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Sat
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28/02/09
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The boys are planning some mad
off-piste adventure and I'm keen to give James to the crèche. In
the end it turns out everyone is tired after the past week's snow
fest, and all is quiet at Haus Dorle.
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Sun
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01/03/09
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There's fresh snow and James
and I head out with the snowboards. We aren't quite as early as
might have been preferable and it's Sunday and busy out there.
Also, the snow is quite heavy again, so we give up after a couple
of hours and make our way back home. I go back out for my yoga
class in the afternoon and realise quite how stiff I feel.
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Mon
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02/03/09
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James and I go for a climb and
don't do a lot else. Back home, Toby has been baking, and there
are brownies for everyone to eat.
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Tue
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03/03/09
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Henry phones to let us know
that the eviction is off. Apparently Sylvia had moved the court
date forward without anyone telling us and the case was thrown
out. James and I decide to have another celebratory rest day,
doing nothing constructive at all.
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Wed
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04/03/09
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James and I are out on the
snowboards and have a big fight. Maybe we were due one. It had
been a while.
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Thu
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05/03/09
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I send James out on his own,
as I figure we could do with a little more time apart. I sleep
until lunch time, then have a lazy breakfast followed by some
messing around on the computer. In the evening the James's cook
meatballs, which come out very fine indeed. Justine and Nick are
around too, with their amazing new van and a week to go before the
virgin voyage.
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Fri
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06/03/09
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James and I take the skis out
on Blackcomb. I figure I have three days to learn to ski powder
properly, which leaves one rest day before the avalanche course.
Fortunately we saw a you tube clip the other night, which
described the technique as 'pop and schmear'. I reckon I can work
with that. First though I do my usual step turns down Pakalolo,
the hideous steep and narrow line you can see from the Glacier
chair. Later when we get over to Blackcomb glacier I do discover
the 'pop and schmear' for myself. And lo, it is easier than doing
step turns. I know I have been told a million times... Anyway,
it's well cool.
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Sat
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07/03/09
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As it's Saturday, and the
slopes tend to be more busy, James and I prepare for a back
country trip off the back of the Flute. As we get up to the top of
Harmony the weather seems to be closing in rapidly though, and we
decide to make a trip through 'Boomer Bowl' first and watch what
the weather is doing. It feels icy at minus 10 already anyway, and
trying to put the skins on the skis in a storm does not seem
appealing. I get through the bowl fine and James is happy with my
'pop and schmear'. Then we hit the 'Gun Barrels' – vertical
forest – James had kept that one very quiet. I'm back to step
turn, stop, step turn, stop... I get down OK though. When we get
back to the bottom of Harmony, we are in a full-on snow storm, and
decide to leave the back country for another day. We do one of the
gladed runs and then call it a day early.
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Sun
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08/03/09
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The clocks have changed. When
my alarm goes off, it's still dark and I decide to snooze until
James's alarm. It seems like a very good snooze too – turns out
James didn't change the time on his phone. We go out snowboarding
with Toby and James Sleigh. 'Peak to Creek' as the warm-up is not
my cup of tea exactly – I like to take it a little easier on the
first run. Instead what I get is seriously steep bits followed by
long flat bits followed by uphill bits, in other words terrain
you have to let it run on, and I'm not limber yet. Then come the
moguls. I don't mind those too much, at least they are soft ones
and sort of spaced out. Then comes the icy bit down to the narrow
gate. By the time the boys suggest we do 'Dave Murray' next I feel
confident enough it can't get any worse. And indeed. I master my
first black run on the snowboard in style – nearly anyway, only
one safety slump on the steepest bit. Wheeee! We treat ourselves
to a beer, wings and wedges at Dusty's to celebrate the
achievement.
In the afternoon I go to yoga
and am very pleased I manage to do the teddy bear much more easily
now than when I first tried it – I might graduate onto the
headstand yet...
