Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118160
BACK COUNTRY THE Tao OF Pow KNOW SOME SKIERS who are looking to spread their alpine wings but aren't sure they have the chops for chopper-assist runs? The heliski pioneers at Canadian Mountain Holidays have the solution: Powder 101 sorties. "There's a myth that heli-skiing is all about jumping off cliffs like a big-air artist in a Warren Miller film," says CMH director Sarah Pearson. "The truth is, any reasonably strong intermediate skier can conquer our mountains." >> CMH professor of powder Roko Koell, a fourth-generation mountain and ski guide from the East Tyrolean village of Matrei, leads powder novices down the easier shoulders of the Bugaboos and Cariboos while video recording technique for review back at the lodge. By graduation, skiers are comfortable loading in and out of helicopters, competent in deep powder and able to carve nice curvy lines down the sides of magnificent, desolate peaks. THE GIFT Powder 101 Intro. Five to seven days, $5,000 to $10,770. produced by Rob Howatson canadianmountainholidays.com COMMUNITY White KNIGHTS CANADA'S FIRST few attempts to master Yukigassen were staged January through March 2011. Winter 2011-2012 tournaments are to be contested in nine western Canadian locales, including Vancouver and Apex Mountain Resort, just 33 km west of Penticton. Canada's 2011 national champions, the Saskatchewan Grizzlies, will represent Canada at the world championships in Japan, in February 2012. AN "ORGANIZED snowball fight" sounds like a contradiction in terms. But that's exactly what's involved in Yukigassen (or snow battle), a Japanese sport invented in 1989 that is fast becoming a global craze after being co-opted by Scandinavia, Holland, Australia and, most recently thanks to sports-mad Canucks, Western Canada. >> Combining elements of dodge ball with the more unruly aspects of a winterized backyard brawl, the dynamic game is toughed out on a 10-by-40-metre snow court marked by Styrofoam barriers and two flags. Two teams of seven battle in three-minute periods, with victory awarded to the side that first captures the opposing team's flag or "tags" each of its members. The ammunition: 540 pre-made snowballs, or 90 per team per period, each one rock-hard. Understandably, competitors sport helmets and goggles. yukigassencanada.com –Kerry Banks THE GIFT Yukigassen T-shirts, from $13.99: amazon.com (skier) Topher Donahue, (Yukigassen) Brian Gavrilo/CP images p14-17_FreshTrax.indd 14 11/1/11 2:10:18 PM