So that's what ankles are for...

After 5 months of being slammed back and forth in rigid plastic ski boots it was a bit of a shock to my ankles and toes that they were supposed to bend and flex as we were walking sections of the wild pacific trail in Ucluelet and Tofino. It's a well maintained gravel trail, but a bit up and down with the rocks and definitely gave the joints more of a workout than they have been used to.

But 3 seconds standing in the Pacific fixed the pain - couldn't feel anything below the knees :-)

All done for this season

I've managed 103 days on the snow, so achieved my round number goal. I could have squeezed a couple more in but the last few days have been warm and wet up the mountain, so I really couldn't face going up there for the sake of it.

Like late March there has actually been a reasonable amount of fresh snow in April. Mostly in the alpine, the mid mountain base was just melting too fast for this to make a difference, so I've been downloading on the gondola. And in the hope that next season will be better, I test drove and bought a pair of ex-demo powder skis after one fresh dump. They are 30% wider under the foot and that makes a big difference in how deep I sink into the snow, so its a lot easier and more pleasant on the fresh snow than using the all-mountains. So, next year when we get a fresh dump I can really start playing in the bowls and glades.

Amazingly, even with 2 pairs of skis I have managed to fit everything back in the car, but we are agreed that we both brought way too many clothes and stuff, We've signed a contract and paid a month for a 2 bed 2 bath place for next season just round the back from where we are now, so we can be a bit smarter packing next time.

We head to Vancouver Island tomorrow for 5 nights - it works out as cheap to go over just in the car and stay in hotels than pay the ferry crossing for Badger, then down to the US on May 5th for a couple of nights in Seattle before joining our Alaska cruise. We'll drop most of the stuff off at Badger on the way down, then we're leaving the car at the Seattle hotel until we get back on the 16th and come back up to try and get him started and take him to a local campsite for a few nights to get everything packed away and restocked ready to hit the road.

at long last

after 4 months, day 83 on the snow finally delivered what I hoped for - a decent dump of fresh powder snow in the alpine followed by a cold day with good visibility to actually enjoy it. Playing off piste up in 7th heaven  there were places it was deep enough that the ski tips disappeared with plenty of nice fresh tracks areas. Not had much chance to practise my off piste technique this season but it was coming together by the end of the day. Only one major head plant where one ski decided to dig into the underlying snow rather than rise up the bank i was approaching. No pain, but I did have to blow the snow out of my nose and clean out the inside of my glasses. came home absolutely knackered and apparently grinning from ear to ear.

Overall March has been mixed - the dry spell at the end of feb ended up lasting 26 days into mid march - the alpine stayed in pretty good shape but was getting a bit thin by the end. The weather then turned and we've had a lot of rain and heavy wet snow in the past couple of weeks - trashed the mid mountain even further but topped up the alpine quite nicely. Hopefully now we will have a few cold days so it can be pisted in and it will last into april. This is probably more like the conditions should be here, although the stats say its still warmer than it should be.

Apart from than life has been pretty routine - ski, apartment, the occasional friday with the hairfarmers or a curry. Short bout of man flu kept me off the mountain for a few days and had to take it easy for a few ski days until the lungs recovered. We're now fully booked for vancouver island, seattle and the alaska cruise in may, and have started to flesh out the details for touring the rockies this summer. And we are fully booked for arizona and california when Lee and Lisa come over in august.

Blackcombe mountain closes on april 19th, but whistler will stay open until may 18th, long after we leave - usually its the other way round but the mid-mountain on whistler is staying in better condition due to better snowmaking, and the gondola allows download from the alpine when it gets rough, so I'm glad they have swapped it over for this year. Gives me an extra 10 days to enjoy the chic pea cinnamon buns.....

Who ate all the pies?

One thing I have missed on our travels is the humble English pork pie. So today I decided to make some Melton Mowbray-style pies. I must admit, hot water crust pastry is the toughest thing I have tackled in the kitchen, and at one point I wasn't sure the pies would be edible! But it was worth the effort and all three pies turned out really well. I'd never be any good on the Great British Bake-off as I can never get two cakes/biscuits/pies to look the same. Today I've got baby pie, mama pie and papa pie :-)

A different way to spend a rainy afternoon in Whistler. Now it's time for a well deserved Gin & tonic...

Additional
I had to leave the pies overnight for the 'jelly' to set (well, what jelly didn't pour out of the cracks!) and this is what it looked like when Mark cut into one for lunch today:

And his comment? "I should have let you make these back in December when you mentioned it!" Praise indeed :-) 

When a glass is not enough

Roll on March

3 months in, 63 days on the snow and still going strong. I'm still pretty much skiing just the mornings, but i'm averaging about 12 runs a day up from 6-8 in december.

Weather continues unseasonably warm - both Squamish and Pemberton have posted record temperatures this month, and we did have rain all the way up the mountain early in the month with little fresh snow since, but the alpine region above the treeline has stayed in remarkably good condition, at least on the pistes. I did venture into the off-piste a little and managed to find a rock that went right through the ski base to the core

which cost me $30 bucks to repair. The mid-mountain has been very granulated from the rain and warm temperatures, but the last few nights have been clear and cold enough for them to run the cannons which has helped hugely - the fine grain cannon snow fills in the gaps between the granular ice crystals and does a very good job of helping it bind together again and stay flatter and more resistant to the skis turning. The lower mountain is pretty much trashed though. The local news has been saying that the overall snowpack is only around 30% of normal for this time of year, and they are already starting to bleat about a drought this summer with insufficient water for agriculture, but that is farmers for you.

Blair was in town last weekend for 5 days by the end of which I was outskied and outeaten - being an old git I had to sit out down a half hour on the tuesday afternoon while he got an extra 3 runs in, and I couldn't manage the 14 oz prime rib on monday night which he finished, although the left over was very nice for breakfast on wednesday with a couple of fried eggs. And he was planning to go rockwall climbing the evening he got home, where all I wanted to do was sit on the sofa...

We've pretty much decided that we are going to try and come back here again next season - for all the weather issues i'm having fun and its still a better resort than many of the smaller places inland. We've mentioned our plans to our current landlord, and Maria has been in touch with a few other possible rentals, so hopefully we can agree a rental before we leave at the end of April so we know we have somewhere to come back to.

Peak to peak

Earlier this week I made it up the mountain for the first time this season. And what a glorious day it was with clear blue skies and bright sunshine. From the base of Whistler Mountain, the village gondola takes 25 minutes to get to The Roundhouse Lodge at the top.

It was 13C down in the village and by the time I got to the top, both jacket and fleece came off as we sat in the sun. I had taken a picnic lunch for me, Mark and Blair (our friend from Toronto who had flown out for a long weekend) and a bottle of wine from our favourite winery in Niagara.

After lunch, Blair and I took the Peak to Peak gondola across to Blackcomb Mountain, a distance of 4.4kms/2.73 miles. The gondola system holds three world records:

 

·                     Longest unsupported span in the world: 3.024 km/1.88 miles

·                     Highest lift of its kind in the world: 436 m/1,427 ft above the valley floor

·                     World’s longest continuous lift system

At Blackcomb Mountain, the view of the slopes and down to the village were great.

The mild, spring like conditions are evident in the lack of snow on the mountain’s lower slopes

If we get a lot more snow this season I might go up again, otherwise it won’t happen until next season. It’s raining down in the village today, so hopefully its falling as snow on the slopes as its needed badly!