The four-day streak of climbing started with Sun God, lying north of Pemberton in British Columbia. Though skied by few people, it is a favorite peak of ours—offering 3,600 vertical feet of steep skiing, moraine and all. Jon, Jack and I climbed up the south side quickly, having the rested the last three days due to weather. The conditions were quite variable, with freeze-thaw cycles infecting the lower elevations, and high winds ripping over the higher elevations. The key was finding the perfect middle ground of consolidated snow. Sun God had it—it was skiable, albeit firm.

On Day 2, we had Mount Ronayne in our sights. I considered it a rest day because Ronayne is a sled lap. Besides a bit of hiking to get to the top of our lines, the ascent is completely ridable on a snowmobile. A beautiful mountain across the Tenquille drainage from Sun God, Ronayne offered copious options for descent. Jack and I chose the steepest chutes we could find, two parallel numbers on the north side. Finishing up with a little billy-goating at the bottom, Jack and I smiled to another 3,500 vertical foot descent in 75 minutes, thanks to our sleds.

Face Mountain was next on the list. Though I had never seen it, I heard about it from Jack and Jon. They came across it on an exploratory mission when some bad weather forced them off Samson and Delilah, two neighboring mountains to Face. Face has a serious ski descent, and as the clouds moved in on our party, we kicked into gear. It is not a mountain that can be skied in dark conditions. After sniffing out the entrance, a tiny launch pad sitting in the middle of the peak’s knife ridge, we had to negotiate some spiny snow hanging incongruously over large cliff. Skiing diagonally off the exposure, we worked the spines down to the glacier, skirting around the side to the moraine. Safe and back in the trees, we watched with big eyes as the black sky enveloped Face Mountain. Surly our luck was about the change, we thought, figuring we were relegated to the couch for the day tomorrow.

But the fourth and the final day, brought Mount Meager. I had been looking at Mount Meager for a long time. It looms over the Lillooet River, conspicuous within the panoramic views offered in Pemberton. Its approach is nothing short of long, with a 39 kilometer sled-ride, a three hour skin and two hour climb. I was determined to get to the top, even after road conditions and Susan’s sled breaking down seriously hindered our pace. Despite ferocious winds, we pushed on. Following suit to the yin and yang, the sun went down over the distant peaks right as I got to the top of Mount Meager. It was 4:40 in the afternoon. Although the sun had finished shedding its light on our path, the day’s journey was far from over. Jack and I had successfully scrambled up the last 300 feet to the top in a huffing fury, but we still had to get down the couloir, across the Bergschrund, over the glacier and through the trees to our sleds, in dwindling light. It was proved to be interesting, and luckily the moon was almost full. Upon reaching the truck at close to 10 o’clock, my jello-filled legs breathed a sigh of relief and we drove home in silence.

While a bit relieved that tomorrow was bringing bad weather, I hoped there would be more four-day streaks to come. -Laura Ogden