Snow

Well it is Whistler!

Thu Dec 9th 
Paw Prints


We've escaped to Whistler for a few days, after last week's excursion had to be cancelled because it was raining up the mountain.  Not so this week.  The snow above the mid-station was great and there were few fellow skiers on the slopes, more importantly, no lift queues.  The advantage of skiing in December is fewer people; the disadvantage is that conditions can be variable, as we found last week.

Nick and Lizzie's apartment which is now fairly well booked for the season (we got in early, but there are still some gaps) is in Creekside.  Worth keeping an eye on it for any last minute deals.  The 'loft' apartment is great for two people and good for a family of four.  It's a 5 minute walk to the Creekside gondola and there is a well stocked supermarket, BC Liquor store, bars and equipment shops close by.   

Since we moved to Canada, Jack has been amazing and settled in quickly to wherever we are staying.  He has become really very adaptable.  This week we have had a dog sitter/walker as we were out for several hours at a time.  He has rather taken to Julia and she to him!  He is now flat out at my feet!

Lost Lake in summer - 30c
This morning just as it was getting light I walked Jack up to Alta Lake, where we used Nick and Lizzie's canoe in the summer.  The last 200m were virgin snow, when we came across the tracks in the picture above.  Not enough claws for a bear and too big for a wolf, I suspect they were a Cougar.  The tracks were fresh and it had only just stopped snowing.  Jack picked up the scent, but it disappeared into the
mountainside.  

Wednesday morning we walked Lost Lake.  In the summer, it was 30c yet on Wed it was -3c.  The lake was frozen.  Not yet safe enough to walk on, but probably in the next few weeks.  


A frozen Lost Lake -3c

The two views on the right are almost from the same spot, but four months apart.  The seasons are quite distinct here compared to the UK.  Global warming has clearly brought extremes of weather, and we have seen several since we came out to BC.  The seasons though remain well defined.



The lower slopes of Whistler are still not skiable, so at the end of skiing the last section we 'downloaded' on the gondola, though from the tracks in the snow, some are clearly ignoring the signs!

We have not had to queue at all in the few days we have been here.  Occasionally we have had to share the chair lift or gondola but the slopes have not been busy at all.

Empty pistes

Jack has taken huge delight in rolling in the snow, as the video below shows.  You'd think he'd get cold paws from constantly running around on the frozen ground, but seems completely unaffected.

The views are stunning, until it clouds over, as it did on Thursday afternoon, we made a tactical withdrawal at about 14.00. 


Solo skier







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