Canadian Rockie's Snow

Tue, 28 Nov 2006

let me tell you about the snow over here.... its white. its fluffy. and theres heaps of it! the snow here doesn't get icey. the only ice that i have seen is a few patches around the hills-about half a metre wide...where the water highdrants have been leaking. yup. thats right. its pretty dam close to perfect. so light. and so so very forgiving. when your face plants to meet it...it doesn't take much to wipe it off. when you roll amongst it...it just sits on you, it doesn't melt into you or your uniform...it just hangs out on ya shoulders. its really your best friend here. only over the past couple of days has it started to pack down a bit harder, only because we have been having approx 2-5cm each day. im not complaining...a few c's here and there still makes out for some relatively fresh lines in places....infact im more counting my lucky stars...as everyone keeps rubbing it in- this is a great season so far and we are sooooo lucky with what has opened up already. the back country is looking stunning...and for sure-calling my name. we hit the out-of-bounds areas most days while working; as long as we are not too far away if needed. as you can see in my latest lil album there are some shots of the areas that are very easily accessible from one of the work areas i may be assigned to. (please excuse the spelling). the snow on the trees looks beautiful. the untouched rollers in the background are phenomenal. the snow that shoots you in the face and brings you down to meet it is priceless. the groomed runs are even softer under foot. snowballs are often hard to form because it just doesn't stick! the snow in the backyard just leads to excitement. i had just the one day off last week because we have been fairly busy with opening everthing...and that was quite enough for me. i spent the day in banff checking out the shops etc- and spent most of it pineing for my skies to be under my feet! freak. yes im becoming. my shins couldn't thank me enough though. the day in banff was great to experience the christmas season creeping up already...everyone is getting into it- and im pretty excited about having a white one! i think it all made me feel quite far away from home..as i was thinking of you all whilst taking in this foreign environment. back to the snow...... well we are past the stupid temperatures now, and into craziness. -29 degrees celcius today. and for the past three. (thats not including the wind chill factor either) usually not featuring until late december-jan here...it has sure taught us already how to handle the jandle! the key is layers. and more layers. hand warmers....and foot warmers. no exposed skin. no exceptions. frost is out to bite- and does so in a hurry! (not keen on ending up with a bacon-looking face). on poor visability days its all about the hut duties! hehe. we all hog the gas heaters...and try our best to de-frost. blue sky days pull you through. (like today). im feeling really good. the cold didn't get to me too much as i could see outside-and just kept myself busy. busy skiing. hahaha. can you imagine the worst icecream headache you've ever felt? that is what you feel-on any part of you head that is exposed when skiing-at a slow speed. dam it hurts! but only makes ya stronger huh! at this stage the snow is soooooo sticky. flats suck. a lot of scateing on the skies is done...and in such a frustrating mannor...its like skiing on grass. it will pass over. we were looking at temps to rise about after about a week....but now its more like 10 days. hmmmmm. bring on the -15's that i previously thought were cold to ski in! there are, ofcourse, many a good point to this weather one of the main ones being....not many folk head up the hill= plenty of time for patrolers to free ski! yay! its extremely cold to walk outside at the moment and one must rap up tight. have a whisky. and walk super fast! well its time for a nice soak in the bath and a glass of red my friends....

but until next time, take care ka kete erin