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I have just returned from yet another kick-ass snowboarding trip in BC! On this trip, I was joined by my uncle Conrad for some mountain madness. The trip was a six day journey to BC's Okanagan valley, where lies the only mountain in the province that still has decent ski conditions -- Big White.
Big White claims to always have more snow than any other resort in BC. This proved true on our trip, but in a season like this one, such a claim doesn't mean much. Most other resorts in the province are barely skiable due to lack of snow, and many have closed the mountains for the year. Big White still had over 90% of its runs open, and though there was little loose powder, the runs were mostly in very good shape.
If you don't care about the story and just want to see the photos, click here.
I flew from Vancouver to Kelowna, where I met Conrad as he arrived from Toronto. We had a few hours to kill before the shuttle bus departure to Big White, so we took a stroll through downtown Kelowna. After visiting a couple of shops, we walked along the waterfront and took in the sights. At this time of year, Kelowna is not the prettiest place around. It's cold enough there for the leaves to fall off the trees and for the grass to turn brown, but not cold enough for any snow to accumulate on the ground to cover this up. This gives the city a very brown, somewhat dirty look to it. Nonetheless, with all the vineyards around, I'll bet the city is beautiful and green in the summer.
After our brief tour of Kelowna, Conrad and I took the Big White shuttle bus to the mountain village and checked into our hotel. It was too late in the day to do any skiing, so we went out for dinner, toured the village, and went to bed early to be fresh for the morning.
For the next four days we followed pretty much the same routine:
After the first day of skiing we were rather tired so we napped in the afternoon before dinner. We quickly grew accustomed to the physical activity, however, and didn't need to nap on subsequent days. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we were getting stronger and had more endurance! We were probably also becoming acclimated to the altitude (4500 ft in the village, 7500 ft at the peak).
While getting dressed on the first day of skiing, I discovered that I had forgotten to pack my snowpants. D'oh! I went to the ski shop to buy another pair, only to discover that the cheapest snowpants available cost over $400...yikes! I'd ride naked before paying that much! I then learned that there was another shop that would rent out snowpants. I guess they were prepared for unprepared people like me. The shop wasn't open that morning, however, so I was SOL. In the end, I had to ride in jeans for the first day; fortunately it was very warm on the mountain, so riding in jeans wasn't a big deal. I was later able to secure myself a pair of rental snowpants for the remainder of the trip. The only pants they had left were of size L and XL, however, so they were somewhat loose-fitting. I was extra careful to secure the waist with a belt, to ensure that I didn't share Naji's tragic fate. (For those of you who recall what happened to Naji last year at Mont St. Sauveur, you'll understand what I mean!!) :-D
I did my best to push Conrad to the breaking point, but he hung on tenuously. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he's a much better skier than I thought he would be. We started off on easy green runs, then proceeded to steeper blue runs. Before long, we were navigating the winding, mogul-filled back-alleys of the glades on the Eastern side of the mountain. By the end of the first day, we were even catching sweet air off jumps between pines. Try as I might, however, I could not get Conrad to hit a tree. (I did see him hug a couple of them, however. Grandpa would be ashamed to discover that his son is now officially a "tree hugger"). :-)
We even rode Big White's new aptly named Cliff Chair a few times. The chair ascends over one of the steepest bowls I have ever seen; Conrad and I agreed that the slope was at least 89.9 degrees. ;-) Riding the Cliff Chair was akin to riding the start of a roller coaster: you're slowly dragged up an ungodly steep slope, the other side of which you cannot see. As we ascended the slope, I looked down and said a silent prayer, hoping that the chair designer was not a University of Ottawa engineering graduate. ;-) In the end, we weren't brave enough to descend that same steep slope, so we took a more reasonable route down the other side.
For the last run of the last day of our ski trip, Conrad and I agreed to take it easy and do a gentle green run. After all, you're more likely to hurt yourself on the last run when you're tired from four days of steady skiing. We consulted the map at the top of the mountain, and I noticed that there were some nice glades alongside our easy green run. I told Conrad that I'd like to hop in and out of those glades, and he agreed that it was a good idea. I noticed the glades almost immediately after we started descending, and Conrad and I entered them. With my spectacular navigation skills, we took a wrong turn at some point, and ended up far away from our easy green run. We couldn't turn around and go back uphill, and before long a deep ravine opened up between us and our green run, so we could no longer reach it laterally. Then, to Conrad's dismay, the glades opened up into a steep black diamond run. The run was covered with moguls and had large rocks protruding everywhere. It looked rather challenging. I told Conrad that we had no choice but to descend the moguls. He glared at me, blaming my navigation skills for our predicament. If looks could kill... :-) Anyway, we made it down the run slowly, and in the end we escaped uninjured. I think Conrad and I are better men for having braved the run, and Conrad can now say that he descended a black diamond at Big White. Nevertheless unrepentant, he insisted that I buy his drinks that night. ;-)
On the final day of our trip, Conrad and I took the shuttle bus back to the airport. We couldn't do any skiing that day, because the flight was too early. We shared a flight back to Vancouver, after which Conrad caught a second flight to Toronto. Other than some worries that flight delays would cause Conrad to miss his connection (there was no problem in the end), the day was uneventful.
Well, that's it for now. You can find my Big White photos and movies here.
I hope you enjoy them...maybe they'll help convince you to join me at Big White next season! :-D