Festivals and cycling
By ruth | June 24, 2008
We had no plans for the weekend, so of course we ended up doing loads. On Saturday we cycled along the sea wall to the Dragon Boat Festival, then back to Granville Island for lunch. On Sunday we cycled up Broadway to the Greek Festival, had lunch at East is East, then cycled on to Spanish Banks, went for a walk on the beach, and cycled home.
Lots of cycling.
The festivals weren’t that exciting, unless you’re really into dragon boat races or Greek culture. I’ll let the photos do the talking.
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Babies
By ruth | June 18, 2008
Slightly belatedly, I’d like to congratulate several friends on the births of their first children.
Congratulations to:
- Rhian and Robbie on the birth of Caio
- Stuart and Rachel on the birth of Eli
- Neil and Suzie on the birth of Olly
- Jo and Greg on the birth of Felix
And crossing fingers for Kirsty and Ben, and Mark and Roisin, who have a few weeks more to wait.
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Round-up
By ruth | June 17, 2008
Bad lazy blogging from me. Once again I am just going to sum up what I’ve been up to in the last few weeks - if I can remember, that is!
Well, I went to Abbotsford for the first time - there’s a new hospital and BC Cancer Agency centre opening there in August, and I volunteered at a staff open house. It’s a very impressive building, and very shiny and new. Hospitals without patients in them are rather weird though!
Dave and I had some friends over for dinner - Anke, Michael, Brigitte, Tim, Kate and Graham. Dave made a range of mezze type food plus mac and cheese especially for Brigitte. Everyone tried some of Dave’s home brew, and seemed to like it (I know I do); and Michael plied us with various delicious types of booze, including bubbly.
Of course we went up to Whistler for the last weekend of (non-glacier) snowboarding on Blackcomb, on June the 7th. Our main aim was to take photos with which to taunt friends back in the UK. We’re mean like that. Unfortunately it was pretty cold and the sun only made 
occasional appearances, during which we stripped off layers, pretended to be warm and took lots of photos. The snowboarding itself was fun in a hilarious kind of a way - the run down to the gondola home was a man-made strip of snow through green meadows, and even as high as we could go the slush was heavy and surfy.
It rained on the Sunday so despite it being the last day of snowboarding, we hung up our boots and went for a walk with Tim, Brigitte and Zach instead. We walked along the Cheakamus River Trail, which is forested and very atmospheric. We saw six bears over the course of the weekend; one at the side of the highway on Friday evening; three from the gondola on Saturday afternoon; one from Tim’s jeep in the Whistler Interpretive Forest on Sunday; and another at the side of the highway on the way home.
Last Saturday Dave went on Graham’s stag do (about which, of course, I know very little except that Dave now wants to take me on a boat up Indian Arm to Granite Falls); and I went on Kate’s hen do. (Brunch; brewery tour; cocktails and dinner at the Dockside patio; TheatreSports improv comedy; at which point I bailed due to inability to keep my eyes open.)
One other thing worthy of note: last night we went swimming in Kits open-air pool for the first time this year. I am not fit. This time last year I was swimming quite regularly and I set off expecting to be able to do the same amount, having not swum for a year. Kits pool is 137.5 metres long, which is 5.5 times the length of a standard 25m pool. They mark the distance on the bottom of the pool, and when I reached 25m and realised I wasn’t even a quarter of the way and flagging fast, I began to panic. By the time I reached 50m I was completely out of steam and had to swim over to the wall for a rest. It took me three pitches to complete the length.
I’m glad we went though, because after three days of sunshine, Vancouver’s summer has disappeared again. Hope it comes back by the time John and Debbie arrive! Less than a month now!
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Weekend with Kate
By ruth | May 27, 2008
Weekend before last, Kate came to visit. She’s currently living in L.A. so it’s not a long flight, and she’s in the same time zone as us.
She arrived on Friday while we were still at work, so we left her a key and a map and she went to Granville Island and found herself a beer. After we got back, we went out to Presto Cucina for Italian, then down to the beach to see the sunset.
On Saturday we had (as is obligatory when guests come) breakfast at the Naam; then walked along the sea wall to Granville Island. Dave was melting in the heat so we went to the Net Loft for a cold caffeinated drink, then showed Kate some of the sights, before going to the market to buy the makings for an evening of barbecued deliciousness. 
