Big White Day 3 – Them’s Fighting Words!
Big White Day 3 – Them’s Fighting Words!
Today the weather was amazing… well, at least it was amazing when we woke up – which again was at a reasonable hour due to the lack of comfort underneath our aching bodies. Ed and Tess headed out first but soon returned as many of the lifts were closed due to high winds – a bit of a shame considering the endless blue sky that was just teasing us for the first time in almost a month. As the morning crawled on we decided to brave the conditions in exchange for sunshine galore, and headed out onto the slopes – only to find that the wind had dropped away to next-to-nothing, and that the majority of the lifts had opened as a result. We made the most of the fortunate conditions and skied as many runs as we could in the time we had. Unfortunately, there was a change on the horizon, and before lunch rolled around the blue sky was gone and heavy cloud (and snowfall) had set in.
We decided to take a break for lunch, and instead of our usual routine of eating at the main part of the village, we decided to meet Nat and Tess who had been down at Happy Valley on the ice rink. For the first time this stay, we skied down a long (but beginner) trail which would take us all the way to the base of the mountain, and the Happy Valley Daylodge. Unfortunately on the way down, a number of inconsiderate boarders buzzed past us at a ridiculous pace, yelling to get out of their way – I decided I’d had enough with inconsiderate boarders and returned a few words as a result. Tori had been a little uncomfortable with the lack of control and consideration shown by others on the beginner slopes since we’d arrived here (they should all be ‘slow zones’, according to the rules), so it really wasn’t fair to just let yet another close-call slip under the carpet unchallenged. Although the boarders continued past us at a ridiculous speed, we were soon to find that they were waiting at the bottom of the slope to confront us about this little intrusion of their precious mountain.
There were quite a number of words exchanged, and many in-your-face moments had, but luckily no physical contact occurred. Their argument consisted of two main points: 1. They were local, so it was their mountain. We needed to get lost. And 2. When they shout to get out of their way, we needed to do so. A solid case, as you’ll understand. I considered taking a photo of them so we could effectively report them to mountain staff and have their passes revoked, but with a touch of fear for the safety of my camera, I decided this wasn’t such a good idea. A nearby liftie pretended to show some interest, but nothing happened as a result. We were a little bit rattled with their stupidity, and so decided to head back up to the main village to eat lunch – perhaps we should have stuck to our original routine? Nat and Tess decided to join us, and although we did file a complaint, there wasn’t much that could be done without some form of evidence and/or an accurate description of the douchebags. Let’s just hope that they decided to go home and get a job (or something) so they won’t be around tomorrow.
While we took some time inside to indulge in a warm meal, the snow continued to get heavier outside, so on returning to the slopes, it was very much a whiteout. The winds had picked up a little from earlier in the day, and although the snow conditions were quite favourable, we decided to have an early day after skiing a few more runs. On returning to the room, we had a lazy afternoon on the couch and watched as the sun slipped below the horizon – well, assuming it wasn’t cloudy of course.
Tonight Ed, Nat and Tess headed down into Kelowna for a local hockey match. Tess got a little snap-happy while there, so I’ve put up all the photos, but you can decide for yourself as to how many tickle your fancy! Tori and I ventured downstairs to a small restaurant called 6 Degrees where we had perhaps the most amazing meal of our entire stay here in Canada. So much so that we’ve already booked again for tomorrow – Australia Day. Both the food and wine was very much enjoyed, as was the company of the two tables either side of us; Tori continued to feed her addiction of talking to strangers, although we did meet some interesting people. In the end we managed to spend just over three hours at the restaurant – much longer than expected – and found our way back to the apartment at nearly 10pm. The hockey crew didn’t return until 11pm, but after a huge day everyone headed for bed very soon afterwards.
Tomorrow is our fourth and final day here at Big White – not sure what the weather has in store for us, but hopefully a little less chance of confrontation. Take a look at the photos from today – quite a few scenic shots, and a million hockey ones, but enjoyable all the same. Hope the weather has come back to some resemblance of bearable back home!
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