Day 1: Orientation, Mount John Carter

Our first day at the Kokanee Glacier Cabin, herein after referred to as the Kaslo Hilton because of the ostentatious and excessive luxury afforded by the “cabin”, started with the usual orientation to the full facilities of the resort – hot showers, flush toilets, gas fireplaces, etc. After a quick lunch our group of 12 split into two groups of 6 for the mandatory multiple avalanche victim scenario. Kokanee Glacier Cabin is one of two places in the Kootenays (the other is Whitewater Ski Hill) to have a Beacon Basin – 11 avalanche beacons buried at the bottom of the snowpack, with a 30 x 30 cm square of plywood over the top for a probe target, all wired together and connected to the “black box.” You plug the black box into the wires and turn on between 1 and 11 beacons and, as they are buried at the bottom of the snowpack, you get to practice deep burials as well as multiple burials. I opted myself as team leader for the rescue drill, which I really like because you get to yell at people and boss them around. I yelled at everyone and bossed them around and we found our four beacons in about 5 minutes. Once you’ve done that you can go skiing. Pretty much everyone went off and skied to the top (or close to) of Mount John Carter. Unfortunately, snow conditions were not very good for the ski down – a mix of breakable, and unable to be broken with a nuclear missile crust.

Day 2: Nansen Mountain, Kokanee Glacier

A group of 7 skied up to Cond Peak, down to Coffee Pass (on very hard packed, some might say icy, snow) and returned to the cabin via the Keyhole. In the meantime, 5 of us left the cabin late (about 9.15 am) and skied up Griffin Creek to Nansen Mountain. Doug, Maurice and I skied to the top of Nansen, while Murielle and Tom were content to remain in the meadows below. The ski down was the same mix of breakable crust and ice as the day before.

Day 3: Kane Peak, Grays Peak, Glory Basin, Kokanee Glacier

An ambitious day for most people. Jeff and Shawn (the cabin custodian) skied up onto the glacier, down to Coffee Pass, up to the south ridge of Kane Peak and climbed to the summit via the east side. Doug, Roland, Dave T. and I skied over to Grays Peak, climbed the peak and descended via the usual spring route to make a circle tour back to the cabin. Maurice and Ken skied up to the glacier and back down near the Battleship, and Murielle led her group of four faithfuls (Bob, Dwain, Dave W., and Tom) around Glory Basin.

Day 4: Mount Robert Smith, Upper Griffin Creek

The ski conditions remain challenging, so for want of any other tour, six of us skied into the basin south of Mount Robert Smith and went up to the summit via the col to the east. The snow was very icy, treacherous to ski up and fast to ski down. Murielle had a fifth faithful follower (what alliteration) in tow and they go for a tour in upper Griffin Creek.

Day 5: Boomerang Basin, Around the Slocan Chief Cabin

Thankfully, the good weather broke overnight and it started to snow the next morning. Five of us skied up into Boomerang Basin after first descending to Tanal Lake. Up in the alpine it was socked in so we skied only as high as treeline. Quite a few in the group took a rest day, while some took a short tour down to the power-plant below the cabin, and some people even managed to find a few good turns on the new snow that had accumulated on slopes above the Slocan Chief Cabin.

Day 6: Beaujolais, Mount Giegerich and Nansen Mountain

Overnight and during the previous day about 20 cm of snow accumulated which did wonders for the skiing. Most people were content to ski runs on Beaujolais for the day, but Doug, Roland, Maurice and I did a couple of runs on Beaujolais and then travelled further afield. We ended up skiing runs all over Mount Giegerich and Nansen Mountain in very good snow conditions.

Day 7: Beaujolais, Smugglers Ridge, Tamarack, Tanal Lake

Our final day was pretty socked in with perhaps another 5 cm of new snow. One party returned to Beaujolais as the clean-up crew and reported good skiing all day. Another party spent the day on Smuggler's Ridge, and, as is usual for Doug, Roland and I, we spent the day all over the place – skiing first off Smuggler's Ridge, then down Tamarack and finally ending the day with Tom and Murielle on slopes above Tanal Lake. Much to the chagrin of some people, although it was snowing the next day, it was not enough to ground the helicopter and we all got out before lunch. Overall, an excellent ski week, with great food and company. Kudos to Murielle for organizing the week – and cleaning the cabin windows at the end of the week! Participants: Doug Brown, Ken Holmes, Roland and Murielle Perrin, Dave Watson, Dave Toews, Bob McQueen, Tom Johnston, Maurice De St Jorre, Jeff Roberts, Dwain Boyer, and trip reporter, Sandra McGuinness.