We left Kate at the Maritime Museum and went home to start getting things ready. Kate came back in the early evening, and Anke and Michael arrived laden with meat, olives, gherkins, antipasti, bread, beer, and wine. We’d already catered for six people, and there were only five of us, so we had plenty to keep us going. We sat out on the deck enjoying the first warm weekend evening of the summer, and keeping well hydrated. Dave’s home made burgers and the pork tenderloin that Anke and Michael brought were probably the highlights.
We had a slow start the following morning, but got our act together to drive to Horseshoe Bay, park, and catch the ferry to Bowen Island in time for Bowen Island Sea Kayaking’s afternoon trip. Kate had never been sea kayaking before and is now a convert. Howe Sound is ideal for it - sheltered, and surrounded by majestic snowy peaks; while Bowen Island is a house-voyeur’s dream - multi-million dollar waterfront homes you can only see from a boat. You can even see the ski slopes of Cypress Mountain (still with lots of snow on them) from your kayak.
My arms are not kayaking-fit so I was aching by the end of the trip, and very keen to have a beer and some snacks. We went to the extremely popular pub/ restaurant in Snug Cove, then had time for a brief wander through the woods before catching the ferry back.
For dinner we had the steak we hadn’t barbecued the day before, and Kate says she’s still thinking about it now. (Marinated in Jamaican jerk sauce.)
Monday was Victoria Day (a Canadian holiday - hurray for Queen Vicky), and I was actually pleased to see it raining hard. Kate wouldn’t have got the real BC experience if it hadn’t rained at least once.
In the face of indecisiveness from the others I decided we’d go to Capilano Suspension Bridge, for a taste of the rainforest, and because the bridge is cool. There’s a free suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon, and Capilano Suspension Bridge is extremely touristy and over-priced, but I had a hankering to see what they’d done with it. Turned out to be an excellent decision - Dave and I got half price tickets (limited time offer) for being BC residents, plus free entry for a year; and Kate got a hefty student discount.
The bridge really is scary and impressive; the nature tour was quite interesting; the ‘treetop’ walkways were fun; the white water in the canyon was sufficiently roiling; and I took lots of photos of totem poles. We got very wet in the rain, but the forest gave surprisingly good shelter; and Kate got to wear a particularly fetching free yellow waterproof poncho.
Shortly after that, Kate had to get back to the airport and fly back to L.A. to ponder the wonders of steak and sea kayaking. She was probably glad to escape the rain though.
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Avalanche Skills Training Level 1
By ruth | April 25, 2008
Over the Easter weekend, Dave and I took the Avalanche Skills Training Level 1 course run by Whistler Alpine Guides Bureau. It involved two evenings in the classroom and two days on the mountain, including some backcountry powder turns.
We’d booked split boards for the course, but unfortunately they were needed by someone else, so we got a refund and had to use snowshoes instead. In a way that was a good thing, as we’d wanted to try them out for comparison.
The first evening in the classroom, we met our fellow students (Ashley, Ian, Sholto, Brigitte and Tim), and our instructor, Jeff. All but Ian and Jeff were snowboarding; Jeff used to be a snowboarder but learned to ski because it’s much more practical for ski touring and guiding.
We learned about avalanche terrain - start zones, terrain traps, the effect of the steepness and aspect of the slope; and a little bit about weather, snow conditions and snowpack. We were each given an ‘Avaluator’ card, which helps you to assess the risk and complexity of the terrain you want to ride. You use the ‘ALPTRUTH’ acronym to assess the risk (A - have there been any Avalanches in the area in the last 48 hours? L - has there been significant Loading of the slopes due to snowfall or wind? P - are there any avalanche Paths on the terrain you want to ride? T - are there any Terrain Traps (such as gullies, crevasses, cliffs, big rocks) to look out for? R - what is the avalanche patrol’s Rating for avalanche danger today? U - have you come across any Unstable snowpacks (have you heard any whoompfing noises or cracks as the snowpack settles)? TH - are there any signs of Thaw?)
You then look at how many factors need to be taken into consideration (this is a bit complex to go into in detail here) and decide whether the terrain is ’simple’, ‘challenging’ or ‘complex’. Based on all of that you decide whether to proceed with normal caution, with extra caution, do something mellower, or just go home!!
