Lady peak, Cheam peak

This time, I wanted to show my sister a very nice area. Something where I don't need to push myself too much :-) Instead of that, she pushed me to bag 2 peaks in one day. Why not when you are alone in such a popular area.
Our drive was little bit sketchy while there was a construction on the begin of chipmunk fsr and we had to drive all the way back to Chilliwack 35km to get some fuel (didn't count on this construction and driving around to find an alternate route). Anyway, starting little bit later than expected, meeting just one car with park ranger fixing some sings at parking lot, we got excited about having this popular area for our self. I don't remember details of the climb except I was sweating a lot and the views were beautiful :-) While driving down, we helped a guy with flat tire (borrowed our spare) and met 1 more car with starting problem (couldn't help there :) We were happy, the young guy taking care of the construction started the crane and let us pass the shorter way as it was already little late. Another nice day in the woods.
cheers

First WINTER family trip

It was Jakub's first winter trip, in the snow, in the mountains. Originally, Tom was going to take him up to the Brockton point, the top of the Seymour ski runs, and at the same time Elena with Nika and Oskar were going to hike the first, maybe 2nd peak of Mt. Seymour. It turns out, we are hardly keeping up to the two guys, the dad and the son, as they are nearly running up the hill. I should have known... So first peak of Seymour it is, 10 months old, on the way up 1/2 hour of sleep, on the way down puzzled looks from other hikers looking at this crazy dad who runs and slides down the steep snow slopes with this little baby on his back, all cuddled up in the too big of a snow suit. And the woman taking leaps into the powder snow on her stomach, that's probably the mother...

We also took a sled, but at the end, again the adults were the ones who were having the biggest fun on it. Jakub was not interested.

So now seriously ... conditions are great, nearly skiable...

Leading peak 755m- Anvil Island

There is a small island at Howe sound. Its steep lines are visible while driving to Squamish from hwy. Last year we did circumnavigation with Jakub :) and last weekend I have got this idea of bringing Janka to the highest point of the island- Leading peak. It is obvious you start the hike at sealevel, but the description from internet was little bit misleading. Expecting 755m elevation gain, my time estimate was 4 hours (5max). We started from Lions bay at 2.30pm which was as usual little late. It took us 6.5 hours to finish our trip at Porteau cove at 21.00 with Jakub and Elena waiting for us. 1055m elevation in the legs and 12km on the kayak was really nice. The trail well marked and the gorgeous views just for us. Janka said this was the nicest day since she has stepped on the Canadian ground. Maybe she forgot already about the day spent at CAN/US border to get the working permit :-o

Looking for Angel's Crest

Yup...it took us 3 hours to find it. But let's start at the beginning...

After all the slushy snow, slushy avalanches and looking for the ski in slushy avalanches, my uncle Jano in his 2 months vacation in Canada started to be fed up with "spring skiing" after all and so for a change I decided to take him on a beautiful climbing route on the Chief. The alternate start of Angel's crest is in the gully between the 2nd and 3th peak of Chief, by climbing a tall tree. As we realized long after, there is another gully just little further up and after not finding the tree and starting our climb at a great time at 7am at the (as we thought) regular starting pitch, we spent 3 hours looking for the next pitch, walking the ledges and trees, climbing lots of vegetable.

Only then did we realize that maybe this is not "the gully"... After another real BC bushwack we eventually found the true start. By then it was 10am, we were already tired, hungry and unsure whether to start or not, the main reason being my son Jakub and his (un)sufficient?? stock of breast milk.

Well...off we go...

Right while belying Jano on the 1st pitch I sat on my phone and broke the display... can it get any better today? After all we had a great climb, Jano leading (beside the others) the spectacular "Acraphobes" towers, enjoying the views and some beautiful pitches. We topped out at 5.30, making it 7 1/2 hours, which is not too bad for 13 pitches, given we had a 3 hour warm up in the morning and Jano not having climbed for last 10 years. I certainly hope it was a good last trip for him before he flies back on Monday and he will come back for more.

What does it look like, when you...

