Keeping track of Evan: A post for the K2 blog

Here is a blog post I wrote up to kind of introduce myself and the lodge for my new ski sponsor K2. If you haven't skied on the new series of K2 skis you are truly missing out. Right now I am starting to amass my quiver, and the first two pairs are in the rotation. My slugger of the line-up is definitely the Sidestash. Not for the faint of heart, it is a bit beefy for weight (a little over 9lbs) but with tip rocker, metal, and some side wall/cap construction, this ski delivers no matter what you are doing. High speed GS turns, quick reaction tree shots, mega float in the deep pow. I am very excited about these skis. I have them mounted with Dyanfit TLT classics for weight savings, and ski them with my Scarpa Spirit 4 boots. The other pair I have is the Waybacks. Super light at under 7lbs, I pair these with my Scarpa F3's for the long, far and fast tours. These skis still float really well at 125mm at the tip, and I barely notice them on my feet. Check out the whole backside line, you won't be disappointed...

Any way, here is my blog post, with some great photos from a few weeks ago by Fred Marmsater, amazing shots!

If you are reading this, you are a die hard skier. And if you are a die hard skier, then you have, or should have, a dream to ski in the backcountry of British Columbia. Long since my youth, I have flipped through the pages of ski mags, and more and more photos of the skiers Shangri-la have graced the pages of those mags. There are a few good reasons for this, and I have come to fully appreciate them over the last 5 years as the manager, lead guide, and now owner of a backcountry ski lodge in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia.

Tucked away in a sub range known as the Valhallas, Valhalla Mountain Touring sits along the west side of the Selkirks. About halfway between the powder skiing meccas of Nelson and Revelstoke, we are graced with the perfect ingredients for backcountry bliss.

First things first, skiing is nothing without the mountains. Even if it snows just a little bit, people will ski the hills, just look at Colorado! The Valhallas might not be the tallest peaks in the world, but the deep lake filled valley bottoms are up to 7,000’ vertical below craggy summits. A few neves and glaciers dot the big peaks, and the snow starts to pile up in October. Not too far from the coast, so the moisture can make it, but far enough away that the storms cool down in temperature, and the air is not arctic cold. High enough mountains for snow to fall all winter, but still low enough that you aren’t sucking wind. Spruce and fir grace the hillsides to give you shelter and soft snow in the gnarly storms, but treeline is gained quickly for widespread vistas on the days when the snow isn’t flying. And the best part of it all? Hardly anyone around to enjoy it. This ain’t Was-Angeles, and there is no fighting the I-90, I-70, LCC, Sea-to-sky highway parking lots.

Every week of the winter a group of about 12 people make the journey up to our place in the hills. And what they get is what I just preached about. In my mind the resorts give us the skills, the ski area boundaries give us a place to test our skills and push ourselves, and the unexploited backcountry of the world, like the Valhallas, is where we go to have our adventures, to make memories and to fulfill our dreams that we started to have when flipping through the magazine pages...

Here’s a few shots to inspire you to get up to the Promised Land of British Columbia. Take a vacation, quit your job, win the lottery, marry a cute Canadian girl (like I did). Do what it takes to lay down some tracks in BC! And stay tuned…I will keep you posted on how it goes up here in powder Mecca.