Third time lucky

Our third xmas in Whistler ‎- we were here in 2005 with James, Steph, Gary and John  for his 40th - and we've finally managed a white xmas, at least up on the mountain. Mainly blue skies but the odd light cloud was blowing through and there was the odd flurry, so i'm claiming it as snowing on the day. 

Yuletide again

Decided ag‎ainst paying whistler prices for a tree, and figured the ski patrol would not be too happy if I took my Swiss army knife up the mountain and cut down one of theirs, so I got my Blue Peter head on and made this from some wine boxes and the fairly lights from the bus.

We've had a fantastic start to the season, and the best description I've heard of it has been "normal" so here's hoping things stay that way. We've had more snow in a month than I think much of the mountain got all last year, and runs that didn't open until mid January or not at all last year are now skiable. I had my first proper day skiing off piste in one of the alpine bowls today and my practise on the lower slopes has definitely helped my keep my momentum  which makes it easier to keep going as the bow wave of snow breaks against your thighs. It's still harder work than piste skiing but it s getting more enjoyable and opens ‎ up so much more of the mountain to me

Bit of a lull in the snowfall  this week ‎but still cold and cloudy with a few flurries forecast most days, and hopefully Maria will finally get a white xmas on friday‎.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

We've seen a fantastic start to the season with a cumulative 430cm (168 inches) of snow, and 35cm (14 inches) in the last 48 hours. Neither of us have ever experienced this constant snowfall and Mark has started having fun in the powder.

In the last ten days there has been one glorious sunny day, which happened to coincide with Mark's day off, so we went for a walk in the sun. I've tried to capture some of the scenic beauty that the white fluffy stuff brings

Even the snowmen here like to party :-) 

In Olympic Plaza last year, the snow mound was only big enough for kids to walk up and sled down one side. This year, the mound is already large enough for 3 sets of steps to be cut into it and at least 4 slides of different steepness for the kids to sled down. And the snow has kept on coming, so this is now larger than it was when I took the photos.

More volunteering opportunities for me this week including participating in a yoga class with Whistler Adaptive Sports Program and running the coat check for the Arts Council's amateur dramatics production of the Chairlift Revue (which I got to watch too). Tonight we're helping out at another charity event in one of the bars (Buffalo Bills) for Whistler Adaptive. I'll be selling raffle tickets and persuading people to part with their money (which I seem to have a talent for) and Mark is running the silent auction. We're certainly meeting a lot more people this year and having lots of fun at the same time :-) 

Cheesecake, pork pies and frozen soup

The weather this week has been constant rain/snow down in the village, so not very nice for walking far.

As you all know, I love to cook but I get bored with everyday meals. So I'm branching out and trying to hone my baking skills. The cheesecake I baked yesterday took me by surprise when it rose 3 inches above the tin then sank when it cooled. It didn't look like the picture in the recipe but tasted fantastic

My pork pies are getting better although I'm told I need to look at the meat/pastry ratio (as in more meat would be nice)

Sausage rolls are around $6 each in the local supermarket so I've had a go at making them too and they were quite tasty.

I normally make a large pan of soup for lunch which will last us a few days. As there was no room in the fridge, I put it out on the balcony. Big mistake. When I brought it in the next day for lunch, I had a pea and ham Frisbee. Well, it had gone down to -12C overnight so should have thought a bit more about that one.

I've also been volunteering more, mainly for the Whistler Arts Council. Their main fundraising event, Bizarre Bazaar (aka Whistler Christmas Market) was a few weeks ago. As a 'thank you' all volunteers got  tickets to the Whistler Film Festival which was last weekend. I didn't get to meet either Kiefer Sutherland or Robert Carlyle but did see a few films I wouldn't have normally considered. 

I volunteered there too an now know how to make popcorn on an industrial scale :-)