Sicamous Snow 2015/2016

[Shermanator]

So a grand morning this AM, up at 0500, fresh snow on the ground and still "sprinkling" a little bit out. I look outside and what do I see, no, not Santa Claus and his reindeer, but two dirtbags parked in front of my house sparking up a crack pipe in their car!!! Dome light is on, male and female, taking turns huffing their crap. So I flicks the porch light on and off and they take off, nice, on their way to kill someone on the hwy now. I'm thinking Trudeau may as well just legalize all the ****, not just pot, so you can have more of these scumbags toking up all over the place! OK, I'm done, on to sledding.

Banner day with Billdozer!! We both had dinner dates so it was planned to be an early day, unfortunately. We headed straight to Blue, trail was beat to heck but no doubt she'll be tiptop shape for the Xmas holidays. The "bunny hill" at the cabin and through the meadows was pretty beat down, even with the new 5-6" of snow. So, we figured we'd just drop below the cabin again and go from there. Paydirt! Hard to believe it was so tracked out by the cabin but below there was nary a track, and we had snow over the bumper on the way up and over the hood on the way down, pristine! Now Billdozer, yes, a couple issues, the first was getting stuck right at the beacon checking station at the bottom of the hill, we can let that one go. Then I saw him do a whoop de doo twister off his sled when going up a hill, I have the photo but we'll forgive that one too. So, I was making a nice track for him to follow in the fresh snow, that's just what Doo guys do for Poo guys, and for some reason he goes off road left and into a fricking abyss! He said the swerved to miss a reindeer or something. So, we get him outta the mess, I make another nice track for him, and lord tundering jesus if the next thing he's doing is harvesting a Xmas tree with his sled! Maybe its a Poo thing but I have to say that after all that, us "old" guys were getting a little tired!

Lots of snow, and untracked stuff all over, great time, vis was good and the sun even came out. We headed to the clearcuts further back on the trail to end the day, saw Mark and Scott on the way down. I just wish we could have stayed up at Blue longer, there's some fine spots we left unmessed!! We launched from the bottom, just enough snow to make it a "pass" but if we don't get more it'll be a "fail". There's already allot of dirt showing from the bottom up to 2km, icy spots all the way along, but once you hit 2km your good to go. Sherm

 

[Shermanator]

Blue

Awesome day up Blue today, albeit a little fogged in at times. I met up with James and his crew of 14, that's right, 14 of us, ranging from brand new You Tube trained rider Kyle to very experienced riders. A great bunch of folks, all from Calgary, and we all had a blast. I met James a few years back sledding and it was great to see you again buddy!

I scoped out the areas a bit before the crew showed up, it was deep everywhere but moreso in the windblown gulley's and slopes. The snow was nearly up to the headlight on the flat, over the windshield on the way down and there were even snow drifts that totally buried the sled, it was amazing! We only got to the first shelf below the cabin and I had to laugh at the carnage, everywhere, with sleds upside down or buried deep in the white stuff. I even beat my old record of 5 stucks at once and raised it to 6, cool! From below the cabin we headed to the meadows that run off the main trail, and that's where we had the most fun. Most of the "fingers" of open space were untouched and the snow was always at least 3' deep, and once again, lots of stucks!
Like revbyu mentioned, the trail was pretty good to the Owl's turnoff but after that it was brutal, and multiply that by 10 on the way down, ouch!! Everyone is launching from the bottom, even though the bottom 1km still needs another foot or two of snow, pretty icy in spots. I guess we have to remember this is still only December! All the best in the New Year, James, have fun tomorrow!

 

[splat10]

what's the alpine long range forecast look like? I'm on the fence about a trip west Jan 14-18 since the weather here on the east coast has been so terrible (hot) but it's looking like the pattern may be changing here. I know you all don't have a crystal ball but should i find good pow in 3 weeks out there still? Price is right but I don't want a repeat of my trip last year.

