Most of you probably know about this trip already, but I feel
like I should say something about it here...

Tristen, Blaine and I went to Whistler [1] for 9 excellent days
(Feb 2-11); Lynn joined us for the first weekend. Photos:

   http://impressive.net/people/gerald/2001/02/whistler.html

(I didn't take as many as usual because I was recording video
a lot of the time instead.)

The skiing was fantastic! Whistler/Blackcomb is *huge*, the snow
is excellent, the lifts are almost all high-speed quads, and it
isn't too busy if you manage to stay away from the hordes near
the bottom of the mountain. (and it was even less busy during the
week.)

We skiied 7 out of 8 days, only taking one day off to rest our legs.
We also snowboarded one day, and that was kind of like a rest too
because we were using different muscles and we weren't skiing as
aggressively. (cuz we suck at boarding, or at least I do.)

Well, we didn't quite ski 7 full days, since we slept late a few
times and only skiied 3-4 hours (which was usually enough to kill
my legs anyway.)

The nightlife was kind of... well... gay. No, really, it was gay
pride week in Whistler, which we didn't know before going there.
So there was kind of a shortage of women in most of the bars
this particular week, but I think otherwise the nightlife there
would be very good.

Anyone want to go back for say 4-5 days next month?

Air Canada is currently giving a quote of $453 CAD incl tax from
Ottawa for Mar 20-25, which would give us four and a half days of
skiing. (that would mean three days off from work, Wed-Fri.)

If not, I guess I'll have to wait until next year, but I'm pretty
sure I want to make this at least an annual trip from now on.

Like this guy says [2]:

| This is the best resort in the world. Period.
| by Dave  Feb 25, 2000 08:59
|
| Biggest vertical in North America. 2 mountains. Massive powder
| dumps all winter long. Okay, the weather acts up sometimes -
| nobody's perfect. Fast, comfortable lift system. Variety. Great
| ski school. Awesome views. Runs that go on forever, and then
| some. The most adorable pedestrian village you'll ever see.
| Nightlife. Restaurants. Shopping. 1 1/2 entertaining hours
| from Vancouver airport, in the friendliest, safest country in
| the world.
|
| 'nuff said.
|
| This April will be my tenth season in a row, and I'm not that
| old. And at risk of sounding completely obnoxious, an annual
| pilgrimage to Whistler makes life worth living.

:)

[1] http://www.whistler-blackcomb.com/
   http://www.google.com/search?q=Whistler+Blackcomb

[2] http://www.rsn.com/chateau/view.html?f_action=view&resort_id=1619&f_type=resort_reviews&key=14&pos=0&expnd=14&here=
   (well, it was there when I quoted it in mail I sent on
   Nov 16 2000, but that's a 404 now... morons.)

--
Gerald Oskoboiny <[email protected]>
http://impressive.net/people/gerald/