The Kootenays are definitely my favorite mountains to shred ever! There is something about that place, the people, the terrain, the vibe. Everytime I get there, I get pow and sun and it’s always a blast! And how could I get a better start of the year then a full week in Retallack organized by Billabong and Oakley with Marie-France Roy, Grete Eliassen and Jenny Jones?
AFM and MFR
Retallack is a cat skiing operation in interior BC, their terrain is great, steep runs in the trees, pillows and cliffs everywhere in amazing pow! Cat riding is the best way to hit fresh pow on each run and eat delicious gourmet food! I had been to the surrounding mountains before but not to that one yet. I was a bit worried as far as the amount of snow we would find, as the side road banks looked very poor, but the second we made the turn to Retallack all became white and powdery!
Carl the Gnarl
As we arrived it snowed the first couple days so we found some sweet pillows in the trees and a dope log on the second day. We were quite a big crew but we all found a different cool spot to shred and shoot along the cat track which made it easier on the flash carrying. Our cat driver was Carl the Gnarl, and that day he lit up a fire for us. Pretty unusual but so nice to hang by the fire after shooting in big pow..
Carl is pretty awesome! He is the master of stokeness, always cheering for us… I’d hear his encouragement from the top of a cliff on the other side of the valley. He would fuel us with schnaps on the last run of the day, pretty fun to ride down the cat track all the way to the lodge hitting the sides and airing every time you get a chance to. A bit tipsy too which makes it especially fun!
This was a girls trip and times are fun when you hang out with those girls! Major singing and dancing sessions on the lift up in the cat, fun times and laughs but also goat imitating sessions. Yep, this is how we do it!
The weather turned to blue sky for the next couple days, and we hit more pillows, more cliffs and more pow! In the evenings Carl would read us the poem he wrote about each day! And they were funnier every time! Of course he wasn’t shy of telling everyone about our stupidness on the mountain nor about my female standing pee device. Yes these things a great! Backing it 100%!
Seriously we had so much on that trip! Jenny got the whole lodge to play charades, after dinner, and that’s besides playing normal stuff like ping pong or pool! We for sure had a great time, and once again we had great conditions!
I love you girls! Thanks for the great times! Thanks to Oakley and Billabong for taking us there! And thanks to Retallack for giving us such a great time!
