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North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:59 am
by skykilo
Just another epic day in the Coast Mountains.

Today's playground:
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Fitzsimmons is the peak in the middle. The North Face is the beautiful, clean slope that makes a clean descent with a slight diagonal to the left. Iago is the shorter peak in the sun on the left. The West Face is the plum line from looker's right of the summit that forms a V with the North Face of Fitzsimmons.

After skiing both, I couldn't decide which line is better. So let's ski both in a day.

This northeast-facing slope below the summit of Overlord has always given me pause. We crossed it one at a time. My first two times up there, we skied from the summit of Fitzsimmons via the southwest facing slope in the sun then crossed the notch and traversed to the North Face.
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What do you know: Direttissimo? This time, the direct line from the summit where sun meets shade looked good to go.

Naomi on the other side of Overlord.
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A short, steep bootpack to the summit of Fitzsimmons.
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On the direttissimo. Naomi has recently deviated a bit from her Austrian racing roots to ski some steeps with me.
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The other day she said, "I think I like steep skiing."

What's not to like?
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Alex seems to like it too.
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The recent warm storm caused the whole North Face to rip a massive slab. But since then, there's been enough new snow to refresh it. So the same weather that has so many people biting their pillows allows us to shred these lines with impunity. Praise Jah!

Below the crown line, the North Face was skiing so well.
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Can't see the powder? It is a North Face at 51*N in January, which makes the light flat. Here's an animated version that makes it easier to see the pow spraying over the rocks.
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Alex enjoys more NF pow.
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Naomi skins with Fitzsimmons and Overlord behind her.
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Alex at a col to get to the Iago Glacier, Macbeth in the sun behind him. "Light alpine winds" my ass.
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A minor routefinding error on my part plus a minor emotional meltdown kept us from the summit of Iago in daylight. But it was the best alpine steep skiing I've ever done by headlamp. This line is so choice!

Creek crossing on the climb from Fitzsimmons Creek to Russet Lake.
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A break at the Russet Hut and some of Maddy's delicious cooking helped Naomi and I prepare for our late-night descent to Whistler. Cowboy Ridge had more fun headlamp powder skiing and the Singing Pass Trail was in very smooth shape.

xoxox,
...

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:53 am
by ziff
You guys are on a roll! I bet the beers after this day went down smoothly as well.

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:14 am
by ryanl
get a job dude. Oh wait......you have two.

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:23 pm
by Alex
Ya. Thanks for helping me avoid the emotional melt down disaster that might have been.
I'll put some pictures up from my camera today.

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 5:29 pm
by Maddy
"Light apline winds" my ass. I totally agree with that statement! And I'm glad you enjoyed the food. We definitely had enough to share with you guys!

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:15 pm
by naomig
Yeah, thanks heaps for the warm food. It helped heaps. I'm still recovering from my longest day yet skiing.

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:28 pm
by Alex
Naomi. I think you've been spending too much time at Whistler this past week. You're starting to sound Australian.

But also. Bonus pictures from Fitzsimmons

Sky looks small on this rad face
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Pow
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Then it was Naomi's turn to shred some steep powder
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After this I didn't take any pictures... the light wasn't right or something along those lines. Fun skiing though!

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 8:09 pm
by naomig
Alex wrote:Naomi. I think you've been spending too much time at Whistler this past week. You're starting to sound Australian.
It's not the Aussies! I lived in the UK for 5 years and the Aussies get if from there anyway.

Re: North Face of Fitzsimmons + West Face of Iago

Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 4:02 am
by DonJuanPakistan
Yo Alex you got some great shots. I froth over this TR.