Red Mountain

From 05

View from top of Red Mtn.

Red Mountain is a nice place located right next to Rossland, BC. It has a good choice of hills and lifts, yada yada yada. It offers a lot of skiable terrain, and a lot of unskiable terrain, which I got to experience. Walking up the wrong hill, and skiing down on the wrong side, leaves you somewhere near the bottom of a valley with nowhere to go but up.

Thanks to my new Black Diamond climbing skins (oh! Look! They use PHP) I was able to get back up to the ski area while it was still light. Thanks to my new Black Diamond climbing skins, I ended up in that valley in the first place. It would never have happened had I only had my skis and lift pass. Lesson learned. While walking uphill, I learned that:

• It's a good idea to bring food and water if you're gonna end up in a forgotten valley two mountains away from the ski hill
• It's hard to melt snow to get drinking water, even if your body should be able to do it.
• A great many things pass through your mind, like: Wow! Are those bear tracks? And: Wow! What an amazing view! And: Will I survive this?
• Dead Man was a great movie - but why am I thinking about this depressing film about the journey towards death right now?
• It's really nice to finally get back on the groomed slopes.
  

From 05

Bear tracks?