I still wasn&amp;rsquo;t convinced it would go as I was in a bit of a slump after retreating from Hole in the Wall. Skis on the back, we plunged across the traverse and saw the first crux of the day.
&amp;nbsp;

A big ol crown was sitting right where the S fan should have been! Why did it slide? Was the couloir unsupported? The slope to the lookers left of the crown had run to ground the previous week so we felt confident enough walking up to have a look.
&amp;nbsp;



Note the big crown. Also note my amazing colour coordination. Talk loud and dress louder to get noticed folks. Photo by J. 
&amp;nbsp;

I poked the crown with my pole a couple of times, eventually concluding that things were fine. It looked like the side of the run was taken out by the big slide and due to the lay of the land there wasn&amp;rsquo;t as much as snow as it seemed. Things felt good so we had another chat and decided to commit. 
&amp;nbsp;

Onwards and upwards! Into the meat of the S. Neither of us remembered to log into Strava so I&amp;rsquo;m not too sure how long it was but it felt pretty exhausting. Probably because we were wallowing up 20-40cms of fresh powder. Absolutely terrible couloir conditions in my opinion but sometimes you can&amp;rsquo;t win. Snow cover was actually pretty thin in places, with a bit of rock climbing required at the chokes. Most of the cornices seemed to have broken off during the last week&amp;rsquo;s heat so we were feeling really good about stability. It wasn&amp;rsquo;t until I looked back that I realised I had to ski down and started to get gripped. 
&amp;nbsp;



The master blaster pacing himself high above Canmore. I graciously yielded the bootpack after this picture so he could get some photos too. 
&amp;nbsp;

Standing at the top we ate some food and played the &amp;lsquo;you go first&amp;rsquo; game. It&amp;rsquo;s where you each tell your partner to go first and test the slope. It&amp;rsquo;s pretty daunting only being able to see 20m down the line you&amp;rsquo;re skiing. After some friendly abuse from J, I started on down,&amp;nbsp;enjoying the focus and clarity steep skiing brings. The sun was hidden all day which meant the snow was good and the visibility poor, either due to the clouds engulfing the line or the constant faceshots. Did I mention there was a lot of snow in there? Like a fool I skied with the goggles up and blocked the sikk footy from the GoPro. Ski quality was amazing with consistent powder up high and the odd patch of ice lower down. The chokes were a different story, with some creative dry skiing required to get past them. The line probably averaged about 40-45&amp;nbsp;degrees with the chokes approaching 50 so it was all in all pretty reasonable, if a little tight in places. 
&amp;nbsp;



At the very top. Wow this was intimidating. I&amp;rsquo;ve actually got my skis on you just can&amp;rsquo;t tell because the snow was deep. Did I mention that? I&amp;rsquo;m sure I mentioned that. 
&amp;nbsp;

After laying some powder 8&amp;rsquo;s in the fan so everyone could see that we hit this bad boy we shared a guilty fist bump and sat down for a bit, watching another party come down Miner&amp;rsquo;s. The ski down the Ha Ling bowl was absolutely horrendous with debris from the aforementioned slide sitting below fresh. Even that couldn&amp;rsquo;t bring me down because I was still floating from the stoke. Everyone tells me that you should traverse skier&amp;rsquo;s right and get into the next drainage for an easier descent but what do they know? Following tracks from the previous party we skied, down climbed, kicked steps in ice, jumped and face planted our way back to the Highline trail. 
&amp;nbsp;



The crux of the descent. I&amp;rsquo;ve heard there&amp;rsquo;s a better way but I refuse to believe it. I shortly joined my skis in a heap at the base of this little waterfall. 
&amp;nbsp;

From there it was off to the Georgetown for a well earned pint and the opportunity to spray to anyone who walked by our table about the line of the week.
]]></description>
            <pubDate>2017-04-07 08:16:12</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/S%20Couloir</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/S%20Couloir</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Mt Joffre July Pow]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Most of us have to buy a plane ticket in order to fulfill our summer powder turn dreams. &amp;nbsp;A trip to South America or &amp;nbsp;New Zealand &amp;nbsp;isn&amp;#39;t the only way to get your summer powder turns in. When the weather is right a fresh of snow event &amp;nbsp;can happen any time of year at elevation but getting after these conditions well into July can involve quite a bit of effort and a bit of luck in regards to timing. &amp;nbsp;Trevor and Matt hit the magic combo on Mt Joffre earlier this week. At 3450m Mt Joffre is a significant peak to bag and even more impressive is being able to skin right to the summit. Add a spectacular descent in reasonable terrain, non-butt clenching terrain Mt Joffre is worthy of any ski mountaineers checklist. As usual, Trevor does a much better job describing his adventures than I can and he always delivers a satisfactory amount of photos so be sure to check out his blog ! &amp;nbsp;http://perpetualski.ca/2016/07/a-moments-notice/




