Winter still going strong up in the hills
Winter is rapidly turning into spring in the Okanagan Valley bottom, but in the hills, there is still enough snow to keep skiers, boarders and snowshoers happy for at least another month. And Argo Road Maintenance busy, if prompted.
Last Sunday, the Ski Sheriff and Constant Companion Carmen joined other members of the Central Okanagan Outdoors Club for their usual Sunday cross-country ski at Kelowna Nordic Ski and Snowshoe Club.
Groomer and club president Ryland Garton reported a temperature of –11 C and overcast skies but “a great groom. A parsimonious amount of snow has fallen and is drifting down on the trails. Not enough to bother a good skier. Not all trails will be redone. Those not done yesterday will be though. Hwy 33 good.”
However, as soon as we turned off Highway 33 onto McCulloch Road at 10:30 a.m., it had not been plowed. There was only one lane of shallow snow and about 30 centimetres (12 inches) on both sides. A pickup truck was stuck on one side but managed to free itself. A compact car heading back to 33 was able to pass us but you could hear the snow hitting its underside.
And yet, we saw an Argo sanding-plowing truck just sitting off Highway 33 in Joe Rich on the way up. By 2 p.m., McCulloch Road had been plowed — enough for a vehicle-and-a-half. A call to Argo resulted in a promise to do better.
Our large group enjoyed beautiful midwinter conditions up Riverside Trail to Upper Meadow for lunch at the Meadow Cabin. Instead of taking our usual Lower Meadow-Log Cabin back, we retraced our steps all the way back on Riverside.
As suggested in an earlier column, going opposite to your usual direction often means it looks like a completely different trail.
Heading to the Meadow Cabin on Riverside means a steep downhill that always gets the heart racing. The Sheriff was dreading that climb up on the way back, but it wasn’t that bad. As it turns out, there are several long downhills on that reverse that you don’t realize are there when you are heading the other way. Thoroughly enjoyable.
On Tuesday, with sunshine in the valley, we headed up to Big White for a downhill outing. Unfortunately, the sky was overcast when we arrived but later in the afternoon, the sun kept peaking through the clouds.
We checked out runs off the Black Forest, Bullet and Ridge chairlifts, and found lots of new soft powder on runs and even deeper fresh powder just off the runs in the trees. Must get all-mountain skis at next fall’s ski swaps and bring both sets to the mountain.
Skiing mid-week, you meet all kinds of visitors coming for a few days up to two weeks.
All say the Interior has, by far, the best snow compared to other places they have tried, from Whistler to the Rockies to Eastern Canada.
Some of us take it for granted, just expecting fresh and deep powder every time we go up to the hills. This winter proved it can be like that but it isn’t always the case year after year.
The more days you go up, the better your chances of the ultimate downhill and crosscountry day. There is lots of snow and it is still cold at McKinney Nordic Ski Club area in the South Okanagan, so there is good snowshoeing and skiing. Paul and Mary Doyle were recently out on the snowshoe trails. Meanwhile, members of the associated Penticton Outdoors Club are heading to Mount Keogan today. Normally a spring hike, organizer Jerry Monahan expects to find a white carpet of snow on a well-used trail to the viewpoint above Covert Farms. Members are meeting at 8:45 a.m. at the Okanagan Falls IGA and then carpooling to the trailhead. Call Monahan at 250-498-3637 or 250-498-9432 to register.
***** The Best Of The Fest is coming to Silver Star Mountain Resort for the first time, thanks to Silver Star Museum.
Eight short films from the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival “guaranteed to excite, inspire and entertain you” will be shown today at the National Altitude Training Centre. Doors open at 6 p.m. and films start at 7 p.m. The Silver Star Mountain Museum will have a display in the lobby.
VIMFF provides communities around the world with an award-winning and a critically acclaimed selection of films featuring adventure, mountain culture and mountain sport. The Best of the Fest has become a fall tradition in Kelowna.
Robin Baycroft, formerly with Silver Star and Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre, will MC the evening and there will be door prizes handed out during the intermission.
The debut event, is a fundraiser for Silver Star Museum. There is no reserved seating so arrive early. Tickets are available at The Village Ski Shop: adults $15, students (must be still in high school to qualify) $10. Cash only.