...when you lose your ski in a small avalanche, you go there a month later with chances 1:1000 to find it, you see some fresh snow on the way up and you see some new slides on the place where the ski was lost. The day started pretty good, when we saw that the approach to the snowline (1300m) wasn't bushy and Jano lost his lovely sunglasses. There wasn't so much sun on the first half of our climb. Getting closer to the summit of Cayoosh mt. things were getting less optimistic. I was doing some planing of my next trip to Cayoosh in middle of September (3rd one this year) to rescue the ski, while the strong sun was burning our faces. Jano tried to go with his eyes closed which helped him not to get blind :-) When we arrived at the scene, after 2-3 minutes it was clear that I need to come again few months later (if not years:) cause there was still huge amount of snow around. Jano went around to the ridge and I started to go straight up approximately where the accident happened. Suddenly I couldn't believe my eyes... there in the snow I see the post of the binding sticking out of the snow and the rest of the ski just few centimeters under the surface. What a luck!!! I don't have to come to this place again, were my first thoughts. And Jano can leave this land in PEACE on Monday :-)
We have summited half an hour later and in terrible spring conditions (wet and heavy) skied down to Duffy. I was little bit disappointed Jano didn't ski this time on the other ski (only on the other ski) to have the descent completed.

Meeting Lou Dawson on mt Baker

http://www.wildsnow.com/5358/mount-baker-backcountry-skiing-3/

Mt. Rainier 4392m

Still waiting for spring snow conditions...

The weather was playing badly with us last few days. We recieved some snow, some rain but almost no sun. Waiting for the good weather, spent on the local mountains with Jano and Ela and having fun. So far Jano likes his vacation here but because he was getting nervous about the weather, we sent him with Slavo to Vancouver Island to watch the whales. Jano takes a loong ride back on bike- around 500km, crossing to Sunshine Coast, using ferry of course. We are giving him 2 weeks before he arrives. And than the ski spring season can begin.

Cernice are BACK!

Back from where? From a 5 day trip to Skaha- Penticton. Place famous for Ironman, wine and of course climbing. It was Palo and Nika's idea to meet somewhere halfway between Calgary and Vancouver. Jakub was doing great on the way there. He slept, he laughed and watched the scenery. He let us climb for a while, kayak for 2 whiles and enjoy the evening with our friends. On the last day I got sick while wine tasting. Not from wine unfortunately, but from sitting outside in the wind. 2 days later Jakub got fever and all the other stuff, complicating his breathing and eating and so on. This was the hardest time for him from his birth. But as I said on the beginning, he is back again!

Varied weekend.

This weekend started for me on Friday. I was planing to take a look at one line really close to our house. Mt Harvey- North ramp. 1645 meters high offers a steep hidden line around 250m long. I've heard that it was not skied yet. I couldn't find any info about the slope steepness, so I wanted to see it live. After half an hour drive we arrived at parking lot in Lions bay. Slavo refused to grab the snow shoes. I am not a big fan of them either, but this was the biggest mistake of the day. As soon as we hit the snow line, Slavo started to sink through the crust up to his knees, sometimes more. He was for sure exhausted when we arrived at the ramp. Soon we decided to turn back, because the snow was still pretty deep. I went up the ramp to the first left bend. I was still thinking about the cornices up there was doing slow progress anyway. This is called hard work :-)I jumped on my skis and headed down. The slope was +- 43degrees, steepening pass the bend. I guess up to 50. Snow quality for skiing was even worse. Anyway I want to give it one more chance when Jano arrives and before the snow disappears. It was a nice day though.
On Saturday we skied with Elena up on Seymour. This is was she said: "my nicest skiing this season." I don't agree. Every skiing is memorable of course!
And Sunday? The worst stomach problems I have ever had. Probably some virus. No detailed description. No water for 24hours and no food for 36h. The scale shoved 68kg.
T.

Long vs Short

I always said, I don't have time to cut my hair. But now it feels soo good. I am expecting to run Grouse Grind by 10% better and increase the job offers from zero to up to 2 per week.

Little (or big?) difference

Jakub, when he is 1 day old, and nearing 3 months.

