Another thrashing at Nationals

The 2007 Canada Cup in Canmore was my first crack at National level racing, with National Championships coming a week later at Mt. Washington (we were headed to the island for a family vacation so what the heck, eh?). My coach at the time cautioned me that national level courses are supposed to challenge riders both technically and physically and are a step up from the few provincial level courses that I have raced up to that point. In short, I got owned by the loose dirt in the Coal Chutes, and the slick roots at Mt. Washington. I learned a lot watching riders push the limits of their bikes on descents (if it's not making a terrible noise, you aren't going fast enough) and adapt to adverse conditions. I also did a lot of walking.

Humbled, I spent the next couple of seasons working to improve my technical skills and by the time Nationals returned to Canmore in 2010 and 2011, I was ready. I felt confident on the courses and had an excellent race in 2010, but flatted 2x in 2011 (I had to run a tube after denting my rim at a race earlier in the year).

Nationals returned for 2017 and will again in 2018. But I was a little hesitant to sign up to race with the big guns. XC racing has changed a lot from the long, fun, downhills of 2007, to shorter laps in 2010 and 2011, to even shorter laps for 2017. As well, drops and other awkward features have become crowd favourites and have worked their way into courses. Shorter laps mean you do more laps, and hence are setting up for those features (or taking the time penalty on the B-lines) more often. Shorter laps mean you are more likely to get lapped, or pulled from the race before you are lapped.

I've had good legs the past 2 seasons, and I had done a bit of pre-riding of the new sections of the course in previous weekends. I found them manageable. I also started hunting out steeper descents in Edmonton to prepare myself and boost my confidence. I put a fresh set of tires on my bike. Maybe I could survive until 1 lap to go? Looming wildfire smoke in Canmore was my last excuse but I signed up with a couple of hours to spare. In my experience, conditions on race day are rarely as bad as the forecast makes them out to be.

I can't remember the last time I arrived a day early to pre-ride a race course, but since I had to pick up my race number before 5pm on Friday, I took advantage of the opportunity. Dry weather and lots of traffic on the course had made it hard to get traction on the extremely loose descents. It felt like I had a couple of close calls, and one random crash that beat me up pretty good so I left the pre-ride pretty intimidated. And Kabush is racing on Maxxis Aspens?

Dusty and loose on a fresh section of trail completed in June.

Spectating the women's race was crucial to get my mind focused on the race. I watched riders with great skills taking advantage of those sections. I watched riders make calculated decisions to play it safe. I also heard the "thud" and "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" from the crowd as some girl paid the price and hit the dirt.

30 seconds to the start.

The back row attack! Lots of room to settle into position on the start loop and first climb of the lap.

Setting up for the B-line

I rode flat sections like "Buried Alive" and the run into the Eye Dropper better than I ever have.

Starr Trail Solutions sure know how to make trail.

The reality sinks in, but I know what I have to do. Ride the hills as hard as I can and not get in anyone's way on the descents. DFL at the holeshot but the climbs of the course alternated between singletrack and doubletrack making it easy to move up. The first descent was okay. but the 2nd descent contained 3 cruxes in quick succession (awkward rock armoured corner, Get Down, Organ Donor) and would lose huge chunks of time taking B-lines and walking. But I didn't let that faze me. Each time I hit the base of a climb, it was full gas, emptying the tank by the time I got to the top. I've never felt so good on the climbs (I must be getting lots of recovery time on the descents). Yes, it was frustrating having to chase riders I had passed before, but the course made it easy to do so. But eventually I ran out of time and got pulled with 3 laps to go just as I could feel the legs starting to hurt.

I survived, but I've got my work cut out for me before I even think about signing up for next year. If I can limit my losses (I sound like an American grand tour "contender"), maybe I can make it to the lead lap, or one to go. I was pumped to see fellow Albertans Mitchell Thomas and Ian Murray finish on the lead lap.

Line of the Week: The Fist Couloir

Tryst Lake is a fairly popular ski touring spot. The steeper chutes down to the lake get a decent amount of skier compaction and are mostly sheltered from the wind and often provide the first chance of the season for backcountry skiers to get into steeper terrain similar to the ski hill. As long as someone hasn't wiggled excessively through the chokes (it is more common than you think), the snow is often quite good even days after a storm, definitely better than similar terrain 2hrs into a powder day at the ski hill.

But unless you've skinned past the lake between laps, you might not know about the last Tryst Lake Chute, the Fist Couloir!

Short and Sweet

The simplest way to tag the couloir is to simply center punch straight up, maybe until you reach the base of the cliff, or perhaps the snow coverage is deep enough that you can make it to the col. But in the spirit of #lineoftheweek and not #lineoftheweak , Here is different option:

Include the line as the 2nd descent of the "Spray Range Traverse" described in Summits and Icefields. After descending down into Commonwealth Creek, look for an avalanche path heading up to climber's right of the Fist (the Hillmap link below might come in handy, though keep in mind, I draw these years later while sitting at a desk). The snow in the avalanche path can be a spooky combination of sun crust, windslab and facets and creative routefinding might be required to top out. I believe we kicked steps up thin snow on top of scree.

