| The FAILED Stanley Mitchell Expedition: |
WE LeftCalgary at approximatley 5:00 PM, and arrived at the Fireroad by 7:30-8:00 PM. We knew we would be sking the 15 or so KM of Fireroad at night, so that wasn't a worry. We started off making good time and arrived at the switchbacks(5km in) in about an hour, after that the fact the Conor only had one hour of sleep the previous night caught up to him. We arrived at Takakawaw falls at about 1:00-1:30 am and set up a bivy in the cook shelter on the cement floor. Outside the shelter there were 3 tents with a group of 6 other skiers, who were also heading up to the Stanley Mitchell ACC Hut. So after getting a good sleep and Conor sleeping until 11:00. We left the shelter at noon to ski to the hut. The trail to the hut started off easy until Hollingsworth hil, in which case I skied up as much as I could without using skins( Conor was using mine) and then hiked the rest. This hill is nasty and it was icy, it is very steep and very narrow, with |
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cliffs and trees on the sides, (the descent was interesting and I bailed a few times). But with the skins Conor made it up it no problems. After Hollingsworth Hill we skied another few KM's to Laughing Falls(4.5 KM from Tak falls halfway to the hut) and started the accent. It was at this point that Conor could not continue on as he was very tired , and the terrain was getting much more difficult to navigate. He also questioned his ability to ski out 25 KM the next day, even though it was mostly down hill. So instead of going the same distance to the hut he decided we should turn around and go back to save 2-3 Hours the next day.I tried to pursued him, but he could not be persuaded by the promise of cold beer and topless skibunies. So we Headed back to Tk falls and the trip back took only 1.5 hrs to get back to the cook shelter. The next Day we skied out the fireroad on nice and soft powder, allowing for the oppourtuinty to do some turns and screw around on the hills. The Return trip to the Road took 3-3.5 Hours, with breaks. There will be another attempt at the hut. |
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| BUT I Saw Lots of Waterfalls! |