Adventures and Misadventures

This time I have lots to say! ( well, I always have lots to say, but sometimes it's not very exciting...) I've just gotten back from a road trip to Panorama Mountain Resort, where my friends Cam and Marko work. It was an awesome trip, full of adventures, as well as a number of misadventures!

Cam is a friend from back in NZ, and Marko is an awesome Aussie who I met in Vancouver... and proving once again what a small world it is, they both happened to be working at the same resort, and in the same department... and now they're best friends... (my work here is done...)\

My trip started of somewhat disasterously... I left Banff on my Greyhound around about 7.45pm on Sunday night... it's about a 2hour trip down to Invermere, the closest town to Pano Resort. I get to Invermere and my phone finally gets reception - and I then discover a message from Marko saying that he and Cam are stuck in Banff because they've closed the roads (they were on their way back from a road trip up north)... so, ironically, I'm stuck in Invermere with no where to stay and they're in Banff, with the same problem...
Thank Goodness for the Best Western... the visa wasn't so happy, but at least I had a bed for the night...

I finally managed to get up to Pano on the staff bus (the boys were somewhere on the highway, waiting for the roads to open, and sleeping in the car)... and managed to get in an afternoon on the hill before checking into my hotel room... the boys eventually made it back to Panorama, 2 hours late for work and quite tired... but the troopers that they are - they invited me up to the restaurant they work at (yay for Mile High Pizza) where they plied me with apologies and free Pizza. After they finished, we had a few beers at the pub and made a plan for the next day... the snow at pano has been pretty average (as it has been at a lot of the hills; spring is coming), so the boys thought it would be worth a road trip in Norry (their crappy Ford truck) to Kicking Horse (22cm fresh powder overnight, 90cm in the last 7 days!!).

We were up bright and early on Tuesday to get on the road... Kicking Horse is just under 2 hours away from Pano, so I get to see a bit of the Canadian countryside... The conditions at KH were beautiful - clear skies and lots of fresh snow! Even better, I got to ride for free because Pano staff get reciprocal passes (and I look enough like Kate (Cam and Marko's workmate) to use her staff pass).

The boys really poushed my riding, which was awesome - my first run for the day was down Bowl Over (a double black for anyone who knows trail conditions)... (photographic evidence on Flickr!). The powder was amazing - a foot deep and lots of fresh tracks. I did have a slight incident on the cat track which resulted in a blood nose and bruising on my eye socket, but that couldn't keep the smile of my face! Kicking Horse is reknowned for it's long runs - the longest being 10kms (that's a long way to ride!) but it is the best hill I've been to, bar none! It was an awesome day, and the bruises are totally worth it!

The drive back was pretty cool too - the sun was out, and daylight savings has just started, so it was light the whole way home... and the boys let me drive (what were they thinking!?) cos they both wanted to have ninja naps... so I can know drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, and know how do drive a standard (manual) when it's on the opposite side from what I'm used to...

The day was complete with a hearty dinner (cooked by me of course...), some beers and a few hours in the spa pool. What I would call a perfect day!

Unfortunately the next day I had to get back on the bus and come back to Banff... I wasn't really ready to come back, but at least the drive back through the Kootenay National Park was pretty enough to distract me! I'm hoping to get down there again before I leave Banff (only 5 weeks to go - scary!), or otherwise the boys and I are hoping to head north to Jasper for a few days... either way, it'll be heaps of fun!

That's about my news for now... work is the same, getting busier everyday, and the snow is melting :( ... I've started planning my trip East... and I'm heading to Whistler (west, just north of Vancouver) just after I leave here: for the Telus World Ski and Snowboarding Festival... can't wait!

xxx Pip xxx