Linton after he had his head kicked in and before he was bulldozed to pancake.
View of slopes on our way out... really sad to leave
Our view...snowing non stop almost all weekend
Dan and Dave in the snow cave
CZ and M in a snow cave built by kids
After a big job....
Maarten building Linton outside our flat.
CZarina building Linton, named by Dan after one of our favourite runs.
Maarten and CZarina in deep snow.
Maarten and Dan measuring the snow... we had plenty and yes that is a house half buried in (and Dan pretended she had jumped down)
Dan and Dave relaxing after a long day on the snow (Dave can't escape...:))
They forced me to eat snow as soon as we got there. It actually tasted good.
Skunk cabbage (the yellow long flowers) and not cos lettuce as some would think.... hey Dan...we asked someone in Tofino when we saw them again ;)
Our Mt. Washington weekend started quiet early in the morning on Friday the 14th with goodbyes to dear old friends Arlene, Doug and Karen. We headed on the Dunbar bus number 7 to Granville street corner of London Drugs to catch the 257x to Horseshoe Bay. We were hanging just to be on the ferry. It was such a relief to be away from all the stress of work and waiting for our visas.
We got the budget car in Nanaimo (the manager Brad was very helpful and active in looking for one where the console dropped down to make room for our skies and snowboard). We were comfortable for a $24.95 per day as apposed to the weekend deal of $19.95. We got to Courtney in time for lunch at the Atlas café (thanks for the idea Bill…it had awesome food), free juice served while you waited. We then made it by 4ish pm to the slopes just in time for the sun to come out as the lifts were closed for the day, pity as the snow looked awesome. We settled into Deer Lodge (gorgeous apartment on the slopes, ski in and out, two bedrooms; each with a bathroom; kitchen, lounge, balcony, and all the mod cons), put all the food we bought at Safeway in the fridge and went for a walk around the village, watching the kids playing in the snow, peeping into houses covered with snow.
We were very lazy that night, sitting around by the fire, grazing, Dan and Dave cooked a yummy Bolognese. Enough of that housekeeping stuff… let’s talk about the snow… it snowed the whole two days we were on the slopes. Saturday amazing… visibility wasn’t the best but the snow felt like magic. I think Grouse's slushy snow was good for the training.
Saturday night we ate at Fat Teddys… there were a staff group celebrating – totally pissed. We had chook wings, burgers, yum. We drank and talked for ages… great company as always (Maarten and CZarina I mean… ha ha).
Sunday started with so much snow we just couldn’t believe it… In April! last weekend of the season! we had to ski in 50cm of snow.
Dan and I had a couple of dramatic falls in it. Maarten and Dave had to rescue us. Scary stuff that soft snow and very difficult when you’re upside down, buried in the stuff and you can’t find your ski or poles; and you’d like to see where you’re going with your goggles on rather than have snow covering your whole face hiding your view. Maarten was too excited for words. He drove us crazy with his enthusiasm.
A little kid came by and ask if I needed help. I’m glad I didn’t take it. I really can’t imagine how he would have dug me out. I like Mt. Washington – it’s got a family feel to it like Lenk. They left the slopes ungroomed for most of the day, only grooming the green ones. It was fun to learn something new… bunny hopping; keep those ski tips up; though easier said than done.
There were some gorgeous runs like Linton’s loop (most of the runs from Eagle’s Chair), and all the runs we tried from Sunrise Chair. Maarten was mostly in the trees having been to the Outback via the Boomerang chair (only black runs). We never did find out why there was such an Australian influence on this mountain. Perhaps it's Aussie owned.
Maarten and I took plastic bags and tobogganed down the slopes on Sunday after skiing. It was fun but tiring walking up the hill over and over. We also built a lovely snowman that Dan named Linton. We didn’t get a chance to build one at Christmas where the snow was very powdery. So this was a good chance. It turned out nice and fat and banana smiley with a strawberry nose and avocado seed eyes, my black scarf, Dan’s Easter egg buttons (see photo, we were going to go back and eat them frozen...read on...).
Of course while we were eating dinner (Maarten and I made a very tasty vege pasta, with watermelon and pineapple for dessert) I saw two kids karate chop the head off. I yelled at them saying that’s not fair, he’s our snowman, I got them to put it back and they struggled with it for about 15-20 minutes, when they did Linton was looking up at heaven and the boys ran off when I told them they could take the chocolate buttons...ok I was feeling bad by then. It was a good laugh though. Maarten yelling, “that’s my girlfriend!!!”. Of course Linton was bulldozed by the grooming machine. That was quite sad to wake up to. Flat as a pancake.
Saturday evening Maarten and I also started a snow fight with some kids outside who were just play fighting outside our window. Then they had something to do because they waited like vultures for ages, more than an hour, with snowballs in their hands aiming at our window and us when we opened the window to get the snow off our balcony. I had to throw them a kit kat yelling ‘peace!’ at one stage which quelled them for a 10 minute break. The cheeky devil say’s ‘good on you!’ with a big smile and thumbs up and then starts again.
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