It was good to have Mo' cook for us again and look out for us plus she has an AST-2 certificate which is welcome for when she comes out for some turns.  However, Henry the ex- Castle Mountain pro patroller who was with us in Dec 2008 and does work at the lodge would not be with us.  Henry did an awesome traverse last May going from the Lyell Icefield to the Columbia Icefields paralleling though not copying a line to the west of the famous Great Divide Route that goes from Lake Louise to Jasper.  He also spent 3 Winter months sleeping on Mo's chesterfield (that's Canuckspeak for couch) and then took the Ski Mountaineering course last Spring getting lost and separated from the group on the way out to Saskatchewan Crossing where he hitched a ride on the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise where he poached a couch in the hostel before being caught ............ and then subsequently slept under a tree which he allegedly enjoyed.  This guy is the Brennan of Western Canada!!!  Oh, and while at Castle Mountain (actually, I think he might still patrol there), he would file the snow report until one day he whimsically created one which referenced pole dancers and peeler bars among other things and then could not remove it from the public website and neither could anyone else which freaked everyone out.  Yes, this guy is Skip's worst nightmare!

 

We loaded into the chopper with Mike the pilot who was wearing his "My Life is Better Than Your Vacation" sticker on the back of his helmet which reminded us that we were part of a cool scene.  Landed, unpacked and measured the HS at the snow observation plot which came at a paltry 117cm at the lodge which is at treeline - OUCH!

 

Then we did avie rescue where I was assigned the pressure cooker job of leading the scenario ...... geez, they always gotta' pick on me for these things.  Yeah, it was stressful directing 2 separate teams, but nothing compared to going live especially when we were told that in the 7 fatality Connaught Drainage disaster, there were 14 burials with only 2 that did not get buried.  Good learning experience for me and I learned some new things as I always do in a major exercise.  Even with the "shallow" snowpack, it was brutal getting around in the virgin snow.

 

It was getting late ................ but still enough time for a quick tour in Home Run Bowl in back of the lodge above treeline where very nice turns were had in the rapidly dwindling light.  Mo' cooked up some hearty lasagne for eats that night - good bye Interstate 89/Trans Canada Hughway Diet Plan, hullo' happy digestive tract and I won't get any more graphic about that.

 

 

It's only just starting!