Catskiing? More like the dogs boll....

By far the best time I have ever had on a snowboard was during my trip to Whistler. I joined Alex and a few of his mates from work on a catskiing trip. For just shy of 200 of the queens notes, you're taken up a mountain away from the crowds to snowboard in fresh snow all day long. And we totally lucked out on the conditions, perfect blue skies and fresh waist deep snow. Check the panorama video from the top of our first run:



It was amazing and something I'd recommend for every rider to do at least once. However, for my second go I would probably want something steeper and a cat full of just my friends to make it seem like better value. Swings and roundabouts though because any steeper with all that snow and there would've been more avalanches than the two small ones we set off! Don't worry Mum, the guides aborted that face so we were not in any more danger - safe as houses ;-)

Check out the great pics from my new camera below and be warned there's plenty of them!

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Whistler life is like a box of chocolates...

So enough about work, it's time to get back to the play. My 3 week trip to Whistler in Canada was fantastic and I could easily write a huge long article here about it. I've already let three weeks pass since my return and too much waffle would send readers to sleep (some of it I'm sure would be along the lines of "you had to be there..."). Therefore, I've decided to summarise the trip with a few photos and let readers imaginations fill in the gaps:

First up was the luxurious sleeping arrangements the boys laid on for me, AKA Jamie's wardrobe ->

But then that was a better option than Alex's room otherwise I may have been woken up by some strange noises during the night. Not like this either ->


It was great to see Jamie and Alex again although they have changed quite a bit. For instance Alex seemed to enjoy dressing up as a penis ->


And Jamie was experimenting with the "Munters Gap" ->


Still we had some good nights out where Jamie fell in love with the Karaoke guy ->


Also where everyone bowed down to my pool and darts skills ->


At times followed by some fancy dancing techniques due to still wearing snowboard boots until the wee hours ->


It wasn't all drinking though, there was some hardcore snowboarding to be had ->


I even tried attaching one plank to each foot a couple of times ->


There was no avoiding some really stupid people though ->


The best day had to be the mountain pub crawl though. An alcoholic drink in every place on the two mountains that sells booze. There's 10 to be had which is not so bad when spread out across the whole day. As usual we were running a little behind schedule and so 3 drinks had to be downed in 1 to make the penultimate bar before it closed. I doubt I will ever snowboard so fast and so drunk ever again in my life. It was fantastic and here I am enjoying that penultimate beer before the ride down to the last bar ->


The whole 3 weeks was superb, I had a great laugh with some genuine people. So much fun that I never found time to shave ->


But at least my growth was not as bad as Jamie's ->


All thats left to say is a big thanks to the residents of 3110 Tyrol Crescent for putting up with me and I hope my photos are enjoyed in the slideshow below:

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We're off to see the wizards, the wonderful wizards of Whistler

This afternoon I jump on a plane to Vancouver, Canada to catch up with my two best buddies in Whistler. The sods are working the season over there and I'm really looking forward to meeting up again. I don't even care that the record snowfall over there has died down a bit - I'd be quite happy just to chill for a few days and enjoy not having to go to work. But with 3 weeks over there I hope I do get to dig myself out of the deep stuff on many occasions. See the forecast here and current conditions here or maybe I'll even be on the webcams?!

Seeya soon boys and RIP Whereismal as I doubt I will make time to make updates for the next 3 weeks. But rest assured, the reincarnation will be worth the wait if I stay sober enough to remember the best stories...