This week, with our season lift passes clasped in our hot sweaty little paws we have been hitting the slopes of Silver Star with a vengenance as can now ski for 'free'!
We have settled into a routine of ski a day, have an admin/job 
hunt/shop day, ski the next and so on which has been in part been caused by only wanting to ski on the best days (although at the moment we are basking in -2 temperatures so pretty much every day is a good ski day and someone up there definately loves skiers as we have had snow on every other day so there is a nice fresh layer when we get there the following morning.)...the other reason is recovery time...obviously because we are skiing so hard and fast.....not any other reason....!
hunt/shop day, ski the next and so on which has been in part been caused by only wanting to ski on the best days (although at the moment we are basking in -2 temperatures so pretty much every day is a good ski day and someone up there definately loves skiers as we have had snow on every other day so there is a nice fresh layer when we get there the following morning.)...the other reason is recovery time...obviously because we are skiing so hard and fast.....not any other reason....!
There is a great little restaurant on the far side of the ski hill (will remember to take picture next time!) which does top soups and we are steadily working our way through their repetoire (Spicy Thai Chicken top so far although wild mushroom a close second). Shaun is also official taster of cinnamon buns on the 11 o'clock rest stop to ensure quality doesn't deteriotate in 48hrs!Christmas Bowl at Silver Star
We are getting to know the mountain a bit and there is definately something for everyone - 
cruisy pisted runs, moguls (with and without powder depending on how much you want to earn that cinnamon bun!), pure powder and runs through snow clad trees. The Canadian coding system is a bit different to Europe with green being the easier (green/blue in Euroland), blue (blue/red), Black 1 diamond (black) and Black 2/3 diamond (really, really black as in OMG are you sure that you can ski that?!). We've tried a 2 diamond and are going to improve/get new legs before going back!
cruisy pisted runs, moguls (with and without powder depending on how much you want to earn that cinnamon bun!), pure powder and runs through snow clad trees. The Canadian coding system is a bit different to Europe with green being the easier (green/blue in Euroland), blue (blue/red), Black 1 diamond (black) and Black 2/3 diamond (really, really black as in OMG are you sure that you can ski that?!). We've tried a 2 diamond and are going to improve/get new legs before going back!There are some seriously good skiers/boarders local boarders here and you see virtually no crashes as a) the runs are so uncrowded and b) everyone has basically been skiing since they were in nappies! Friday was 'schools' day as all the local kids get a morning's skiiing every week as part of their games cirriculum and those guys can really zip down a slope! We did see one really good crash, right under the chair lift as well for maximum exposure....guy comes down the hill towards a natural ramp with about a 1.5 m drop into some powder...a little pause...perhaps to make sure the audience on the chairlift is fully engaged (?) and then swoops down...a quick 360 and then a full on face plant into the powder - body completely horizontal and then just drops! Round of applause from the whole lift as he emerges from the powder safe and sound....
Driving conditions have improved since earlier in the week and I am now learning to appreciate the beauty of snow free roads as the temperatures have risen in the Valley we have snow on the hills and lovely dry, non icy roads (or at least they are by the time we get moving!).
We are hoping to hook up with one of our neighbours who was a ski instructor, from a long line of ski instructors and get some tips to be able to really hit those higher black with some style in return for a beer or two!
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