Normally, the first day on the mountain is spent learning how to use avalanche rescue equipment and conduct a proper search for buried victims, but the weather forecast said that Saturday would be beautiful and the avalanche risk low; whereas it was going to be windy and snow a lot overnight, so the avalanche risk would sky-rocket by Sunday.
So we spent Saturday touring in the backcountry, looking at the terrain, discussing its risk, practising ‘avaluating’, doing lots of trudging uphill, and getting some sweet powder turns. (First we had a coffee in the Roundhouse, looked at a topographical map of the region we were heading for, and discussed the weather and snow reports.) We practised cautious travel, such as checking the terrain above for start zones before picking a route up, and crossing more risky zones one at a time so that if a slide were to happen, only one person would be in danger and the rest of us would be able to rescue them.
I hadn’t realised, though it seems obvious now, that you’re in more danger from avalanches when you’re hiking up than when you’re riding down, because you move so much slower and are exposed for much longer.
(It turns out that although snowshoes work pretty well, the fact that you have to carry your snowboard on your back rather than converting it into skis makes the whole thing much harder work.)
In the evening, we regrouped in the classroom for more book-learning and slides, then watched a genuinely harrowing video about a real-life avalanche incident and its victims. I’m pretty sure one of the main aims of this course is to scare the students into realising that going into the backcountry is not something to take lightly. It worked.
As predicted, on Sunday the avalanche risk was very high. We established ourselves in a big patch of deep snow near the base of Harmony chairlift, where we spent several hours telling hopeful people that avalanche patrol were still blasting Harmony Ridge and the chair wouldn’t be open for a while. Meanwhile we learned how to use our transceivers, shovels and probes efficiently, and how to work as a group in a burial situation.
Jeff set up several scenarios, and pretended to be a panicking guy whose friends had got buried. It was very well done - we learned from a lot of mistakes along the way. For instance we learned that as well as making sure all of us had turned our transceivers to receive instead of transmit (so we could find the buried transceiver), we had to check whether the panicking guy was wearing a transceiver and had switched it to receive. We spent ages getting confused because we were picking up Jeff’s beacon signal…
We also learned to look for surface clues such as ski poles and pieces of clothing, to check if they were attached to a person, and to probe near them and near other potential burial sites such as trees and rocks, while two people conducted the transceiver search; to have a spotter to check that we weren’t in danger of the rescuers being caught in a second avalanche; how to dig effectively so that we had access to clear an airway and get the person out easily if there’d been trauma; and the importance of having a group leader who asked lots of questions, directed the team and kept an eye on the big picture.
We did get some powder too, once Harmony opened and we were able to access Symphony Amphitheatre, where we were able to hike a small distance for some untouched snow and do some more rescue scenarios. Jeff also took some time to dig a snow pit and show us how you test the snow density and check for weak layers.
The end result was that we all got a lovely certificate, and left the course knowing a lot more than we did before, but also knowing how little we still know. Jeff’s advice was to do some low-risk backcountry riding to put what we’d learned into practical use, and then take the Level 2 course. He emphasised that we are definitely not qualified to take other people into the backcountry. But he was excited that we’d all enjoyed it so much.
Tags: avalanche, course, risk, training, whistler, whistler alpine guides
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Brr
By ruth | April 23, 2008
It’s been unseasonably cold in BC recently. We went up for the closing weekend of Whistler Mountain (Blackcomb is still open until June), expecting some slushy spring conditions. We woke up on Saturday to temperatures of -9C in the village and -18C on the mountain.
Brr!
The last run of the day, down the Saddle, was so cold I was genuinely worried about frostbite.
Tags: whistler, cold
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Catch-up
By ruth | April 8, 2008
This is another one of those ‘Phew, I have time to stop and take a breath, blimey haven’t blogged in a while’ posts.
At Easter we did an Avalanche Skills Training course in Whistler, which involved going into the backcountry (up on snowshoes, down on snowboards) and learning how scary and dangerous the terrain is. I will blog that in more detail at some point - also on the Powderroom.
On the course we meant some like-minded people with whom we’ve since done a couple more backcountry days and some tree riding. Two weekends ago we caved in and bought brand new split boards from the Prior factory - I’ve been feeling a little alarmed about the extravagance ever since.
