I was fortunate enough to go back-country skiing in the Selkirk Mountain Range this past week. Back-country skiing is really neat because you’re getting to ski in untouched powder snow that is soft, fluffy, and uncrowded to ski in, unlike regular ski hills. Using Alpine-touring skis and fur skins (to give you traction) you hike up to the top of a hill and then switch to downhill mode and ski down. Skiing down is different from on a groomed slope because the snow is so thick it would slow you down to a standstill if you used traditional techniques. So you have to kind of “bounce” your way down the hill. It’s neat because if you’re used to doing blue runs with an occasional black diamond, like me, you find you can do much steeper hills and get a real nice flow to your skiing. It’s lots of fun!

I even got to check out a natural ice cave! It’s quite pretty inside with the sunlight turning the ice shades of blue.

It was a useful trip because it also helped me refine my ideas for a snow-level for a game I’m working on called “Abscond”. It’s a game that uses the “Escape the Room” game motif as a starting point to springboard off into something quite creative and new. I’m planning to use that as a featuring point for my new website design. (coming soon…)