Lake O'Hara Lodge trip report: Feb 2012

February is time for our second annual winter trip to Lake O'Hara Lodge!  We had SO MUCH FUN last year - five-star dining, incredible snow, expert guiding, beautiful accommodations - that we simply had to book another trip!

Day Zero: Ski-in the 11km road.

Getting there is half the battle!

We left the parking lot approx. 1pm, took 3:45 to ski up the 12km road. 1.5km into the uphill slog, I determined that I wore the wrong socks and had a nasty blister on inside of right ankle. It was the only foot incident the entire trip, so I was smart to change my socks right away. 

Otherwise, nice day to ski up a mountain, good conversation with love of my life.

 En route, we passed the Lake O'Hara campground, one of our favourite summer destinations.  It is still possible to camp here in the winter, but the running water and outhouse aren't available.  The cook shed still has access.  Lots of snow!

One of two cook sheds at Lake O'Hara Campground

But in wintertime, we ski past the campground to the Lake O'Hara Lodge!  Our hosts Bruce and Alison, along with their team, welcomed us with afternoon tea goodies.  Perfect!  We were shown to our rooms (a bit rustic, but warm and comfortable!), and said hello to some familiar faces from last year.  After a scrumptious dinner we turned in early - I managed to get 10 hours of sleep in preparation for the next 4 days.

Day One: Feb 10

Bright and sunshine, blue sky, some gossamer clouds hugging the peaks.

After a knife and fork breakfast we geared up and headed from the Lodge to Schaffer Meadows, past the Elizabeth Parker Alpine Hut, and up Oderay Mountain to the big boulder in the middle of the snow.  There were approx. 15 of us that set out for the day, 7 AT skiers and the rest on snowshoes.  I was surprised by the large number of snowshoers - I think they sometimes have an advantage going uphill, their gear is much lighter, but nothing beats flying through powder on skis coming down!  At this point in the day we split up: the skiers stayed with experienced mountain guide James Blench, while the snowshoers hooked up with Bruce.  As skiers, we were able to go up and down several times, taking advantage of fresh pow on slopes like Sunny Boy and Buzz Wall.  

Oderay Mountain

Lake O'Hara Lodge cabins under Wiwaxy Peak

View towards Oesa

Looking back at our tracks on Sunny Boy

Looking at the Boulder on Sunny Boy

Climbing up to Sunny Boy

My Boy in the Sun

Lake O'Hara

We ended up in the same place at the close of the day: Easy Slut near Linda Lake.  Easy Slut is a huge, wonderful, open bowl with plenty of snow to go around! 

After we regrouped the skiers, it was time to contour the edge of the mountain back past the Alpine huts, then down to the Lodge, where afternoon tea goodies were waiting, along with a fully stoked sauna, then another five-star dinner! 


We skied approx. 12km over a 5.5hour time period today. 

Day Two: Feb 11

This morning we saw low clouds over the lake, with the sun pushing its way through.  It made for some cool lighting, lots of yellows and blues. 

Skiing across the Lake

James led us towards the Opabin Plateau, where sunshine and glittering snow waited for us.

 Our objective for the day was to summit Opabin Glacier.  We stopped to fuel up on the Plateau and were surprised how quickly the sun traveled across the col.  After a quick bite of gourmet sandwiches, we headed UP. 

There were several sharp, steep switchbacks that we needed to make on the steep pitch.  The final 50m we took off the skis and toe climbed to the top. 


The view over the edge was jaw-dropping! The temperature was quickly dropping, so we had to pull out the down and thermal gear! 

The view from the top was worth every step:

Opabin Glacier and Plateau looking towards Lake O'Hara

I was nervous on the initial few steps of the downhill: the snow was sugary and moved underfoot, and the exposed rocks made me nervous.  I was also carrying my pack and skis and poles - and I fell.  I didn't go far, but I managed to crank my knee on a rock.  Ouch.  Get this: I have a scrape on my knee, but no cut in my pants.  Weird.  The knee got my adrenalin pumping, so my nerves got the best of me for a few minutes.  Then one of the other guests reminded me to just point my skis downhill for a split second - she was right, after the first turn, I was back in business! 

The ride down was fun - lots of fresh snow, lots of speed. A quick slide across the lake, then back to the Lodge for more tea goodies! (and a sauna and more food - this is the life!)

Today we skied approx. 12km in 4.5hours.  Up the Glacier.  Nice. 

Day Three: Feb 12

Most of the guests were leaving today, back to reality in the city.  Lucky for us, we had booked an extra day!  Two other guests from Calgary were able to stay for the morning, so we had some snowshoers join us for part of the day. 

James guided us up to Schaffer Meadows, and beyond McArthur Pass to overlook Lake McArthur.  We have been here a couple of times in the summers, it's usually ice-bound well into July.  The day was overcast, so the scene looked like a black and white, digitally enhanced photo! 

Overlooking Lake McArthur

We played around in the snow on the ride home, watching for the thin layer of snow, hoping to avoid the barely covered rocks.  We headed back towards Oderay Prospect at the Bear Closure, where the snowshoe crowd headed home and James took us over to Missing Link, a glade-filled run full of powder mushrooms and fun!

The Missing Link spit us out at the bottom of Easy Slut, so we knew the route home: contour the mountain for 3km, past the Alpine Hut and down to the lodge - and yes, more tea goodies, sauna, relaxing, delicious dinner! 

Today we traveled 15km over 6.5hours.  Whew!

Day Four: Feb 13

Our departure day arrived too early!  We had time to sneak in a couple of quick runs on Schaffer Bowl and Larch with James before heading down the road again. 

Our travels today total 5km in 2 hours plus 12km ski-out in 1:15.  A much faster ride home!

More of our photos from this trip can be found on my SmugMug site:
http://graphixdiva.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Lake-OHara-Winter-2012/21487629_mDCt7D
 
Yes, we can hardly wait to return to Lake O'Hara and are busy planning our next adventure!