John's Report - January 05, 2007

PowCow Two

Wednesday & Thursday were spent skiing Powder Cowboy. Wednesday was a bit of a dud. Tuesday night�s freezing rains messed up the mountains. Still, we managed to get afternoon tracks in some rather heavy snow. Our hosts were very attentive & kept us up to date on the avalanche situation. It was explained that seldom, if ever, do they get a washed out tour. But safety is their primary consideration and they made it clear that they would, if need be, sacrifice our expectations for our lives. It was reassuring.

Next day there were 20cm of powder, the slopes had stabilized and we had the times of ours lives carving fresh tracks through the snow ghosts. The sun shone, the winds were still & life was good all day long.

Sincere thanks to all the friendly and thoughtful staff of Powder Cowboy.


There was a significant snow fall on Tuesday night. It was heavy and wet at the base region. One of us peered into the cabin peak�s opening and said the floor was 16 feet below.

While better on top, the snow on Wednesday was hard to handle. Peter, the guy further up the slope, emigrated from Hong Kong to downtown New York City 30 years ago and takes every opportunity to leave and go skiing. Got to admire such dedication to the sport.

Thursday, day two, was so much better. 20cm of shin deep pow had fallen overnight & sat on top of 30cm of Tuesday�s snow, which had settled quite nicely.

This is a view to the east, looking at the Lizard Range, from behind Island Lake Lodge.

The traverse was worth it as we got good vertical through great snow ghost terrain.

Our lead guide Darcy and our tail guide Jamie. By the afternoon the sun was blazing.

No snow cat adventure is complete without a picture of the Cat.

The day ended with a run down Cabin-side. The view is of the Bull River Valley & the Kootenay River to the west.

More Snow Ghosts