As the snow melts away and the quieter shoulder season kicks in, you would think that we might have more time to do things like sit down and write a blog. Not So... We have found ourselves busier than ever, but I thought it best I sit and write this before the memories fade too much. It is hard to believe we have been here almost half a year, I feel as though we are barely getting started, but to think back over some of the amazing experiences we have had, I start to see where the time went.
There is the obvious things that come to mind, we went backcountry snowboarding and stayed overnight in a hut perched on the edge of a glacier. That was something I didn't think I would ever do, I didn't even know what a splitboard was until I came to Canada. For those still wondering, it is a snowboard that is split up the middle so that you can take it apart and convert it to a pair of X country ski's. Stick some skins on and you can climb up a slope. Very cool idea! It was one of the coldest sleeps I have ever had, but to wake up in the morning and have an entire valley to ourselves was pretty special. Didn't think I would ever build an igloo either, but we did. Luckily it was to stay warm, and not needed to sleep in since we were not very good at it!!! A huge thankyou to our new friends Seppel and Kerstin for taking the time to share their knowledge of the backcountry with us, we never could have ventured out there by ourselves.
I edited some photos and clips into a short video you can watch here.
There was also the telus festival, when the whole town partied nonstop for over a week. We got to see awesome live music on big outdoor stages right at the foot of the ski slope. Fairly memorable to see a bass player rockin' out shirtless in the middle of a blizzard. We saw Michael Franti, John Butler, Blackalicious, De La Soul and heaps more. Then there was things like the big air competition which was pretty awesome, and outdone only by the dude who got really drunk the next day and in the middle of a gig, climbed the big air jump and stripped, then jumped off and slid naked to the bottom on a pair of thongs!! Yep, Whistler is like that....
It seems to be the smaller things somehow that stick in your mind, like watching a spontaneous snowball battle break out between the patrons on the sundeck deck at the GLC and those accross the plaza in the beer garden at the Longhorn. I watched for at least half an hour as the beer-fueled battle raged on, people taking cover under market umbrellas and patio heaters or whatever was handy. All the while, what were the security gaurds doing? Giggling like schoolgirls as anyone not paying attention, and even the odd cocktail waitress got caught in the crossfire. It pays to have a sense of humour around here.
Let me tell you, it was certainly a pretty surreal experience to sit with a cold pint and soak up the warmth of an open fire whilst taking in some of the best live acoustic I have ever seen. The atmosphere at the Ash Grunwald gig was only enhanced by the twinkling lights of groomers prepping the mountain for the next day, seen through the plate glass behind the performer. Who would have thought that we would get a bit carried away with it all and have a race down the slope on stolen patio tables. Tsk Tsk....my ass still has the snow rash to show for that!
I suppose it has to happen some time, the bit where I go on and on about Whistler.... I can't really help it though, especially when we really were never really intending to live here at all. Our preconceived idea of the place was 1: expensive, 2: touristy, neither of which really appealed to us. We kind of ended up here by accident after having difficulty finding scientific work in Vancouver, a cheap flat here was offered and having no other plan, we decided to take it. How lucky we felt when we realised just how cheap our flat was, our mates here were either paying 3-4 times as much in rent, or sharing houses with 18 or so people! That was our first good fortune. The second is just to be here, the place really surprised us in every possible way. I can't think of anywhere else that has small mountain town charm, paired with the international flavour and travelling community that you would normally only expect in big cities like London. You see such wacky fashions and individual styles around town, almost everyone is from somewhere else and has their own way of doing things, but it all seems to fit together successfully to make the place what it is. They say that Whistler is a bubble, and they might be right... Once you are here the rest of the world just seems not to matter anymore. Leisure is top priority for everyone, whether your thing is skiing, biking, climbing, hiking, snowmobiling or any of the bazillion other things there are to do, one thing is for sure, your boss is probably just as committed to enjoying themselves as you are which means that you can usually fit plenty of whatever you love into your week. I have even seen a business that had a 'powder day policy' (start at noon if the snow is good!!!) Whistler is all about lifestyle, even if you do seem to be broke as a uni student pretty much all of the time!! I hope you will now understand why I have been so crap at keeping in touch!