 

[Shermanator]

Queest

Real short outing this AM, first to be at the parking lot and almost the first one back! I met Rightsideup there but, his new Poo turned out to be ornery so he went home for his backup Doo (maybe the Poo should be backup??)! I carried on as though normal, getting to the cabin and getting a fire going. Pretty damned cold out this AM, -12 at the house but definitely warmer up top. Long story short, the hill is toast! It's tracked out pretty much everywhere I went, from East of the cabin and back to Queest Lk and down in some of the holes. You almost need scratchers the entire way on any given "trail", and some spots were danged hard to ride, period, give me 3' of fresh anytime! So, I turned the beasty around and headed back to the cabin, met up with Mark there and told him I was pouting and headed home, after a hot lunch of course! We're gonna need a ton of snow to fix up the mess, which is no doubt on all the hills. There are a few spots deep in the trees that are untouched but nah, I'll wait until I have a crew with me to get me moving again!

 

[fastrack0]

You guys get any snow this week?

 

[Shermanator]

Blue

Headed up to Blue with Big Nasty this AM, trail just groomed, BUT ONLY TO THE OWL'S TURNOFF UNCLE GORDY! It was a tad beat up from Owl's to Blue and with near zero vis from the fog and light snowfall it made for a pretty bumpy ride! My intention was to take BN to the "far side" of the hill but weather and lack of snow, maybe 4" fresh, made the going pretty bad for the most part. The most entertaining part was when BN tried to follow my little 2.5" track up a hill and he met up with Mr. Tree! Had to be one of the most awkward "stucks" I've had for a while and even BN said it's been his best! It was one of those days when you find a piece of untracked snow and are in the middle of a nice sidehilling event when all of a sudden your wrist gets jammed from running into a concrete rut just 6" under the snow! No, not me, BN again, he had a thing with tree's today. In all fairness, I did require his assistance one time, when I was attempting a Billdozer Barrel Roll on a steep side hill my ski got stuck on a tree, but quick work with a saw fixed that!

Good to sled with you again BN, great day considering the crappy conditions, we'll do it again when we get the next big dump!! We left from the bottom but I see a couple guys drove up to 2km.. There is dirt coming through the snow now all the way up to 5km and it's getting pretty messy as the bottom, we need more snow!

 

[Shermanator]

Hats off to Uncle Gord and the grooming crew, the trail up to Owl's and Blue were pristine today!! I only know that because I was waiting at Queest for my riding partners but it turned out it was my bad and we were supposed to be at Owl's, how's that for fessing up!! So Billdozer, SledDawg and myself headed up to Owl's, and proceeded over to Eco area, pristine boys and girls! No one had been way down and although it wasn't 3' of fresh snow there was enough to make it allot of fun and even snow over the hood on occasion. Billdozer was having his gyroscope issues with the Polaris again, and if that wasn't bad enough SledDawg's Poo tried to mount my Doo! Ya, even SledDawg was on top of me for a while, I guess he doesn't know I prefer smaller men!
We met Klaus at noon and headed towards Blue via the back "secret" trail, and again, no tracks! We checked out a couple areas on the way up to Blue, all those clear cuts are now sledable but apparently no one else wants to mess them up, so we did! Great day guys, Billdozer, get Trevor to check out your gyro again!!!!!

 

[Shermanator]

Looks like I beat BillDozer to the story! So, Billdozer, SledDawg and myself head up to Blue and have plans of doing the Brown Pants area, but are met by zero vis and sometimes ever worse. We did attempt at going up and over the height of land but BillDozer piled into a cornice right where the trail should be. So, and the only reason there is a pic of my sled, the Doo took one for the team and busted through the 8' drift of snow at the top!!!! What I was actually trying to do is beat Big Nasty's record of digging down as deep as you can in the snow, and I just may have made it! Anyways, that area was a bust this AM so we headed back to the Meadows.

