16/30 Simon's Glory Moment

I had Isabelle and Simon today, so they were forced to participate in my challenge again. I hiked and snowboarded Red Mountain while they took turns on the GT Racer. This video clip is Simon's Glory moment, he finally had the opportunity to stick it to his sister, notice he seems quite happy as he is passing the camera. I mentioned to him at the bottom that he lost his passenger. He was glowing; He said "yeah, I meant to do that."

15/30 Results Can Come Anytime Now......

Another day of Cross Country today, just me and Betsy at Black Jack. Betsy's fitness seems to be improving, but it is hard to say for myself, so far I just feel more tired.
Gibbard's Cabin
Last light at the very peak of Red Mountain

14/30 The Never Ending Winter

We woke up this morning to what would have been a very exciting event had it happened in early November.

The new snow did not stop my friend Pat Hinds from his running commitment, it seems my may be in weather condition denial.

I hiked up Sally's Alley this evening, we can only wish conditions were this good in November.

13/30 Mt. Kirkup

I had the time to be a bit more adventurous today and hiked Mt. Kirkup from the highway. A slow slog through the forest at the bottom was rewarded as I moved into the sub alpine. The snow turned from heavy spring to winter lightness conditions at the top. What a great place to be. It was turn after turn of gratefulness for me.

12/30 Black Jack Again

Cross Country Skiing is definitely a different workout than touring or down hill. I woke up this morning with lactic acid filled arms and just a general core tiredness.


I told my friend Vic Buehler about my exploits and as he always does, he joined me for round two today. Thanks for the push and the company Vic.

11/30 Black Jack Cross Country Ski

We got back from Spokane at about 6:00 PM. It is nice to have the Canadian spring time daylight hours, I still had enough daylight for a session at Black Jack. I was out for an hour and set a good workout pace, I returned home adequately tired.

The best thing about this type of challenge, and one of my motivations for taking it on, is that it gets me out. Normally it would not have occurred to me to head out cross country skiing at 7:00 in the evening, but I did and it was the best part of my day. It was so good that I might actually do it again tomorrow. It is a good transition into the mountain biking season.

10/30 Mt. Spokane

I am in Spokane this weekend with the family. To keep my 30/30 plan going, I got up at 5:30 and drove 45 minutes to Mt. Spokane, my first time there.

Nice little ski area, steeper than what I have been told.

Unlike yesterday, my timing happened to be just right. I hiked this face and went way to the skiers right. The snow was perfectly smooth but solid as a rock on the way up. But by the time I came down, the top 1/2 cm of so had turned to slush creating perfect edge grip. It was a great run!

9/30 Missed it by 30 Minutes

Another run at Red Mountain today with Isabelle and Simon. I used snowshoes and my board today. This was a challenge as I was out about half an hour too late for the crust to be set solid and half an hour to early for it to have melted. So I was riding through breakable crust. This highlighted my Snowboarding skill deficiencies significantly, excellent entertainment for the kids.

Photo by Isabelle

8/30 April 22 Day One of Spring Skiing at Red Mountain

I had Isabelle and Simon with me today, so it was another quick run up the face of Red. I hiked while they played in the snow.

Today was the first real day of what I would call Spring Skiing. It was hot. Since I had first tracks it was nice but it is was the sort of snow that would have been difficult had a lot of people been skiing.

7/30 Great Skiing but the Snow Just WON'T STOP

More snow at Red Mountain, about 10 cm of good quality POW. One of the challenges I thought I was taking on with this project would be looking for snow, this part is actually too easy.

I skinned up to the top of Center Star, the run underneath Motherlode Chair. It was just like having first tracks in February, but without the chairlift hecklers.

6/30 Got the Job Done

I was a bit short of time today. But I did manage a quick skin up to the top of the T-bar, this is my self imposed minimum. The short radius turns I got in though were the highlight of my day.

5/30 Kootenay Pass

I drove back from Fernie to Rossland today, so another opportunity to ski at Kootenay Pass. I had to pick Isabelle up from dance so time was limited. I had an hour to hike up as far as I could. So I chose not to waste valuable minutes changing into my ski gear (except for my avi gear of course), I've seen lots of people at Red Mountain skiing in jeans so....

It's April and I had one of my best runs of the season, one of those runs that involve involuntary gasps of exhilaration. The conditions up high right now are just superb.

After thought: Jeans and powder do not go together! Powder sticks to jeans, don't do it, even if it means an extra two turns.

4/30 Fernie All by Myself

I am in Fernie for the NONSTOP Course Directors wrap up meeting, this is an annual event for me. Important stuff, but meetings like this certainly are a challenge for 10 outdoors oriented people who commit to be inside for 9 hours. Thankfully I have my challenge going on, this got me out to Fernie Alpine Resort at 6:30 AM. I hiked with my Snowboard to the top of the Elk Chair. Fernie closed yesterday, but it looks like it could keep going for a long time yet. I usually ski Fernie in December and have probably skied this run over 200 times. In December it is narrow, crowded, barely covered with man-made ice, and is rock and stick strewn. Today it was empty, totally covered, and topped off with 1cm of overnight fluff. An easy run, but it definitely made my indoor time more bearable today.

3/30 Kootenay Pass

I have just finished the drive to Fernie, I am here for the NONSTOP Course Directors wrap up meeting. So today to fulfil my challenge I stopped at Kootenay Pass. It was a mild winters day up there the bonus being the snow was from mid winter.


The track up from the car park.














This was my high point of climbing. The car park is that open area in the distance. What a great run I had, there was about 15 cm of new good quality snow, I had the whole place to myself. Great day!

I could not get any action or track shots because it started snowing heavily just after I put the camera away.

2/30 Fresh Heavy Tracks

I made it to the top of Red Mountain today. It snowed last night and on and off through the day. The snow here on towers looks pretty good, but it was actually quite heavy, but about 20 cm deep. I am sure at Paradise level the snow would have been fantastic.

30 Slides in 30 Days

Mark's Spring Project:

April 15 2011.

My self imposed challenge: To ski everyday for the next 30 days. The skiing might happen at a ski area, might be cross country, usually will be touring, and might even be snowboarding.

I hope to accomplish two things with this: 1) get back into the Canadian Ski Quest BLOG and 2) keep up my fitness and ensure that I get out everyday.

One challenge is that I will not always be around Rossland, a Spokane weekend with the family comes to mind. The other challenge will be around Day 20, I imagine I will have a bit of work to get to snow on some days. But game on....

DAY 1/30
The snow at Red Mountain is still 100%. I skinned up Red with my dog Betsy. Fresh tracks on Back Trail through consistent corn snow. Good Start.