Booting up after transitioning from skinning

Ascending rock and scree on the climber's right side

Access into the couloir might require a downclimb, rappel, or belay depending on coverage. So keep that in mind. Enjoy the descent of the couloir, making sure to take the time to brag about it to any skiers taking a break at the lake between runs. Make sure to leave your harness on for this section.

After sending a cornice down the line

Getting belayed into the line, while setting the bootpack for the follower to downclimb

Straight out of Chamonix, ready to ski!

Skiing the couloir!

Finish off the Spray Range Traverse with a neat descent into the Grizzly bowl, taking the time to admire the creativity of the Tent Ridge skiers.

Grizzly Bowl

Total Elevation: 1275m
Distance: 12km
Line Length: 100m
Top Elevation: 2525m

Hillmap Link

Line of the Week: Hero Knob couloirs

The two twin Hero Knob couloirs, not visible is an option that connects the looker's right to the looker's left

The Hero Knob loop in K-Country is pretty popular and for good reason. Long fall line skiing in alpine terrain with some spectacular scenery. While most people are content with a "one and done", there are lots of options on different aspects and elevations to play on, and if that's not enough , the ski quality often merits a 2nd...or 3rd lap. Of course it is not without it's risk, a steep headwall to gain a hanging valley, interesting wind loading of the col and of course creek crossings all present cruxes, making Hero Knob best saved for early season before the persistent weak layers have had a chance to establish themselves or in early spring.

 

 While most are fine with a run down the main bowl, there are some interesting options available if one were to summit Hero Knob itself and continue along the ridge.

Ridgewalks, downclimbs, sidesteps, etc...

And after some sidestepping, downclimbing, etc... 

@skevikskis #skeviksponsorme pre work turns

A post shared by Peter Knight (@peteyknight5) on Nov 7, 2013 at 9:05pm PST

The twin couloirs provide consistent fall line skiing and a fan at the bottom to really open it up.

It is not uncommon for people to climb these lines, so keep that in mind when thinking about sending a cornice down. I believe the best access is from the top via the Hero Knob col.

The first couloir drains into the main bowl, lookers left of the summit of Hero Knob

Top Elevation: 2520m
Line Length: 300m
Round Trip Distance: 7.5km
Total Elevation: 700m
Other lines in the area: Aside from the main Hero Knob run, and the Purple Knob couloirs, I have enjoyed tree skiing on all aspects, accessed from both drainages. Most notable is the Dogleg tree run. The south face of Hero Knob provides higher consequence skiing with more complex gullies and cliffs to avoid.
Hillmap route

2018 Marin Wolf Ridge test ride

I was able to take a 2018 Marin Wolf Ridge for a test ride

And a Pine Mountain

Line of the Week: Pocaterra Ridge

Another week, another Highwood Pass line. As with the other lines, this is a limited time offer, only available from June 15 until November 30. Get it while supplies last. When the skiing on Pocaterra Ridge comes into shape, good skiing can be found on the south ridge, with more committing, but classic lines on the SE, SW, and NW face, and creative skiing potential on the NE face.

Pocaterra ridge, with its S ridge route in front of Mt. Pocaterra.

As with the Tyrwhitt Cirque, it is important to emphasize that Highwood Pass early in the season is a busy place and it is common for human factors to push groups out of their comfort zones. So I will repeat:

"Beware of the human factors. The acronym FACETS is helpful, particularly the last two, Tracks and Social Facilitation. The skiing at Highwood Pass is extremely crowded early season, especially when word gets out that someone was able to ski without hitting a rock every other turn. This means that skiers might push above or beyond the current skintrack to get a fresh line, putting them into untouched and riskier terrain and new features. And if one group pushes into some gnarlier terrain, don't try to one up them without considering the spatial variability of the snowpack! Tracks are not a sign of intelligent life!"

Pocaterra ridge shares the same approach as the Tyrwhitt Cirque, but after passing by all of the chutes and contouring around the ridge that comes down between Tyrwhitt Cirque and Grizzly Col, trend more north into meadows and ascend the south ridge of Pocaterra Ridge.

SE Face and its higher consequence lines

West aspect of the north ridge

Looking down the North Side

Looking up the North Side

The tree skiing on the south side of Pocaterra Ridge is pretty good, but the runs are short. Rolling over the S ridge onto the lower part of the west face also yields some nice turns. If enough snow is covering the grass, the south ridge of Pocaterra to the summit is a good ski. But the north face is a true prize, requiring good stability with the reward of one of the longer runs in the area, and a drop into a more secluded valley. Climb back up over Little Highwood Pass.

Little Highwood Pass in June. A great run that fills in early drops over the ridge from where I am standing. SW face of Pocaterra dominates the upper right of the picture.

The SE face is also skied often if the coverage and stability is there, but with some high consequence terrain involving gullies and cliffs (similar to the SE face of Hero Knob), it is not really my cup of tea.

Grizzly Col. Snow is usually pretty windblasted.

Top Elevation: 2625m
Line Length: 150m
Round Trip Distance: 9km
Hillmap Route
Other skiing in the area: Little Highwood pass and fans below Mt. Pocaterra (people love being creative here), fill in earlier. Grizzly Col, East facing bowls off of Pocaterra ridge are best saved if there is good coverage and stability before the gate closes.