]]></description>
            <pubDate>2016-07-13 00:05:47</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/mt-joffre-july-pow</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/mt-joffre-july-pow</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Black Prince Tree Triangle]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Rather new to touring and have seen the many descriptions of Black Prince Traverse, Hero Knob and Purple Knob. &amp;nbsp;Considering going out this Saturday to do Hero Knob, but with the Considerable risk in the Alpine, thinking that maybe that&amp;#39;s not the best choice. &amp;nbsp;Read a recent report by an ACMG guide, reporting on his outing to &quot;Black Prince Tree Triangle&quot;. &amp;nbsp;He selected that as a more conservative option due to the Considerable risk on Tuesday. &amp;nbsp;I am thinking that we might want a more conservative option than Hero Knob on Saturday as well, but I am just unclear on just what route is being referred to as &quot;Tree Triangle&quot;. &amp;nbsp;I am inferring that it is the first leg of the Black Prince Traverse, but that it refers to stopping short of the final climb to the saddle below Purple Knob. &amp;nbsp;Am I sort of on the right track??]]></description>
            <pubDate>2016-02-18 22:34:02</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/black-prince-tree-triangle</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/black-prince-tree-triangle</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Mount Rae or Highwood Pass?]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[

Has anyone been to the highwood pass area in the last few days? Anything worth skiing?

If anyone is interested in going out on Wednesday, Nov 11 - give me a shout

]]></description>
            <pubDate>2015-11-09 16:31:57</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/mount-rae-or-highwood-pass</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/mount-rae-or-highwood-pass</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Skiing freshies in August.]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[So some of the Rockies folk honestly just could not help themselves when it came to the this recent snowfall. It&amp;#39;s august it snowed 15cm to 25 cm all across K-Country and Banff Area. Highwood pass is the highest paved  road  in Canada topping out at  2206m it consistently offers up some of the best early season conditions in Rockies and keeps the ptex industry alive. Dedicated Calgary folk made the drive and earned some August pow turns! First day of 2015/2016 or is it the last day of 2014/2015? Regardless well played boys!&amp;nbsp;

Photo&amp;#39;s by Rance Tuff and friends.&amp;nbsp;









]]></description>
            <pubDate>2015-08-22 12:20:34</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/skiing-freshies-in-august</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/skiing-freshies-in-august</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[One last tour]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[I was thinking of one last tour, any recommendations ??]]></description>
            <pubDate>2015-05-10 23:35:48</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/one-last-tour</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/one-last-tour</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Spray Valley Update]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Hi All,

Any updates for the Spray...supposed to get WAY to warm this weekend!

kevin]]></description>
            <pubDate>2015-01-15 16:06:08</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/spray-valley-update</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/spray-valley-update</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Commonwealth Creek valley report]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Excellent, but very cold, day of skiing on Dec 30th, witih big blue skies.&amp;nbsp;
We toured up a well-packed trail along Commonwealth Creek, behind The Fist.&amp;nbsp;
Snow was very cold and often &quot;stuttered&quot; on our skins.&amp;nbsp;
Found a beauty of a run down a gully between Mount Smuts and The Fist: we followed an established up-track for 1/4 of the route, set our own trail up to treeline. With the sun on the slope, we decided not to push for the saddle/summit and skied down some glorious powder, sticking close to the trees. No whoomping or cracking, snow felt anchored.&amp;nbsp;
Inversion today mid-way up the gully.&amp;nbsp;
Could see across the valley to Commonwealth Peak, where a size 2 (?) slide was naturally triggered on the Shark&amp;#39;s Tooth side of that route. When we started our day, we could see a small slide on Shark&amp;#39;s Tooth near the top, then the rest of that slope was triggered as the sun warmed up the rocks. It&amp;#39;s a very steep slope, but the slide came 2/3 of the way into the bowl.&amp;nbsp;
Be safe out there!

]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-12-31 14:58:42</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/commonwealth-creek-valley-report</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/commonwealth-creek-valley-report</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Update on Spray Valley]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Looking at heading out Sunday.

Hi All,
Any info on the current conditions in the Spray Valley? Tent Ridge, The Fist or Commonwealth.
Kevin]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-12-26 18:54:19</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/update-on-spray-valley</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/update-on-spray-valley</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Spray Valley]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Hey,
Pretty cold out there, has anyone been out in the current conditions. I am looking for info around The Fist, Commonwealth or Tent Ridge.

