I will be away starting tomorrow on a working vacation until April 9th to Battle Abbey near Golden, British Columbia. I say ‘working vacation’ because I won’t be on assignment officially. I do have a couple lukewarm story & photo commitments on the trip at this point fortunately.
Battle Abbey is a backcountry lodge located in the Battle Range, a sub-range of the Selkirks, roughly 30km as the crow or whirlybird flies, from Golden, B.C. Built by Canadian Hans Moser and American Bill Puttnam, the lodge is open for 5 weeklong backcountry ski trips a year.
A once in a lifetime opportunity to ski Battle Abbey presented itself in early March 2006 when my friend Dave Pettry phoned from Anchorage:
“Haaalleee! Howya doin’?” said Dave.
“Not bad. Just finished some dishes and am about to sit down and watch a flick with Michelle. And you?”
“What are you doin’ the first week of April?”
“Whadda ya got up your sleeve?”, I replied.
“A spot just opened up on a Battle Abbey trip.”
I nearly fell out of my chair. Battle Abbey needed no introduction; the name meant some of the best steep thigh power accessed backcountry powder skiing in the world. Battle Abbey was a trip to die for in my book.
A few years back while skiing in the Selkirk Mountains I posed the question to my friend and client Grania Devine, co-founder and owner of The Selkirk Lodge out of Revelstoke, B.C.: “Which other guided backcountry ski Lodge in the Selkirks would you recommend visiting?”
There was no delay in her reply, “Battle Abbey. In fact, if we make it to the top of Devine Peak tomorrow, we’ll be able to see the Battle Range.”
We summited Devine Peak the next day and to the northeast the Battle Range appeared looking like several Teton Ranges compressed in a large vise.