Ripping Chest Deep
Words by Jodie Seguin and Photos By Dave Silver
Driving to Fernie from Calgary I was anxious…anxious and worried. The highway was clear and there was no snow in sight…not even that infamous pile of snow that doesn’t seem to melt away even in the dead of summer. Just my luck I thought…first cat skiing trip at an awesome resort and there’s no snow in sight! Boy was I ever wrong…
Rolling into Sparwood was like diving into the abyss. Big flakes of the white stuff were coming down like an angry soccer coach, so I popped my truck into 4x4, hit the gas and threw on some old Metallica.
I was the first one to the Island Lake Lodge parking lot meeting place. 5 minutes later, Ryan Johannesan, Chris Barker and Leah Evans rolled up. The cat scooped us up like an eager pack of wolves…we couldn’t quit gawking at all the snow outside!
Christa Moffat, ILL’s sales and marketing manager, showed us our digs for the next couple of days and told us to be ready for dinner within a few minutes. We got the whole Red Eagle lodge to ourselves… so we threw on some nicer clothes and headed up to the Tamarack Lodge for an unbelievable fine dining experience. With my so-called detox diet thrown out the window, I dove head first into a 12 ounce bison steak, melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes and caramelized carrots you could sell in a candy store. Bellies full we pursued the first night of hot tubbing which included jumping in snow banks. After a few hours of this routine with the snow gods still puking, we stumbled into our rooms, set our alarms and passed out.
I think most girls dream of their perfect wedding day. They dream of their perfect day of love, in their perfect white dress, marrying the perfect man of their dreams. I however, dream of the day I was about to have. This day was the love of my life and I was amongst the most perfect conditions of whiteness you could ever imagine…if snow was a man, then yes, I would’ve said ‘I do’ to the man of my dreams over and over and over again.
We started the perfect day off with Steve, our guide, running through a quick yet thorough avalanche/transceiver course. This was especially important as the avi danger was at a peak. We suited up, hopped into our brand new cat and began the ascent to the top of one of the numerous Rocky Mountain runs ILL has to offer. These cats were straight ballin’, even Biggie might not have been cool enough to roll in these bad boys….ten of us comfortably sat in it, the back was loaded to the tits with fresh sandwiches, fruit and desserts plus we were rockin’ out to tunes from Barker’s iPod, which could be plugged into the cabin of the cat. With G n R still ringing in my ears, we embarked on our first slay session.
Face Shots…I’m talking full, deep, dry powder slapping you in the face. The kind you see in ski or snowboard videos and make you think, man, I wish I was pro. I’m talking the kind legends are made of. The kind where you have to wear a bandsteezie over your mouth, because if you don’t, you’re going to choke (as I quickly found out upon ripping my first run). Island Lake Lodge has over 7000 acres of privately owned bowls, valleys and glades. It was beckoning us like an evil temptress.
We were riding in the most snow any of the guides had ever ridden at ILL and we were loving it. You could barely see us when we slashed through the snow…only the odd mitt or toque would peek out. It felt like you weren’t even snowboarding anymore, but surfing on a giant rip curl.
We finished the rest of the day exactly like this…run after run of perfect untracked powder while poor Cory so patiently filmed us! I think he got a few runs in…
That night we ate again like gluttonous pigs, endured another lofty night of hot tubbing and passed out only to awake to even more snow than the day before. It snowed an extra 50 centimeters! Just when I thought that the day before couldn’t be beat, this day took the cake.
Cat-skiing at Island Lake Lodge was definitely one of the best trips of my life bar none. Fantastic company, unreal weather and very generous conditions. I left about 5 pounds heavier and a whole lot happier.
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Mountain Biking
