Playtime

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The upside of the blizzard on Sunday was the amount of snow to ski on Monday... POWDER!!!!! Actually I may be overselling it here. Whilst great in theory, we haven't ever skied much powder plus we were exhausted from the weekend and it was fairly wet and heavy. Still, an opportunity to learn. Along with the new snow conditions, we had a new instructor, Downtown Johnny Brown. A man firmly of the opinion that life is not to be taken seriously and that skiing should be fun 😊 So he took great delight in introducing us to powder - I don't think I've fallen over so many times on the entire trip to date! But it obviously worked because by Wednesday we were nailing slopes we'd had difficulty with on Monday. Not to say that I'm an expert now but I'm definitely improving.

Monday night was Maria's official birthday (she'd celebrated her actual birthday in the backcountry on Sunday) and as an 80s child it was only fitting that we went to 80s night at Tommy Afrika's. I'm not sure about the DJ's definition of 80s music at times, but a good time was had by all. Costumes were optional but lots did make a great effort - I'm ashamed to say that I was too weary to bother, and actually the club was so hot that the shellsuit jacket would have been far too much (sorry Keith!).

More powder on Tuesday and Wednesday and conditions improved as temperatures dropped (the snow is less wet so easier to ski) so lots of opportunities to practice. The one sour note was Mark - the oldest in our ski school group who has a number of medical problems, but is also the slowest man on the planet who is unwilling to try anything even vaguely out of his comfort zone. This proves rather frustrating for the rest of us who either have to wait for ages as he inches his way down the easiest route, or can't even try the more challenging terrain because we have to go where he can go. John has tried his best to run a number of different lessons but it's difficult and the other groups are now so far ahead of us that we'd struggle to keep up with them. Which is why Chris defected from our group a couple of weeks ago leaving us with just 5. Even I get frustrated now and I know I started off as one of the weakest in the group. Matt and I took the opportunity to mention this to John on Thursday at a rather drunken apres (the man knows how to hold his beer!) but there's not a huge amount that can be done at this stage...

Friday night came along and the Casabella crew hosted our long talked about barbecue. I won't say long planned because it really wasn't! It was mentioned to a number of people during the week, then a rush shopping trip by Greg in between coming off the slopes and heading to the Chateau Fairmont hotel for "Fairmont Friday" ($5 beers and cocktails between 4pm and 6.30pm). Picked up a bunch of Alltracks folk at the Fairmont and then back to ours for food, beer and silly hats and hula skirts (all courtesy of Maria's mother for "fiesta")! A late night, ended with Greg falling asleep on the sofa and therefore at the tender mercies of his housemates... the photo says it all!

After all that I was ready for my quiet weekend. Did absolutely nothing on Saturday, leaving the house only to go to Wild Wood for breakfast and the Brewhouse for dinner. On Sunday the others went skiing as it had snowed again overnight, but I decided my knees needed another day off so I pottered around and managed to find myself a new pair of ski trousers. I must have tried on every pair in Whistler... frustratingly I seem to be between sizes so they're either enormous or that bit too tight. Anyway, I've ended up with snowboard gear - apologies to the purists! Now I'm pondering the wisdom of a new jacket and more new trousers... mainly because I saw a really lovely purple pair which Suze would love 😊

Monday morning arrived far too quickly and we awoke to torrential rain in the village 😞 Hopefully that meant snow up top but not pleasant conditions to go out in. As usual for a Monday we were all to meet at the Rendezvous on Blackcomb but our plans were foiled - we got to the top of the first lift only to find that Solar Coaster wasn't open due to high winds at the top of the mountain. Cue lots of milling around whilst we found each other and the instructors found us. At which point groups were rearranged so that those doing the level 2 exams were in 3 groups and the rest of us were in another 2. My mood was not improved by the realisation that Matt was also leaving our group 😞 and Marie and Maria were off sick, leaving me with Tango Mark. I really could have cried. Now I was left as the one who would have to pluck up the courage to try new terrain because he sure as hell won't.

We started off in fairly horrible conditions and many of the lifts still weren't open so we headed across the hill and climbed a little way onto one of the main runs in the resort, only to find it completely empty and with fresh powder!! So we had some fun there, making fresh tracks at 10.30 in the morning. Mark obviously lagged behind at every opportunity, making me more determined to be at the front so he didn't hold me up, grump grump... But as the weather gradually improved so did my mood. I realised that I had an opportunity here - a very small group so much more individual tuition which I should make the most of and be the best that I can be, regardless of him. So when John suggested we drop off the edge behind the Rendezvous and into a powder filled gully I was right there! My mistake was letting Mark go first for once - he traversed and clung to the hill like a mountain goat (only less agile) then got stuck. After about 10 minutes he decided he'd actually SIT DOWN and turn his skis around to traverse the other way!!! I wish I'd had a video camera... So my turn eventually came and I made a complete mess of it, falling at almost every turn, but at least I tried. And I got down with a big smile on my face because falling over in that stuff is actually quite good fun - it's playing in piles of snow! That run obviously freaked Mark out a bit - he wanted us to go off for a circuit without him after lunch so I got a bit of one-on-one tuition which suited me...

Yesterday dawned bright and sunny - what a difference a day makes! Whistler this time and the intention of hitting Symphony Bowl which hadn't been open on Monday so promised to be pristine. A few runs in powder off the edge of the Saddle then over to Symphony just as the lift started running. We must have been among the first 30 chairs up so off we head down to Staccato Glades, trying some of the untouched pow on the way. Another Mark incident at the Glades... he refused to go down them, saying he didn't think his "powder legs" were working. So John sent me ahead to make my own fresh tracks through whilst he babied Mark down an open run to the side. Again I made a complete hash of it (apparently they heard me shriek and saw my pole as I took a tumble in the soft stuff) but again I came out of the bottom covered in snow and with a big grin on my face. Only to wait another 10 minutes for Mark to finish his much easier run... Hey ho. On the way back to the Roundhouse for lunch, John looks across at the cornice at the top of Low Roll and suggests we try that after lunch - I of course say yes (even though it's a 5 foot drop off and would no doubt end in me tumbling down the slope, plus the thought actually terrifies me but I must show no fear!). I think that may have contributed to Mark deciding to call it a day at lunchtime... I sense a trend...

Which brings me up to date for the first time in ages! This morning I turn up to the meeting place to find no John and no-one else from my group!! Turns out that John has asked Ed to sub for him today (Ed of week 2 where he skied me all over the mountain and set off as soon as the last person in the group reached him... which was usually me. Not too well received at the time, but it was what I needed!). Maria and Marie were still sick, and Mark had texted me to say he wasn't coming as his knee was playing up. So I got a whole day of one-on-one tuition with Ed!! Brilliant 😊 Let's hope Mark decides his knee needs another day of rest tomorrow... Well, gotta go - quiz night at the Brewhouse tonight so I'm off to meet the rest of the team.

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