When the Earth Moved

I just got back from an amazing two weeks of skiing in western Canada. Getting there and returning had some challenges but that's a story for another day. Likewise the experience of skiing at a mountain lodge only accessible by helicopter is another incredible experience worthy of a detailed account. I'll save that for later too. What I want to tell you about now is that instant during a sunny, blue sky day on a backcountry slope in the Purcell Mountains when the earth moved.

I know the avalanche danger has been high this winter in the mountains of western North America. There have been record numbers of slides and deaths because of an unstable snow pack. The first day we arrived by chopper at this luxurious lodge situated in a beautiful alpine meadow, 7,200 feet above sea level, we all received the mandatory instruction in avalanche rescue. We learned how to wear and use the avalanche beacons. We practiced using the device to search for a victim buried under the snow. Our guides showed us the proper way to use the probes to poke through the snow and how to dig out around the buried person using our collapsible snow shovels. We were told how to locate the victims head and work at freeing his breathing passages. This is the same routine training people receive when they enter the backcountry, either to go heliskiing or like us, attaching skins to our skis and climbing into alpine areas using our own power. Nobody ever thinks they're going to need the training. That would be a wrong assumption.

On our second day at the lodge we headed out early for a full day in the backcountry. The sun burned our faces as we climbed through the trees to a higher elevation. This one particular slope was steep at the top, about a 30 degree pitch, steep enough to avalanche but then it quickly flattened out. That proved to be a good thing. There were six of us in the group and two guides. I skied down last because I was shooting video of the others making turns through the untracked powder. Everyone else had skied down and stopped on a ridge just out of my sight but they could all see me. I put the camera in my pack and started down the slope. My first turn was to the left and I could see two large fracture lines in the snow. I thought to myself that doesn’t look good. As I initiated my next turn something didn’t feel right. I looked down and saw the snow under my skis cracking and swirling. I glanced sideways and saw that I was moving down the slope along with all the snow. I instantly knew I was caught in an avalanche and I got scared. This wasn’t supposed to happen, especially to a maritimer on his first backcountry expedition into the big mountains. Fortunately the slide was short lived. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I can’t remember hearing any sound either. Luckily I was at the edge of the slide and skied off to the side toward some trees. The moving snow covered my downhill ski and tried to pull it down but I managed to shake it loose and ski away. As quickly as the slide had started it ended. Everything was silent and I was fine. I couldn’t see the others down the slope and didn’t know whether to yell for help or just get out of there as quickly as possible. In the end I skied down as fast as I could keeping well away from the avalanche. When I joined the others I realized they had seen the whole thing and were more concerned about my welfare than I probably was. The guides told me I did exactly what I should have done by skiing out of the avalanche. Believe me, it was an easy decision to make.


We all went back to examine the slide. The guides called it a level one slab avalanche caused by a persistent weak layer of snow. They even knew the day it formed back in February. The slope slid for about 60 feet and left a debris pile over a meter high. This was a small avalanche and there was no danger of being buried in it but I could have twisted an ankle or worse if I’d gotten caught up in the mess at the bottom. Our guides measured the slide, dug in the snow and took photographs. It was an excellent opportunity for them to study an avalanche close up.

Leaving the area we had to traverse across a steep slope with overhanging cornices. We did it one at a time to minimize avalanche exposure. After my experience I was understandably shaken a little and surprised by how quickly I skied across that slope. I think it was the fastest I’d moved all day.

That night the guides presented me with a special drink made up of a number of different liquors and topped off with a mountain of whipped cream. They called it appropriately the ‘Avalanche’. I drank and enjoyed it, thankful that I was there and able to.

It was a small slide but a gigantic eye opener for me and the others in our party including the guides. The risk of avalanche is always there in backcountry alpine areas and has to be taken seriously.

Disappearing Trails

(This is a column recently published in the River Valley News. It should concern everyone who enjoys the outdoors in this area. Contact me at rivervalleyrambler@inbox.com)


I was skiing along one of the local trails recently when I met another trail user going for a walk. We chatted about the weather and soon the conversation turned to the changing face of the backcountry this winter. We both commented how logging operations and the plowing of some roads have cut off access to some of our favorite trails. On parting the walker suggested that if this continues we may soon have to drive to Rockwood Park in the city to get access to the outdoors. Those comments have remained with me as I've explored more of our informal trail network in the Grand Bay-Westfield area. Given what I've seen so far this winter, I fear there may be some truth to those comments.

