The thrills and spills of Winter :)

Winter slowly gained momentum in British Colombia, and before I knew it we were full speed, hurtling towards Spring. We journeyed from what can only be described as a snow drought, to a full-on blizzard overload :) well, not quite, but you get the idea.

Now, don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining about the sudden influx of snow at the start of February. Au contrare my friends, I welcomed it! I, along with the majority of residents in Whistler were the very image of children on Christmas morning. (please excuse the overused metaphor, but this time it is so very apt!) we stood, gazing upwards, trying to catch the largest snowflakes I have ever seen in our mouths and getting beyond excited about the fresh powder we were going to shred the next day.

The few weeks that followed the first BIG snowfall of the season were a blur of early morning line ups, floating on this magical snow down untouched runs and collapsing into a heap at the end of the day on the sofa with a grin plastered onto our exhausted faces. This was living, and this was why we were here.

Of course this time was interspersed with work (boo!) family visits (more snow-themed activities) and illness (double boo!) but it also very quickly suppressed any ill feelings we had developed in the snow-famine of early season. It also justified my recent purchase of some very pretty powder skis the previous month!

So with all our adrenaline and snow-related cravings covered, another demon, our travel-bugs, had space to squeeze itself into our psyche and pose the the question, 'Where are we going next?'

Although ever-present, I have to admit, the urge to travel beyond Whistler had quelled in the last 17 months. Life was everything I wanted here. I had a group of friends, who had such a similar mind set to my own, I was completely comfortable with them. I had a good job, and my back garden was the most epic set of mountains and beautiful little village. I spent my days off skiing and exploring the outdoors, relaxing with my friends and, to be honest, not having much regard to if or when I was going to leave this place. It just didn't really occur to me that this type of living might not satisfy me forever. Blasphemy!

Yet, alas, that very thought caught up with me recently. It tapped me on the shoulder one day, whispered in my ear and simply said 'Hey, lets do something else.' And that was it. It was time to move on to new adventures.

I always knew that I had to go home after this winter for my sister's wedding in May, but I had never given much thought to what was happening after that. Was I coming back to Whistler? Travel some more? I guess it was time to get the the proverbial thinking cap on, and figure this shit out! Luckily I wasn't alone in these thoughts. My new-found partner in crime, Brad, was also feeling the travel itch and was keen to strike up a new adventure else where. So along with Tom, our comrade from Winter 12/13, we set about making plans for life, post-Whistler.

We tossed around ideas, Central America...Europe...South America...All we knew was that we were ending up in Melbourne, Australia. Where we would work a while to replenish our depleting funds! This was planned for late September time, 2014. So in between, we finally decided, we would embark on our own, drawn out exploration of the Trans-Mongolian Railway. A 3 month voyage through Russia, Mongolia and China, stopping off throughout the journey at every little town and village in the aforementioned countries. An new adventure to say the least.

So now, between draining the last dregs of our ski-bum lifestyle and saving every penny we can earn, we are devoting our spare minutes to planes, trains and automobiles...oh, and visas! Turns out we need a few of those for the communist and ex-communist countries we intend to visit. No easy task when neither Brad, nor I, are currently in our home country or can be without our passports for any length of time. But, alas, we shall figure it out. It really is just a life of 1st world problems, 'I'm travelling one awesome country, so I'm having trouble planning visas for the next amazing ones'.

I found myself with another well-know 1st world/Whistler problem yesterday, which made me chuckle when I realised how ridiculous it really was. I actually found myself uttering the sentence 'I can't carry my skis and my beer at the same time!' Really? Seriously? I had to roll my eyes and remind myself that there were indeed problems in this world much greater than the fact that I couldn't manage alcohol and skis in two hands.

I guess life in 'The Bubble' just got too comfortable. And I certainly don't mean in the financial sense! More so in the sense that I find myself complaining about things like the snow being sticky, or there being a line up at the gondy/bar/grocery store/coffee shop, and that's not OK. This place is a paradise, and when one gets to a point where they fail to acknowledge this fact on a regular basis and float through each day not appreciating the tiny, yet perfect, moments, well then its time to go. Start afresh, experience the new and marvel at another nirvana this world has to offer.

So now its time to knuckle down and gather the coins that will fund these big plans, but also cherish every last ski day, snowfall and apres, because we will soon bit a very emotional farewell to our 2nd home. The countdown is on, Ireland...see you soon!

And so it was Summer...