We found some great areas, untracked and up to the privates in snow, considering we had no idea where the hell we were, we had a great time! I'm not sure why SledDawg kept asking , "are you sure we can get down this hill, have you been here before?", of course I haven't, anyone can take the trail!! Tons of stucks (well, BillDozer falling off his sled!!) and quite a few kms today, great time guys! Can't make it tomorrow Rightsideup, got a sore body from carting these two around all day!!!! And no BillDozer, it wasn't from making snow angels or doing 180 degree whip back thingys on my sled, just practicing up!!!!

 

[Shermanator]

Blue

Not rolling around, just, around! Someone has to bust holes in the snow for these guys, and it always seems to fall to me, boo hoo! Hey, good day today, we all had signs on our backs, "Brown Pants or Bust", wound up being a bust again, hooped by fog! We made it up over the top but zero vis, again! So we headed back down to clearer pastures and actually found some pretty decent untracked areas! As you can see by the pics, BillDozer was having some issues, but then so was SledDawg. That SledDawg, when he rolls his machine he's do damned fast in getting it back on its feet in fear of pictures that I only managed the "upright" position on the one shot, but he made up for it in the creek, he wasn't leaving there to fast! Now they did get a pic of Mr. Orange in a unsettled position further down the trail but it was merely a repositioning that was required to get moving, nothing big. But, you'd think that Pamela Anderson showed up at your barbecue, topless, by the way the camera's came out and the pics being snapped, I felt like a celebrity for a change, but without the large fun bags!!

Anyways, another great day up top guys! I did try going up the road to 2km this AM, I had more than one sphincter moment as the long box crew cab went sideways to the road and the trailer following, it was slick! We need a ton more snow up top, getting all tracked out again, and the bottom 2km is turning to mud, not good!

 

[Blk88GT]

Shermanator, I don't know you but I would ride with you any day. A guy who always has the camera ready to catch his buddies stuck has got to be a great friend!

 

[Shermanator]

Thanks Blk88GT, I know they appreciate the notoriety in their lives, they have to have something!! Sherm

 

[Shermanator]

Blue

Nice job on the trail Groomer Guys, it was pristine all the way into Blue! Billdozer, SledDawg and myself completed our mission of making it to Brown Pants, but had fun all the way up, a real nice dump of fresh snow! "Someone" did a real nice job of tracking up pretty much every meadow and trail (turbo guys you know!) on the way in to Blue, but once we got to the other side of Blue Lk, not a track, and the snow was piled higher than the sleds, as you will see courtesy of Billdozer catching me in a weaker moment! We built a new trail to get up to 200HP hill and had a blast doing it, found some new areas and tons of untracked snow. The "line of the day" came from SledDawg, driving his Polaris, when I told him the hill we were going to try and go up. He said, "I can't see the line, are you sure?". Hell, I thought that was in all the Polaris commercials, "I can see the line", no? Anyways, Mr. Orange saw the line and drew it for the boys and we were up and over. We did make it to the precipice just before BP but opted not to drop down, to much avy action all over and it didn't look like the big hill had slid yet, and it does, every year.
Anyways, we made our way back down the trail and found more snow than we could handle, lots of stucks, lots of fun, great day boys, but we left some big areas without a sled track on them, next time out!!

 

[Shermanator]

Come on BN, you know I'm not so shallow that I'd just post pictures displaying your love of tree's!! OK, maybe sometimes! Hey, I gave you a chance to get unburied but you "couldn't" so I was forced to click the shot, what can I say! Yes, Billdozer was having a few issues again with his gyro thingy, that and his patented Barrel Roll maneuver again. But then I do recall you doing a Flying Nun rendition a couple times today when you for some reason just "flew" off your sled!! I wasn't going to ask at the time because it may be something personnel. Anyways, it was a great day considering the soft cement like snow, made for work at times! You weren't the only one turned around today in the blizzard, I still don't know how Billdozer wound up in a different Province than us, some kinda cozallous loop or something!

