Illecillewaet (and the bare necessities)

one of my very favorite place names, along with Terwillegar...

though some mistakedly think that Illecillewaet is a native word meaning "fast flowing", i was told by a certain smarty pants (after one too many inquiries about what fish might be found in the incredible snow fringed streams at the base of the climb up to the Dome at Rogers Pass) that it means "river without fish"...

so i'm ecstatic to report that i survived my (long awaited) very first backcountry ski adventure (yippppeeeeee!!!!). though the first day could pretty much be summed up by the word "awkward", and the second day up to Balu Pass by "awesome", my introduction to touring also included falling A LOT, skiing (or should i say falling with fluffier landings) on phenomenal deep powder, falling A LOT some more, endless beatiful snow covered trees, the sound of mountain streams (with which i narrowly avoided having intimate encounters on several occasions), discovering a latent talent for getting tangled in alder (and a disappointing lack of talent for getting untangled from alder), skiing in the dark (falling in the dark hurts just as much as falling in the light, in case anyone was wondering), a broken binding (nothing a little duct tape and a super handy strap-a-roo couldn't fix), pretty much constant song and laughter (what would the world be without 80's rock?), and one of the best meals I can remember (at least since my birthday!).

While touring around in Balu, I was thinking about the devastating avalanche that happened there two years ago that kept me out of the back-country that season (despite being all gung-ho after taking an avalanche course)... It all looked so peaceful and innocent in there - made the seriousness of avalanche danger really hit home.

Just might have to try it again sometime - and will definitely have to rent The Jungle Book to celebrate!

Bagheera: Now this takes the brains, not the brawns.
Baloo: You better believe it and I'm loaded with both.

ps - all photos are "borrowed" since it was all could do to keep up without trying to deal with a camera this time around...