***** General manager Troy Hudson at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in the North Okanagan says total snowfall this winter hit the five-metre (16.4 feet) mark last Saturday “so this is huge news for late-season skiing.”
The packed base is now 220 centimetres (86.6 inches). That should guarantee good conditions for Spring Fling Camp on May 10-13.
The 40th annual Sovereign Lake Loppet (free technique) is on Sunday. Bib pickup is 8-9:15 a.m. at the race office. Start times are 9:40 a.m. for the 2K, 10 a.m. for the 10K, 15K and 30K.
The grand prize (raffle for all registered adult participants) is a ski week for two at Napika Resort in the Rockies (value $2,990). For more information, email: race@sovereignlake.com.
Sovereign will host its own Olympic Team Relay on April 7 complete with a flag ceremony and nations vying for chocolate prizes.
“This event is all about club participation and is part our club Year-End Wrap-up Party,” said Hudson.
“There will be a presentation by our very own 2018 Pyeongchang Olympian, Kequyen Lam, about his Olympic experience at 1:30 p.m. during the barbecue after the races have been completed.”
There is no cost to participate but you must have a valid season pass or day ticket. Each team must register a four-person team upstairs in the main lodge between 9 and 10 a.m. in one of four categories: Mini Olympians (6-11 years), Junior Olympians (12-17 years), Grown Up Olympians (18-49 years) and Super Grown Up Olympians (50+ years).
Each team must have a name that reflects the nation they represent. Each team must be present at the Mini Opening Ceremonies with a flag representing their nation. Participants should be creative, wear makeup and dress in the colours of their nation.
Each team must have two classic skiers and two skate skiers; Classic skiers will go first in a mass start format (per each age category).
Sanctioned (in-trouble) participants may be required to pay a sanction fee to the organizing committee in the form of chocolate. Come with a pocket full of chocolate if you intend to be a start-line troublemaker.
The rough start times per category are: Mini Olympians start at 10 a.m.; Junior Olympians about 10:30-ish; Grown Up Olympians about 11-ish; and Super Grown Up Olympians about 11:30-ish.
Sovereign is now planning off-season improvements. An interview with Hudson is being prepared for next weekend's column.
***** The Central Okanagan Naturalists Club will hold its regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Evangel Church, 3261 Gordon Dr. in Kelowna.
Guest speaker Logan Lalonde will outline “My Experience at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in New York.”
Last summer, Lalonde was chosen to attend the Young Birders Event.
He describes it as “an eye-opening experience,” saying he learned a massive amount about birds, careers in ornithology and many other facets of moving forward in the avian world.
Lalonde is a avid birder, photographer, naturalist and public speaker, passionate about the worldwide conservation of wildlife, predominantly birds, and wants to make a big difference in the fight for habitat conservation.
***** Registration is underway for this year’s Nature Detectives Spring Break Camps at the Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan (EECO) in Mission Creek Regional Park, Springfield and Durnin roads in Kelowna.
Indoor and outdoor activities for children age five to seven will run from 9 a.m. to noon on March 20-22 and again on March 27-29.
All camp participants will engage in nature play, crafts and games. Each morning during the camps, children will take part in crafty nature activities, discover park trails and ponds, and listen to stories about animals and the environment.
Register in advance at the EECO. The cost is $75 per youngster for each three, half-day camp session.
For more information, go to the Regional District of Central Okanagan website: regionaldistrict.com/parksevents, contact the EECO at 250-469-6140, email eeco@cord.bc.ca or drop into the centre in Mission Creek Regional Park.
***** Children aged three to five and their caregivers all love Story Time at the EECO.
The free weekly one-hour drop-in program features nature-themed stories and songs followed by an art or craft project.
Story Time runs each Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. until March 13 and resumes from April 3 to June 26.
***** Students are welcome to join EECO After School. Each Tuesday afternoon, there are free, hands-on learning activities that explore the “wild” in regional parks. The onehour program begins at 3 p.m. in the Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan.
J.P. Squire, aka the Ski Sheriff, is a retired Okanagan Weekend reporter and an avid outdoors enthusiast. Contact him with at : jp.squire@telus.net.