Thursday, January 31, 2008

Early February


Well, we've been in the throes of a full blown melt down.. tough way to get through winter. The cycles this year really stink: cold for a week, a wee bit of snow then comes the warmth and rain. Repeat.
Climbable ice has been in tight supply this season, and snow? What's that? As we watch what little we've had melt and run off in torrents, it's easy to start thinking spring creekin' thoughts. Housekeeping, gear repair and answering the phone calls and emails for this summer's group reservations is keeping us pretty busy. Oh yeah, and then there are the phone calls from Chad, who is on a winter sabbatical out west.. backcountry skiing in 30 " of new one day, climbing some remote 200m ice the next.. a rough life indeed. (And just for the record Chad, trail running and biking are a very poor second.. especially since it's February.)

So what else is going on? We're busy preparing for our annual Wilderness First Aid Weekend
coming up March 8-9. If you are interested call us soon as the seats are going fast.
This will be the ninth year we've partnered with SOLO and the Trail House to bring this program to our corner of the world.

... and then our early spring schedule is on us with lots of paddling, guiding, teaching, hiking, and of course, climbing.


Thankfully before all of our January snow left us we were able to hold a small "pulk-making"workshop... a pulk is simply a sled that you pull behind you when skiing or snowshoeing. A pulk is an ideal way to carry anything you would normally wear on your back or for small children who want to go along but may not be up for the slog. Easy to control, A pulk allowed me to start taking my kids with me at very tender ages.