Fleeting of Days

Highlights of the last few weeks include, but are not limited to; watching Cat Empire live, sections of the Telus Ski and Snowboard festival in particular the Big Air, Slopestyle and Superpipe events, free jerkey and chocolate milk handouts, bear print sightings under the wizard ski lift, the arrival of Chris 'Boom' Hamann and the exponential growth of flowers and grass in and around the village. 

Pemberton and the Big Sky

A Trip North to the country ranch town of Pemberton revealed open spaces, blue skies, a waterfall, horses, wilderness, a school soccer game under the backdrop of a mountain and delicious burgers and micro-brewed beers.

A Winter Remembered

With just days until we bid farewell to Whistler, our home for the past 5 months, and the glory that was a ski season experience, we went back in the photo archives and discovered a few snaps of the day Brendon decided to ski down the main road outside our house. Normally bare, the quantity of snow we had in late Feb was so great that the road became a legitimate ski run, albeit short and flat. Brendon is no skier, so when he took out an old pair of boots and Andy's olympic downhill racing ski's from 1979, there was the very real potential for perishment. However, he negotiated the bumpy road with ease but it was nearly a collision with an oncoming number 5 bus that brought the hilarious experience to an abrupt end. Good times. A winter remembered....

HDR

From our balcony, I've been enjoying playing around with HDR, which, if you're unaware, is a technique of combining three different exposures of the same shot. I have still much to explore and refine but there's incredible potential for some truly vivid pictures to be captured. My camera and I have a date with the Grand Canyon next month...

Staff Party

Last week, we had our Whistler Sport Legacies Staff Party in lieu of the completion of the winter season. It was held at the Whistler Olympic Park, a huge series of cross country trails where the disciplines of Ski Jumping, Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon were held for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Since the Olympics, the venue has become a legacy of the games and is open to the public, as well as serving as the host venue for international events. The staff party was subsequently a chance to try first hand the sports of cross country skiing and target shooting, which, when combined, comprise the sport of Biathlon. The entire day was a learning curve and heaps of fun. After nailing 5 out of 5 in my rifle shooting practice, I only managed 3 from 5 in the team race. It quickly became apparent that shooting in a race situation after a full lap on your ski's was decidedly more difficult. Perhaps the highlight of the day was, after the cheese fondue and pizza feeding, the raffle draw whuch saw me walk away with a pair of Junior snowboard bindings (aged 6-8yrs) in the lucky prize draw. Meg had even less chance and by default scored a pair of Olympic Silver 'Dog Tags'. Needless to say, both are now on Craigslist...
http://whistler.en.craigslist.ca/spo/2946873913.html

Shades

It's been an eventful, nostalgic and fitting last few weeks. As the ski season end draws ever closer, and spring make it's presence ever more felt, so too has our perceptions shifted. With a fleeting and limited number of days left in this beautiful town, it becomes ever more apparent to soak up and savour the remaining joys to be had. Full day's on the mountain are mandatory, partly in lieu of the understanding that few remain, but so too courtesy of the spectacular spring weather that affords us long days full of sunshine, warm and balmy air and soft, forgiving snow conditions. From food tasting tours to daily beer-flavoured apres sessions in the sun, walks in the forest between the thawing lakes and defrosting golf course fairways, Whistler continues to delight. It's going to be an emotional last 3 weeks.

Canucks versus Flame

In celebration of 2 years of marriage, and thanks to Sam's 'Uncle' Guy, we were able to spend a weekend in the city, staying in Canadian suburbia with family and friends and most fortunately getting to attend a Vancouver Canucks home ice-hockey game at the sacred Rogers Arena. Without the use of our normal car, we were at the mercy of Vancouver public transport, which was able to get us all the way from Surrey, in the South (on the USA border) right up to Vancouver West and downtown and everywhere in between. It was a weekend where we were exposed to a new side of Vancouver, in particular the suburban sect and of course the sport of ice-hockey, which to Canadians is a way of life and considered the only sport (worthy) of their attention. The Canucks managed to defeat the Calgary 'Flame' 3-2 in sudden death stoppage time. It was a unique experience and felt like more of a orchestrated show than an actual sport game. Not a minute goes by when the audience is not entertained; even the national anthem was sung like a live concert with smoke and lights. The sport is quick and intense and it requires your full attention to follow the puck. The ability of the players to move on the ice, was for us, the most impressive. All that said, the experience has nothing on a humid Saturday afternoon of rugby at the Stadium of Kings.