The clear cutting is everywhere. Trees are being downed right to the edge of long time back county trails and roads that have been used by people for generations. The logging equipment and trucks are tearing up the roads, making it impossible to ski on and difficult and even dangerous in places to walk. I haven't heard complaints from ATVers and snowmobilers but I'm sure the cutting is having an impact on their enjoyment of the outdoors as well.

A major cutting operation is underway over at the four corners by the ball fields at the end of the Britain Road. The forest on both sides of the trail is leveled for a considerable way. By the old Grand Bay dump and off the Mitchell Road a new logging road extends far into the forest. The old ski trails behind the Westfield Golf Course are long gone, swallowed up in clear cuts that now extend toward the highway. This isn't a new cut but I was skiing there the other day and lamenting over the loss of that trail system. It was the only wooded trail actually made for non-motorized use in this area. One of the most popular trails around here is what some call the Backland Road beside the Golf Course. It has also seen a lot of cutting this fall and the loggers have kept the road plowed through the early part of the winter. Plowing of course makes it almost impossible to ski. Further along the trail just past the Spencer's Camp property, a new road has been cut through the woods. It doesn't look like your typical logging road because it's considerably wide. The most troubling aspect of this road is that it cuts right across the existing trail to Loch Alva. Hikers, skiers and snowmobiles have used this trail for many years. The new road chops it in half and blocks it entirely with an eight-foot ditch across the trail. ATVs and snowmobiles now have to detour to Spencer's camp to get back on the trail. Skiers and hikers can still take the old trail but must negotiate this huge ditch to get through. It doesn't seem right that a road can be built right across an existing trail like that. My skiing companions and I have explored that new road. It continues for some way and actually has two branches. I don't know who built it or why but I don't think it's a logging road. My guess is it's for a new subdivision sometime in the future. Either way, someone went to a lot of trouble and expense to build a road that right now goes nowhere.

During our explorations of the area we discovered evidence of some peoples total disrespect for other peoples property and for the environment. I hadn't visited Spencer's camp for years but the place is in ruin. Some thoughtless people went through the property and broke every window in every building. Windows and doors were forced open and ripped off the hinges. Nothing escaped the vandalism. Whoever is responsible for this had to work hard to inflict that kind of destruction. What a wasted effort.

It's also sad seeing all the garbage left around in the outdoors. Out by Belvedere Lake we came upon a spot littered with empty beer cans and bottles. They had just been tossed and left there. This was at a trail intersection and the evidence points to thoughtless snowmobilers or four-wheelers. I can't understand why people would do that. I know most hikers or skiers would never even consider leaving their garbage strewn about like that.

So even though the skiing was great, these incidents took away a little from the enjoyment of the outdoors. Given what I've seen so far this winter, especially in relation to clear cutting and trail access, perhaps it's time to consider some kind of trail plan for the Grand Bay-Westfield area. We're blessed here with a backyard full of some of the most beautiful country you'll find anywhere. But that access and the woods themselves are disappearing quickly. Maybe we need a designated trail system and some kind of protected area. We should at least start thinking about it because more and more, access to outdoor recreation plays a significant part in attracting and keeping people in a community. It really would be a shame if we had to travel to the city to enjoy the outdoors.

Last Snows of the Season

We made it back after 6 days of backcountry skiing in the Chic Choc Mountains of Gaspe. The trip this year was as wonderful as in past years although the snow wasn’t what we expected. Even late in March in these mountains, you can find powder. Not this time. Warm temperatures and rain made it’s way even up to the 4,000-foot level and created hard packed and icy conditions. But the warm temperatures, sunshine, fabulous vistas and companionship of good friends made up for it.

As I mentioned in the last post, we stayed in a hut that used to be part of a mining operation. It’s about 2,500 feet up and surrounded by mountains. We skied the 12 kilometres into the hut while a snowmobile brought our food and most of our gear. The accommodations were basic but comfy. Unlike most huts in the park, this one had electricity so that meant a fridge and stove and most important, a hot water heater. The shower was appreciated by all of us.

When you go on these trips you basically ski, eat and sleep. Our days were full. One morning we headed off on a trail to another cabin 10 km away. A bit of new snow had fallen overnight and that made the trail conditions better than expected. There was a lot of up and down and the return 20 km trip tired us all out. Being in the mountains the idea is to ski up to the top and the hard pack snow known as ‘boiler plate’ made it a challenge this year. We used skins on our skis to get a grip on the snow but often needed to dig in our metal edges to stop from sliding off the trail. The trip along the switchback, up the headwall surrounding our hut takes about 45 minutes. We went up twice and spent part of one day playing in the plateau at the top. It’s a vast area of rolling hills and snow covered stunted trees that remind me of a fairyland.

