Not The Same At All

This morning Patrice and Chris picked me up at the Petro-Can on our way out to Sunshine Village for some back country kiting. I really thought I knew what was in store but as we got closer to the hill I started to have doubts.

Driving up the mountain was like going from summer to mid-winter in a flash. The snow was coming down hard and wet while almost every person in Calgary was calling in sick and heading up to the hill. In the parking lot I nervously climbed into my gear. Partially scared and somewhat excited at the same time. The reality of what we were about to do was coming on fast, possibilities of getting stuck down in a bowl or worse, getting towed into a solid object in deep snow.

Pat's Guide friend showed up, we the took two lifts that our XC pass was good for and dropped into the first big meadow just East of the Strawberry Chair. We crossed under the orange line and found a clear spot to launch the kites. Now kites can be a pain to manage lines during setup but in this case, it was an exhausting task. You can't do it on skis so walking to the kite and back in waist deep powder was frustrating. Launching was OK and I did pull myself up hill a little but by this time I had two malfunctions and was ready to go home. Chris was having even more troubles down below the boundary and if he hadn't fixed them and flown uphill when we crawled out of there, he would have been stuck for sure.

About an hour later we had made our way over to Mt. Standish where our guide again met us and pointed past the boundary rope. We dropped in about 75 feet to bottom of a long couloir with just about a 10 percent uphill to the north. Just like the last meadow there were trees and rocks at 50m spacing but this time the wind was uphill. This location was slightly more wind packed so easier to stay up and the wind was about 30-35km. On the lakes 35km is nasty but up here you wanted more.

It was absolutely one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Dipping the kite into the power zone and letting it rocket back, I was being pulled not just uphill but upwind. At least I think it was upwind, there was so much varied terrain and rocks and trees and deep snow it was sensory overload. Stressful to start but soon I realized that this is what it is about, and the experience is so much different. I began bending my knees and pulling my skis together, the wind got stronger and I felt I could actually relax. My legs were still screaming with the burn but now I could park the kite and rip up the hill with full power. At one point I must have made 4 big powered turns while staying on top of the snow across the meadow, back and forth. Those 4 turns and cruisers made it all worth it. Such a different experience, dealing with such power but being able to glide over such deep pow, incredible!

A little after 2 we kite-looped our way along the boundary till we got to the Standish Express. Here we enjoyed the last bit of leg burn, packed up the kites, and excitedly exchanged our experiences of kiting in the back country. Sure there were some troubles but a lot was learned by three guys who have just started going out of bounds kiting.

Now I am at home, legs are pumped full of lactic acid, brain is full of serotonin, heart is recovering from the exertion and Red Bull, and I don't remember a recent time that I was this happy about a trip. In fact I can't wait to do it again.