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Mon
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09/03/09
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Two hours climbing and an
hours power yoga proves a little too much. I feel a little dizzy
by the end of the session. I do a handstand though, even if I do
need a spot for it – must be years since I've done one of those.
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Tue
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10/03/09
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I take a good look at the
schedule for the avalanche safety course and decide to have
another day away from the slopes, because the schedule is a little
ambitious compared to my usual routine.
James cooks us a juicy pork
chop and roasties, which we have with a glass of red wine at about
3 in the afternoon. Then it's off into the village. We buy a large
take-away coffee and head to the Hilton for a 6:30-9:45 PM theory
session looking at avalanche terrain, terrain traps, danger
ratings etc.
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Wed
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11/03/09
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Nick, Sleigh, James and I meet
up with the rest of our group at 8:30 outside the Carleton Lodge.
We head to the Roundhouse initially to do our trip planning and
talk about current conditions out there. Then we head over towards
the Flute and do a practice session with our transceivers, where
we each take turns finding a buried transceiver. I do fine on the
rough search, but I'm too slow on the final narrowing down. This
clearly needs more practice. We move on up the hill a bit and find
a sheltered area, where we dig our snow hole. We dig all the way
to the ground and study the different layers and their stability.
The lowest layer of snow is very obviously suspect. Above that is
some good solid stuff, layered with 3-4 more weaker ones. Our
guide Ryan reminds us of the upshot: At least there is something
to see for us, unlike with the usual coast mountain snow pack in
other years, where it is just one good sturdy and solid whole.
In the afternoon we head back
to the village in smaller groups. On the way down 'Dave Murray'
James has his eye firmly on the jump over the roller at the bottom
and … catches an edge … and goes cartwheeling … By the time
I pull up next to him, he's stuck in a tree well a couple of
metres down from the edge of the piste without skis or poles. One
ski is about 30 metres further up, sticking vertically out of the
ground, tip firmly wedged.
When James manages to finally
extricate himself, we head back to the classroom to talk about
trip planning, slope assessment, good travel habits and companion
rescue. We watch some sequences from 'The Fine Line', which
explains the amount of planning that goes into filming an extreme
ski/ snowboarding film. Ryan also shows us a film which contains
some real-life footage of a group of very experienced back country
skiers and how they succumb to the temptation of 'A Dozen More
Turns' with fatal consequences.
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Thu
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12/03/09
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Nick, Sleigh, James and I meet
Ryan -our guide, James -the Longhorns Chef, Soya -the 19 year old
Canadian girl and former member of the youth ski team, Mike -a pro
on his split board and Lars -the loud Dutch guy. We do our travel
planning at the Roundhouse again, then head off on our adventure.
Ryan has each of us leading the group in turn, discussing hazard
recognition, route choices and safe travel, as we first skin up
the Flute, then head off the back of it into almost pristine
untouched territory. We put the skins back on and pick our way up
the next 'Musical Bump' via a leisurely connection of low points
in the terrain. Ryan points out the two Norwegian guys we'd bumped
into earlier. They are approaching the matter in a more gung-ho
fashion, going straight up, but gaining ground hardly any faster
than we are. We have lunch on top of Oboe in the sun, then start
the return trip. In one of the bowls Ryan sets up a scenario, in
which we practise finding and excavating multiple burial victims
as a group. Management of the group and the resources is required,
and James leads the group very successfully in the first scenario.
9 minutes to find and bring to the surface 3 victims with
transceivers. I get to lead the second time round, and decide
again that I need more practice. 20 minutes for 2 victims with
transceivers and 1 victim without is not so bad, but I don't feel
positive, and a little more confidence would be preferable during
a practice session - when a real-life experience would inevitably
always be the scariest thing ever, ever, ever ...
On the way back to the village
most people are quite exhausted. Still, our new friend Lars, Nick,
Sleigh, James and I make it to Longhorns for a few beers and to
plan some more adventures.