Rogers pass

Last weekend I went for a trip with a friend from Calgary- Palo. We planed this for few weeks already and at the end it was a perfect timing. Temperatures running around -10 at night, and below zero during the day, kept the snow pretty dry for us. I couldn't believe - up on Young's peak, there was 10cm of fresh snow on the summit. This was one of the best skiing ever. Ok at least when I talk about powder conditions. Last year on New year, we couldn't see any of this beauty as the weather and fog kept us down. But these three days the weather was on our site. We spent the first night at Sapphire hut (it is a shelter for 4 people or 8 Czechs) and 2nd at Asulkan. I enjoyed the first one better, because of being alone there with a friend and we were 500m higher than the Asulkan cabin. Skiing from the Dome col was just gorgeous. On the third day we went up the Youngs peak 2847m and skied back to cabin. The slope was up to 45deg. The further to the right, the steeper it got. Ascent was very pleasant. We followed the track from another group from previous day. In about 1h40min up we were and it is no more than 30min descent back to hut (700m elev.). This was a Highlight of this winter, that's for sure :-)

https://picasaweb.google.com/palochalupa/RogersPass#

Rogers pass skiing from Tomas Cernicka on Vimeo.

Coquihalla sunday walk.

There is some interesting skiing in this area and thanks to Stano, who already knows this place better than me, we managed to carve some turns into this slopes. He also taught me, what tree skiing really means. It was a nice day with an adventurous end.

Jakub just a little bit older.

Its hard to write something about our son. It would be only superlatives anyway. I don't want to be that parent, saying about his child:,, he is so cute, he is gorgeous, we love him, unbelievable..." but he is :-) I can't help my self. We get a lot sleep, we get smile from him, he enjoys his baths every day and drinks his milk diet like crazy.

I don't know, maybe I am not perfect. Maybe Elena is not either. But Jakub is pretty close hahaha :-D

Waas happenin!?

Actually not much. The weather sucks, my shape sucks, my not working sucks... only Jakub and Ela make me happy every day. When I wake up, I have the two greatest people beside me and I am smiling. Ok not exatly smiling. I always say, give me half and hour more Jakub and I'll take you for a long walk.

This winter won't be much about skiing. But there will be one highlight of this ski season. Jano Blasko is coming to visit us. And I promised to take him for a ride. And this is it: Mount Judge Howay, 2260m high located no more than 60km from our home. However to reach its top, is required to paddle 18km, hike 13km and climb 3km one way. Driving the car will be the easiest :-) I don't know how often this mountain is climbed, but my guess is something like 1 party per year, maybe less. And most times only every second party reaches the summit.

Usually 3 days are required, but I would stick with as many as possible. 4 maybe 5 to have enough time to get a good weather once we are there. When I looked at the pictures first, I got this idea about skiing it rightaway. It took me few hours, maybe days to find out what the slope is like. We can expect 45deg steepness. Maybe more maybe less. Elevation gain will be 2100m. If the conditions allow, I am expecting to ski more than 1500m. The look from the bottom will be impressive, I am sure.

Stay tuned :-)

Tomas

Jakub is smiling!

Just to let you know. I am smiling and I am doing good :-)

Skiing with mommy.

Impossible turned out to be a reality and my wife skied this winter already for the second time with me. Thanks to Jakubko, who enjoyed the time with Lubka. Thanks grandma for taking care of him.
And thanks to me, who have not even deserved such beautifully skiing :-)
We hit wonderful conditions up on Seymour, harder snow with some powder (whip cream) on the top. I am alway disappointed to see so many people on the parking lot and on the trail. And amazed to breath the air by ourselfs skinning up the 3rd peak.

Ako sa maju Cernice?

Tak normalne. Akurat sme traja, odpovedam kazdemu kto sa pyta. Chyba mi Ela ako partak na lyze ale svita na lepsie casy. V piatok sme dali Jakuba jej rodicom, 2l mlieka k tomu a hybaj na lyze. Vystihli sme krasny zapad slnka nad mestom. Prasan sa zial nekonal, stalo to vsak za to. Dnes sme sa boli pozriet do Squamish, Kubko v podstate cele 4h prespal. Z toho takmer 3h v kocari pri prechadzke. Teplota -2 stupne mu vobec nerobila problem. Vzduchu samozrejme. Zopar obrazkov z poslednych par dni je tu:

So how are "The Blackberries" ?
Nothing unusual, only now it's 3 of us, I answer everytime. I miss El as a skiing partner but better times are in sight. On Friday, we left Jakub at El's parents, 2l of milk with it, and off we go to ski. We had a beautiful sunset above the city. Unfortunately no powder day, but the trip was worth it. First skiing for Elena this season so she was stoked!
Today we went to Squamish, Jakub slept in the stroller for 4 hours. Here are few pics from the last few days.

