Whistle Stop

There is certainly nothing like learning to ski in Whistler, which is exactly what Lewis ended up doing.

On Thursday morning we made our way on our first ever Greyhound bus to Whistler, due in part to the uselessness of our rental not being allowed past a specific snow line however we were thankful we did as the road was far too beautiful to have concentrated on driving.

We were dropped off in Whistler Village and were overwhelmed at how quiet it was, happy days! We picked up our skis and made our way to the massive, glaring, wafting-in-the-wind, bright blue Ski School banners.  Here we were boldly told by Dave (a Max4 instructor) that there was not a chance that we would be allowed to remain together as I knew how to stand in skis and Lewis did not.

I was swiftly taken to another group consisting of three females who all looked like startled rabbits – Lewis’ group were undoubtedly worse – where they were informed I was a European skier and that they were not to worry too much about me. Hoot! Thankfully two of them got over their fear pretty quickly as we were taken to the top of Whistler mountain – Lewis only made it half way – where we were told just to ski down so ‘Paul’ could monitor our skills. I say ‘Paul’ because for the life of me I cannot remember my instructors name… the shame.

The day was amazing, the weather was fantastic and I was taught how to carve properly – I have picked up some very bad habits apparently.

As myself and an Aussi woman skied off the mountain, we stopped at the half way point for a breather where we (I) were accosted by a very happy and bounding Lewis who was delighted with his progress that day. He skied down the baby hill with the magic carpet without falling. Success comes in a variety of forms I think we can all agree.

By the end of that first day Lewis was absolutely buzzing and prompted us to book skis and return on Friday for more ski fun, however this time it would be lesson-less… we were going solo.

Friday morning brought with it an apprehension I have rarely seen in Lewis, the fearless winter climber that he is! We made our way there via bus again, picked up our skis and got on the gondola to take us to the halfway point which is still a 30 minute journey.

It was an absolutely fabulous day, with fantastic weather and a bit of a wind that kept you nice and cool. Most amazingly Lewis skied off of Whistler Mountain into the village on his second ever day of skiing. I have never been so impressed.

Guess what his new hobby is… yipeee!!!

Shock and awe

We have landed!

With a whirlwind at the airports and a snowy welcome at Vancouver airport, we made it safe and sound to Downtown Vancouver.

Early on Tuesday morning we picked up our astoundingly crap rental car and began our journey north, up Highway 99 also known as the Sea to Sky corridor.
WOW. The views were absolutely stunning! Turn after turn we were welcomed with more mountains and shores of the pacific ocean all sprinkled with snow. It has to be one of the most beautiful drives we ever been on and it only lasted 40 minutes.

We may have gotten a little lost around downtown Squamish  when trying to locate our hotel -should you ever visit it is tiny and made up of about 12 blocks so getting lost is a skill.
Everyone here is so friendly and more than happy to sit and chat about the area and the things to do.

It also appears there are more Europeans here than Canadians due to one impending rock face that we have stunning views of from our window- The Chief. Lewis is in heaven as Squamish has some of the best climbing in the world and The Chief is, well the Chief. To me it looks rather daunting but Lewis just ogles it in wonder and I have no doubt that if we don't live here that we will be back in summer so he can scale it.

Over the past week we have managed to explore the area quite well and even made our first trip into Walmart as I was hairdryer-less. Walmart is like Macro I think, mostly in the way that the layout of it makes no sense whatsoever. More interestingly however was our walk that was meant to take an hour and instead took us over three. One guess what happened and it wasn't that we got lost.

Smoke Bluffs Park, a little north of our hotel, consists of a spider web of paths that interlink 'amazing crags'. The funnest thing for me was the creative naming of the climbs which quickly became a game to spot the funniest or the weirdest, it makes you wonder what the climbers state of mind was once they completed their projects. Some were clearly more a love-hate relationship.


Lewis absolutely loved how informative the park was and welcoming to climbers as it has maps highlighting where all the climbs were and at the base of each crag was a printed and laminated route map of all the climbs that you could do on that slab of rock. My climbing jargon is atrocious but I think it makes sense...?!
I also love how smoking is banned in the parks and all 'healthy' outdoor recreational areas. Farewell tobacco puffers!!

So far love Squamish, the people and all the things we can do. As Lewis beautifully put, 'there is a sport for every day of the week!!' (eeked his pants).

Now off to Whistler to ski....