Wed, Dec 30 2015, Thu, Dec 31 2015, Fri, Jan 1 2016 - New Year's at Skoki Lodge (3 days/2 nights) (View Original Event Details)
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Three of us spent an incredible New Year's at Skoki Lodge. The weather forecast indicted a high pressure system, which meant beautiful blue skies. Forecast was around -8°C ... until it changed the morning that we started. As we reached Lake Louise in the morning, the temperature was -30°C and the Weather Network indicated that it felt like -41°C. That meant all of our layers, including balaclavas, went on and there wouldn't be much stopping along the way.
We were skiing up the valley as the sun was still behind the mountains, so were happy to be in the sun once we reached Ptarmigan Lake. Thankfully there was no wind at all, which even made Deception Pass quite bearable. The descent down from Deception was, as always, 'interesting'. It seems like no matter what one does, there end up being falls. The trail was hard packed, so one could actually have walked all the way to Skoki! Snowshoers were faster than skiers. And by 2pm the sun was behind the mountains, again making the temperature plummet.
We reached Skoki Lodge around 3pm and were treated to afternoon tea and soup. It was delicious! Our room was upstairs in the lodge, and beds and duvets were new from the last time I stayed there. It was sooooo comfortable! With the extreme cold, though, the lodge didn't warm up as much as it normally does and most of us were in down jackets all evening. Dinner consisted of salmon, prawns, squash, potato, and chocolate cake. This backcountry lodge business is such a difference from halting dehydrated food :-).
Breakfast was another big feast, and again it was a sunny day, so we explored around Merlin Meadows. Today the sun dipped behind the peaks just after 12:00pm (we were lower down), so again it felt cold, although the thermometer showed around -20°C. Apparently the humidity was very high as well. The afternoon and evening were spent socializing in the lodge with new friends, and dinner consisted of a massive roast. With it being New Year's Eve, we all decided that we'd spend New Year's on Eastern time so that we could go to sleep. However, with out first New Year's done at 10pm, we sat outside, watched the stars, enjoyed great company, and time just flew by so that we had New Year's again at midnight. It was magical under that starry sky.
Leaving Skoki is never fun, but we set off around 10:30am to make our way up Deception Pass. As we reached the top, other guests we had met at Skoki offered us chocolate - a nice treat in the sun! It was also here that we felt a massive inversion. Our faces were beginning to burn, we kept skiing right into the sun, and the temperature on Ptarmigan Lake skyrocketed to +8°C, quickly changing the texture of the snow. An avalanche came plummeting down a mountain to the side. We enjoyed the ski down from Boulder Pass, playing in the snow.
What a great way to run in the new year! I think we'll have to do it again next year.