The End of a Good Board

They say all good things must come to an end, but I had no intention or desire for it to end this way.

I am talking of course about my beloved Venue Onyx 161 snowboard that I bought in January and have lovingly shredded away on for the 6 months following it's purchase. I had been wondering what to do with it for a while, as the tail had delaminated pretty badly, and I knew that I didn't sort it out with some epoxy or something soonish it would begin to get waterlogged and would in time affect the performance of the board. I was also to get the board generally serviced, a nice wax and a good base grind. However, I am now saved the hassle as it is now unfortunately slightly less than fully intact.

The event was to be my last snowboarding action here in Canada, give or take 1 or 2 days working on the glacier. Given that we have now entered the last week of fun up here on Blackcomb mountain, there had been a bbq bash for us lifties. The plan was to kick everyone off the glacier at the normal time (Round abouts 3pm), but keep the lifts running so that the lifties could come up and play with no lift lines, no waiting in a line up for the kickers or anything like that.

All day I had been sweltering in the heat of the village working on the lift from the valley, the Wizard Express. I had tried to cool down by consuming 4 slushies during the day, and running numerous times through the sprinklers placed outside the Day Lodge. So when 3pm came round, my replacement arrived at the bottom, I could grab my board and head up, pretty excited about having some fun up there!

I got to the top and donned my snowboarding boots, and looked in anticipation to a wide open glacier, admittedly beginning to be slightly short of snow, but with numerous kickers and rails to try out, and no people to be seen, save for my colleagues already up there.

With a sense of excitement I strapped in and headed down the cat track towards the glacier. It had been a while since I'd snowboarded, and the deep slushy snow was making it difficult too make fine adjustments to my progress. However, got down the first pitch, steered around the hairpin left hander, to cruise down the next portion of the track before I could drop into the jumps. I was on my toe edge, and to the left hand side were steep walls that I could make a slashy turn on, as if bouncing off the lip on a surfboard (Probably - it's not as if I've ever managed to stand up on a surfboard, but there you go!). I did this a couple of times, gradually gaining more speed. Then I slashed a little too hard, the nose caught in the snow and stopped, while my considerable weight and momentum kept going forward. Unfortunately this was slightly too much for the board, and I heard a dreaded crack from beneath my feet. I looked down, and could see that the nose of the board had folded up, and that the core had snapped.

I decided to carry on to try and ride it to the bottom of the slope. This proved to be very difficult, as, especially with the slushy conditions, everytime I put any weight on the edge, the board folded and put me down in the snow on my backside, which was twice as bad cos I was just wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

So that was how the story of me and my board came to an end. We had numerous good times. We shared our first runs through the halfpipe, our triumphant runs through the park getting bigger and bigger air, shared the increasing confidence I had on a snowboard to just point it straight and still feel in control, numerous days in powder proving that you really could do it all on a single board rather than different boards for different conditions, and of course accompanied me round a selection of BC and Alberta's finest snowboarding resorts.

I didn't let this upset ruin the evening though. I headed down into the glacier, and decided to be the photographer for the evening. A number of the other lifty's are really good boarders and skiiers, so I managed to get some pretty decent photographs.

Once the snowboarding was done, the lifts were turned off, and the bbq was fired up. We were allowed to raid the fridge for beer and juice, and the burgers were big, juicy, tasty and most of all free. The ride down the lifts was entertaining to say the least with 30 or so lifty's drunkenly riding chairlifts and buses to get down to the base, before once again heading to the old favourite, Merlins.

It really does have it's perks being a lifty sometimes. In whatever type of job could you have a staff party at 2200m up, a glacier all to yourself to ride however you like, and then a free bbq, with amazing views across the Coast Mountains unitl the early evening. Even on the way down the lifts at 8pm, it was still more than warm enough to sit in shorts and a t-shirt. The views to they valley on the way down were stunning again, and it really was quite a magical evening.

Man, I'm gonna miss this place.

In Search of a Ghost Town

I think yesterday was one of the toughest amd most tiring days I've had since being out here in Canada! Sheany had been taken to a place on the edge of Green Lake by a guy with a 4x4, which was once a small logging community on the shore of the lake before being abandoned somewhere between 1930 and 1950, depending on what you read! Being my normal curious self, I decided to head there, camera in hand to attempt some arty ghost town shots!

