Weekly trips to Selkirk Lodge are all Guided. Due to the terrain they don’t seem like to have unguided groups there. This is a good and bad thing. If you are the type of skier who doesn’t get out much and is uncomfortable in unfamiliar terrain then a guided trip is for you. Potential issues are if you are a pretty experienced tourer, who can read a map and is comfortable exploring new terrain, if you join a group you could be limited to the weakest person in the group. This is not always an issue if there are enough guides such that the group can split up. If there are only two guides, and conditions are not permissive ( due to visibility or avalanche hazzard) you could be skiing in a huge group and your pace will be limited.
My advice would be to fill your own group and let the guide know what you’d like to do. If you join a group and your experience and expectations differ, well you’ll just have to make the best of it.
This is how the week works at Selkirk Lodge. We were in Revelstoke Friday night for a 5:30am meeting at Denny’s to sign waivers and get ready to go.
We were then shuttled to the Selkirk Tangiers staging area for our two flights into the Lodge.
Run Map – Click for bigger image.
Pano of area near Albert Icefield and Justice Glacier
Once at the Lodge we practice Transceiver searches to make sure we can rescue each other. The lodge is being reonovated to create more space and bring in more light. The lodge is 23 years old and is very well maintained and planned out.
We were catered by Kelly at Backcountry Bistro. She did a great job feeding us!
The Lodge – This is the second level and main living area. This is one of the seating areas.
This is the view of the eating table, fireplace and sun room. Nice cosy space for 15 people!
Sun Room. They do have yoga mats and a foam roller!
Another view of the second floor, kitchen is on the right.
Reinet was the caretaker this week. Water is obtained from snow and melted on this stove. The system worked out pretty well!
After breakfast Kelly laid out lunch – Meat, Cheese, Bread, Fruit, Bars, about 6 different assorted Kelly made bars too!
When we got back after skiing Kelly had MORE food ready for us! Nachoes, Cheese and Crackers, Spanokopitas to name a few!
Dinner every night was a very hearty affair.
Topped with a yummy desert.
The guests sleep on the third floor, this is the main sink area with a shower and pee toilet. 4 bedrooms are off this area. A loft upstairs is where the guides sleep. There is no running water, there is a shower bag for the shower and you bring water up for cleaning yourself.
Our water source! We filled up these buckets in the morning, afternoon and evening. Not as hard as hauling water…
There were two toilets outside for your ‘solid’ waste.
Our Guide Marco from Great Divide Mountaineering, Kelly to the left.
We flew out on time on Saturday and had a good drive home and were welcomed back to Vancouver to our typical weather.
