Quick Rips: Episode 3
Sleeping in the Selkirks...a four day drop at the Bivouac Hut
video/photos/words by Willy Nevins
In the days surrounding New Years Eve 2023, the Chimera Snowboards crew, alongside a few close friends from Pallas Snowboards, made our seasonal trek up to British Columbia to do what we do best: dirt bag around, eat sleep and breath splitboarding, and link up with our Canadian homies for some sort of adventure disguised as product testing. While this trip usually consists of an extended stay at one of B.C.’s unique and charming backcountry ski huts, we have always hiked our asses out to said hut.
Rewind to a phone call the previous fall from long time Chimera ripper, Aaron Chance and Pallas ambassador Christine Feleki, both trusted ACMG splitboard/ski guides with stout splitboarding reputation in said parts of the world. Would we be interested in getting the crew together for a rare opportunity? Ok… we’re listening.
The idea was to charter a heli-drop to a newly built hut (one which Aaron had a hand in building/designing) nestled deep in the Selkirks. While we are not the typical heli-skiing type, in fact it goes against our ethos of simplicity and human powered travel, we couldn’t turn down this invitation. After all, we’d still be splitboarding, the heli was just dropping us off and then picking us up days later. So arrangements were made, and with the help of Arrow Heli out of Revelstoke, a motley crew was left in the backcountry with supplies to last four days. While avalanche conditions were unfortunately a bit too touchy to venture onto the magnificent lines adjacent to our base camp, we still had no problem getting into steep and deep trees, untapped pillow lines, and natural hits. Thanks to our expert guides, Aaron and Christine, the crew found what in my opinion is the essence of snowboarding with your friends: chasing each other through the woods, pushing each other to go a little faster and a little higher, choking on face shots, and sitting around a fire together at the end of the night telling stories while passing around a bottle of cognac under the stars.
The Bivouac Hut
Two stories, not a centimeter of wasted space, efficient, simple, warm, a thing of beauty. And let's talk about that lineup.
The Troll Hole
Slept four, cold, damp, smelled like farts, boots, and marijuana.
Aaron Chance
Trusted guide, builder of things, canadian splitboard OG, lets loose only at the most calculated times, otherwise he’s watching everyone like a hawk, split skis like a pro and has a timeless style on board.
Christine Feleki
Trusted guide, first female ACMG splitboard guide, mountain whisperer, never fails to amaze us with her riding capabilities, and her line choices always get the crew hyped.
Wally
Our trusted cook for three trips running, but he’s more than a cook, he’s your best friend, he’s a gentle giant that is the last to bed and the first to rise. Works magic with simple tools and simple ingredients. We got him to jump off a cliff and it was epic.
Zach Higgins
Token stunt monkey, works hard, doesn’t require much to be satisfied, sleeps anywhere, has night terrors screaming in his sleep while literally laying a foot away from my head in the troll hole.
Tanner Crow
If he wasn’t a Utah boy you’d think he was Canadian, so let's just say he fits in and his riding does as well. Never fails to find the line with style, or to amaze us with a perfectly poked out frontside indy, and is likely to split-ski at least one pillow line on the trip.
Tyler Temarantz
Beast mode, crashes into trees and doesn’t feel phased, consumes pillows easily, gets excited about the prospect of cutting down a tree, can go till dark and wake up repeat no problem.
Willy Nevins
That's me, filmer, photog, wasting precious camera batteries on stoney subject matter, often cold and afraid shivering in the troll hole.
Kate Colgan
One of the strong women running the ship at Pallas, low key heavy ripper, sews and designs her own outerwear, manages to put up with the rambunctious chimera crew with style and grace, this being said she has no problem dirt bagging it.
Sid Garrido
One of the strong women crushing it behind the scenes at Pallas, brings several pair of sunglasses on a tour (fashion and function), the glue that keeps both crews functional and on time, no stranger to traveling with the chimera crew and our shenanigans… in fact fits right in, kind of like a sister that would make you a cup of coffee in the morning but also put you in a headlock if it was warranted.
