Snowy Lake O'Hara

Last weekend was a blast.  After a somewhat impulse decision to head to Elizabeth Parker Hut overnight, we met in Lake Louise at 9am.  The roads were poorer than expected and there was no blue sky, but off we went.  The parking lot should have been a sign to always test your gear beforehand.  I had skins for the skis, but they were set too small, so getting those hooks off with frozen fingers proved to be a challenge and probably set us back 15 minutes.
The skins were fun though and going uphill was no issue.  We were the first one on the old fireroad up, and, as it would turn out, were the only ones heading up that day.  After 2km we ran into a grade 7 class that had stayed at the hut the night before, so we knew the hut wouldn't have cooled off entirely.  I had noticed the helicopters hovering above that morning, so had become suspicious of increased avalanche activity.  A few minutes later, they shot one down.  Over the next few km, six natural avalanches came tumbling down, so the decision was made to stay in class 1 terrain - that would prove challenging enough for us.

We made decent time, so went to the lake first.  What a sight it is with the snow and to only have a handful of people up there.  After that we went to the hut.  No skis outside, and no people inside.  I got the fire going and the backpacks were unpacked before another short ski tour.  We aimed for the deep stuff to test what light touring skis really do, and there was too much snow for them up there.  After averaging about 1km/hr, we were at the south shore of the lake and decided to ski across.  Ski on light touring skis, not on water skis.  It was quite the adventure to say the least.

With the sun setting it was time to make a beeline to the hut.  Still no skis outside, and as it turned dark, we were indeed the only ones up there.  I took care of the wood, stocked up for the night, chopped some extra kindling for the next group, and got us water.  Not sure if it's best to leave men in the kitchen, but with 15 pounds of food between two of us, we could have survived a few days up there.  I was seriously stuffed.  And then the surprises came out - pudding, orange juice, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and fresh-baked buns.  Just looking at all that food I was more stuffed.

I spent a good portion of my evening playing with the camera and long exposures, shooting RAW for the first time to see what the big fuss is all about.  Needless to say, I've been converted (see comparison photos at the very end of this post).  The night was quiet and every couple of hours I got up to put more wood on the stove.

It was 8am by the time we got up.  We ate some more, I made some Bailey's over icicles fetched from the roof, and we ditched the morning tour to Morning Glory Lakes (because the snow surely would have drowned us), packed up, and were the fist people to have lunch at Lake O'Hara Lodge this season.  That alone was worth it - totally delicious.  The ski out took only 1 hour, 45 minutes, but we sure ended in a blizzard.  What a totally rewarding weekend.  January has never been so fun.

A couple of days later our mad dreaming started up again.  What shall we do next? Skoki? The Wapta traverse? Mount Athabasca?

Photography

These are a couple of images from my very first time shooting RAW.  The top image is as it would normally be shot by a camera. The lower image captures the raw data, which allows you to remove colour casts, adjust white balance after the fact, and more.  I think I've been converted as I'm much more attracted to the second image.

Original image

Image from RAW