I headed north to Vancouver and headed over the Rockies to Banff for some ice climbing. The drive over the Rockies in winter conditions was quite something, definitely challenging conditions. The roads were icy the whole way. There are also so often avalanches that special covers are built over parts of the road to protect vehicles, and there are signs asking drivers not to stop in certain places due to the avalanche risk. It's a long drive from Vancouver to Banff so I was pleased to get in.

Banff is a stunning place, surrounded by the most gorgeous mountains. It was icy cold but completely clear weather. While I was there I went ice climbing, the cold conditions meant lots of well frozen ice. While I was driving back I saw a wolf, a rare sight and one I felt very lucky to have seen!

I headed over to Washington state for some climbing with a friend. The first day we were out was a fantastic day with perfectly blue skies.

We climbed Mazama peak in the Pacific cascades. We had amazingly clear (although very cold) conditions, with views all the way up to the mountains of Canada.

There was a lot of snow the rest of the time. The polar vortex had stretched it's icy fingers all the way out to the Pacific coast. This meant a huge dumping of powder snow right down to sea level. This is quite unusual (almost never happens) in this area. The shops were full of people stocking up on supplies and getting chains for their car tyres to get through the next few days.

The endless powder snow did make for great skiing conditions. We decided to make the most of this and skied for the rest of the time. Washington is definitely a fantastic place!