Last Thursday, with the backcountry not quite stellar, the Geezers decided to snowshoe instead.
With Craig McBride as leader, the hardy band of six headed out. This is the first time Jim and I have snowshoed the Larch Hills trails – in fact, the first time on snowshoes! It was quite the learning curve. Most unsettling for me was the fact one cannot glide downhill. It took me awhile to move from ski to snowshoe mode!
We explored trails I had never been on including Lucy, Bail Out, Moose Trail and Lost In The Woods. Experiencing Bilbo’s Bog from the snowshoe trail as opposed to the ski trail was an eye opener. Up Moose Trail, across Larch Hills Road to Interpretive Trail, around to Frodo’s Bog where we had lunch, to Pentti’s Shelter along Larch Hills Road beside the ski tracks (careful not to mess up the tracks) and down Lost In The Woods to the chalet. Three-and-a-half hours – a solid introduction to snowshoeing!
I can now appreciate the allure of snowshoeing and understand why a large number of our Larch Hills membership are snowshoers!
Apparently, March is the month of “Embracing Aging.” I feel I did exactly that by competing in the BC Cross-Country Championships on March 1 at Telemark, West Kelowna. Saturday was the classic technique day so I joined the rest of the Larch Hills racers at the event. So fun to see the Under 8 year olds on the start line! Their one-kilometre distance was as big as challenge to them as my 7-km was to me! The large numbers of skiers in the U10, U12, U14, U16,and U18 boys and girls bodes well for the health of the sport.
Kaden Baum did an admirable job in the ParaNordic Sit Men category. When it came to my turn at the start line for the 2X3.75-km, lots of senior skiers, 20 to 30-year olds, were out on the course. I had 15 years on my next opponent, the only entry in the 70+ category. men or women. It was humbling to have all these young, fit skiers whip past me, especially on the hills (and there were alot of hills!) where they herringboned up each hill in dancing mode! Strong and fit.
The atmosphere at the BC Champs is terrific – folks cheering, everyone so pumped to be part of the event. Thanks to Jim plus Sheila and Alan Corbett for being at the finish line as I was the final competitor to cross the line. Pretty cool, also, to have three generations of Beckners in the championships – Maggie, Suzy and me. It was a special weekend.
The Larch Hills race team is off to Nationals in Canmore next weekend. Best of luck in their races!
On Wednesday, Steve Rodwell, coordinator of the School Ski program, and Jana, LH staff in charge of programs, organized an appreciation lunch for the LH volunteers who had given their time and expertise to classes which came up to the hill to experience cross-country skiing. A nice touch.
I have written before about how being a LH ski volunteer with these class outings is so very fun and fulfilling. Hanging out at the lunch with some of the other volunteers was great.
George Zorn , Keith Cox and company have been measuring snow depth in the Larch Hills at various points since 2007. They measure snow depth at the Parking Lot (1,000 metres), ,South Hub (1,057m), Cec’s Cabin (1,200m), and at The Summit (1,400m.) George and Keith have posted on the Larch Hills Nordic website the comparison between the average over the past 18 years and the January, 2025 measurements. But for the Parking Lot, the 2025 snow depths are less than the average. March 2025 depths are coming soon. There is also a graph of early March snow depths by elevation 2007-2024. Check out the website at skilarchills.ca to view all the graphs, and check out the wonderful photos taken at the Summit.
Lots of snow in the Larch Hills. Last Wednesday it snowed all day! Came across a group of gals from Powell River on a Tour de Nordic Clubs. We have chatted with a number of such groups. Invariably, they comment, “Wish we had more days here to ski! It’s the best!”
No need to Think Snow – we’ll resume that next November!
