Eve of Games

We have all looked at our schedules and we realize that the beginning of the end of our time in B.C. is marked with the start of the Winter Games. We have taken stock of all the "stuff" we have accumulated and wonder how we will get it all back home. Joe has looked in his freezer and found that his search for bargains at the butcher shop has put him in peril of not being able to consume his stock before his trip home. Joe figures he should have just enough as long as he becomes a "meatatarian." The rest of us have volunteered to help him with that noble quest.


We are all looking at the number of days left on our "Edge Ski Pass" and counting up how many days off we have left on our schedules. We are also looking at doing some of the things we wanted to do at the outset. Bill, Jeff P. and Maurizio drove down to the ferry and went to Tofino (on Vancouver Island). Neil and my best buddy Jeff went snowmobiling on the Pemberton Ice fields. They were able to look down from their mountain top to the mountains of Whistler and Blackcomb. They were sledding at an altitude of 8,300 ft. Their pictures were incredible! At some point you will be able to see some of his pictures on www.totallyawesomeadventures.com. Even if you can't find Jeff on this web site, I think you will get the point!


On our day off, Joe and I met up with Bill and Jeff P. who were skiing down the "Learners Run" for a few hours before they had to go to work. This slope is at the base of Blackcomb and is totally free! It is serviced by a couple of "magic carpet lifts" and by one triple chair. The runs are green and are about as long as any runs you have to pay for in the Toronto area! More free stuff the guys have found in Whistler!

Apres ski consisted of a visit to the nearby Whistler Sliding Centre. We were lucky enough to watch some training runs in the Men's Luge event. It was amazing to walk down the course and see how high the sleds etc. climbed up the vertical walls of the banked turns. These guys hit speeds of 150 kms/hr when they reach the bottom (turn 16--Thunderbird). Turns 14 and 15 are chicane-type turns and are nicknamed the 50/50 turns for obvious reasons (you have a 50/50 chance of making it). I was lucky enough to have an excellent camera with me (which was supplied and transported to me--even with all my objections, by my lovely wife Laura).