The second ski trip of the 2023 season is in the books. This year has been lighter on ski trips. The reason is in part because I sold the Subaru Forester when we moved to San Francisco. The burden of renting a Tahoe-worthy vehicle is so heavy, that it often discourages what might have been a last minute ski trip. Partly work and the upkeep of a new home has kept me busier than I was last year. But the season is far from over, indeed if California continues to participate in atmospheric rivers, I may be skiing Northstar in August.
The Mountains and Village
Catie and I travelled north with our friends Harry and Erin into Beautiful British Columbia, Canada. This was my first trip to America’s Backyard since I attended F1’s Canadian Grand Prix back in 2010, and my first exposure to Canada’s natural beauty. Whistler Village is in the valley between the two mountains owned by Vail: Whistler and Blackcomb. Both mountains are part of the Fitzsimmons Range, a range distinct from the Cascades. The Fitzsimmons extend up through Washington (including Mt Rainier) but stop in southern British Columbia.
A pleasant surprise was the lack of need to do anything about money. Due to what I can only assume is a lack of creativity, the Canadian currency is also called the dollar. They simply prefix their “$” sign with “CA”, which imposes a penalty of about 0.75 on the value. So the exchange rate was favorable and prices at the resort were overall, reasonable.
The Skiing
Relative to Vail’s other resorts I’ve been to, Whistler and Blackcomb are not groomed as well, which means among other things, I needed to adjust my careful-meter to maintain the same level of inherent risk on the slopes. I failed to realize this on the first day and had a bad wipe out. I’m still not sure what happened, but the collarbone needed the next day off to recover. I took the opportunity to learn about collarbones. The collarbone is actually two bones, and per WebMD and other reliable internet sources, generally heals and recovers quickly relative to other bodily injuries. And so it did! After Wednesday off, I was able to get back going Thursday without much pain or weakness in my right shoulder.
Another thing that sets Whistler apart from Tahoe is its enormity. I’ve been to Breckinridge once and remember similar enormity, but something about Whistler felt different. The steepness of the peaks and the amount of exposed rock on the sheer cliffs set a different mood, with a little more danger than Northstar. Going down some of the blacks and blues was more frightening than it has been before. The amount of open snow and mountainside felt infinite — similar to the feeling of snorkeling on a high visibility day when the open ocean is all there is to see.
Canadian Cuisine
Canadian Cuisine did not make itself apparent in Whistler, though the local grocery store did have some nice Asian spices and sauces that haven’t been easy to find in San Francisco, though I suspect I’m looking in the wrong places in SF.
The vast expanse of Blackcomb Mountain, or maybe Whistler, not sure
Inukshuk, a relic from the 2010 Winter Olympics
Harry and Erin, in between shreds.
The T-Bar is not an intuitive mode of travel up a mountain
Morning coffee at the same spot each day, nothing better
Good times on the mountain
A maple pecan pastry I had after a particularly hunger inducing day