Part 8 of the Odyssey:

Whistler and then HOME

In the last episode, we reached Whistler, only to discover that Two Buddha had left the bag he’d so carefully packed on the floor of the Cave of Hope. So some hasty shopping was in order.

April 11: We woke to a warm sunny day, and found that the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort we were in was a 5 minute walk to the Gondola. We had dual passes, and chose Blackcomb.A happy choice: they were having a huge Demo Day! Just about every ski brand was there.

First stop was the Dynastar tent. I got some shaped skis (Max Zeros) and TB got some of those coupes: they were either G9s or X9s. Both enjoyed the skis: the Max Zeros were the first shaped skis I actually found quite good to ski on. The ends flopped a bit, probably because they were 190s and a tad big, but they were light and well-behaved and rather nice.

Next, the Rossi tent. Nothing for me (they’d been mobbed) but TB was determined to try the 9S racing skis. The Rossi guy eyed what appeared to be an over-fed family-man would-be hero, and said "these are pretty advanced". "Fine" glared TB. "Look, they’re stiff, they’ll kill you" said the Rossi guy desperately. "Yeah fine, can you adjust the bindings to a size 14 boot?’ said TB. So off we went. Some photos of TB turning them below. Amazingly, he did quite a lot of turning.

Back to the demo centre, we were heading for the Salomon tent, when TB was diverted by some people with "Fels" skis. A boutique Canadian brand, run by mad enthusiasts. They got us both on them (mine were 205cm), and explained that the camber was behind the foot, and the turn point was under the toe, so you had to get way forward and pivot. We foolishly took lifts to the very top of Blackcomb...and on skiing these things realised it was a loooonnnggg way back. They were truly shocking skis. The inside edges of mine kept grabbing in the turn and wouldn’t release, although once you got the hang of the forward thing, turning wasn’t too hard. TB utterly loathed his, noisily. We finally made it back, and TB BECAME TOAST and de-mountained. I skiied on till they told me to go home, and found that after the Fels horrors, my skiing was much improved and had a ball; felt completely buggered though. We went to Buffalo Bills that night, and I had a quiet snooze over a beer while TB strutted around the pub.

April 12: Today we linked up with some rec.skiing.alpine people from Portland (Oregon) - Kelly Miller, Pauline and Jennifer (pics below) - and skiied Whistler. Kelly and Pauline were both on K2 fours: I think Jennifer was on hand-me-downs, although I believe that TB now has her on Olins. (yes, she’s the "6-foot redhead"...6 foot my arse!). The weather was sunny with some cloud, and much cruisy skiing was to be had.

Down near Orange Peel we saw a bloke have a pretty bad fall: he flicked over backwards, ski tails in the snow, out cold. Kelly is a patroller at Mt Hood, and took over while TB refrained from belting the hysterical wife, and I tried to erect some crossed skis (snow was too hard packed - ended up having to hold them). The bloke came around eventually, and didn’t seem too bad, though I suspect he had some neck/head injury. The patrol carted him off. We then discovered that a lunch of Beaver Tails was not sufficient and we all BECAME TOAST around 3. Regrouped at some place for dinner where TB could get 2 for 1; trouble was, 1 was about $50!!! We ate well but only he got his money’s worth. Then, off to the Garibaldi Lift Company for Revival with Steven Deem (dreaded defender of shaped skis) and his wife. TB brought the laptop, and I brought many clip-on sheep. (which reminds me I must visit The Big Merino again for a supply of same for Utah).

April 13: Snowed all night. Me and TB were very late getting out, and were late for rendezvous at Blackcomb clock tower. Fresh snow everywhere. I discovered there was absolutely no wax on my skis, that you need wax for powder, and that there was no on-mountain waxing service at Blackcomb! I got a serious case of the shits and went off to buy some rub-on stuff, and apparently missed all the fun of TB and powder, TB *in* powder, powder in TB, TB throws a wobbly etc etc. (Heard all about it at lunch - pics of lunch below). The piles of mashed potato were no fun, so me and TB both bagged it early, and went shopping. We then sat in the hot tub thingy for a bit, and TB played a sad little ditty on his tummy.

14 April: My last day’s skiing! We went to Whistler, as more snow had fallen and their grooming is meant to be better. They’d turned off two of the main chairs, to TB’s fury. We spent a lot of time at Harmony, where the snow was very nice. TB BECAME TOAST but I kept going: had a lot of fun around the Black and Orange chairs, and the gondola: Bear Claw was quite deserted and a blast.

15 April: Lots of packing, attempting to fit 3 bags worth of stuff into 2 bags! Resulting in 2 very heavy bags. We worked out where the bus went from , and then TB left on his quest to deliver the new engine to his Evil Van in Invermere, while I travelled back to drizzly old Vancouver: there is nothing worse than the end of a holiday. I spent the next couple of days walking around Vancouver, doing laps of the bridges etc (see pics) but was pretty happy to leave, especially as a large group of Germans moved onto my floor of the youth hostel, and spent one night singing "hit me with your rhythm stick" up and down the hall.

During nearly two months, I’d skiied 14 ski areas in two countries, met lots of great people (and TB), got to try next season’s skis, drank lots of mediocre beer and saw lots of stuff that a normal tourist would never see. I also acquired a large number of T-shirts.

Much as it pains me to say anything nice about TB (as it disturbs the even tenor of insults), I have to admit that had he not decided to drag me around the US and Canada, my trip would have been nowhere near as excellent as it turned out to be He took me to all kinds of ski areas off the beaten track, introduced me to some wonderful people, did all the driving!, made coffee, organised things, participated in some beaut arguments and let me insult him rather a lot, and even had me as a guest in his house and showed me Seattle.

Best of all, he provided a dog.

In-all, it was a pretty amazing trip, and I’m fervently looking forward to Utah in February 98, where I hope to see a lot more people from rec.skiing.alpine, do some more skiing, and possibly drink some better beer.

	The anatomy of TB turning the Rossi 9S race ski
	TB conducting his twice-daily boot-tightening ritual. Hey TB, get some rear-entries!
	TB praying for more grooming, easier boots, less tummy in the way, sheep etc etc etc
	Observe how TB carefully arranged the Black Tusk so it's sticking out of my head.
	TB before an aptly-named run (the rating matches his jacket, not his trousers). The whole party was unanimous about this!
	The anatomy of a Jennifer turn (TB's famous "6-foot redhead") near Red or Green chair at Whistler.
	The anatomy of a Kelly Miller turn (he is evidently enjoying those K2 Fours).
	TB turning his Apex's here (drifting, rather than turning).
	From the left: TB, Kelly, Pauline, Steve Deem, Mrs Deem, and Jennifer. God knows WHAT TB is on about here...
	Kelly little realises the danger his lunch is in here.
	I did laps of these bridges in Vancouver on my last day.
	My last night in Vancouver, watching large ships and people playing volleyball.

Back to my Home Page