Doug McKenzie
New member
I've been eyeing Northern BC for a few years. Shames is off the beaten path and is said to average 40ft snow annual.
I was told about FirstTracks by Lucky Luke. I was fortunate to ski with him on this trip, however he started his trip one week earlier. As he mentioned, HE got 5-6 feet in his first six days. :shock:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=6516
Unfortunately I got there at the start of a dry spell, so after one week of daily snow, we got sun and warm temps (around freezing or above). Shames inbound terrain is mostly South or West facing. The good thing about the place, it was small and quiet. Daily fresh tracks aren't hard to find. The backcountry is mind blowing. Acres of Alpine terrain and bowls. As the week passed and temps increased, he had to work to get the real good goods (fresh snow, not heavy). The last two days we skinned to the top of the Dome and skied the North Bowl. The dome is approximately 750m higher than the base of the area. Ski area vertical is only 488m with one chair and one t-bar. At 700m, the base area is at approximately the same altitude than Whistler.
We generally skied the groomers for a few high speed runs in the morning. Snow quality on the steep expert run (south facing) was covered with unskied, heavy and deep snow. Mashed potatoes skiing. The untracked stuff in the wood off these trails was fun, but hard work.
The best snow was definitely off the t-bar, we got some light drizzle on the base and snow flakes from midchair up for one or two days.
I was told about FirstTracks by Lucky Luke. I was fortunate to ski with him on this trip, however he started his trip one week earlier. As he mentioned, HE got 5-6 feet in his first six days. :shock:
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards ... php?t=6516
Unfortunately I got there at the start of a dry spell, so after one week of daily snow, we got sun and warm temps (around freezing or above). Shames inbound terrain is mostly South or West facing. The good thing about the place, it was small and quiet. Daily fresh tracks aren't hard to find. The backcountry is mind blowing. Acres of Alpine terrain and bowls. As the week passed and temps increased, he had to work to get the real good goods (fresh snow, not heavy). The last two days we skinned to the top of the Dome and skied the North Bowl. The dome is approximately 750m higher than the base of the area. Ski area vertical is only 488m with one chair and one t-bar. At 700m, the base area is at approximately the same altitude than Whistler.
We generally skied the groomers for a few high speed runs in the morning. Snow quality on the steep expert run (south facing) was covered with unskied, heavy and deep snow. Mashed potatoes skiing. The untracked stuff in the wood off these trails was fun, but hard work.
The best snow was definitely off the t-bar, we got some light drizzle on the base and snow flakes from midchair up for one or two days.