Julie enjoys her birthday present, a few thousand vert of Kootenay cold smoke out of Valhalla Mountain Touring's Ruby Creek Lodge. Click images to enlarge.
Julie is legend. Co-owner of Climbing Magazine as it achieved astounding success back in the day. Lifelong skier who’s been around the planet at least thirty times on Ptex. Mother of alpinist Hayden Kennedy. Founder of 5Point Film Festival. And now proud owner of two new bionic knees — doing the ultimate in gear testing by logging laps in the Selkirk mountains of Canada. Makes binding testing look kind of meager (though she’s a WildSnow Girl so she does that too). Happy Birthday Julie!
Another Julie shot, this time by husband Michael. Kootenay powder, Valhalla!
That's Julie's husband, Michael. She taught him how to ski.
A few words from Julie:
“Wow, I have had some amazingly memorable days in my life, but my day as a WildSnow Girl, celebrating my birthday with friends and family at Valhalla Mountain Touring is right up there as the best day I’ve ever had on skis. So much to be grateful for – thank you Dawson family for making such a magical family holiday become reality, lodge owners Evan & Jasmin for including the Kennedys, Hayden and Louie for coming along and giving us such joy as our wonderful sons. You all have totally rocked my world!”
It’s always fun having someone’s birthday at a hut (Linzer tort birthday cake, toasts and singing, all better with a few meters of snow on the ground). More, today was one of those powder festivals that they say are common up here, but for those of us in Colorado are not exactly an every day event. A few more photos.
Our group, oh to toil, headed up for more human powered pow. Us, we just draft those guys up front.
Obligatory shot of Louie seeking the white room. We tried to get photos of Hayden but he moves too fast. I asked Hayden if he enjoys skiing, since he's usually after some huge climb on a huge mountain. 'When I put on my shell pants it usually means the suffering will commence,' he said. 'Nice to have that signal some easy fun for a change.'
Valhalla Mountain Touring continues to deliver the goods. Wow. Check them out here on the web.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
