Utopia has been found. But to keep it secret they call it Whistler.

Ah yes I vow that I shalt never compromise ever again if I ever have the choice between Whistler or going to a closer ski resort.

Whistler is the best all round ski resort hands down. No doubt about it.

Wow it was awesome. What I was doing by going to Cypress last month. I never knew the bus ride to Whistler wasn't that much longer. It wasn't even that much harder to arrange. Now I must look back and think about how I could of had 2 other days at Whistler instead of Cypress. I want my 2 days back. Argh!

I actually skied my day on Blackcomb Mountain side of the resort. Reason being that it was the Gondola I caught. In the end it may have been the right choice to considering the Whistler side was on its 2nd last day. Hence would have been packed with last chance skiers. Oh well I don't care. To me its all one resort. It's like going to Perisher Blue and skiing Blue Cow all day. Both have snow and are part of the same resort.

As something different I did a tour of the mountain with the ski mountain guides. Instead of skiing by myself for the day, and I knew it'd give me variety for my one day of skiing Whistler. Boy was that a good call. They took a group of us around the whole mountain showing us the best areas of the day, and the absolutely crazy drop-offs, and even some residual powder drifts leftover from their last major snowfall on the Saturday prior. Yeah they had a major dump of 15 centimetres in the middle of April. It's been a crazy season for them. They've had over 45ft of snow this year the guide said. Whereas normally they'll have about 34ft in a season. The snow is still over 2 metres.

In addition to the normal ski runs on the tour we spent time skiing on one of the glaciers. It's rock hard, the snow is dry, but don't get me wrong it was not ice. Perfect groomed run for skiing. The run going from the top of the glacier through to the bottom is about 9kms before you get to a lift. And it was really mixed in variety. I loved it.

And just for anyone wondering. No I didn't do a double black diamond. That would have been suicidal. They're crazy. Although as the guides say, you're fine after the first turn. The guides incidentally aren't allowed to take you on the extreme runs on the tours. It something about safety. Not that our guides were too keen to anyway. Both were on their first days back from injury.

If anyone wants to pay for me to ski, gee, I guess I'll find the time to go again. But send the money soon, as I want to get there asap.

In the meantime let us all drool over these photos I took of Whistler.

Setting and Reaching Goals

When I set out things I wanted to do this trip, there was one item which most people would put at the top of their goals in life, that I set out to do on this trip.

You know the goal I'm talking about. It requires

Dedication.

Devotion.

Skill.

And Fitness.

Yes thats right

I'm going to go Ski Whistler.

Now don't go denying it. I'm right, I know. No second guessing going on here. Thats everyones goal in life, isn't it. Well if it wasn't your goal then perhaps you should change it. Skiing Whistler would probably a more enjoyable goal to have anyway.

Well this weekend I'm doing it. I've got the bus ticket and lift ticket, so I'm all set.

Where will you be this weekend!

And as a one time only offer. I will offer to buy the first round, after skiing. Open to anyone who is there with me. Oh, you can't make it. Oh well you'll just have to wait for the photos.

The Seagulls are on Steriods - Evidence Found

Yes you've heard the news here first. The seagulls are on steroids in Vancouver.

These birds compare well in size to the well fed blackbirds which I saw inland. I wouldn't put it past them to eat small children too. They're bred big, the size of chickens. Which makes you only wonder further about whether you're really getting what you pay for when you order chicken in this town.

How did I come across these child taking seagulls. Well I went for a walk towards the University of British Columbia for something to do. The weather is getting warmer nowadays so I thought it best to make use of the partly cloudy weather. Especially since I got drenched with rain the night before. Anyway I went to Jericho Beach near the university. From there you get a great view back towards the city. I took the opportunity to sit down, have some hot chips down at the waterfront. Feeding the birds as I ate. The child snatcher above in photo one was the Alpha male bird asserting dominance.

I also found the oldest building (now a small museum) in Vancouver over near the beach. Yeah its a slow news day when I'm pointing out this in the highlights.


Anyway I'll leave people with the view back towards the city and the grey sand beaches of Vancouver. With their views out to large container ships parked in the bay. Ah yes, the beaches here do make one remember how good we have it back home.

The middle of Spring + Sunshine =

Skiing! Or well it does to me when I'm here in Vancouver.

I finally got to go skiing again. I had planned to last weekend but ended up picking up a cold. So being the religious person I am I planned ahead to go skiing on Good Friday rain, hail, or shine. Lucky for me it was shine and the day held out to be as advertised.

Now being only 1 week from the final weekend of skiing at the resorts around Vancouver one would expect the ski runs to be below their peak. I can though vouch the condition weren't bad. They were better than a month ago. There are signs though that they can not go much longer. Like the occasional brown patch in well worn areas, but on the whole if they wanted they could of extended the season. After next week I'll only have Whistler to choose from in terms of ski slopes. They stay open until June I hear.

Meanwhile working in Vancouver is still going well. They really do treat their staff well with added perks, and then go out of their way to organise special events once in a while. During the Quarter End close they've been feeding us lunch, and dinner if you're working past 6pm. The other week the team I'm mostly attached to went out for a 'Fun Day' afternoon. Lunch at a restaurant and then over to a Bowling Alley for 5 pin bowling. Yeah 5 pin. Not 10.

It's weird if you've never seen the 5 pin version before. The balls are smaller. All the one weight. And the pins are set up like the front line of the normal 10 pin version. You do though get 3 attempts to knock them all down. Anyway the end result was a good afternoon. And in the words of a good loser, the game was the winner that day.