Taky maly projekt

Dnes sme sa s Jurajom vidali do nemenovanej oblasti (seymour;), aby sme zlyzovali jeden z mojich malych projektov. Jedna sa o asi 100m kuloar, ktoreho ustie som nikdy nenasiel, avsak pred dvoma rokmi sa nan zo spodu s Elou pozeral a slintal. Seymour je znamy svojimi skalnymi prahmi a zlozitym terenom a tak sme si to s Jurajom namierili najskor na miesto, kde som stal pred dvoma rokmi. Nasadili sme macky a zacali nakopavat smerom hore. Sklon okolo 40 stupnov a niekolko centimetrova skrupina ma trochu sklamali. Ocakaval som 45 a prasan. Slnko vsak spravilo svoje a prasan ktory sa nachadzal iba tienistych svahoch, bol tu iba spomienkou. Vrchol kuloaru bol schovany asi 20m pod samotnym vrcholom v stromoch. Lyzovanie do neho vsak nebol problem, prvy odskok a uz to slo same :) Nakoniec sme sa dorazili v nizsich polohach, kde v tieni stromov ukryval lahky sneh.

Mt Seymour opat... a uz nikdy viac?

Mt Seymour opat... a uz nikdy viac?
Vcera som bol na "nasom" kopci tu za mestom. Len tak narychlo, 2 hodky a potom rychlo spat za zenou a synom. Doma pribalujem macky, tie na viazanie zabudam a utekam smer Seymour. Chcem sa ist pozriet do strmsieho zlabu. Vyslapat si ho, zlyzovanie vsak nechavam v mysli na inokedy, ked nebudem sam. Pri prichode na parkovisko vsak menim nazor. Okolita oblacnost a mierna hmla mi v mysli skracuju dnesny vyjazd. Planujem ist aspon na prvy Peak (prvy z troch). Pri Brockton point stretavam Skipatrol, ktori mi oznamuju, ze sa v backcountry stala nehoda. Pytam sa ci mozem pokracovat a po nejasnom suhlase som sa vydal mnou uz osuchanou trasou. Vzapati som vsak stratil kontrolu nad lyzami s pasmi, a obanoval, ze som si nepribalil macky na viazanie. Sneh pokryva ladova kora a ani lyze ani pasy mi nedavaju dostatocnu kontrolu. Vyzuvam lyze a obuvam macky. Skipatrol na mna pozera a letmy pohlad mi napoveda, ze sa nikam nechystaju, lebo macky nemaju. Hlavou mi prebehlo ze sa ich spytam, ci nepotrebuju macky pozicat. Nespravim tak s vidinou dostat sa pripadne na miesto nestastia, vidiet zachranu zraneneho na vlastne oci. To som este netusil, ze na miesto dorazim ako PRVY! Asi po 10 min pridem pod 40-45 stupnovy svah- Juzna strana mt. Seymour, ktory byva vzdy peknym ukoncenim lyzovania v tejto oblasti. Ma sice iba do 60m ale vzdy si tam rad vychutnam obluky v jeho najstrmsich pasazach. Tiez sa mi tam podarilo minuly rok padnut na tvrdom podklade, ked mi vypla lyza. Nastastie som sa zastavil.
Dnes to vsak nebude dobra lyzovacka, hovorim si a premyslam nad tym vyslapat na mackach a nasledne aj zliezt, koli ladovym podmienkam.
Natraverzujem do prava, kde je svah strmsi, aby som nakukol ci sa nieco nestalo v tejto najstrmsej casti. Vzapati pocujem ako na mna ktosi vola Tomasi, pod sem Tomasi. Zchadzam rychlo nadol do takeho minikuloaru, kde vidim Petra a druhu osobu prikrytu oblecenim. Z dialky sa pytam ci potrebuju pomoct. Vzapatim mi Petr oznamuje, ze uz je neskoro. Prebieha mi mraz po chrbte. Pytam sa komu to pomahal, ci ho stretol na svahu. On vravi ze nie, ze boli spolu. Ako sa vola? Tomas... Ktory Tomas? ...
Je mi do placu. Som nahnevany a smutny. Objimem Peta a vravim ze mi je to luto. Hovorim mu ze sa vratim naspat pre prvu pomoc. Zbieham dolu zliabkom a po chodniku utekam spat, kde som posledny raz stretol stretol Skipatrol. Oznamujem im smutnu spravu...
Zvysok uz je nepodstatny.
Odisiel clovek, ktory mal rad prirodu a ktoreho mala rada rodina a kamarati. Tomas opustil 2.5 rocneho syna a zenu.
Ja som utekal za tymi mojimi.
Pokoj v dusi.


