By Olivia Yuel
What an amazing trip!
Half of our group (Steve, Dave & Bill) travelled into the Stanley Mitchell hut on March 12, but Bette, Bob and I began our journey a day late because Bob was still recovering from a serious lung infection. The temperature was a bit cool at 7:30 in the morning, but it was very exciting to be starting out with head-lamps and, for me, no sense of what I was about to be asked to accomplish.
Bob had done this trip before so he knew what was ahead, not that he would say anything to discourage us. This day the trail was icy and therefore a bit slow and frustrating. Even with skins on, our skis slipped side to side every step.
The first 2 hours were great: breathing in the fresh air, getting far enough away from civilization that you couldn’t hear any vehicles. The sky was brilliant blue and the trees were a perfect colour of bright green. The snow was so clean and white. We slogged along at a steady pace, the usual dose of regular daily stress melting away. You can imagine with one big breath in of fresh air that all tension was replaced with peace.
I'm not sure at what point after that first 2 hours my thoughts turned to: "I will not stop, I will not cry, I will my feet to stop aching." Where was that peace I was feeling? Fortunately, not long after this point we reached Takkakaw Falls. The first 4 hours had gone by. Reprieve. I got to take my boots off, look at the beauty around us and was reminded of how much I loved doing this. My thoughts returned to: "AHH, I love this." Bette and Bob both appeared untouched by fatigue or discomfort and still seemed peppy and energetic. Thank goodness they shared that energy with me because we still had at least 4 hours to go, now seriously uphill and very icy. While I was resting, however, I felt like it would be no problem. I could do this.
Bette took her turn pulling the sled with our food. This was a good thing for me because that way I could almost keep up to her pace. Now, some weeks after the trip, I have almost completely forgotten how brutal this next portion of our journey was. All I have is a bit of a mark as a reminder about falling over on the icy trail.
Truly the path was gorgeous. There is no better feeling then being surrounded by forest. However it was quite treacherous. I am sure there is more to say about this section but all I remember thinking was, will I make it. I will make it. Left foot, right foot. Next thing I knew we were just minutes from the hut. Bette, like a forest nymph, floated ahead, dropped her pack off at the hut and came back to help me with mine (Bob had stayed back with me, probably a good thing because I might have sat down at some point and never gotten up).
It was very exciting to finally arrive. The hut is beautiful and the surrounding area is breathtaking. The infinite space to ski is unbelievable. Absolutely magnificent!
We were greeted by the other members of our group, as well as a group of 12 Japanese Alpine Club Skiers between the ages of 65-72. The hut was packed and full of laughter the entire time we stayed.
I can't say enough about the skiing. Bette felt it was the best backcountry skiing she had ever had. Bob felt it was a great location in terms of all the different types of skiing you could do. And I just felt blessed to be there. We experienced amazing skiing right out the front door. We skied open slopes on the first day and the next day stayed in the trees. Unbelievable skiing! There was enough space that we each picked a new route through the trees every time. The snow was thick and fluffy and the weather was warm. My memory says the sun shone on us most of the time but this may not have been really true since we didn’t ski on the glaciers because the visibility wasn’t very good.
We got new snow on Saturday, which made for another great day of skiing and was also welcome because we were skiing out on Sunday and it would cover all the ice on the trail out.
It’s always sad to leave when you are having such an excellent adventure, but I knew we still had the trip out to give us a complete experience. Fortunately, I was glad to be mostly unaware of what I was about to put myself through. I was determined that if a group of 65-70 year-old skiers could do it without collapsing, then so could I.
But, Oh my God!! What a trip out. I spent a lot of the 5 hours to the parking lot praying. Down a narrow twisting trail through the trees, past Laughing Falls, where we were convinced Birks had mined their jewels and then down the snow-covered road. It didn’t appear that anyone else was suffering or maybe I was just concentrating so hard not to have a tantrum that I didn’t notice.
Epic and Gruelling are the two words I will choose to describe the ski-out. I am proud to say I did not collapse or have that tantrum. I have the rest of the group to thank for that. They were always patient, supportive and happy. I especially have to thank Bette and Bob for inviting me to tag along.
This was the most exciting and strength building experience I have had in a very long time. I would highly recommend this trip to everyone wanting to push their body beyond where they ever thought it could go. Funny, it only took me until my first latte in Lake Louise to forget how overwhelmed I had felt.
Trip participants: Bob Hawboldt (trip leader & snow guru), Bette Boechler, Olivia Yuel, Dave McCormick, Steve Blackwell, Bill Wotherspoon.
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