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After last month's epic trip to Whistler, I knew it was only a matter of time before we decided to return - but little did I know it would be so soon. The timing worked itself out rather well, and though I had to deal with usual gamut of last-minute flakiness, wacky snow conditions, canceled flights, and some work-related craziness - things turned out much better than could have reasonably been expected. Call it luck or just a good attitude, but we rolled with the punches and managed to turn a chaotic trip that could have easily been a total disaster, into one that was a lot of fun.
I'm going to keep the details to a minimum, but it all started with work. Some unfortunate luck left our company stuck in a position where we were 'needed' (I use this very loosely) to provide 24/7 support... just in case. I drew the swing shift from 2pm - 11pm, so while the scheduling wasn't too bad, our services were required through the weekend which meant I was going to be staying home. Or so I thought. I dropped everyone off at LAX on Thursday night and about 12 hours later, got the green light from my boss (who really is a nice guy) to go ahead and try to catch up. 3 hours after that, I found myself on a flight bound for Vancouver and feeling fairly content that I would at least be able to salvage what was left of the weekend.
Finally at basecamp after a crazy hectic day! We decided to stay inside the village this time around and it made things soooo easy. Food, snow, and anything else you could ever need was all at our fingertips
DUM DUM DUM DUMDEEDUMDUMDEEDUM. Jon took this hilarious video of these true Star Wars fanatics on the slope. Tamby, you have a lot to live up to.
Some shots on the mountain. Unlike the last time we were here, the weather on day one was absolutely spectacular! Clear blue skies, decent temperatures and just a slight breeze in the air. Whistler sure is beautiful... when its not covered up by clouds hehe.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions meant variable mountain conditions. While it continues to snow here (almost non-stop), the conditions change drastically from the top to the bottom due to the temperature changes and constant rain. Up top things were pretty good. A little icy here and there... crap compared to the powder storm we saw last time, but considering the season, it was decent. Halfway down things started getting a little weird and the snow started becoming a bit slushy and we started seeing what I called "poor man's powder" or "Mountain High snow." The bottom was nearly all slush so we rarely found ourselves coming all the way down. The only thing I was really disappointed about was that my wondrous bowls of powder (Harmony/Symphony) had become nothing more than gigantic ice moguls.... sigh, stupid rain! Guess there's always next year.
A group shot. Me, dad, Jack, and Jon.
Our return trip was a total disaster and a testament to just how bad airline customer service can be. The flight home was canceled but United was so severely understaffed, they didn't even have any representatives at our gate to tell us so. We didn't even get the official word that we were screwed until AFTER our flight was scheduled to leave! In the end we ended up going back through customs and staying a night at the airport hotel and catching the next flight in the morning. At least this gave us a chance to cruise around downtown Vancouver and really explore the little Hong Kong its becoming... pretty cool place. I gotta schedule a separate trip to revisit and just eat anything and everything! Yum.
Save a horse, ride... Clifford?
All in all things worked themselves out and I'm just happy I had the opportunity to go. This is definitely going to become a annual thing... Whistler 2008, get ready =)
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