backcountry baby steps

The major highlight since I last wrote has been Leo and I's tentative snowboarding trips into the backcountry. Several people have helped us with advice, loans of equipment and company, especially BobJ and AndyR; for which we are very grateful. Nothing we did went beyond first baby steps nor merits a long description but here is a simple edit of Leo's GoPro footage of our best day, riding the gentle just-out-of-bounds Flute back bowl at Whistler.

James has meanwhile mastered a no-turns kamikaze variant of skiing with which he seems satisfied (or at least: he reckons he is done with lessons!). He says he wants to snowboard instead next winter, when he turns six. That seems to be regarded as about the earliest possible age for kids to learn. It will be interesting to see if he is up to it ...

There's no doubt that it would be tough to stay sane through a winter in Squamish without wanting to engage in snow sports. When it rains almost every day, being genuinely pleased that "if it's raining down here it must be snowing up there" is important. Unfortunately these sports are pricey! I have spent more on apparently-modest objects like transceivers, shovels and snow probes in a few purchases than on climbing gear for many years. And the marginal cost of using resort lifts - always Whistler in our case, 30 minutes north - is infinitely high relative to going climbing; in several decades I have only paid for access to rock a couple of times!