OnSno.com

This morning started with Pancakes – mmm – and other breakfast items at about 9:30am. It was one of our earlier starts, as people were receiving considerably more sleep now. Pip’s skis were collected at 10:30am, as they had been put in for waxing the night before (at a bargain $10). By the time Pip and I were ready for the slopes, Ed and Tess had already done a number of runs (as per everyday so far).

Pip and I started on the Catamount Quad, which we had done on a few mornings so far, taking us only part-way up the mountain. ‘Big Ben’ was an appealing way to start the day – although you should know that it is one of the more difficult green runs that you will find anywhere… wonder if there are any photos about the place. After doing two runs on this quad, we headed for the Golden Eagle Gondola, taking us to the top of the mountain. We were approximately half a mountain-length ahead of Ed and Tess at this stage, and it took them a while to catch up.

Today’s weather was certainly not as nice as Monday, but it was a little bit clearer at the top than it was in the middle of the mountain. It was becoming almost religious that there would be a band of cloud mid-mountain, but be clear at the top (with some high clouds) and clear at the bottom. It was also becoming customary for there to be a new covering of snow over everything, every morning. So much so, in this case, that tracks made by the groomers only hours before were covered by a layer of fresh powder.

We returned to the apartment at the base of the gondola for lunch again, and enjoyed more home cooked food – as had become customary over the past few days. Hot Dogs were on offer – yum – and everybody enjoyed these immensely… much more than those available at the day lodge. We didn’t spend as long at lunch on this occasion, as we wished to hit the slopes again as soon as possible.

Upon returning to the top of the slope, we offered to take Pip down the ‘Bowl Over’ run – left of the gondola on the way up. Ed, Tess and I had done this run on the first day, just after lunch when the weather was fine, but Pip was against doing it on this occasion – due to both the steepness of the run, the thickness of the snow, and the poor visibility associated with the weather that had come in.

We took our normal run down into Crystal Bowl, and attempted to take the only chair higher than the gondola to the top – the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Chair. Unfortunately, due to the mild whiteout conditions, we decided against this idea and just skied runs leading from the top of the gondola to the base – where the weather was better. The rest of the afternoon was largely uneventful, and we skied until last runs.

After skiing the day out, Pip and I hit the shops to look at souvenirs, and a bear that Nat had seen the day before. No purchases were made here, instead, it was left to be slept on – and hopefully a decision made by the following day. We returned to the room for dinner, and under Pip’s direction, saved room for dessert which we had downstairs at the restaurant we had eaten at a few nights before.

Pip had another serve of Apple Betty, and I followed with another serve of New York Cheesecake. Unfortunately, nobody else was energetic enough to follow our lead, and so we enjoyed the sweets alone. After dessert, we returned to the room to relax and enjoy some more Canadian TV – this time, ‘Parking Wars’… another reality TV show, following the lives of parking inspectors on the streets around major cities. Not thrilling viewing, but enjoyable all the same.

After watching a double episode (everyone else was asleep before we even started), we hit the sack and enjoyed a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow was our last day skiing here at Kicking Horse, and everybody wanted to make the most of the time we had left. (Everybody was also hoping that the weather would be as nice as it was the first day we were here… but only time would tell.)

Stay tuned for more updates – hopefully there may be some more pictures to look at later tonight.