I looked on the only available map we had, and I saw the Parkhurst loop, a trail that branches off the Green Lake Loop, around the ghost town. On the map it didn't look too long, and it appeared that I'd be easily able to get back to Emerald Estates from the end of the trail, in order to get a bus back.

I figured it wouldn't take too long, and so, due to a spot of drinking the night before, I waited until around 230pm before I ventured outside. The first thing I noticed was the heat. I'm pretty sure it was above 30degrees, and the sun was beating down without a cloud in the sky. I caught the bus to Alpine Meadows, and started the walk from there, heading to Nicklaus North Golf CLub, from where I could pick up the Green Lake loop.

When I got to the trailhead, the first thing I noticed was that it probably wasn't going to be quite as easy as I thought it might be. Still, I had a full bottle of water, and I thought I was prepared. The trail started off, with a sharp narrow climb, with a loose rocky surface, and dense vegetation encroaching on either side. I carried on a little further, and the path changed from a narrow steep climb, to a wider steep climb. I got to the top of this climb, sweating profusely, minus my shirt, thinking that this will be a good work out for myself!

Well, it surely was. I was about to find out that this climb was one of many along the road. Everytime I thought "Surely we're descending to the lake side now", we turned away from the lake to start climbing and ascending over another rocky bluff. My water was getting warmer and warmer and the combination of walking up or downhill on loose rocks, or walking in the sand on the flat sections was making my legs tired, and I really hoped I'd be getting somewhere soon! The only consolation along the trail were some spectacular views over the lake.

The trail did end up descending, as it joined a river, then descended further to the valley floor, and joined another river, and figured that this must be the Green River that flows out of the lake to the north, and that I must have gone too far. I decided therefore to almost double back on myself, following the train lines that I knew ran along the shore of the lake. Thankfully this was the right call, and I soon found another sign to Parkhurst and the Green Lake Loop. However, I was getting slightly confused as the trail kept disappearing, and I had to just guess that I should carry along the train tracks.

Eventually I saw a trail heading into the forest from the tracks, and thought I may as well give it a try. At long last I had managed to stumble into Parkhurst! I had a nose around, taking some photo's around the area, of the collapsed houses and the abandoned 1940's trucks.

After a while I decided to head back, given that it was now about 730pm and I'd been hiking pretty much non stop! I got back to where the trail had descended to the valley floor, deciding not to take the same route back, but to head to Highway 99 to Emerald Estates, and catch the bus back. Of course what I hadn't counted on was that I had to walk about 4kms north to cross the river and get to Highway 99, before turning back for Emerald. This meant that I was absolutely knackered and drained, I'd run out of water, and was now about 5 or 6 km's from Emerald, which was in turn a further 9 or 10 km's from Whistler Cay!

I started walking back, before thinking I was really tired and thirsty and that it'd take me all night to get back home. So I decided to give hitch-hiking my first ever try! After about 15 minutes of walking and not much luck - not too many people head into Whistler from the north at that time of night - a guy in a Mini convertible felt pity on me, and stopped to pick me up! After a pleasant chat on the way back in about the state of the North American tourist industry, and the plusses and minuses of living in Vancouver, he dropped me off at the supermarket and I went off to buy about 10l of liquid of various descriptions!

So today, I'm trying to chill out, the temperature outside at 35degC, which is why I'm staying in this lovely air conditioned internet cafe as long as possible! Bring on the winter again!

Time's Drawing to a Close

Time is getting on, and thoughts have well and truly changed to my departure from Whistler, followed soon after by my departure from Canada.

It's a strange mix of emotions at the moment. I'm having as much fun out here at the moment as I ever have been. The job is going well, I'm still making new friends, the sun is shining, and it's all good. However, at the same time it does in a way feel like I'm playing out time now until I leave. I'm really looking forward to hitting the road again, hopefully hooking up with my contacts in Victoria (Vancouver Island) and Toronto, and generally having a bit of a look around, and, shock, horror, being an average tourist again for a while! At the same time, I'm also looking forward a lot to getting home. I've got so much to look forward to when I get back in Blighty. I'm looking forward to seeing my parents, Pete and my other buddies, my bro and my nephew. I've got the wedding to go to, the Scottish family holiday, all my friends up in Aberdeen, so I think I'll still be having fun when I get back!

