Tuesday Jan 26 - Australia Day
Off and running - we had to depart home very early (6:30am) due not only to our flight departure time (9:15am) but Hickson Road was closed from 7:00am for Australia Day events. Our usual car & driver service (Omni) refused our booking because they said our ski bag would not fit in a sedan, so we would have had to book a van at 50% additional cost. As a result we pre-booked a regular taxi station wagon. We were all checked in to our Japan Airways flight to NRT connecting to YVR and sitting in the QF lounge by 7:30am - most of time was spent waiting in the queue for the tax refund on my new Hugo Boss leather jacket.
Good news first - the flight from SYD-NRT had flat beds in business class, a major improvement from the last time we flew this route on JL. Now the bad news - JL business class lounge in NRT was as ordinary as ever and the flight from NRT-YVR on a newish 787 only had angled flat seats in business class - not good at all; however, due to tail winds up to 300k’s per hour the flight was only 8 hours. We landed early at 10am and flew through C&I and baggage collection which meant we had a long wait for the midday bus to Whistler.
On arriving at Whistler it was obvious they had lots of snow - great - not so great was the weather - it was raining !! We arrived at Club Intrawest before 3pm and were able to check-in immediately which was great. We then decided to rush out for a bite to eat as it had been many hours since the lousy breakfast on our JL flight - alas the Mallard Bar was totally full, Milestones was closed for a private (gay pride week) function so we ended up in Merlins where we got the last table. We had a drink and shared a quessidillo which was OK.
After our late lunch Dieter went grocery shopping while I unpacked - we were both totally whacked by this time. After showers we had cold cuts and cheese for dinner, watched a bit of the Aussie Open Tennis and hit the sack.
Wednesday Jan 27
Alas the rain of the previous day continued so we had a late breakfast and finally headed out around 11:30am - while the weather was poor and the visibility not very good, the snow was still pretty good so we had a few runs then went to Christine’s for a late lunch. Christine’s and the Roundhouse had been renovated over the summer and looked great - lots of improvements. Christine’s even have a jacket and helmet check facility BUT the prices have risen considerably - main course range from $28-$35 with no small dishes - entrees are also high teens. A modest lunch with tip cost $110 (compared to about $65 in past years) - so we won’t be going there as often this year.
After lunch we skied home - showered, did a bit more shopping then had a late Apres Ski drink at the Mallard - at least their prices haven’t gone up !!! Oh, and when we got home from skiing we realised our dishwasher was not working so the maintenance crew installed a new dishwasher - fortunately they had one in their spare parts.
We had a quiet evening at home again - sambos for dinner, a little tennis and off to bed early.
Thursday Jan 28
The rain continued - weather today was even worse than yesterday. We went out around 10:30am, had a few runs amid rain, sleet and fog. Around 1pm we decided to quit for the day - we skied down and had our favourite lunch at the Mallard - a shared prime rib sandwich. We headed home and dagged about before going out for dinner at Il Caminetto (aka Umberto’s) - it was excellent as always - salmon for Dieter and Sable fish for me. Just before heading out to dinner Dieter realised he had left his AmEx card at the Mallard - after going to the Fairmont where they could not find it we had to return home to cancel his card - all a bit of mystery and a big hassle.
Friday Jan 29
The rain turned to snow - hurrah !! On the way to the lift we stopped at CanSki so I could buy new goggles - then headed up the mountain. The visibility was fair at best and the drizzle gradually turned to snow which was good as the conditions were now somewhat icy. We had a few runs then tried to get into the Roundhouse cafeteria for lunch but it was full to overflowing so we headed down to the Mallard for lunch - always a favourite From there we just went home, changed and headed out shopping. While wandering around the IGA we ran into Moe (of John and Moe, out new friends we met on our Antarctic cruise the previous year). We arranged to meet for dinner the following evening at Il Caminetto (again).
Saturday Jan 30
We headed out early as there was new snow. The skiing was better than Friday but visibility was poor so we quit around 1pm and had lunch at home. We showered early and went out for Apres Ski at the Dub Linh as we were told housekeeping would do a mini-clean at 4pm - this is not happen. We then met Moe and John at Il Caminetto for dinner - excellent and lots of fun.
Sunday Jan 31
Deb rang me at 7:30am when I was still asleep - I asked her to call back in 10 minutes while I made a pot of coffee. We had a long chat and finally D&I had a late breakfast. It was snowing heavily but let up around 10:30am so we headed out - skiing was amazing. We had made a reservation at Steeps so after a warm up run on Springboard we took the P2P to Whistler and skied the Tokum and lower Dave Murray - amazing conditions - packed and loose powder and no serious ice even on the very steepest pitches. After a late lunch at Steeps we skied back to Whistler village stopping at the Dub Linh for a quick apres ski then took the bus back to the Club Intrawest. We stayed home for an excellent dinner of pork chop, baked potato and asparagus.
Monday Feb 1
Another great day on the mountain - packed powder - we spent the day on Seventh Heaven - great skiing but very variable visibility. It was -8℃ - we both had cold hands which never seemed to warm up. After trying to have a late lunch at the Rendezvous which was too crowded we skied down to the Mallard for a grilled cheese and soup. After skiing we did some shopping then stayed home for pasta and salad. We were both shot-ducks and hit the sack early.
Tuesday Feb 2
At last a glimpse of the sun - as planned we met with Moe and john for a few runs (Rock & Roll and Ridge Runner) before headed to Christine’s for a late lunch. We had a great time and after 2 bottles of wine took the cat track (Easy Out) back home. We both had a spa bath then relaxed at home for the evening - cold cuts & cheese for dinner.
Wednesday Feb 3
It was an overcast day - fairly cool (-2℃ in the village an -8℃ on the peak - about the same as yesterday). We set out and I hired some demo skis at the top ($20 for 2 hours) as I had been thinking of getting a new pair - my much loved K2 “burning luv’s” are getting a bit old. The Atomics I got had good tracking but did not seem as easy to turn - maybe it’s the length (about 5cm longer) and/or the width ( a bit wider). Anyway in the end I decided to get the edges sharpened on my k2’s and see how that goes tomorrow. We had quite a few runs - ZigZag, Honeycomb and Springboard then stopped for a late lunch at the Mallard where our waiter remembered us and mentioned he had found Dieter’s lost AmEx and had given it to Lost & Found - when Dieter had checked with the hotel on the day they said they could not find it !!! Not very good service. Dieter went back later in the day and spoke to a supervisor who apologised but nothing more. After skiing I had my hair done and Dieter had a hair cut then we stayed home for a steak dinner.
Thursday Feb 4
It was an overcast day again - a little warmer than yesterday but up to 10cm of new snow had fallen overnight. We set out a little late but still got plenty of skiing in - it was quite hard work with the new snow and very variable visibility - total fog out around mid-mountain. After trying the Rendezvous cafeteria for lunch we decided it was too crowded and went to the Mallard again. We shared a small pasta - excellent.