You see, Stephanie doesn’t train for races or sporting events.  Ever.

I don’t know how she pulls it off, but she walks into every race totally unprepared and kicks ass. Last month some friends and I decided to enter the upcoming Yeti Snowshoe Race as a team and of course Stephanie imposed the no training rule.  To my knowledge, everyone has adhered until yesterday when I broke the rule and drove up to Mount Washington for an afternoon on the trails.  I have many good reasons for doing so but still secretly hope that Stephanie never reads this.

If you know her, please don’t tell her…I’ve lived in Courtenay for a week and a half and hadn’t been to the mountain yet.  It seems like everyone around has lift tickets hanging off their jackets, ski racks on their car and sore legs.  Seeing these guys every day for 10 days was too much for me.  I knew that I had to get up there doing something.  The upcoming Yeti and the dusty snowshoes in my garage seemed like a pretty good excuse.

I left school and headed directly to the mountain; I went the back route to scope out some potential riding routes and was amazed by the beautiful farmland surrounding the Comox Valley; I was seriously tempted to turn around and get on my road bike instead.  The thick rays of sunlight streaming between the pines lining the roadside were heating the pavement and sending steam drifting off into the beautiful bluebird sky.  Tidy cedar fences ran for hundreds of meters along the road and silently grazing cows looked up carelessly as I drove past.  At one point I pulled over to admire one particularly beautiful scene.

Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me but noted the time and exact location so I can try and get a shot if the weather ever cooperates with me.

Once I got to the Raven Lodge at Mt Washington, I quickly got my snazzy running suit on and got out onto the trails.  I had heard reports of fresh powder this morning and was hoping to find a trail that had been used so I could avoid breaking trail.  It has been a full year since I’d been on my Atlas Snow Race’s and the bright yellow decking brought back memories of the last Yeti I raced.  It was one of those perfect alpine days: bright blue, the sun high above and no wind.  The event truly is a race everyone can and should do – participants ranged from the hardcores wearing their bright XT Wings and sponsor jerseys to first time snowshoe-ers in thick heavy winter clothing to the snow queens, all dressed up in their Sunday best (you have to see them yourself, words don’t do them justice).  There was several inches of fresh snow that race day and running through it sticks in my mind as one of the hardest things I’ve ever done – surpassed only by the Squamish MOMAR.

There’s something cool about running through the snow that makes me enjoy it more than any other running surface.  Road running to me is bland and unexciting.  Trail running is much better – twisty trails and mud puddles get me excited.  Finally, running on the snow gives off this almost romantic je ne sais pas.

I remember one particularly steep hill about 45 minutes in when everything just seemed to fall together perfectly.  Clearly defined sunbeams were flowing out of the trees beside the trail but a cold wind was biting at my cheeks, reminding me that it’s still winter.  Loose snow flung up by my snowshoes was flying all around my head; every few seconds a piece would land on my neck and send a chilling rivulet of ice water down my back.  My iPod had once again picked the perfect song to run to and I kept pace with the strong beat with my feet and my man-dance head bobs.  My heart rate was high and I could almost feel each individual heart beat throughout my body but I was breathing regularly, focusing energy to my legs and screaming calves.  A perfect mix of hot and cold, pain and calm; total sensory awareness yet total removal as well.  Sports psychologists call this moment ‘flow’ and if you’ve ever been there, you know how amazing it feels.

After two laps of one of the snowshoe specific trails and one last sprint up the final hill of Raven’s Revenge all I could think of was the sauna waiting for me in the lodge.  I jogged back up to the lodge, confident of what to expect from myself in next weekend’s Yeti.

I can’t promise that you’ll achieve this same level of consciousness if you participate in The Yeti but I do promise that you’ll enjoy it immensely and have loads of fun.

The post Training for the Yeti first appeared on Pack & Trail.

The Group

Last year when the MEC winter catalogue arrived, my girlfriend Kirsten was awed by the cover photo.  A group of friends camped out in the snow on a bluebird day surrounded by all the amenities one would have at home.  “That looks like a great idea for my birthday party!” she exclaimed excitedly in a way that made me think that things were about to get a whole lot colder.

A few weeks later, we were sitting in the snow beside Kwai Lake in Strathcona Park.  The fog was so thick it was difficult to see more than 2 meters and most of our clothing and gear was soaking wet; a far cry from the jovial scene on the catalog now unceremoniously propped upright in the snow beside us.  Five of us had made the trek and while we were all in a pretty good mood it certainly wasn’t the trip we had imagined it to be. 