It will be very strange to leave here though. In a way that perhaps I haven't before, I really feel like part of the community. I know all the long time Whistler residents would argue against this, perhaps saying that the "Itinerant" workers that come through each year are perhaps no more local than the family up from Florida to have a look at the mountains. However, these workers, people like me and my friends, are the people who predominantly make up Whistler in one way or another. We are the people who you have most contact with on a day to day basis, as the long term residents generally have the better paid and more permanent behind-the-scenes jobs, not serving you the food, the drinks or operating the lifts. It is perhaps for this reason that when you're around somewhere for such a long term, in what is really a relatively small community you get to know everyone whether you work with them or not. This is definitely the case moreso here than in a regular town, as everyone is here for the same reason - to have fun in whatever form it may take! Because of this it'll be strange when I'll be back in blighty where there aren't so many like-minded individuals.

So I now have less than a month until I leave Whistler, and in fact less than a month before I'll be in Toronto I think. I'm going to try and make sure I get the most out of the time remaining. I've signed up for some extra work shifts, not just because the money would be nice, but also to get involved in Krankworx, the big mountain bike festival, which should be pretty good fun when it rocks up next week.

The drawing in of time also prompted me and some friends to have a spur of the moment road trip. For the bargain price of $70 (About 35 quid) I'd booked a full size sedan, something similar to a Chevy Impala or a Buick Allure, basically similar size and prob the US equivalent of a Vectra (Apart from the fact that, this being North America, they come as standard with a 3.5l V6!). When I got to the hire place they gave me a choice of cars, including a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible. Well, the sun had just started shining after a week or two of miserable weather, and so it somehow seemed very appropriate to take this upgrade and hop into the ragtop!

It was quite funny, seeing my friends faces as I picked them up, the radio on and the top down! We hit the road, stopped at the first gas station and bought a Beach Boys cd to play, and it all felt so right! We were ready for a mammoth trip that covered over 700kms, and over 10 provincial parks in one day! It really did turn out to be a great day. Our route was basically a loop of South western BC (It can be seen on this web page:http://www.britishcolumbia.com/Maps/?id=55)

The scenery was stunning and the weather really played along. The drive to Lillooet was fun, and a lot easier than when it was carried out in the winter. From Lillooet to Lytton more or less was fascinating, with the semi-arid desert landscape. The Fraser valley was attractive, if not quite as stunning and fearsome as the guidebooks had lead me to believe! I think, though, that this may well be because I really am being spoilt for beautiful scenery here in BC! The only unattractive portion of the trip was the 50kms through the outlying suburbs of Vancouver on Highway 1. This was mainly due to a lack of changing scenery, and a traffic jam! Once to Vancouver though the scenery picked up once again. The sun was beginning to get low, the view over the city was good, but not as stunning as the journey up Howe Sound towards Squamish. I'm sure I've said it before in this blog, but the drive along Highway 99 (The Sea to Sky Highway) really is one of the most stunning drives ever! Another few provincial parks later, and we were back in Whistler, taking just over 12.5 hours!

Then it was straight to Merlins for a lifty rounds night. It always pays to get to these events a little bit late, especially if you're looking to boost your ego! As everyone was quite well lubricated, when I walked into the bar a huge cheer went up and high fives all round! Always a good feeling! I tried to get away that evening pretty early after only having 1 drink, as I'd decided to drive home. This was somewhat foiled firstly by meeting some friends who wanted a ride home, one of whom had a bike. The only solution to fitting the bike in was having the top down with the bike in the back seat! Then when I got home, Sheany came out to look at the car, and then insisted that we had a quick cruise round Whistler with the roof down!

Anyway, it was a great day, but now the weekend (A four day one this time!) is over, and I'm back at work. Had a good time today though, so I'm hoping this week should be good. Only another 10 days of work or so, so time to make the most of it!

Sun, Slush and Dayglo Abortions

I apologise for the slightly strange title of this entry. It's continuing to be very sunny and warm, causing the snow to be pretty slushy. Also Slush was the name of one of the bands supporting Dayglo Abortions last night at a punk show I went to! More of which later.

I'm not going to lie to you, over the last week or two, the fact that I live just off the end of Easy Street really has seemed pretty appropriate. Thanks to some swapping of shifts, I had a 4 day weekend last week, which was ace. It involved plenty of lazing around in the sun, swimming from Rainbow Park and just chilling with friends.

I've been biking with friends again and had a great time once more. Built up a lot more courage this time and threw myself down some new trails, and was generally a lot faster, and more airborne than with previous attempts. Again only managed to fall over the once, so I figure I'm doing pretty well so far!