We spent my birthday weekend in Whistler, and I got lots of gorgeous gifts. Dave got me a truly gorgeous book called Islands in the Salish Sea, which was an inspired present.
Last week I went to Kelowna with work for four days then flew home and went straight to Whistler again for the weekend. This weekend, believe it or not, we are staying in Vancouver. I plan to sleep a lot. And do laundry.
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Sunny Vancouver with Caroline
By ruth | February 27, 2008
Our friend Caroline has been staying with us, and she brought the sunny weather with her. She had a day on her own on Friday while Dave and I toiled; but I was pleased to see the blue skies and think of her out there enjoying them while I sat at my desk.
On Saturday, after a leisurely (and huge) brekafast at the Naam, we drove to the North Shore and parked by the fish hatchery at Capilano Canyon. We hadn’t planned to visit the hatchery itself but I needed the loo, and an exploratory visit revealed that it’s free of charge, and quite interesting.
We then walked up to the top of Cleveland Dam for views down the canyon and back across the reservoir (though the Lions were hidden in cloud). Then, even though Dave and Caroline didn’t believe me when I confidently said we could walk down the other side and get a bridge over the canyon back to the car park, we did it anyway. It was a lovely green walk with lots of light and shadows, and as we crossed the bridge (see, I knew it was there) a juvenile bald eagle flew overhead.
Caroline and I exclaimed so loudly over the views of Mount Baker from the highway that Dave, who was driving, decided we should drive up to the Cypress Mountain viewpoint so he could see too. It really was amazingly clear - not just Baker itself but the surrounding ranges could be clearly seen.
Then we went to Horseshoe Bay to drink coffee and watch the world (and the big ferries) go by, before heading home. We had a light dinner at Hapa Izakaya on Yew, which was very nice and reasonably priced - we’ll be back. The gyoza and the beef carpaccio were particularly good.
On Sunday Doug and Alice picked us up and we drove to Stanley Park for a walk along the sea wall. The views were still fantastic, and the mountains of Vancouver Island looked closer than I’ve ever seen them. Dave and I hadn’t been to the sea wall since we moved here, and I do like it. A lady with a powerful telescope let us look through it at a pair of nesting bald eagles; and we stopped on a bench in the sun for 20 minutes while baby James had his lunch.
Caroline was catching the Greyhound to Whistler in the afternoon so we drove up to Main St. for lunch/ brunch at Locus, which was really lovely. Doug and I both had the Southwestern Benny, and it was so tasty I had to finish every scrap.
Hopefully Caroline caught the 3 o’clock bus and had panoramic views all the way up the Sea to Sky Highway. (Especially since on the bus you’re higher than in a car and you can see over all the construction barriers!)
Tags: weekend, caroline, vancouver
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Split boarding
By ruth | February 26, 2008
A couple of weeks back, three friends and I spent two days split-boarding with Whistler Mountain Guides.
Split boards (as you can probably guess) split down the middle so that you can transform them into skis. When in snowboard form, there are metal plates going across the board that you can slide ordinary snowboard bindings onto (also attached to a matching metal plate). When in ski form, there are metal plates facing forward on each ski that you can also attach the binding onto, with the heel loose as in telemark skis. You can then attach skins to the base of the skis and hike uphill.
The boards are surprisingly easy to split and to put back together again – which is good, because you don’t want to be messing around with complex parts in deep snow and interesting weather in the backcountry. Everything uses either simple clips, or a bar through holes secured with a clip.
In all honesty I can’t remember what we did when or what each area was called, so rather than a chronological account I’ll give you some impressions and opinions.
Riding the split board on-piste was not so much fun. It was incredibly heavy, and the split down the middle did nothing for its gliding abilities, especially on flat roads. I had the smallest board they could rent me, which was a 154 – pretty hefty for a short person like me. Luckily we only stayed on-piste while we waited for the alpine lifts to open.
Hiking up was hard work. It took a while to get the knack – you glide your toe across the snow rather than trying to walk properly. The skins work amazingly well – even on pretty steep slopes they didn’t slide back down the hill. Luckily I was at the back of the group so I never had to break trail, which was much harder work, especially in the very deep snow we found in the backcountry. It helped to get into a rhythm with your breath, and go at your own pace, not the pace of the guide or the person in front. My legs were significantly shorter than everyone else’s, after all!