Nonetheless, Kirsten decided that the event would become tradition and earlier this month publicized her plans for a bigger (including her twin brother) and better (not wearing one pair of cotton hiking pants) Twin Birthday Snow Camping Adventure.

This year we invited everyone who would listen to us and expected about 6 people to join us.  We were obviously surprised when more than 14 people expressed serious interest.  I have finally realized that people don’t need the newest and latest gear to be happy and comfortable, which is a change from my normal reaction of getting all concerned and scared about what gear and experience hiking partners have.  A couple people with little experience were to join us so I made sure they had enough stuff to be happy and left it at that.  This realization has been a long time in the making; my next outdoor related problem to overcome is convincing myself that every individual activity needs certain, specific (and usually expensive) equipment.  I suppose that after 3 years working at an outdoor gear store I’ve sold myself pretty well on most products.

Saturday morning arrived and we gathered at our favourite restaurant, Urban Beet, for a group breakfast and then we were off to the mountain.  Although it was opening day, the roads were totally empty and it took no time to get to the Raven Lodge at Mt Washington.  If you’ve never been there, the Raven Lodge is a beautiful facility that serves the nordic community at Mt Washington.  I’m moving to the Comox Valley in a month and am hoping desperately that school doesn’t get too much in the way of play and that I’ll get to spend more time there.

Our route out to the lake was non conventional to say the least.  Early on the group decided to take a slightly shorter yet steeper route but randomly drifted between that and the other option; a longer, easier route. It seemed as though every time a new person took a shift at the front we veered towards the other route.  The snow in the trees wasn’t as compact as in the open and Kirsten constantly found holes to sink into; despite her snowshoes her entire leg sank down into the snow every fifth step or so.  The combination of our reduced mobility (having snowshoes on) and her backpack made it quite a chore extricating her.  While this complicated path gave us all a great butt workout and let us enjoy incredible views of Paradise Meadows, Mt Washington and Strathcona Park, it ate up time in the already late day and just tired us out.  We quit that nonsense as soon as we reached Lake Helen McKenzie and just stuck to the standard Albert Edward approach trail; we made it around the lake and up to the ranger cabin in a new record time in the 12 slowshoers and 2 backcountry skiers category.  Kwai Lake is just a short jaunt from the ranger cabin and is almost entirely downhill.Once there we quickly set up our various forms of shelter – there were 3 and 4 season tents, snow caves, bivies and siltarps – and got started on a snow kitchen big enough for our group.  A quick probe test surprised us with a snow pack of 189cm!  As soon as the sun disappeared behind Albert Edward the temperature dropped rapidly and spirits began to sink too; there was a light misting rain beginning.  It was about this time we saw two faint lights in the distance – Kirsten’s twin brother and his wife had left late and hiked in after us, finishing by the light of their headlamps.  Their arrival brightened us up, literally and figuratively, as they had carried in a 4 hour burn fire log that we lit on a grill made of fallen branches (I know, I know – we’re not supposed to have fires in the park but the situation seemed pretty ok).  The fire (…and Crown Royal…) did wonders for our energy levels until the rain finally drove us to our tents.

Nobody believed me when I said I was going to sleep in till 10am until I poked my head out of the tent at quarter after the next morning.  Everyone else had already woken up and several people had eaten breakfast and packed their tents.  The cold had woken them early and driven them to movement, while I with my -13 sleeping bag, downmat and powerstretch pants slept warmly into the morning (or, maybe I’m just lazy?).  Half of the group left early to check out the sauna at the Raven Lodge and the other half followed shortly behind them.  The hike out was uneventful; we took the regular route the entire way, which turned out to be far easier than the route we took.  Maybe it was the ease of the route or the amount of complaining we did about how dumb we had been the day before, but the hike out flew by and soon we were back at the parking lot ready to hit the pub.  The kitchen in the Raven Lodge was about to close so we made our way to the Longwood in Nanaimo for a little more birthday cheer.

We had so much fun that we’re now picking uncommon spots for all our holiday festivities.  Next up?  An abandoned hotel out at Cape Scott for New Years!  Stay tuned for that report!

The post The 2nd Annual Twin Birthday Snow Camping Adventure first appeared on Pack & Trail.