14 posts tagged “canada”
The snow season in Europe had been crap this year so I decided to flag it away and head over to Canada for my snowboarding trip this year. Although I had been to Whistler before, this trip had the added benefit of being able to spend some time with Cam.
Upon arrival Cam picked me up and headed around to the local pub at Squamish. Mike was well underway already, and although the beer was cold and was going down well, I decided that the wise thing would be to try to sleep off some of my jetlag.
The first day was pretty good, with some nice fresh snow - unfortunately for the others, they had not taken the same decision as me, and were all nursing relatively severe hangovers. However, I had a pretty good day even though it did start raining in the afternoon.
I was also happy that my role of "Lost Boy" from the Canada trip in 2004 had been replaced by James, who ended up riding down the wrong gondola and ending up in the village at the end of the day with no wallet, a malfunctioning radio and no lift home. Luckily he managed to hitch a lift back around to the gondola we were riding.
The rain then continued for 48 hours. 3 weeks worth in fact. This pretty much damaged the snowbase for a couple of days. So once this rain froze, it made for a pretty icy second day. By this stage, James had taken my other title from the last trip "Sick Boy", meaning that it was just Cam and myself.
The hardpacked conditions continued into the 3rd day, and I was starting to get a little down - but at lunch time it started dumping with snow. By the time we had fiinished, 5-6 inches had fallen. This made for a great afternoon, which continued overnight with even more snow. One thing is for certain, when it snows in Whistler it certainly dumps.
The powdery conditions led to one of the funniest crashes of the week, and my creation of a signature move - the half flip. The ramp was around 8 foot high, and was pretty steep - this meant that you needed to bomb down the other side of a valley to get up the ramp. I went in quite hard, but when I reached the bottom of the valley I overbalanced onto the back of my board - and so when I hit the ramp I went into a massive corkscrew and ended up landing head first. Luckily the landing zone was really soft and I was wearing a helmet meaning that no injury ensued.
This was marginally less impressive than the double back flip the guy before me had just done!
Following a couple of days of powder, everyone was pretty beaten up. We also had to pick someone up from the airport, so we decided to go to Cypress ski field. This is the field 20 mins out of Vancouver. Although the snowboarding and several other events of the 2010 Winter Olmypics are going to be held at this field, it was pretty small. A day's worth of flat out groomers was easily adequate.
My final day on the snow started promisingly enough, with another 20-30 cm of snow falling overnight. However, when we got to the bottom of the gondola the rain started again. Unfortunately this turned the nice fresh snow into a heavy substance the consistency of glue. It made for really hard work and was probably not the finish I had hoped for.
As the rain continued into the evening, we decided a heavy night drinking was in order - as it was clear that we were not going to get another day. We ended up in a red neck bar complete with a Ti Chi master giving a demonstration on the dance floor to the music of the local rock band.
My final day in Canada was spent suffering from a hangover and avoiding more rain before heading to the airport. By this stage I had reclaimed my "Sick Boy" status and had a touch of the flu. I thought this would prevent me sleeping on the overnight flight home, but luckily I took some Canadian anti-flu drugs and these knocked me for a six. I basically slept the whole way, although this didn't stop me having some jetlag for the following week!
Just a few random pics left over from my time in Banff...
Directly after writing the last entry where I talked about not seeing any wildlife almost walked into this deer / elk standing in someone's front yard...
Having been in Banff a few days now, have noticed that it has a real touristy feel about it - which I guess is not surprising. As compared to Fernie, it feels much more like Vail or Queenstown, complete with wealthy tourists dropping cash for horrendous fake fur one piece ski suits amongst other things.
St Patricks day was a real highlight - it snowed 23cm at Sunshine Village so I had to pay for a day pass to get some unexpected powder. Rode with some guys from the hostel - pretty fun day, completed by one guy snapping his board and bruising his ribs. Went out on the town for St Paddies - pretty funny as people cannot place the NZ accent. So went around telling people that I was Irish just to see if I could. Almost won a contest at the pub, but was flummoxed when they asked me when the Irish Republic was formed. Apparently it was not in 1683 or 1893...
Banff is famous for a few things, including:
- Wildlife strolling the streets (although haven't seen any yet)
- Proximity to 3 ski fields (Lake Louise, Sunshine and Norquay)
- Apparently having the highest per capita rate of STD transmission in the US / Canada (according to some random guy on the chairlift)
I'm not sure if these things are related, but it certainly seems like a bit of a party town. A real atmosphere of being here for a good time, not a long time. However, overall I have found Fernie to be a bit more friendly and less pretentious.
Anyone considering staying in Banff - avoid the Samesun hostel - its dirty and has a bit of a reputation for theivery. Nothing gone missing yet, but sometimes the kitchen is overflowing with garbage which is relatively unpleasant. There are 2 other hostels, although neither is as close to town as the Samesun. Although the Samesun is pretty nasty, still has a pretty good crew of long termers there for the season.
Well, the road trip was somewhat interesting. The swedes had purchased a 1981 Ford Custom truck, which was huge - so the 6 of us had no problem fitting in. However, $500 doesn't buy you much truck in this country, and as a result, the Ford:
- Had a gaping hole in the passenger side floor, big enough to spray you with road dirt
- Had no indicators
- Needed to be crash started regularly
- Had no seatbelts in the rear seats - in fact, the rear seats were just a tool box with a couple of squabs on it
Pretty fun trip - group being the 2 swedes, the 2 Guernsey boys, myself and Mic the Aussie. We met another kiwi from Fernie in Lake Louise and all rode together for a few days then everyone except Mic and myself headed back to Fernie.
