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Day 5 started early, with an energetic wake-up call – well, at least for Pip and I with our clock radio going off so loud that I had to jump up and switch it off (to save our ears). We couldn’t sleep much after this, so we decided to just get up (normally we enjoy listening to the local news, but none of this today!). Today had a rather intense couple of events which made it quite interesting for everyone involved.

Breakfast was relatively normal, but slightly more fancy trying to use up supplies – we ended up with pancakes in addition to normal breakfast feasts. Pip had a sore stomach, and I had a bad headache, so although we started early, we were moving rather slowly. Ed and Tess were ready before us (as you might have guessed), and hit the slopes well before we did. After a bout of The Price is Right on TV, and a light snack at the house with Nat, we hit the slopes for some skiing before it was time for lunch.

We decided first to head for the Comet Express, taking us basically to the top of the mountain. After a few runs we decided we would head for the back of the mountain – hopefully to find some new runs that we hadn’t done in the previous few days. After speaking with Tess and Ed on the radio, who weren’t that far away, we discovered that the weather was considerably worse on the back side, and so, we decided to stay skiing where we were. We soon caught up with Ed, who had lost Tess due to cold fingers. We skied a number of new runs that we hadn’t done before, including Middle Dipper (as Big Dipper was closed), F.I.S. and Milky Way.

Ed left us on Milky Way to return to the village for lunch, where he met Nat and Tess. They decided on the ‘Italian Garden’ restaurant instead of the usual Bugaboos Bakery. Pip and I continued skiing for a few runs as we had hit the slopes much later than they had. On our last run before lunch, we witnessed something that is bound to remain with us for a long while yet. Skiing down Milky Way, we stopped half-way down to check out something that looked very odd… Just down further from us was the mid-station of the Summit double chair – an old chair that wasn’t all that popular, but still used quite a bit.

We noticed there was a bit of activity at the run-off of the mid-station, and that someone had obviously (or so we thought) had a crash getting off and hence the lift was no longer running. We moved a little closer and saw what looked like, above where all the action was happening, an entire ski suit and snowboard hanging from the bottom of a chair which had just passed through the mid-station – probably 5m past. We reassured ourselves that it wasn’t possible for this to be a real person, because they weren’t holding on to the chair in any way.

As we moved just a little closer to try and work out what on earth was going on, we noticed literally an ‘army’ of snowmobiles racing up the hill towards the mid-station where we were near. It was at this point that we realised that something must have really been wrong, and maybe that it was someone, somehow, hanging from the front of the chair. Upon closer inspection it appeared that he or she was somehow stuck by the helmet, with the front of the helmet being caught on the safety bar of the chair.

Snowmobile after snowmobile arrived and the first few erected a ladder that would reach the chair (which was now a good 5m off the ground after passing the mid-station). The first person to climb the ladder wasn’t able to free the person who appeared awkwardly stuck, but a second person who climbed up soon after had much more luck. Using a fireman-style safety mat, and three or four people around it, they freed the person who was still hanging from the chair and let them fall straight into the mat. It was at this stage that we realised it was a real person, who was in real trouble. We overheard someone shout to call in a helicopter, but we never saw one arrive.

The crowd of support staff had continually grown, and we decided it was probably only making things worse having people standing around looking on, so we continued on slowly and made our way to the village for lunch – although now certainly shaken. We sat down at Bugaboos and had lunch with Nat, who was alone again as Ed and Tess had already hit the slopes (not knowing the story we had just seen unfold). Although the grapevine was working overtime, with staff in the bakery already talking about what had happened/had possibly happened (seeing as the lift had been stopped for nearly an hour now). We heard no further news on the state of the incident, and as such, have no idea how it happened or what happened after.

Pip decided not to ski anymore during the afternoon, but I returned for a few more runs with Tess and Ed. We skied over at the Silver Woods area, and skied until the lifts shut at 3:30pm. We were meant to be snowshoeing at 4:00pm, and so we decided to get home as quickly as possible, however, while we were planning what run we would do last we heard from Pip who informed us both the snowshoeing and the sleigh ride had been cancelled – apparently the chef was sick, and hence, there was no food. This was postponed until tomorrow night, and hence, we now had a night free.

Because we had planned to go snow tubing tomorrow night, we decided to do this tonight, and so only had a quick rest after returning from skiing. We hit the tubes not long after 4:30pm, and although Pip and I enjoyed this, Tess decided not to tube but instead went ice skating again, while Nat watched, and Ed caught up on some emails and other computer-related business. Tubing was, as expected, great fun, and we did this for nearly an hour and a half, reaching a top speed (that we saw) of 62km/h – not bad on an inflatable tube in the snow!

Dinner was last on the agenda, and we hit the village again for this. Long John’s pub had a return visit, as this was both quick and easy, and kept everybody pretty happy. We didn’t stay too long, but we did have dessert today – something we didn’t do a few days back while there. Everybody was pretty full when we left – far too full for climbing back up the hill to the house, but there was no other option (with the shuttle bus already busy doing a run). Upon returning to the house, we took some time to speak to Pip’s parents, and then relaxed the night away in front of the TV.

After a rather eventful – and disappointing at times – day, we headed for bed to get some rest ahead of our last day skiing here at Silver Star. We also had a snowshoeing adventure to look forward to – assuming the chef was well enough to make an appearance!

The gallery has been updated with some nice new photos, and stay tuned for any news – you’ll get it as it breaks!