NorthSouthEastWest: The update.

Hello girls and boys,

It's time for a quick update. So upon the return to Kamloops it was off to the Mistaya Lodge for 8 days of backcountry ski touring. The lodge was awesome and the conditions were GREAT for snow science. Conditions were not so great for improving ski skills and I found out that the skills I thought I had for skiing were imposters. I enjoyed the snow science, I enjoyed the touring but when it came time to go down, stress level went up. JM a second year student who jumped on the trip to pick up the pieces was awesome, as were the instructors Terry and Jordy as us skiing newbs made it through the 8 days.

So again I found myself in the same place as kayak one. There is one difference here. Trees are scary to me. Water is not scary to me. Needless to say at the present time I will not be focusing any energy in ski touring. I have no doubt that one day I will decide to pick it up recreationally, when I have time to develop my ski skills. But for now, I am going to stick with the water, rock climbing and some good old fashioned hiking.

After ski touring it was back to the classroom. Natural history and international expedition planning were on the menu. I have to admit it was hard to sit back in class and its even harder when we go to class for a week, then get a week or more off, then go back for a week, then get another week or so off. But regardless Jessie and I are planning a kick-butt trip to Baffin Island, where we will ski tour (on x-country skis) and then pick up some kayaks and kayak the rest of the way. Pretty stoked to maybe one day do it!

On the time off between classes it has been road trip after road trip after road trip! I have found myself on my Aunt and Uncles doorstep for the past three weekends and am trying to do my best to not end up there again this up coming weekend. The first weekend was a five day, four paddling day road trip. Paddled the Chilliwack River in the Lower Mainland and then the Capilano River in North Vancouver. It was an awesome roadtrip and Aunt Bea was taken to a whole new level with four boats, a bike for shuttle, four people and all paddling and camping gear required! The next weekend was an interesting one, where I didn't actually paddle but slept in a car with Search and Rescue out the window. The link to the news story is poster below. Needless to say I know the guys. Then this past weekend, the third weekend, Joel and I embarked on a sea kayak adventure! We headed to the Sunshine Coast. It was not sunny nor shiny but an awesome experience in weather and decision making. It gave me a great new perspective on what conditions in ocean waters can be. Most of the gear got wet but thanks to stellar drysuits and dry bags the important stuff stayed dry.

So after coming back from the Sunshine Coast, we spent a few days in Vancouver with my family and took the opportunity to go to the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival. For me this was an awesome experience but the post above this one tells all about that.

So what is up next? Well there are a few more days of classroom stuff left and then it is a three or four week break for me and I have no idea what I am going to be doing. I think another sea kayak trip with a few of the second years and just generally trying to find some awesome stuff to do! At the end of March water courses start and will take me right up until May when we embark on our 21-day sea kayak expedition from Port Hardy to Bella Bella. Pretty stoked for that. After the expedition I will start my job day guiding for a company that operates out of Tofino and Uclulet and should have the final word on where and what I will be working this week.

Ta-ta for now,

K

The news report containing friends and SAR!