And the Skiing Goes On

Yesterday was not ideal weather for skiing. It had been raining and snowing with strong gusts in upper regions so that skiers were advised to keep their gears within the cabin while riding the gondolas. We actually got up early for breakfast comprising the remainder of the tomahawk steak from Alberta Su bought at Granville Island the morning we returned from Yellowknife, the left over bottle of Beringer from Knights Valley and whatever. After breakfast, we decided to sleep in a bit, waiting for better weather. We woke up rather late but still good enough for a run up and down, and we were debating. Eventually, we went up to the mid station and had a run down. Encouraged, we decided to go higher. It took time. By the time we were up at the Round House, it was rather furious. Su made a few decisions which counteracted each other. Eventually, and for better judgment, we decided to download. Down at the village, we decided to go to our favourite café for some hot drinks and something else, which we did. With the refill, we actually didn’t need supper; and we slept through.

I had some bad dreams in between, but that was neither here nor there. We woke up and looked at the weather report. It promised a good day with sunshine and whatever. So we had breakfast, and as usual, we slept a bit afterwards. We left our room at 12:30p.m., which is not too late for any purpose. We went to the very top and took pictures, for the weather was great. There were so many scenes and sites for picture taking in any case, and we spent some time doing that.

After the picture taking, Su decided to take the run down, which was billed as the longest blue run in North America, 11 km from the top to Creekside. I had done the run some years back with Jim or some other instructor, but this time, I was doing it with Su. I recall that when Jim took me down, he asked me to follow his track and it was great. Talking of Jim, Su called Joan after we were back from Yellowknife.  The good news was that the cancer cells had not spread, but the bad news was that he had yet to await medical advice on whether the outgrowth at the esophagus was operable, and in the meantime, he could not take food normally.

Back to our 11km run, shortly after we started, my skis were caught up in deep fresh snow so that I had to re-mount, feeling rather disenchanted. It was hard work, all the way with all the ups and downs. By the time we were at Creekside Village, it was 40 or 45 minutes and Su said we would ride the Big Red to the Round House, where we would have a rest, take stock and decide on the next move. It was a good move. We checked out the bar at the top, which was actually round, so that Round House actually means something real now. The bar only serves drinks and nothing else. We had a pint of something each and took more pictures before we downloaded.

Back at the hotel room, Su decided that we would have more beef. I had no problem with that, being a perfectly agreeable gentleman. Su found out that they called the beef in Canada Angus beef as well and that most beef actually came from Alberta. As it turned out, and again I would always call a spade a spade, Su was a great chef tonight and I couldn’t ask for more.