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Fri
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13/03/09
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James and I are both tired
after the last few days and take the day off. I have a long chat
with Pamy on the phone and finish reading Clive Cussler's
'Navigator', which turned out very enjoyable after a bit of a slow
start.
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Sat
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14/03/09
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Powder! James and I head up
onto Blackcomb and I practice my 'pop and schmear' on the glacier.
I'm pleased: it's going quite well. Until I come to the lip up to
the plateau James is standing on waiting for me, which I couldn't
really make out in the white-out conditions – wipe out! Followed
by some more wipe-outs on 'In the Spirit' and 'Where's Joe'–
gladed runs are the way forward, when there is no visibility, but
I'm a bit of a disaster pilot in the trees. Sorry, small tree –
I didn't meant to run you over ...
Later James cooks a roast for
everyone. Sleigh's dad is in Whistler on holidays and comes round
for dinner. Fortunately he seems to enjoy the lamb and the
company. Henry is at ours too, because he is putting on a
'Basecamp' ice skating event later. As the rink isn't booked until
midnight, James and I wimp out – well past our bedtime.
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Sun
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15/03/09
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James and I are out with Henry
and Ani. After our first run Henry gets a call from some Ozzie
friends of his, who are off to do 'Million Dollar Ridge', an
off-piste run from the back of Whistler Peak. There are about 30
centimetres of fresh snow on it, and it's tree skiing. These trees
are spaced in a manner I can handle though, and the angle of the
slope also isn't too steep – it is brilliant, even if don't
handle it with that much style. Afterwards we pop out on 'Big
Timber' and then take the turn off onto 'Homerun', down towards
Creekside. According to our guide book these runs haven't been
bulldozed, and instead the ground has been left in its natural
condition. The bumps are the size of a four-wheel drive in places.
It's got to be the most insane ski piste I've ever been on.
We have some lunch in
'Dusty's', then make our way home through a good old snow storm,
because James has tweaked something in his back. It's kind of
enough for me anyway – powder is hard work.
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Mon
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16/03/09
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James's back is in pain and we
stay in – on a powder day – shock, horror. First thing we get
a text message from Simon and Kate, who have found a wedding venue
and set a date, and James has a chat with Si via Facebook. Simon
is most unimpressed we're not out on the slopes. Now we truly are
bums.
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Tue
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17/03/09
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There are another 20
centimetres of new snow! When we first come up 'Garbanzo' a guide
just takes the closed sign off 'Dave Murray'. I decide to show
James what my new 'pop and schmear' self is made off, and hurl
myself into the void. As I come over the first roller there is
suddenly twice as much new snow, slowing me rapidly. I eject out
of one ski, fly down the hill, lose the other ski – and James is
gone ... Worse, I can't see my other ski – this sort of thing is
not supposed to happen on piste. Eventually I've got myself sorted
out again, and I still have a brilliant run down, although I do
have to stop for regular breathers. We then do a repeater of
'Million Dollar Ridge', and if anything, it's even more awesome
than on Sunday, because I manage to ski it more fluidly. We then
take 'Big Timber' all the way down to Creekside, and I even manage
to nail the big bumps with some flair and gusto, giggling and
whooping all the way down.
At lunch time we end up having
a long chat with a fifty-something chap called Henry, the local
weather man. Henry calls it a 'champagne and caviar day', when
everything goes your way. I feel I've definitely had a 'champagne
and caviar morning'.
We carry on for a couple more
hours after lunch, then head back to the house. It's St Patrick's
Day, and the rest of the guys are heading out for drinks. We join
them for a few at 'The Keg' and in 'Citta's, where all is fairly
tame. Riley, Toby and Nick carry on for some more adventures, but
we still turn in reasonably early.
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Wed
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18/03/09
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James wakes up with his back
and ribs in pain again, and we decide to have a lie-in. We have
hot tub, then James plays the guitar and I update my diary.
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