Another highlight of the trip was an avalanche chute we discovered near the cabin. From top to bottom it provided us a ski run about the size of Poley Mountain. We skinned up part way and skied down on our heavier telemark skis. The warm spring sun softened the snow nicely every afternoon. The avalanche team came by every couple of days to check conditions and told us the snow around us was stable and safe. The burning sun was probably the most dangerous thing we encountered and had to repeatedly smother out faces with sun block. We all came back with a tan.

I could go on about the trip but suffice it to say that the Chic Choc area of Gaspe is a special place and one that I return to every winter. We left winter and snow behind when we came home. The skiing is over for another season. It’s time to move on to other things and there is plenty to do here in the River Valley.

Backcountry in the Chic-Chocs

The blog is going to be quiet for the next few days. I'm giving winter one last kick at the can by going to Gaspe for some real backcountry skiing. The Chic-Chocs Mountains as they're called are the closest thing we have here in the east to real big mountain terrain. They are the northern end of the Appalachian Range and these are huge mountains. Mount Jacques Cartier is the highest peak in the Chic-Chocs at 1,268 metres elevation. This range offers above tree line skiing with the chance, if you're lucky, of skiing past a heard of caribou on the way up. Over the last few years the area has become very popular with telemark skiers and backcountry snowboarders. There are no chair lifts in the Chic-Chocs. Every vertical foot you enjoy on the way down you have to earn by climbing up. We have synthetic skins we stick on the base of our skis to help us climb the real steep trails.

A group of us have made this trek to Gaspe for the last few winters. On the last couple of trips we took advantage of the network of trails in the Park de la Gaspesie and skied hut to hut for five or six days. A snowmobile brings your gear along to each hut and that leaves you with only a daypack to carry on the trail. There is no electricity or running water in the huts. That's part of the charm of the expedition.

This time we're doing something different. We're staying at a place called Mines Madeline. It's a full day ski uphill to our hut which is actually an old bunkhouse left over from the mining operation that used to be there. The camp sleeps eight and the place has all the comforts of home, including power and showers. I can get by fine without electricity but it's going to be really nice to be able to have a hot shower at the end of a long day of skiing.

Because of the elevation the snow comes early and stays late. You can usually find plenty of powder in the higher bowls even at this time of year. This is also avalanche country so you have to listen to the daily bulletins and ski with care whenever you're in the open areas.

I'm packed and ready to go. I'll be back with another post when I get back.

Bad Behavior in the Woods

If you’re out in the backcountry a lot you meet all kinds of people. Most are great, whether they’re skiers, snowmobilers or four wheelers. We all share that love of the outdoors. But sometimes you come across some real jerks out there.

A couple of weeks ago three of us took off for a little ski from what’s known as the four corners in Westfield. We parked beside the ball field where the Britian Road and the Campbell Road meet. It’s a busy place in the winter with trails leading off from that junction in all directions and plenty of snowmobile and ATV traffic. We skied for a couple of hours and on our return, as we got closer to the car we heard a group of ATV’s nearby. It sounded like one or a few of them were just spinning around in circles kicking up the snow. It went on and on. A short time later we saw the group from the top of the hill. There must have been about ten ATV’s most of them those racing models with rear wheel drive. They’re a lot noisier and faster than the four wheelers. We could see what appeared to be mostly kids driving them, spinning the tires and chewing up the trail as they went. When we reached the car the driver’s side was completely coated in snow. A moron on one of those machines had spun around in circles doing donuts a few feet from the vehicle, kicking up a spray of snow and pebbles on the car. It was on so thick I had to scrape the windshield. Thankfully it was my old car and not the new van belonging to a friend we were originally going to take.

About a week later I was skiing again with one of the same guys and we came upon a pile of empty beer cans and bottles and other garbage just tossed in the snow. It was at a beautiful spot where the Robin Hood and Little John Lakes connect. It is at the beginning of the trail to Turtle Mountain. No doubt a large group of riders were out for the day enjoying themselves and decided to leave their garbage behind for someone else to deal with. This is just thoughtless and selfish behavior. People using the trails should know better. Thankfully the kind of people who do these kind of things are in the minority.