If I remember correctly, on the first day we did three untouched powder runs in the backcountry (Oboe Basin); one really lovely powder run down Flute Bowl; and four hikes up; followed by a trudge back past Harmony to reach the pistes so we could snowboard back to the Village. The backcountry powder was a revelation. It felt bottomless, and the big board really came into its own as I put big surfy turns in. Obviously, in relation to the long hikes, the runs were over very quickly – but the adrenaline really pumped, which helped with the next hike up. Was it worth it? On balance I have to say yes.
On the second day, we went to Blackcomb, got the T-bars up, and traversed across the Horstmann Glacier to the beginning of our first hike. Again, my memory is a little hazy but I think we did two untouched backcountry runs and two in-bounds but non-lift-accessed powder runs. Some of the hiking was harder this time because there was a steep camber on the slope, and the access through the pass to Bodybag Basin (really) was rocky and icy and very exposed. The conditions were touch-and-go at the start of the day, with white-out conditions forcing us to stay close to rocks and trees as reference points.
On both days the avalanche risk was considerable, but our guide, John, really knew what he was doing. He was in radio contact with ski patrol and with other guides; kept a keen eye on conditions and slopes; made sure we all had the right gear and practised using it before setting off; and made sure we knew which slopes and which aspects of them were risky and had to be avoided. There was one slope in particular that was just to one side of a ridge and looked fantastically tempting, but was very much off limits.
I have to admit it was exhausting. By the end of the first day I was so tired I didn’t speak for about three hours. But I think I’d quickly build up fitness if I did it enough.
Am I tempted to get my own split-board and go on backcountry adventures from now on? Yes indeed – but I have two reservations, and they’re big ones. The first is cost – split boards are very expensive. Ours were made by Prior (based in Whistler) and were worth over $1,000 CAD each. The cost per use is likely to be pretty high. The other reservation is whether I’m prepared to go into the backcountry without a qualified mountain guide to shepherd me. I’ve got a lot of education to complete first – avalanche awareness being an important first step. A first aid course probably wouldn’t hurt either…
There’s a full Flickr set of photos if you’re keen to see them.
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Not the best weekend
By ruth | February 19, 2008
I still need to post about the hockey and the split boarding, but just to keep current:
Despite both being under the weather, we drove up to Whistler (I know, I know) on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately there was a serious accident just north of Squamish so traffic ground to a halt, but luckily we found the AM730 radio channel (All Traffic, All The Time) and discovered that the whole highway would be shut for several hours. So instead of sitting in the car wondering what was going on, we did a U-turn and went to find some dinner in Brackendale. Thank goodness for the GPS, which led us straight to the Brackendale Bistro - without it we would have ended up in White Spot, or trawling the streets of Squamish.
Brackendale seems like it’s probably very nice; and the bistro was lovely, with a lively, friendly atmosphere and good food. But while we were there, two guys had a fight outside which ended in one of them knocked out on the floor of the General Store bleeding from a head wound. He was taken away by an ambulance and the other guy was taken away in cuffs. Friday nights, eh!
(Turns out that at much the same time a woman who might be the owner of the taco shop that exploded on Broadway last week was committing suicide in Howe Sound a few miles away. All told, not a good night.)
We lingered as long as we could over dinner, but by the time we left at about 8:30 the highway was still expected to be closed until at least 11, and more likely midnight. It had been a fatal collision between a school bus (all passengers unhurt), a limo (came off the worst) and a passenger vehicle.
So we drove further back down the road in search of ways to pass the time; debated calling the whole thing off and going home; then saw the cinema in Squamish and decided it was the perfect solution. We went to see Fool’s Gold which, sadly, is rubbish. Still, by the time it ended the police had re-opened one lane of the highway and were alternating north-south traffic flow. It took us another three hours to get to Whistler, arriving at 2:30am. Check-in was still open - we clearly weren’t the last to arrive - and we made short work of unloading the car and collapsing into bed.
We did not make first lift the next day.
Actually I had a migraine and Dave was coming down with something, so we only managed a few hours on the hill before I decided I wasn’t safe to be on a snowboard, and on Sunday we didn’t even go up. We drove straight home, and thank goodness we did, because by the time we arrived Dave was not very well at all.
We’re both all better now, but it wasn’t the best weekend we’ve ever had!
Tags: whistler, weekend, ill, crash
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