Also had the pleasure of working on the glacier on mid-summer's day, which is a first. It's a new and fun experience being able to go snowboarding this far into the year, especially as it's all been in the northern hemisphere! As Rich pointed out to me in the last email he sent, I've now been snowboarding 7 months out here! That's pretty good going. As Sheany is now working in the ticket selling and validation department for the mountain, I'm hoping she'll be able to carry out some research on how many day's I've had on snow. It's a little bit difficult to tell at the mo what with all the different passes I've had. I'm pretty sure I had 25-30 when I returned from the road trip back in February, so now I think I could definitely be somewhere between 75 and 100 days on snow.

The last day I had on snow was pretty fun, with me, Grace and Jamie going to shred the glacier. It wasn't quite as successful as anticipated. We were kind of late getting up the mountain, including me waiting outside Merlins for an hour, so we didn't get away from the valley 'til 1pm. It takes nearly an hour to get to the glacier from the valley, which meant it was approaching 2pm once there, which, together with the 15 minute line up for the lift meant we had time for three runs. Of course, because it's only the glacier that's open each of these runs is very short, and for maximum fun, they are generally taken through the public park. This consists of a half pipe, then three kickers, or alternatively 4 boxes / rails. Firstly the pipe. This was difficult to ride, but quite fun - It hadn't been shaped for a few days which made it interesting, added to which cause of the heat and sun direction, one wall was slushy whilst the other was pretty hard! All in all hard to judge, and it was short, so 3 to 4 hits were possible! The kickers were fun as well, although again you could be fooled by them as well. The first two had a big gap, which, in the slushy conditions, it was very difficult to get enough speed to clear! That meant you went to the 3rd jump with it in mind that you had to get the speed to clear the knuckle. Of course, this jump went straight into the landing after the kicker! THis meant that on numerous occasions I'd be sailing high above the ground wishing I hadn't been going quite so fast! Still all jolly good fun! Unfortunately the other members of the team didn't enjoy it quite so much, Jamie cos it was the first time he'd ridden in about a month and was a bit rusty, and Grace cos she doesn't ride parks! Nevermind, the run down from 7th Heaven to the top of Solar Coaster was fun, so I think that reescued the day!

I also learnt in the last couple of week's that the Canadian's like Canada Day, and more than anything else use it as an excuse to get really drunk! After watching England getting knocked out of the World Cup by Portugal on penalties (Again!?), the day was spent first watching a BMX event, which had some of the world's top riders going crazy over a dirt jump course. Those guys really are crazy! After that the exodus was made to Rainbow Park to chill by the lake, go swimming and, for the Canadian's mostly, drink! They had laid out a plastic sheet and a sprinkler system in one corner of the park, so you could run, dive and slide all over it! I learnt how to shotgun a can of beer, and much fun was had! I think I managed to escape lightly as I crawled home relatively sober at 12am, whilst most other friends were staggering off to house parties to imbibe all sorts of substances, legal or otherwise.

That is perhaps the most surprising thing about being over here in Whistler. Considering that generally it is considered a healthy sort of outdoor living area, there really is a huge amount of drugs available to the average punter. I feel a positive outcast in that I'm about the only person who doesn't smoke weed here. Mushrooms are almost served as a side portion to meals and coke is as freely available as the tooth rotting vegetable extract based liquid namesake! It is strange though that, compared to in the UK, people who take all these substances aren't assholes. I disagree with their choice of recreational activity, unlike some people I know in the UK they don't brag about how great it is / they are, and they don't let it affect them too much when they're not taking anything. Don't know what that means, but I find it quite interesting.

Anyway, I think I'm going to take the next few days pretty easy. Only a two day weekend so I'm back to work tomorrow unfortunately. I'll be heading home early following Wed nights experiments with Albertan whisky, and last nights trip to Merlins for a punk rock show. It's been so long since I've been to a proper hard and fast punk show, and it was ace. The headline band was the delightfully titled Dayglo Abortions, although they were matched in my opinion by the local opening band, Slush. Good times, and I spent a few minutes in the mosh pit, and it was pretty hectic. People getting thrown everyhwere. Someone dived off to the stage onto my head, I think I got hit by a flying elbow, but no harm done. Although there were quite a few people walking around with bloody noses! If anyone has seen the punk episode of Quincy, it was exactly what he was talking out against!

Anyway, I have to select some photo's to enter a BUNAC photo competition, so wish me luck.