ps: nestastie sa zrejme stalo pri vyslape asi 45 stupnovym svahom na lyziach, pasoch a pomocnych mackach uchytenych na viazani. Po zosuchnuti sa ladovym svahom asi 30m nasledoval naraz do stromu. Poranenie hlavy a hrudnika boli vazne. Niektore z tychto informacii su iba mojim odhadom z danej lokality.

Few more pics

And Jakub is growing....
Bryan came to visit couple of times and he took some great black and white pictures, maybe he thinks Jakub is a good object to get some practice in, always moving his arms and legs ...

Zase ten Seymour!

Kamze tento vikend? Klasika. Pocasie klasika a tak aj na lyze klasika. Vybehli sme s Jurajom na uz nami davno zosuchany mt Seymour. Cakala nas zaujimava skrupina, ale aj vyhlady. Ludi ako na "vaclavaku", avsak stacilo sa pustit, kusok dalej a boli sme sami. Dufam ze sa pocasie coskoro stabilizuje, lebo uz ma svrbia hrany a chcelo by ich zarezat do niecoho cerstveho, strmeho... co vam budem hovorit :)

Cypress mt.

Vcera sa nam podarilo vybehnut na lyze. Bol som velmi zvedavy, co dorobili tyzdnove dazde so snehovymi podmienkami. No zda sa mi, ze vobec nic. Sneh pekne tvrdy a stale dostatok. Nezalyzovali sme si moc, lebo miesta kam by sme normalne sli, boli trochu strmsie, vypadane a zmrznute. Nakoniec sme si zlyzovali iba zjazdovku dva krat. Oskar na nas tiez vykukol, tak z toho bola pekna obednajsia vychadzka. Pozuju Nikolaj, Juraj a NS mountains.

Yesterday we managed to get out on skis. I was very curious what the 1 week rains have done with snow conditions. But it seems to me that they have done absolutely nothing. Snow pretty hard but still enough of it. Skiing wasn't great, because the place where we normally went, were a bit steeper, and it looked frozen. Finally, we only skied piste twice. Sun also came out for a little, which made a great views and nice outing with friends. Posing Nicholas, George and NS mountains.

Jakubko 3 tyzden u nas doma.

Jakub bude mat zajtra tri tyzdne. Celkom rychlo sme si zvykli na pravidelny rezim jedenia, prebalovania a spania. Zacali sme chodit na vychadzky hned druhy tyzden a maleho to vzdy velmi dobre uspi. Dokonca sme mali prve usmevy, alebo aspon pokusy o ne. Ja uz len pocitam dni, kedy ho postavim prvy krat na lyze a pustime sa dole svahom :) Chyba mi partak, ci uz Ela alebo aj Jakub. Ked vsetko pojde po masle, budem mat razom dvoch.

Tommorrow Jakub will be 3 weeks old. Very quickly we got used to the constant eating, changing the diapers and sleeping. We started to go for walks after one week and it always puts Jakub to sleep right away. We even had first smiles...I am now counting days till I can put him first time on skis and let him go down the slope. I miss my trip partner- either Ela or Jakub. If everything goes well, I will have two :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsOyM-U2dkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V6qXXX3nIo

My name is Jakub

Minuly rok sa skoncil velmi prekvapivo. Dlho ocakavana chvila na seba nechala dlho cakat, ale nakoniec to Jakubko stihol este pred Silvestrom. Dokonca si spolu s nami strngol materskeho mlieka uz u nas doma. Sme na neho velmi hrdi, ved pozrite sami. Krasavec po mne a sympatak po Ele.
Tuto sme dali dohromady, co sa vam snazil povedat pred tym, nez si vypil:

Hello!
My name is Jakub. You don't know me yet, but you probably know those two funny guys on some of the pictures. I think I am gonna move in with them. I want to wish you all the best for the New year and hope to meet you soon!
Jakub, Ela and Tom
ps: I was born on December 30, 10.20 am, with 52cm height and 3.2kg weight.