I took this picture on Saturday on the way back to Squamish, as it was a scenic lookout. We were getting ourselves ready for a year of skiing. We stopped in Function Junction to try to outfit Bill and Jeff P with skis and poles etc. Jeff P ended up paying $35 for skis and poles (165 cm Elan skis with Tyrolia bindings) and Bill as usual found boots that were free. The boots were only 5 years old and they were Salomons. A little side note about Bill is that he says he takes directions very well. We will have to verify this with his wife though. In his defence, he did walk into the local IGA one day and walked out to find a pair of skis with a note on them saying, "Take me, Free." He ended up with K2 skis which were about 165 cm. I have never been to a ski resort town where you find used ski equipment which is free or next to nothing! I believe that since we found this place in Function Junction, you would be better off just buying your equipment here, rather than going to the expense of shipping it to the mountain. These skis are cheaper than renting and it's easy to find a decent pair. I'm envious because I don't think my equipment is as good as this free stuff! Anyway, we ended up going to Squamish because Bill thought he could find a better deal. He couldn't but I ended up finding some great Olympic stuff. I think I will wait until after the regular games to load up though because Bill says they will be giving it away, so please tell me if you would like me to buy you something. 
The roadway in front of our hotel is filling up nicely with snow. Believe it or not, a good chunk of this snow melted by Friday night because it rained up here in Whistler as well. Somehow rain on the "Wet Coast" doesn't surprise me anymore! I just can't believe that not 30 minutes south of Whistler, there is so little evidence of snow! The nice thing about having so much snow on the ground here though is that the "Bombing" sounds have subsided a little as the snow on the ground dampens the loud thumps of falling snow. When we only had about six to twelve inches of snow, the water laden snow from the roof would slide off and hit the ground with a huge thunk. You would swear you could feel the floor shake. Some of the guys are in part of the hotel where there are roofs which jutt out below the main roof. Apparently, when the lower roofs get hit with snow you think the sky is falling! It wasn't so bad when it happened and you were awake, but in the middle of the night, I was awakened many times. Or maybe it was the jet lag! So, both Jeff P and Bill got outfitted (I still spent more money in Squamish on other stuff) and we decided to head back to Whistler and buy lift tickets. They have something here called "The Edge" pass. It works out to about $55/lift ticket and you can buy them in 3, 5 and 10 units. The nice thing is that you can refill this pass and still pay a discounted price. The price depends on what time of year you refill. Regardless, it's still cheaper to ski here than it is to ski at Blue Mountain or Mt. Tremblant. So if you like to ski and you have some air miles and can build yourself a bear proof igloo...
I took a few more pictures at the top of the mountain today and unfortunately, they just don't do the view justice. As you might be able to tell, we were skiing above the clouds. Basically, we took the gondola to near the top of the mountain(to get higher there is another chair lift where you ski in a bowl). We then skied down to the one/third station (they sometimes call it the midway station, it really isn't). This station is down below the cloud! 
Now, we did have a little problem today with Bill as he has never skied before. I tried to teach him as best as I could but the snow was so deep and heavy and I am not a ski instructor, that he tweaked his knee on a turn. He said that he could feel his knee pop. We left him in the good hands of the ski patrollers and he told us to just go out and enjoy our day, but you can't help worrying. When we got back to the hotel we found him on the "hot tub and beer" regime to recuperate. It is customary for the Bell team to start their apres ski party in the hot tub even though it is generally all male. I have to say that I felt really old when a young lady looked at me in a rather puzzled look when I was talking about the Calgary Olympics. She said she wasn't even born yet. (350 dogs years!! Yeesh) Bill then retired to the "love lounge" to play some video golf, drink, watch TV, drink, play poker (with a round totalling about 15 players) and of course drink. Another choice would have been to go to the Irish Pub which you have to go to at least once (but not many more times for me because of all the fiddling that goes on). The GLC is another choice and again 350 dog years! Although we were witness to somebodies bar tab that try as he might he could not reach $1000.00. Bet he was doing laundry the next day! Merlins is another choice and this became Joe's favorite only because he could watch UFC with a room full of other fans of blood and broken bones. We had a discussion in all this drinking (as you're want to do) that we thought it was harder on our wives than it was for us being away from home. Yeah, it was but we all still did miss 'em. Anyway, I think Bill is going to play it up tomorrow so he won't have to climb any ladders!I took this video just outside of the mountain top chalet. It starts with a look at the Olympic Ilanaaq. Now, I have always called them Inukshuks but I guess we are speaking a different language here. To the left of the Ilanaaq, you get a glimpse of the gondola coming up from Whistler village. To the right, you get a glimpse of the Peak to Peak gondola which is now under maintenance repair. We watched a guy pull himself up to a Peak to Peak gondola from the ground and suddenly I didn't feel so bad having to climb ladders. Although you can't see it at the chalet, there is a wooden deck which you are supposed to see. It is covered in snow and obviously service pending.
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