TR: My 2017 Year in Review so far! January-April

This year has been full of a lot of wonderful adventures, and just when I thought I was too old to learn new skills and improve my abilities, I surprised myself and became a sufficient skier and began conquering my head game in climbing. I bought a Beach Pass to Cypress and was happily skiing on the black runs by the end of March. In February, I led my first 5.10a outdoors and now have led four more and am feeling more and more confident. Soon, I hope to lead 5.10b comfortably if injuries do not persist or arise! Because I am too excited for how my year has gone so far, and am even more excited for my upcoming climbing and hiking adventures in Europe this summer, I will make my 2017 review come in multiple parts. Welcome to the first!

January

I started off the year at a wedding in Edmonton with a good friend of mine, and then came back to BC. On January 15th, despite the snow, my climbing buddy Leon and I went to Squamish to get our first climbing in of the season. I had partially torn a ligament in my finger at the end of November and took most of December off from climbing, so it was nice to get back out there.

On the weekend of January 21st, I spent two nights with some friends in Whistler and I got to break in my AT (alpine Touring) boots in at Red Heather (Paul's Ridge) near Squamish with my friends Rae and Sarah. I had finally gotten the bindings adjusted and boots punched out, so this was my first outing on my AT skis. I must admit, I was very happy to leave tele-skis behind! (Note: A good tele-skier looks BEAUTIFUL! I was simply not one of these people...)

On the weekend of January 28th-29th, I joined the VOC (Varsity Outdoor Club) for their annual Burns N Turns trip, where we celebrate Scottish culture and shenanigans. This year it was held at Elfin Lakes, and my friend Nicole and I decided to wear our onesies, and my friend Lianne wore a robot costume. This was my first overnight trip on my new skis, and I was reminded about how cold winter camping can be.

February

The backcountry avalanche forecast was not super favourable for much of February and March. I had bought a 3-day pass to Mount Seymour, so I spent many of my weekends skiing at Seymour and then climbing at the Aviary to prepare for my climbing trip at the end of the month. On February 5th, I went to Seymour Resort with my friends Erin and Edwin and practiced skiing technique.

On February 13th, I hiked/scrambled/boot packed up Flint and Feather with my friend Dmitri, and was greeted with absolutely beautiful views!

The following week was pretty hectic while I helped run 2 of the nights of VIMFF (Vancouver International Film Festival) at the new UBC location, and the I took off to Red Rocks and Joshua Tree February 18-26th! On this trip, we ended up first in Joshua Tree then the Valley of Fire, then Zion National Park and finally climbing in Red Rocks. While in Red Rocks, on the last day, I finally managed to get the bravery to lead my first sport 5.10a outdoors while in Black Corrdior and loved it!

Me leading my first 5.10a.

March

After returning from Red Rocks, I fully tore the ligament in my finger that had been partially torn before, and took most of the month off from climbing and instead focused on skiing. I bought a Beach Pass for Cypress which allowed unlimited skiing from March 11th onwards, and I found myself spending many evenings and weekend days here, where I finally became a proficient skier and felt a lot more comfortable and confident on black diamonds by the end. I spent a lot of these days with my friend Julie, Edwin, Else and Anthony, and also some with Liz, Roseanna and Simon. I also had to work every Saturday this month running field trips for first year biology students, so I only had Sundays off for adventures.

On March 26th, the avalanche forecast was more favourable for back county travel and I found myself skiing at Zoa along the Coquihalla for the first time, and we had a wonderful day of skiing! Thanks for a great day Liz, Brody, Roseanna, Simon and Anthony :)

April

I was excited to finally have my weekends back come April! For the first weekend, I went on my first ACC (Alpine Club of Canada) trip to go climbing in Vantage, Washington. Some of my friends who were there included Lianne, Dylan, Rae, Shell and Raz, amongst others. I warmed up leading my second outdoor 5.10a, which went well overall! Unfortunately, I got a migraine when I got to the ground and was out of commission for the rest of the weekend. I did manage to have some fun T-rex times with Raz though! Unfortunately, in classic Cora fashion, I did scratch my eyeball while in my T-rex costume and we left early Sunday to get me to a hospital to get the needed antibiotics.

I managed to finally get part of the 'essential' UBC experience in by doing Storm the Wall with Else, Kelsey, Swantje and Audrey, and we performed well! We advanced to the next round but had to forfeit due to scheduling issues.

My parents also came for a visit and we had a lovely time at the Museum of anthropology.

The old/new exec potluck also occurred which resulted in my presidential duties for the VOC to come to an end. To celebrate the old and new exec, we had an old/new exec ski trip to Zoa on April 8th. And Thus, I returned to Zoa for round 2 of wonderful skiing!

On April 9th, I went to Saint Mark's summit on skis with Lia, Jeff and Martin. This was definitely the most technical backcountry and steep tree skiing I had done to date, but am happy to successfully made it! I learned the next morning that I had "dislocated" two ribs, but they are seemingly back in place now!

The next day, I had a wonderful ukulele jam session with my friends Liz and Glen, and we went for a nice paddle towards Science World in Vancouver.

Just before the long weekend, Liz, Lianne and I went skiing at Cypress for Lianne's birthday.

For the April long weekend, April 14th-17th, I went to Skaha with Niusha, Julien and Kike. I had very little sleep leading up to the trip, so started of with a few rough days, but by the end I lead three 5.10as and am feeling more than ever ready to take on a wonderful climbing season ahead of me! There were also so many dogs at Skaha! It was wonderful!

Over the next 2 weeks, I spent much of my time dog sitting a beautiful dog named Layla, and a cat named Ruca.

On the last Sunday of the April, I went to Squamish and had some wonderful climbing in on some damp rock.

I am really excited for what the summer has to bring! I will be spending May and June in Canada, and then will be in Europe climbing and hiking for July and August. Many more wonderful adventures to be had!