We didn't go all the way up to Blue, the fog was already at the Stop Sign when we got up the trail and the wind blowing about 80kmh, so we stuck to lower terrain and found some brand new spots that'll be down right awesome once we get some new snow! That's what happens when you get lost, you find stuff! The trail was pristine on the way up again, just groomed, but on the way down it was toast already, to warm and it can't setup so its all whooped already. Tough job for the groomer guys to get that mush mixed up in the drag to make it smooth but they're doing a helluva job with what they have to work with. I'm not sure how much snow will dump tonight, it was still pretty warm up top, even with the wind, need allot more snow and colder temps. Drove to 2km to dump the sleds.

 

[Shermanator]

Billdozer and I did a trip up to Blue, not as much snow as we thought there'd be but we did find a few spots that tickled our fancy! The nice part of the day was that we actually had some sunshine, good vis, snow over the bumper in many spots and snow drifts that washed our headlights off! We did below the cabin, broke the drifts on the top trail over to Brown Pants (real wind blown over there!) back to the meadows and then below, wayyyyyy below the meadows and found some awesome snow. Then spun our way back up to the trail ,around Cummins and below, and then over to Owlshead, it was a long day!! I can say that there is more snow at Blue than Owl's, a good 6" more, and where we went we never had another sled track other than ours, gotta like that! Oh, that one picture of Billdozer that looks like he's signaling for help or something?? He's fine, just waving, its always good to have a "sled Model" along on the trip!!! FYI, spoke to some guys coming over Skinny from Morton Lk, quite a few areas have slid, some a good 12" deep, so beware..Sherm

 

[Shermanator]

BillDozer and I hit Blue again, this time working all of the meadows areas. What can I say, a totally perfect day, trail was groomed and real spanky, blue skies and sunshine, and powder snow to the bumper in many places and over the hood through drifts and gulleys in other places, couldn't have been much better! The other bonus was that we had the honor of tracking up all the snow before anyone else showed up, from the lowest meadow right up through the trees to the height of land, and all the way over to Foggy Bowl and down there as well! We then had a look below the cabin, very little traffic and in fact we again tracked out many areas that weren't yet touched, I don't know where everyone was hiding! From Blue we headed back over to Owl's and again, not nearly as much snow as Blue, so we didn't spend to much time over there. Other than that, BillDozer did some tree harvesting and practiced his Barrel Roll maneuver. You have to admit BillDozer that I was pretty docile with you today, camera wise!!

 

[Boosted Brad]

How does it look for the weekend? We where thinking about heading that way maybe riding eagle pass? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks brad

 

[Shermanator]

Obviously to late for me to report about the weekend, I was outta country for a bit and just got back. Reports from my local buddies indicate 3'+ of snow in all areas, and supposedly the dry stuff! That and it rained like a bastard here again last night so there should be more fresh! Sherm

 

[Boosted Brad]

Eagles pass was awesome Saturday! Lots of fresh

 

[Shermanator]

BillDozer and I had another great day up the hill, hitting the backside of Blue Lk first. We found an area that was totally, completely untracked, and with some areas having a minimum of bumper snow and others with headlight snow, we were in our glory! Not very often that there is so much untracked in these areas that are so easily accessible but we of course didn't care and tracked the living bejesus out of all of it! From this area we headed to the top trail back to the cabin but dumped off before we actually crossed and found a ton of more untracked and deep snow that ran in "fingers" all along the ridge area, its was quite amazing! We however tired of having so much fun so moved areas and found more snow in the meadows a few kms down from the cabin, again, untracked, untouched, at least until we got at it. Then we moved down the hill further to Cummings Lk area and we scoped out a area that went for kms, but tucked well into the trees, and we again had to wreck all that untouched snow! OK, I'm tried of bragging about it, great day, awesome trail there Trail Groomer People. The only thing that wrecked things were the sledders that parked beside BillDozer and left him enough room to slip a piece of paper between trucks and then the dope smoking snow bike guys that were totally toast when they loaded up and left. The smoke was boiling outta the cab of their truck as they drove away, them yelling and screaming about what a great day they had! Ya, legalize the crap, that'll fix everything Mr. Trudeau, bonehead. Great day BillDozer, don't be hurting SledDawg to much!!

 

[Blk88GT]

Any updates? Thinking of making the drive to BC on the weekend....