Lake Louise is a massive field, spread over 3 mountain peaks. Although they are also having a rough season, the extra altitude has kept the snow base in a bit better condition. It was pretty icy initially, with quite a few moguls, but the last few days have seen a few cm of snow which is helping.
Louise also has the biggest park and superpipe I have ever seen. Have been taking it easy since wasting my back which is still not 100%.
After leaving Fernie, headed on to Kimberley for a few days. Kimberley turns out to be more of a family field than Fernie, and also had less snow. That said, on the back of the mountain there was still some OK riding to be had.
Kimberley turned out to be a very weird Bavarian themed Canadian town. It was dead quiet, could almost see tumbleweed blowing down the streets - I guess because the season has been poor and most families stay in the Condos up the mountain. The Bavarian theme was completed by a 20 foot cuckoo clock in the middle of town (with yodelling Bavarian cuckoo) and the miniature Bavarian village constructed in someone's backyard (see pictures to be attached).
There also seemed to be a relatively high red-neck ratio, complete with good old boys driving around in a convertiable pickup covered with mud in the middle of night.
In total spent 3 days riding at Fernie with Dean and Stacy, the Guernsey boys from Fernie. Then we met up with Ingva and Hendrix (the Swedes) and Mic the Aussie for our road trip to Lake Louise.
A few pictures from my last night in Fernie. "The Pub" may be an unoriginal name for, well, a pub, but when it is 15 below outside, most people tend to favour the closest drinking establishment - this place was 100m from the Hostel in Fernie.
Been a few weeks since I added anything, so decided to do a whole heap at once.
WHITESWAN HOTSPRINGS TRIP
Hostel organised for a group to go to the Whitesprings hotsprings - which are in a provincial park about 1.5 hours from Fernie, and close to absolutely nowhere. Hair raising drive in not improved by icy road, cliffs and logging trucks going the other way. Logging trucks in a forest park - seemed odd to me too! Picture didn't come out too well as the springs were so much hotter than the creek next door that all you could see was steam. The mission was to lie in the creek as long as possible then jump in the hotsprings. An Aussie named Craig proved he was either tougher or more stupid than everyone else by lasting 7 seconds...
CODE SWAP DAY
With the season pass everyone received a number of vouchers, one of which was for a high performance rental. A group of us decided to swap codes last friday for the day. It was interesting to see who picked it up quickly and who did not. Obviously those of us that had done it before had an advantage, and I was pleased to see I could still ski after a 9 year hiatus. In general, the Brits seemed to take longer to pick it up than the Aussies, Kiwis and Europeans...
HAPPENINGS SINCE
Eventually I got sick of riding my Salomon which kept delaminating, so I purchased a new snowboard. The last 3 days were a bit odd - always takes me time to get used to new gear. Yesterday it all came together and had a really good day. Unfortunately the last run of the day I was going through the terrain park, cleared a massive jump and came down clean in the landing zone before catching an edge and completely wasting myself. Smashed my back and am now walking like I am 80 and also whiplashed my head into the snow for good measure (thank god for helmets). Taking a day off today to try loosen my back up - going to go sit in the hot tub at the pool for a bit.
Pretty interesting that they doll out big jars of anti-inflammatories and strong painkillers at the drug store with no script if you just say you've got some sore muscles! Also interesting to note that physio is not that big here, whereas chiropracters seem to be relatively more popular...
Included a picture of the old gothic courthouse in Fernie as I thought it was one of the only pretty buildings in town - as Fernie has been burnt down about 3 times (was rumored to have been cursed until about 1950).
Certainly the snow conditions have been cursed this year, with rain last night, and more forecast on the way. Think I will head up to Banff around the end of the week unless we get some more snow.
For the last 11 years, Fernie has had an annual 'cardboard derby'. Entrants are allowed to construct any sort of craft using duct tape, cardboard and string. Whole heap of photos of amusing entries including:
- Boat with a barefoot water-skier (mad man)
- F1 racing car that self destructed
- Mobile bar
Some guys from the hostel put together a tank. It was perhaps the most amusing run as it was the heaviest and fastest craft. Unfortunately it had little or no steering and no brakes, meaning that when it hit the corner of the course, it kept on trucking - straight into the crowd! The tank managed to collect 3-4 snowboards and 1 spectator before coming to a halt 50metres down the hill. Very amusing to say the least!
One of the things I wanted to do in Canada was to go to an ice hockey match. Now, with the NHL players on strike, it wasn't looking good - until someone suggested we go to a provincial match. The game we saw was the Fernie Ghostriders vs Kimberley, the next town over. The players are all 20 and under - apparently once you are too old for this league, you either go pro, or find some other sport. I found this quite odd - that there is no 'club league' to speak of.
Although the Ghostriders got smashed 6-3 (and then lost their next game 5-1) they are still in the play-offs as all the teams bar one progress to the 'post season'.
Viewing ice hockey is very much like Adam Sandler movies - i.e. Waterboy and the golf one whose name I can't currently remember. The crowd delights in heckling opposition players (individually), usually with all the wit of "no. 22 you're a loser", or various insults levied at the player's relatives!
Even more disturbing was the brownie troop singing O Canada poorly at the start, and the ice dancing 10 year old girls at half time...
Anyway, here are a few photos from the night, but it was really difficult to get anything good as the game moves so fast and digital cameras tend to be a bit slow.