Is the snow really as good as they say? To put it simply, hell-yes! I am worried I will never enjoy snowboarding at home again.....I can't think of anywhere that even comes close to this. The mountain is so tall, it has three climate zones, so you can always find some OK weather somewhere in the hill. The runs are so long, you need to pop your ears on the way down and almost all the lifts are express.
If that didn't spoil us enough, when you get sick of one mountain, there is a whole other one to explore and to top it all off, the season is ridiculously long and stretches for around 7 months of the year!
Now that the snow has melted away in the village, we have found summer to be filled with amazing hikes, biking trails and beautiful lakes at every turn.
The only downside seems to be that there are so many choices and only 5 months of suitable weather, you really have to pick and choose what to do or you would never have time to go to work at all! One of the coolest things about arriving here when we did, was that it was all under metres of snow. We had no idea even what our own house looked like. Spring was full of surprises as we got to see what was underneath. I was pleased to find that we had a lovely sundeck which we have been making good use of since I fixed up an old BBQ donated by the lady upstairs. Imagine my delight when several cans of beer popped up out of the snow in the garden, obviously forgotten by the previous tenant who must have been making use of the worlds largest party fridge.
This is the same section of the hill in winter and summer....
With the snow gone, the wildlife is out and about too. I have never seen it so 'in your face'. We have squirrels that sit on the windowsill eating pinecones, have had chipmonks come right up and snatch a bite out of our sandwiches when hiking, and I have stumbled into the odd bear walking on my way to work which sure does wake you up in a hurry! Of course all this is nothing compared with the stories some of our friends have told us, one had a bear break into the kitchen while she was at home and she had to hide upstairs until it left. Another woke up with a start to find a squirrel had climbed through the window and into bed with her! There is really no avoiding nature over here, you start to feel a little silly that you used to worry about having a spider in the house.
So I had to re-sit my drivers licence test over here as they will only recognise an Aussie one for a few months. While I was at it, I upgraded to a taxi class. I have picked up a few shifts a week driving a cab to suppliment my Hotel job income and despite never thinking I would drive a taxi in my life, I am really enjoying it! It is a great way to meet some really cool locals who are only too keen to tell you about all the hidden secrets and inside info the area has to offer. I am also loving the tips, it is a great feeling when people give you money simply for being nice to them! Along with getting a new licence, we also purchased ourselves a car. An '88 Camry with pimped out gold mudguards (to hide the rust!!). We don't care so much how it looks because it has opened up so many places to us. Have done loads of camping trips and hikes and even went down to Washington state for a festival. It is true what they say, things are bigger in America. It was called Sasquatch and was held in a little town called George (yep, there is a place called George, Washington), a small town with a BIG gorge!! And perched on the edge of that gorge was one of the biggest outdoor stages I have ever seen. Throw into the mix massive bands like 'The Flaming Lips', 'R.E.M.', and 'The Cure' over three days and you got yourself one hell of a festival!!
The lips would have to take the cake for the craziest show I have ever seen, with confetti cannons, about 20 dancing teletubbies, a UFO, an inflatable hampster ball which the lead singer climbed inside and rolled around on top of the crowd, not to mention the half dozen naked chicks that ran onto the stage and began dancing mid show.....
The Cure would have to be the longest show ever at about two hours, plus an encore that ran at least 45 mins!!! I was close to collapse by the end, but they were amazing to see. We also made some new buddies. It was a 7 hour drive and with the cost of fuel these days, we decided to place an ad for a couple of carpoolers to help with the costs. Two uni students from Vancouver jumped into our back seat and turned out to be pretty darn good company, thanks for coming along Mel and Genna. You guys really 'made' the trip for us....well you guys and those dudes with the bacon and pancakes when we were hung over and looking for breakfast on day two....
