[Volcanogrrl]

The long version, photos, and video are located here: http://backcountrytr.blogspot.com/2007/11/whistler-bc-back-country-phrase-of-week.html

Basically, 3 days 2 nights at Singing Pass with awesome company, fun snow, and absolutely amazing scenery.
Packed a lot of down.

I used my Karhu Betty skis, which I think I'm not in love with for a trip like this. Something a little less turny would be more up my alley.

The weather was great, visibility great for the most part, and we got some good turns on lovely snow. It was a long haul from the gondola as no lifts were running on the back of Whistler.

A backcountry lift ticket (one-time ride) is $CDN 40. Ouch.
Anyway, everything else about the trip is in the TR on my blog.
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"It was her! That stupid tomato kicked me in the face!"

[Wedge]

[quote="Volcanogrrl"]
Packed a lot of down.

quote]

And how many you-know-whats?
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Meadowskipping is not a crime.

[Volcanogrrl]

Beers?
As for "other" -- nah, was trying not to pack a lot of weight.
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"It was her! That stupid tomato kicked me in the face!"

[Wedge]

Sorry, posted in a hurry and forgot to give you well-deserved kudos for an awesome TR !

I even had a look at other parts of your blog, and wish you full success for your retirement at 40 project!

Way to choose one's life, much respect to you!
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Meadowskipping is not a crime.

[Volcanogrrl]

Thank you so much for the encouragement!
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"It was her! That stupid tomato kicked me in the face!"

[Skijorer]

Killer early Winter trip! I'm jealous as can be. While you were rippin' in magnificent terrain, I was picking my daughter up for the 100'th time out of the snow up towards Sand Lake, WP. Lots of surface hoar up there too.

Rhetorical Q.: Why do they make such crap for young kids for bc skiing? Someone woulda been continually yanking me up outta the snow if I had been on the gear she was on. It doesn't help with their enthusiasm. OTOH, she does fine on alpine gear.

What is in the big Pelican case by the fireplace? You the proud owner of a sat phone?
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You know the only thing more pathetic than Indians on TV? Indians watching Indians on TV.

Thomas Builds-the-Fire

[Volcanogrrl]

holy smokes, you really looked at those pictures!
The pelican case is my camera case for my digital camera for when I take it rafting. Obviously for backpacking, I don't pack my camera in that case, but it's handy otherwise.

Ah, a fun weekend in the snow with the kids. Hey, at least they can get some decent clothing these days. I remember tromping around with old bread sacks on my feet to keep them from getting soaked through my cheeseball Grigg's moonboots while my brother hauled me around on an innertube behind the threewheeler.
CRAP it was miserable fun!

Thank you for reading, and for sharing! Wait, "WP"?
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"It was her! That stupid tomato kicked me in the face!"

[Skijorer]

Well, those pics are great! That does not look like an easy approach to Singing Pass with a big pack. Do you think the terrain was suitable for pulling a pulk or was there a lot of sidehilling?

WP=White Pass, the Tumac Shield side. The Nordic Center had not opened yet which made for a really nice bc ski in untracked snow. We had intended to ski Yellowjacket Road, but there were yayhoos coming down the FS road awfully fast in their SUV's with their xmas trees tied on top. That looked like a recipe for disaster to me.

It is irksome that the Nordic Center tends to block off the most reasonable access to the Tumac Shield for most of the Winter. I've tried many times to get in there from the Mosquito Valley side but too long and the dogs bog down in the deep snow over there, even with me packing a trail.

However, it is a great, fast skijor into the lakes in Spring after the Nordic center closes.
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You know the only thing more pathetic than Indians on TV? Indians watching Indians on TV.

Thomas Builds-the-Fire

[Volcanogrrl]

I thought you meant White Pass, wasn't sure. Yeah, you know, you should talk to Rich at the Nordic center. If you don't know him, I'll introduce you sometime, he is an awesome guy. And he loves dogs, sooooooo.... might could work something out.

Pulling a sled out to Singing Pass wouldn't be too bad. I actually was sort of thinking that myself. There is a bit of traversing, but it could be avoided if you didn't mind adding a bit of distance to your trip. The route I took out was better for pulling a sled. The route in, we were making a mad dash for the cat track.

If you use Google Earth at home, you can find Singing Pass and check out the topography pretty well. It'll give you a good idea what to expect. However, in google earth it looks a helluva lot easier than it really was.
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"It was her! That stupid tomato kicked me in the face!"

[Muckie]

Hey Volcanogrrl...

Read your trip report and enjoyed your photos...NICE! Photos were awesome and the video too. Looked like you guys had alot of fun (but had to work for it). Your skin to the campsite looked beautiful, but with a gear-filled pack probably pretty hard. I would've been coughing up a lung.

I've never actually winter camped. Wish I had someone like you around here to teach me a thing or two.

Thanks for the TR!

[mtn_chick]

[Muckie]

[Volcanogrrl]

Muckie -- I'm a total newbie to the b.c. stuff, I'm just very pesky!
Admittedly, we'd have a freakin' blast skiing, skinning, drinking beer, and sharing stories! But until then, just hook up with any skiers you can and most people are happy to ski with you and show you some stuff. The Singing Pass trip was only about my second or third time snow-camping. And... I don't know jack about avy's -- but going to a class next weekend. As long as you are self-contained, you should be able to weasle your way onto some trips.
So, I said all that to say, "just do it".
As for the other -- well... just go to a passion party. They are a hoot!
Really, i know nothin' about nothin'! (Or is it nothing about everything?)
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"It was her! That stupid tomato kicked me in the face!"