Shortest Day

Boys Day Out

Hopkins Landing - Sunrise

Tue Dec 21st

The winter solstice has arrived and the days will soon start getting longer and nights shorter.  If we on the Coast needed a reminder that Dec 21st is the start of winter the -1c outside left us in no doubt, that's 6c below average.  Snow is due later in the day.  

Six months ago it was 27.6c; the start of the heat dome that engulfed west coast North America and pressaged the 1600 fires that destroyed 8,700 sq km of BC forests, the third worst season on record.  That's five and half times the area of Greater London.  

The lack of rain that accompanied the  warm summer led to water restrictions on the coast.  Locally, the Gibsons Well supplied water without problem, as distinct from Chapman Lake reservoir that serves Sechelt and the northern west coast.  Gibsons actually piped water to Sechelt at the height of the restrictions.  The dry summer was closely followed by a very wet Oct and Nov, the wettest since 2007 and 2006 respectively.  By early December we' had over 661mm of rain falling in less than three months.  That excludes the last week of snow and rain on the Coast.

Sea to Sky Hwy

Rain last Friday and Saturday fell as snow on the Sea to Sky Hwy up to and in Whistler.  So when a text arrived from Nick on Saturday asking if I wanted to go skiing on Sunday it was really a no brainer.

I was on the 0620 ferry as a foot passenger with boots, skis and gear hand-carried and picked up by Nick at Horseshoe Bay 40 minutes later.  The Sea to Sky Hwy was a winter scene all the way all the way up from Squamish.  Despite it being the Sunday before Christmas with the schools now closed, we were up the mountain by 0930.

Then - aged 3.5

We first put Nick on skis  in Val d'Isere when he was three.  He was distinctly unimpressed.  I think he may have been balling his eyes out in the photo on the right.

Most of our subsequent trips were to Gargellen, in the Montafon Valley in Austria, where we have friends.  Both Nick and Ros learnt to ski and did schischule there, while we disappeared off on the slopes.

For many years we enjoyed taking both Nick and Ros skiing, they both took to it and by their teens, were beginning to beat us down the slope.  Nick joined the ski club in Uni, (became social secretary in his second year and president in his third year) then went on to do a ski season in Val, followed by working for a year with the British Universities Snowsports Council... yet more skiing!  You can see why he moved to Vancouver. 

Sunday he and I skied the same routes, though Nick did venture off-piste a few times.  He now will always beat us down the slope.  His top speed according to our tracking App was 71kph and mine 50kph.  How roles are reversed.  

As we got close to the end of the day, the Peak lift was open so we headed for the top of Whistler.  His planned route down he decided was not the best route, so we skied down to The Saddle.  It looked near vertical to me, with thick 'mogully' snow.  I'll go down an easier route I suggested.  'There isn't one' he advised.  Great, I thought!

Now - reminds me of Darth Vader

No longer do I guide him down, he was guiding me down!

I only took one dive, not pretty.  Unfortunately no pictures!  We skied all the way down to Whistler Village, almost non-stop.  It was time to quit while we were ahead.  I knew I was going to ache the next day!

The snow was brilliant, a blue sky all day, though cold.  It was -14c up top.

I felt it was the best day's skiing I have enjoyed in Whistler.  Nick certainly thought it was the best conditions he has ever had.  

The Peak with Black Tusk in the distance

Although some of the queues were busy, we avoided the worst of them and the slopes were surprisingly clear.  He got me back to the ferry terminal just before the 1730 departed, only to find they had closed boarding.  The next crossing was 1950.  Nick took my ski-gear and I headed to the pub.  A few glasses of Malbec and a burger and fries later, and I was beginning to feel quite mellow!

A few more pics below.

Few people

Plenty of snow

Whistler Village

Sea to Sky Hwy

Back at sea level, Christmas decorations seem to adorn most houses locally, even if it is a simple string of lights.  Ours is one of the exceptions (none - bah humbug), though you may just see the Christmas tree lights from outside.

Top prize goes to a property on Newman Rd at the top of Langdale, which would not be out of place in Disneyland.  

One of the houses has a polar bear outside the size of a large dog.  Jack was distinctly wary when we walked past, even though it was not moving. 

In other news we met some friends at Tapworks, one of our three craft breweries in Gibsons on Friday.  Nice beer! We found he and me were both due our Covid booster on the same day, 6 Jan.  This morning they contacted us to say he'd wandered into the vaccination centre today and got his jab so we should try too.  I swung by after my flu jab and was given mine and they asked that Fred pop up and get hers done as our second doses were now over 8 months old.  

The transition from the very excellent NHS to the equally excellent BC health system feels seamless.  Although we have to pay for treatment as we are not yet covered by BC health insurance, my flu vaccine was CA$17 and a routine blood test CA$10.  The Covid jab was free.  The lovely nurse at the surgery said it was OK to have both jabs on the same day, but I may 'feel s**t tomorrow'.  Her words not mine!  She laughed, patted me on the arm and I went on my way.