94
MLBLUE
FALL2016
L
etme be frank. I'mnot the semi-pro athlete
you'd expect tobe penning a story about
his experiences deep in the powderedpeaks
of theCanadianRockies. I'm far from the thickly
bearded, first-ascenting,Krakauer-esque regaler of
epic tales of deep and steep face shots fromwhat
manyhadwarnedmewouldbe the cat trip to ruin
all subsequent cat trips.
I'm average. Average enoughon the slopes that the
ideaof visiting theShangri-Laof snowcat ops strikes
mewith anxiety.Can I keepup?Can Imeasure
up?Will I ruin the experienceof other guests by
getting stuck in a gully, neckdeep and flailing to
excavatemyself? Iwas born in thePrairies and spent
my formative years riding thebigBlues of southern
Ontario. Am I really ready for this?
There's now talkofme tagging alongwithpro
skiersNickMcNutt andRobHeule for theweek,
so there's that, too.
My imagination runswild (what I lack inprowess
on the hill, Imake up for in this area)with scenes
of rope rescues andhelicopter evacs (and the sullen
faces ofmynewfound cork-crazed companions
as they lookonwithdisappointment, orworse,
ridicule). I chronicallywaver frombeing in shape
andbeing a pile and, well, I'm just likemanyof
you fine readers—a run-of-the-mill adventurer
who's just trying to stayout of thenews.
So as I stand in the parking lot, waiting toboard a
cat up to IslandLakeLodge, I trymybest to look
the part—cooly searching for a sense ofwhat's
goingon, what's comingnext andwhat it's going
take tonot embarrassmyself in the comingdays.
As the first cat appears, dusk envelops thenow
pink-huedpeaks of the toweringLizardRange
aboveus.Of course I nab shotgun, using the
opportunity tobombard thedriverwith all the
questions you'd expect from a slightlyneurotic,
abundantlyover-excitedoutdoor journalist:What's
it likeworkinghere?Do youget to ski everyday?
Youget to ski everyday, don't you? I hear the food's
good. Is it good? (It's unbelievablygood: five-star
good.)How longhave youbeendoing this?
"Been in the area 25 years,"Marcelin sayswith
his nativeQuebecois patois. "Hitchhiked all the
wayout here, withmy skis. Beenhere ever since."
TraceCookewithabackflip intoduck fluff softness. MIKEMCPHEE
