Whistler

Still raining in Vancouver and all the snow is rapidly disappearing (Ellie - we'll build a snowman at home for you) so decided to drive to Whistler as only 1hr 20 up the Sea to Sky Highway.

Nice drive up, surprising quiet although a lot of roadworks as they are changing it from a 2 lane road to a four lane in places ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics, although all work has stopped at the moment due to the heavy snow past Squamish.

At Squamish we hit the jackpot on the critter count as a bald eagle swooped across the front of the car (a la a Hampshire pheasant but much more macho!), we looked into the trees and there must have been 10-15 perched there over the river.....way cooler than the few crows we have seen locally.

Got to Whistler (ouch on the lift pass but managed to get a discount as we are BC residents yay!). 2m snow based and the Peak to Peak gondola was open although a few of the high lifts were shut due to the wind and a balmy -8C.

The Peak to Peak opened this year and links the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains with a 3km run - largest span in the world - Trev, you would NOT have liked this - especially when it stopped half way across and we were debating rescue methods - helicopter or jump - but it started up again and I missed my chance to meet the cuter members of the Fire and Rescue team.

We started up the mountain on the Blackcomb Express and were half way up when we realised that this was the one that failed just before Christmas (one of the pylons split in half due to water in the joints expanding with the cold and dropped the cabins down towards the river - fortunately no one was hurt)- still they had it up and running by 24th Dec so they are pretty hot on the repairs!

Whistler/Blackcomb is huge, although more crowded that Silver Star - especially the runs into the village but pretty normal for Europe (sort of Ischgl, St Anton, Kitzbuhel levels) and we didnt hear a Canadian accent - everyone is either Aussie, Kiwi or British. The snow was fab, pistes are wide and some good mogul-ly bits and we skiied our socks off until the lifts closed.

Getting home was a bit of fun as the roadworks came back to haunt us - luckily Mr R drove as I would have ended up in a layby somewhere having a nervous breakdown! Night had fallen and obviously the locals know the road like the back of their hands so were driving like something out of the Fast and the Furious 3. And being the SEA to Sky highway we had a sheer vertical drop on our side and what seemed like a tinsy-winsy little barrier between us and impending doom. Also no street lights and no option to use the full beam due to the stream of traffic coming towards us. So everything was fine on the completed dual carriageway sections but the single lane chicanes and the impromptu road works, ramps and pot holes made it 'interesting'.....

...not doing that again for a few days and checking out the bus schedule!