Escape into our backcountry

DECEMBER 5, 2018 • WINTER JOURNAL • BY ANNELIES ELLERMAN

I love snow.
There is something idyllic and cozy about it that cheers me up during the short winter days. Without the city lights, the forest knows total darkness. But when all is blanketed in snow, it seems to become brighter. Luckily we get tons and tons of it, for a long time. I especially love the “champagne powder” we have here. It is like dust, so fluffy and light. For us europeans it’s something we’ve never seen or felt before.

I’m not too crazy about the cold though.
We are often asked how cold it gets. Honestly (and very happily!) I can say, not that cold. Once or twice we have a cold spell lasting a week or so, when temperatures may drop to -20℃ during the day. But otherwise days are just below zero, keeping the snow nice and fresh. Big BIG plus is, there’s hardly any wind here. Those familiar horizontal winds blowing you off your feet and chilling you to the bone? Not here in Ymir.

So we take any chance to ski.
Not so often on the slopes any more, but off-piste through the trees where the snow is soft and deep. It’s more fun, it’s an adventure. Our favourite ski resort is nearby Whitewater Ski Resort. The few lifts take you to a backcountry you cannot believe so beautiful. And it’s never hard to find a spot where no one has been before. Kootenay pass - backcountry skiers paradise - is another favourite of ours. It's just you and nature over there, skin up and ski down wherever you like (and be safe of course).

But our absolute favourite is and remains to ski (and snowshoe) right here, in our own backyard. I always seem to drift back to where I’m from, The Netherlands, when I click on my skis at our doorstep, skin the paths past the cabins and up the mountain. I smile.

Like you probably, to be able to is impossible back home, but it is possible here.