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Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Making Time For Mountain Moments

By Stio

WHERE: Icefall Lodge, British Columbia

WHEN: January 7th - 14th

THE CREW:

Tess Wood, Entrepreneur
Doug Marshall, Photographer
Lindsay Mann, Athlete
Cooper Kahlenberg, Athlete
Jessica Baker, Athlete & Guide

THE PLAN:

The automatic out-of-the-office email reply is set, those couple serving shifts are covered, and coworkers are promised: "I owe you big time".

I am off again to the wilds of interior British Columbia for a week of tour-accessed skiing at Icefall Lodge. It's the second year that our motley crew has embarked together on a hut trip; we came together somewhat intentionally, but also haphazardly, last minute, and all a little bit strangers. But we left that first trip on an inexplicable high, vowing to reunite the gang next year and do it all again. Whether it was due to the magic of blissful, unexplored powder or the fact that for a week we sauna-ed together in a structure the size of young Harry Potter's bedroom, we may never know.

But what was clear was our individual commitment to making this trip happen. Whether negotiating with sponsors for funding, keeping an eye on accumulating summer money with the expectation it was going towards "Canada 2.0", or strategically (but unfortunately) turning down clients, we all had to make it work.

THE GEAR:

Azura XT Hooded Jacket

Second Light Alpha Jacket

Bucking Jackalope Three Peak Beanie

Words by Tess Wood | Photography by Lindsay Mann

MAKING TIME

While we've matured past the excitement of, say, squeezing six friends into a 3-bedroom or indulging in the questionable "Busser Buffet", we still hold tight to the ski bum mantra of prioritizing our mountain adventures (not that I'm yet above ski bum scrounging for half-off lift tickets and getting very excited about happy hour spicy margaritas).

We choose to live in Jackson because we like to play hard, but know that it's possible only after we've worked hard. And so with this mutual priority, we decided to commit to a week in the wilderness - maximizing life's every moment.

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

GETTING THERE

WHERE: Icefall Lodge, British Columbia

TIME: 15 Hours, 770 Miles, 20 minute helicopter ride

TEMPATURE: -22c

To Icefall we made our trek from Jackson Hole. One early AM departure, a fifteen hour drive, and a disturbing amount of Lays potato chips later, we made it to the staging area in Golden, BC. The helicopter flight into the lodge was your standard affair, like a drunk bumblebee lazily shifting it's weight through the air, at once terrifyingly clumsy but also landing with deft precision and grace. The weather was in our photo-shooting favor, as it was clear, sunny and full of all that stuff photographers call "contrast". Unfortunately for our toes this also meant the temperatures were frigid. All week the thermometer read -22 C and I have never toured in so many layers of down and micro-puffs.

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Icefall lodge, BC

Early mornings caught the warm, peachy sunrise, and a late evening tour brought glorious tracks illuminated by the full Wolf Moon. We traveled the lazy contours of ancient moraines, cautiously approached the cavernous mouth of a glacial ice cave, and reveled in the wide open turns we could make in the high alpine.

A bigger lodge than we called home a year before, Icefall accommodated many more than our Jackson crew. We got to know our housemates over shared meals, aggressive shot skis and the following morning's strong coffee. Their backgrounds as varied as their professions, our new friends, too, shared our common practice of balancing hard work and careers with having fun in the mountains. They were small business owners, engineers, an economist, a doctor, and many things in between.

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

IN THE MOMENT

Fun and adventure was the mission, and for one week all other professional pursuits took a back seat. Not to say that I didn't catch myself brainstorming marketing plans and new products on the skin track, or talking creative strategy over après ski wine- it's inevitable. The week "off" revived passion and vision for my pursuits, lighting a new fire under this ski bum to hustle more and waste time less.

DELAYED RE-ENTRY

With our trip coming to an end we made a similar agreement: same time next year, friends. Avoiding incoming weather, we heli-ed out early on a Sunday and made it back stateside that evening. Wanting to delay re-entry just a little bit more we detoured from Kalispell a bit east to hit Bozeman, had a day of skiing at Bridger Bowl (hello, chairlifts!) and finally returned to Jackson by Tuesday, just in time for work. Back to reality we eased; showing off choice photos to our friends and catching up on all that we'd missed while in our wifi-free bubble.

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

that's a wrap (until next year)

Everyone has his or her own priorities, and if you're lucky you find some kindred spirits who share yours. For us (and many others) it's the persistent desire to get out there to explore and enjoy. Here's to never letting the passion and pursuit of pure happiness fall too far to the wayside.

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Trip Report: A Week in the Wilds of British Columbia

Footnotes

Words by Tess Wood | Photography by Lindsay Mann

FootNotes

Words by Tess Wood | Photography by Lindsay Mann

© 2026 Stio

STEPHEN SHELESKY

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