Thanks,
Kevin]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-11-29 09:49:01</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/spray-valley</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/spray-valley</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Highwood Pass Area]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Hi All!
Has anyone been up to the Highwood area? If so, how&amp;#39;s the snow coverage?
Kevin]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-11-17 14:59:47</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/highwood-pass-area</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/highwood-pass-area</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Early season tour]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Thinking of an early season tour, any info, conditions at Rae ?? Perhaps a different suggestion? Thanks&amp;nbsp;]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-11-12 10:52:41</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/early-season-tour</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/early-season-tour</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Friday in the Rockies]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[I&amp;#39;m planning on going for my first tour in the Rockies (1st in the Rockies, not touring) this Friday. I&amp;#39;ll be on teles and I hope I&amp;#39;m in good shape. If anyone wants to join me they are more than welcome. drbekker@yahoo.com]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-05-11 20:58:25</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/friday-in-the-rockies</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/friday-in-the-rockies</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Ski Monday]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[I&amp;#39;m traveling solo and would like to ski with someone Monday May 5. I&amp;#39;m thinking about Bow Summit or Kananaskis. I&amp;#39;m new to the area so am open to suggestions. I&amp;#39;ll be traveling for the rest of the day today with limited contact. Email me at jmcnamar@boisestate.edu if interested.

Jim]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-05-04 16:53:31</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/ski-monday</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/ski-monday</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Kananaskis Spray Valley Tomorrow/Sunday]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Is anyone interested in skiing tomorrow in the Spray Valley?]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-04-26 16:20:32</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/kananaskis-spray-valley-tomorrowsunday</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/kananaskis-spray-valley-tomorrowsunday</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[French Haig Robertson 2014]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Does anyone have any beta on conditions since the MCR post earlier this month?
I suspect glacier coverage to be decent with all this new snow. &amp;nbsp;Has the S facing slope to The Robertson Glacier slid?

thanks for any info!]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-03-31 07:33:59</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/french-haig-robertson-2014</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/french-haig-robertson-2014</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[I got snow in my everything - Soap Box]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[A snow fall warning fell over Banff area March 26 2014 so a friend and I tried to head to the resort on some free days.&amp;nbsp; After finding out that it was spring break and our tickets were in a black out date we headed up the spray valley.&amp;nbsp; A nice early start of noon allowed us 2 unbelievalble laps in the tryst chutes




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOY2n500sYo&amp;amp;list=UUsOhAP3BtZGbjMcT6GSCmww]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-03-27 20:38:04</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/i-got-snow-in-my-everything-soap-box</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/i-got-snow-in-my-everything-soap-box</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Anybody interested in doing a tour tommorow in kcountry?]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Don&amp;#39;t have a partner this weekend unfortunatley and looking to get out and do a tour in some of this fresh snow!
Anybody interested? I live in Canmore, but could meet at the trail head if your coming up from calgary. Shoot me and email and we can talk more, my email is mikaelschlumpf@gmail.com.]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-03-07 14:05:56</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/anybody-interested-in-doing-a-tour-tommorow-in-kcountry</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/anybody-interested-in-doing-a-tour-tommorow-in-kcountry</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Staying in the sun to stay warm- SOAP BOX]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[It was cold out there, the thermometer in the car read -30C at the trailhead. Solar aspects were crusty. Northern aspects held the good snow, but being sheltered from the warming sun was cold. With good avalanche conditions, the plan for the day was to do a traverse where we would spend the majority of the time climbing the warm, sunny, aspects and drop into excellent snow conditions on the other side.
With no wind, it was actually not that cold once we got into the sun.


Topping out on climb number 1. After putting on down jackets over the softshells we had stripped down to, we dropped into lap 1.

On the way up climb number 2. Firm booting on the south aspects.

A little bit of rock scrambling higher up there.

Getting belayed into descent 2. We took our time here but in the meantime, the sun had dipped below the mountains and we were deep into the ice box.

This descent yielded the best turns of the day. Untouched snow and at least a couple of weeks since the last storm.

Battling skin failure in the cold temperatures, we were able to get over the last climb of the day and dropped casually into the final descent. We were pumped to spend a great day out in the cold weather, but a little miffed that we could not get a 4th descent in.]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-02-13 21:52:25</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/staying-in-the-sun-to-stay-warm-soap-box</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/staying-in-the-sun-to-stay-warm-soap-box</guid>
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            <title><![CDATA[Kananaskis Area Update]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Hi,

The skiing in and around Burstall Area is really hurting now. The Kananaskis Safety guys have given up and are ice climbing! Anyone visited the Spray Valley recently?