I'm definitely getting into a habit of leaving heaps of time between these blog posts. oops.

Aw well, as long as get around to it at some point eh?

An entire season has passed since I last sat down and put pen to paper, or fingers to keys as the case may be. I previously promised to be much more frequent with posting on here, but alas I'm just crap. I'm not going to make anymore promises, but perhaps with the colder weather quickly approaching I will have find more time to sit down and write. Although, as the saying goes, 'there is no time in Whistler...'

I left you when summer was just about to take off in Whistler, and take off it did. Although summer was most certainly a more chilled out, slower paced way of life than winter, it was also pretty jam-packed with new activities and people.

We didn't have one day of rain for all of July, and temperatures soared (well in my books they soared, the Aussies insisted that it was just 'warm') In between working and bbq's, we spent our time lying by the lakes and hiking. Oh and perhaps a few tequilas thrown in there for good measure!
One of these hikes was our trek to Joffre Lakes, a beautiful spot north of Whistler, outside Pemberton. The views were breathtaking and the lakes themselves were so blue from the glacier water that they seemed fake.

What I did learn from all this outdoor activity is that I don't actually like hiking. As much as I long to be the female equivalent of Ray Mears, it turns out its never going to happen. I would be so keen, suggesting all kinds of hikes and trails and once we set of the thoughts in my head would go from 'Oh, this is going to fun. Look how pretty it is here' to 'I f***ing hate this, why did I suggest this? I cant breathe. Why is everyone walking so fast?' I was hot, sweaty and there were bugs EVERYWHERE. Not fun. I mean the picnic at the end is always nice, and the views of course, but lets just say I wont be attempting Everest anytime soon!

Summer also saw us attempt to tackle the world's number 1 downhill bike park. I took the challenge, faced it head on with great determination and bad-assery, and I ran away shit scared and vowing never to return! Not for me.

Now don't get me wrong, I can see the attraction, and if I wasn't such a chicken shit maybe it would have been a lot more fun, but alas, a chicken shit is what I am. I gave the park two goes, the first time I hated it. Too much adrenaline for a prolonged period of time in my opinion. The second time I went because Loris was back in town for a week and wanted to try it. After a few epic spills from her and her bike unceremoniously throwing her over the handle bars, she had had enough of it as well! No amount of persuasion from the beautiful bike guide could get the two of us back on those bikes again. It was the bar for us, to claim a well deserved drink!

Some others took to the park much more like ducks to water. Brad, Dan and Ashley were all up there dropping cliffs and doing all sorts of crazy stuff on a daily basis. And of course Meg and Andrew were old hands at this kind of stuff. As the season rolled on, so did the injuries. From scrapes and bruises to broken limbs and concussions, it was almost worse than winter. I'm glad all this silly bike business is now behind us, and the white stuff is on its way back!

As summer drew to a close, and work became less and less frequent, boredom set it, and subsequently the urge to travel crept up on us all. So out came the laptops and the planning began. We needed out of the bubble! The good thing about living in a place like Whistler, is that the people are all on the same wave lenght, reading from the same page so to speak. We were all bitten by the travel bug at some point in our respective past. You would never be without a travel buddy in Whistler! So after much deliberation of where to go, we decided on New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia.

It was a crazy 10 days of fitting in all the sights, eating the as much fast food as possible (20 nuggets in McDonald's for $5?? The boys could never resist!) and drunkenly making friends with homeless people. (If you have no cash, its OK to give them gum right?) It was an awesome trip, and also  great way to finish off a great year. We flew back into Canada a year to the day that I originally flew in. :)

Its hard to believe over a year has gone by already! So much as happened, so many amazing friends have been made and I have experienced so much. Its not over yet, in fact far from it. I really feel like this year has just been the beginning in a long journey, which will hopefully keep going for a long time.

So now its November and the cold weather has hit B.C again. The snow is slowly working its way down the mountain and into the village and everyone is getting ready for a new ski season. We have been watching ski movies, buying new gear and dusting off the old stuff in preparation. So within the next few weeks we will back sliding on the white stuff. Old friends are arriving back in town and we have all migrated back to staff housing, (which is already proving disastrous for my liver!)

So here's to another winter in The Whis. I know this year is going to be different, new faces and new challenges, but i say 'bring it on'. This winter season is all about tackling skiing with a whole new attitude, facing the two giants that are Whistler and Blackcomb with a new found gusto but also with a reassuring familiarity and comfort.

Until next time :)