Valhalla
Mountain Touring is in central British Columbia, about 40
miles NNW of Nelson. Here's
some basic information:
The lodge is a beautiful wood beam building, sleeps about
12 comfortably with
double and triple bunk rooms, and has a large dinning / kitchen /
living area
The
lodge is at about 5800ft, about 1hr by snow-cat from the nearest road.
The advantage of cat access over heli is no weather holds. Co-ordinates
if you want to look on Google Earth, etc. are N50 05 29.7 W117 35 24.5.
There is electric for lighting, stereo, heating, etc.,
supplied from a micro-hydro installation, and a pretty good satellite
internet connection.
Main lodge is heated by wood-stove. A
wood-fired sauna, shower, and drying room are in the
near-by out-building
Generally there are two guides for 12 clients
All skiing is under your own power (skin up, ski down).
We did a
little over 6000ft per day. The terrain accessed from the lodge is a
mixture of trees and alpine, depending on weather and conditions.
For a catered stay the cook prepares breakfast, lays out
sandwich items for lunch, makes appetizers for the return from skiing,
and serves dinner about 7pm. And the food is good.
The
pick-up point is near New Denver BC, which is about 60mi (35mi as the
crow flies) from Nelson,
and about 200mi north of Spokane. Pick-up is about 11am Sunday,
drop-off
about 9:30am the following Sunday.
Times and distances
for our skiing day-by-day (some times are over-estimates)
Maps with track for each day's skiing, printed from Garmin
- more detailed
and
less detailed
Monday February 18 - Little Sister (click on image to see
larger version)
Tuesday and Wednesday - Caribou Ridge and Shannon Lake
The model, the hoar frost, and riding the snowmobile back to the lodge
Friday - 'Shroom Room (via Ruby Ridge)
Saturday - Ruby Bowl - Eric the reaper and steep lines