Kevin]]></description>
            <pubDate>2014-01-01 14:11:08</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/kananaskis-area-update</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/kananaskis-area-update</guid>
                    </item>
                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Just in time for X mas - SOAP BOX]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Finaly we get a good dump of snow in Kcountry with little to no wind Dec 18, and on the 19th we got a cold bluebird morning.&amp;nbsp; Shawn and I elected to head out to superslope, the south face of tryst lake chutes.

Immediately upon leaving the truck I knew this was going to be a good day as the highway (skin track) that normally crosses the valley floor was totally blown over.&amp;nbsp; We were the first ones in here on this storm, a rarity for this area.&amp;nbsp; After crossing the clear cut regrowth and gaining the ridge we got our first glimpses of the alpine.

Its kind of hard to see the&amp;nbsp;crown&amp;nbsp;because it is&amp;nbsp;barely above the shadow but it stretches all the way across the frame.&amp;nbsp; Ranging in depth from 15cm on the left, stepping down to 60+ on the right.&amp;nbsp; Debris reaching valley floor.&amp;nbsp; This face is very prone to slide, and our approach bypasses the run out zone, just a good indicator that a heavy natural cycle has begun.

As we passed the tryst lake chutes it was hard not todo a lap through them, you almost never see these without tracks.

Upon further inspection ever chute had slid at some point in time the prior evening.&amp;nbsp; Most only 10 - 15 cm of the storm slab but, those spines that looked so awesome were just covered with hang fire, and it was apparent that the sluff was running to valley floor.

As we turned the corner onto the south face off of the fist the sun slapped us in the face, and the commonwealth drainage opened up in front of us.&amp;nbsp; We dug our pit, which confirmed that we shouldn&amp;#39;t be riding anything steep, unsupported or open and proceeded with our merry run down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLAgRG_V1ik&amp;amp;feature=c4-overview&amp;amp;list=UUsOhAP3BtZGbjMcT6GSCmww

The snow is here in the rockies,&amp;nbsp; just in time for christmas.&amp;nbsp; Be safe out there, smart decsions in the next few days will be needed.&amp;nbsp; Merry Christmas
]]></description>
            <pubDate>2013-12-20 11:41:13</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/just-in-time-for-x-mas-soap-box</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/just-in-time-for-x-mas-soap-box</guid>
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                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Roctober! a Soap box entry]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[







On the up








We set out on October 29th 2 days after a 35cm dump came through the Highwood pass region of Kananaskis Country. We skinned right from the parking lot (bonus!) on a sporty skin track through the forest which then broke out into an open meadow. After looking at our possible options we headed towards an area that had three chutes, the chutes would provide the best skiing because they were a little more filled in and generally boulder free. We made our way to the fan below our chosen chute , had a coffee break and dug a quick pit.









Boot pack








&amp;nbsp;The base while shallow &amp;nbsp;at 55cms, was actually pretty stable and well consolidated so we packed up , put our skis on our backs and kicked out way up the slope for about 250m until we found a solid wind slab on top &amp;nbsp;of rain crust. Red light. Quick test and we pulled out a little slab. That was about as far as we were willing to go , taking a ride down the rocky slope below wasn&amp;#39;t very inviting and hey , it&amp;#39;s October and we were standing above a nice line and some great snow. All smiles. The chute it&amp;#39;s self had great coverage and was rock free ( yay! ) but the fan below on the other hand was littered with rocks lurking below the surface. We skied the fan and bounced off less rocks than we thought ( was still about 6 or so ) , highfived each other , skinned up and left for the car.&amp;nbsp;
&amp;nbsp;   




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....eiePYpCbA8









All and all , really fun day out. It was great to spend the day in the mountains getting our legs back! Another system moving in, can&amp;#39;t wait.&amp;nbsp;






]]></description>
            <pubDate>2013-10-31 14:48:05</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/roctober-a-soap-box-entry</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/roctober-a-soap-box-entry</guid>
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                <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Looking for someone who wants to do some backcountry in Kananaskis]]></title>
            <description><![CDATA[Hi,&amp;nbsp;
I&amp;#39;m 33 years old and i do snowboard since i was 20.
I just bought snowshoes and i want to start to do some backcountry in Kananaskis but i am alone, and i m looking for someone to go together. I have my own car.
Thanks so much.

Luca]]></description>
            <pubDate>2013-09-24 15:28:57</pubDate>
            <link>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/looking-for-someone-who-wants-to-do-some-backcountry-in-kananaskis</link>
            <guid>/forum/bcs/category/kananaskis-country/topic/looking-for-someone-who-wants-to-do-some-backcountry-in-kananaskis</guid>
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