Whistler Weekend

Friends that ski frequently were heading up to British Columbia for a three day ski weekend, so we jumped at the chance to join them. It ended up being quite a crowd (11 of us in the condo – I was very grateful that pregnancy apparently guarantees a bed instead of floor space) and enormous fun. I decided ahead of time that I'd skip the downhill on this trip (fortuitous, since my ski pants have ceased to button), but Kevin and I both brought our cross country skis.

We skipped out of work a little bit early on Friday to beat traffic, and even with a fair amount of rush hour made great time. We'd both had a long week on not enough sleep and were a bit punchy, but the sunset was gorgeous, lighting up the clouds over the Cascades, and all of Vancouvers lights were beautiful as we passed in the dark. On Saturday, the rest of the crowd went skiing, and I found a spot in the village with great french toast and a view of the skiers coming down the mountain. The surrounding mountains were all completely clear, and the prettiest texture of blue-gray with all of the snow on the trees. Gorgeous.



There was already lots of activity in preparation for next year's Olympics. Right in front on the flags in this photo was a bobsled painted with Olympic rings, and there was a steady stream of people climbing in for photos. Also, you might be able to make out the new Peak-to-Peak gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb (click for big, and look right above the flags):



I thought it looked terrifying – so high up.

Sunday night was lots of fun, as one couple made dinner in the condo and we all hung out, relaxed, and enjoy some apres ski time. It snowed overnight, which made everyone happy. Kevin took the day off downhill and we went cross country skiing around Lost Lake. Skiing on groomed and tracked trails was a novel experience for me (I'm a huge fan), and the views of the lakes, woods and mountains were gorgeous. I was exhausted and starving by the time we got back, but it was a great few hours. We found a creperie (yum) for a late lunch, then I deeply enjoyed a nap. Our room was barely bigger than the bed, but the window had a great view of all of the trees (lacy with the new snow) and the snow cascading off of the roof across the way. Pretty.



We woke up to deep clouds and lots of rain on Monday morning, and the skiing crowd all opted for a leisurely breakfast and ride home over chancing new snow higher up the mountain. We went back to the creperie with Graham, Andi and Adeeb – just as good the second time round.



I was pretty pleased with myself early on for remembering to bring up all of my Canadian change ($25 worth, plus a $20 bill) from ski trips in 2003 and 2005. After carefully spending it all weekend, including one final stop at Tim Hortons for apple fritters right before the border, I was left with a $5 bill, 3 twonies, two nickels and two pennies. Good work, me. :-)

The drive back along the Sea to Sky highway north of Vancouver was spectacular. Amazing mountains, roadside waterfalls, and views into deep valleys.



The colors were spectacular greens and blues – I love that Pacific Northwest palette.



As we got further south the road curved along the mountains that rise out of Howe Sound, so we had gorgeous water and island views as well as the Vancouver Island and Olympic mountains in the distance. I'm so glad that we made the drive in the daylight.