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Sunday, April 25, 2004

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
Tracks through Jo-Pal. The rocks to the left of the tracks are visible to the left center of the previous picture. Wonderland, group of good ski lines on this same hillside, lies the the left, below the bench that the road crosses.


Skiing on Jo-Pal. This slope is in the breach in the ridge that separates Jo-Pal, Megahooped and Wonderland from the Windlip. The Windlip is beyond the top of this slope.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
At the top of Wonderland. This group's ready to rock and roll! The background is the upper Lodge Ridge with the Golf Course at its' base as it rises to Spruce Pass, just out of the photo to the right.

Here's what they may be looking at.

Saturday, April 24, 2004

Powder Skiing Guide at Chatter Creek
Guide, Josh Milligan awaits his flock near the top of Jo-Pal, after skiing through from the Windlip. The elevation at this point is over 9000 ft. Snowcat skiing has no real altitude restriction.


Powder skiing on Wonderland on a misty day. Wonderland is a large area with many lines. It lies on the north side of Megahooped, below the bench crossed by the road to Vertebrae glacier. The slope has a nice gradient.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
Powder skiing in the Megahoop Trees. The vertical drop is not great here, but there are some nice glades and the snow is very protected. It's usually fine for a few runs on the way to or from the Vertebrae glacier.

One day, it was snowing so hard we happily spent most of a day in these trees. By the time we worked through all the best "lines", our first tracks were completely snowed in. It was a great day of powder skiing!

The road to Vertebrae glacier runs beneath the Megahoop trees, skirts them, and then rises to traverse across above them.


A view from the Megahooped Trees. The Road to Vertebrae Glacier passes at the bottom of the hill. Lodge Ridge and Mommy's Run is on the opposite slope.

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Four buddies enjoying their trip home form the glacier.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
The road to Vertebrae glaceir as it traverses beneath Jo=Pal. Wonderland and Bouncing Chuckles lie below the road. The road skirts the far ridge and then rises behind the ridge to a col located behind the highest point on the horizon.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
The world's largest halfpipe.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
The road winds up and up...a.staircase to Vertebrae glacier that offers great powder skiing on the way back. The return trup offers wonderful powder skiing.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
After traversing Wonderland, the road winds up and around the far ridge and onto the Windlip. The top of Wonderland lies in the lower center of the photo and the top of Bouncing Chuckles is in the lower right.

Alpine scenery at Chatter Creek
A view from the Windlip and the road to Vertebrae glacier. The Windlip offers many good powder skiing lines. In the background is upper Lodge Ridge. At it's base lies the "golf course"

The road to the Windlip
The road has divided. The branch to the Keyhole and the Vertebrae glacier is behind us and we are progressing to the top of the Windlip. The great blowhole is on our left. It's huge!

Snowcat Skiing at Chatter Creek
A Chatter Creek Bombardier snowcat approaches the top of the Windlip and the entry to Jo-Pal. The blowhole, after which the Windlip is named, is just visible at the bottom left of the photo. The road to Vertebrae glacer rises in the background to the Keyhole, which is just visible beyond the blowhole.


Rich and Jack take a rest on Jo-Pal, on the long run back from Vertebrae glacier. Spruce Pass is just out of the picture to the right. The "Golf Course" lies at the bottom of the slope on the right and the Megahooped trees are visible to the left. Bouncing Chuckles and Wonderland are on this hillside, but lower and out of sight.

Thursday, April 08, 2004

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
Tailgunner Mat on the Home Run. We hope some helpful client might send us some more pictures. Usually, by this time of the day, no one is thinking about taking pictures. We're "nackered" and the bar and the hot tub are not far away.


The top of the Home Run cut block. Its a long run still to the bottom.


Tracks on Dewer's bowl on the west flank of upper Lodge Ridge. This area goes on and on, with many good lines. This is a long hillside with a very consistent pitch. The slope is steeper than appears in this shot looking up the hill.

Wednesday, April 07, 2004


Ryan Jones and his cat skiing group on"Crystal Lite", just south of Mommy's Run on Lodge Ridge. Those are the Megahooped Trees in the gully below, through which passes the road to Vertebrae glacier.


Drop-off on upper Lodge Ridge atop Dewar's Bowl. This was a great day of cat skiing. The west side of Lodge Ridge provides a huge amoung of wonderful powder skiing. The Chatter Creek tenure goes on and on.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
A group ready for pickup after skiing the Megahoop trees. The eastern slope of Lodge Ridge is seen on the left. Spruce Pass appears in the background. The same pickup serves Mommy's Run and Crystal Lite.

Cat Skiing on Lodge Ridge
Snowboarder and photo contributor Phil Fortier riding on Mommy's Run. The Road to Vertebrae glaceier and Spruce Pass is seen at the top of this photo by Bill Frans.

Cat Skiing on Lodge Ridge
Riding on Mommy's Run. This slope is fairly steep and has many interesting features.

Home Run on Lodge Ridge
The "Home Run" cut block at the base of Lodge Ridge. Vertebrae Lodge is visible in the valley, beyond the shoulder of the hill. This slope can provide a great end to a day of cat skiing.

Powder Skiing at Chatter Creek
The east side of Upper Lodge Ridge as seen from Wonderland with the run back from Spruce Pass (the "Golf Course") visible at the bottom of the picture.


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Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Ski photography by Mark Gallup
© Mark Gallup
Our favorite picture from the Enchanted Forest is this shot of Ryan Oakden from our collection of Mark Gallup photos.


On the west side of the East Ridge, snow in the Enchanted Forest has a limited lifespan. A day or so of sunny weather after a storm creates sun crust on the exposed slope. On the east side of the ridge, however, the tree skiing just goes, and goes.