March 2014 - Whistler

A morning on the mountain is amazing motivation to wake up on the weekend... well not too early. It's a fine balance between sleeping in and squeezing in a quick couple of runs before an early lunch, because the search for a seat can be as elusive as fresh powder when the clocks strikes 12.

This great motivation I speak of was not present Saturday morning. I had been sick all week and at 6am I was awake enough not to go back to sleep but still so out of it that I would settle for anything half decent (brainless) on TV. I found nothing.

Instead my battles turned internal, caught between you-really-should-stay-in-bed and how-many-more-weekends-of-snow-do-you-think-you-have-this-season dilemma. It is a similar battle to the I-wanna-to-shop-in-Vancouver and the but-I-wanna-be-on-the-mountain argument which has been floating around for the last few weeks. Seriously, if shopping cannot win over the mountain do you really think feeling crap and wanting to stay in bed is going to fair any better?

The answer is no, so up Blackcomb we go only to be greeted by the crappiest snow in the last three weekends and also some friggin' cold artic chill of -16. I wanted to attack some jumps so headed for the terrain park through icy, rocky, hard-packed, weather tormented snow. My suspension (ie. knees) was soon screaming for a tune up (ie. early lunch) so I made a deal with myself if the clock on Blackcomb said 11 I could go inside and eat. At the top of the chair lift the clock said 10.55. Close enough.

Unbeknowest to me at the time the heavens were beginning to sprinkle winter love on the mountain. The feather light, perfect little snowflakes as fragile as dandelions fell from the sky and found a home on my snowboard whilst I was enjoying my usual Crispy Fries with Sprite.

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Now I honestly can't remember if I ever saw this before, but snowflakes are real people (says the naive Aussie)! Those tiny little sprinkles of joy really and truly look exactly like their depictions on christmas cards, colouring books and cutout paper fun. They are mesmorising, beautiful and so tiny. I must have looked like an idiot (or a tourist) when I stood for a full five minutes with a huge smile on my face examining every snowflake that shared its beauty with me and my board. I am thrilled that I actually managed to capture that one particularly amazing snowflake front and centre of my photo.

So from the crappiest snow to the most spectacular snowflakes I have ever seen. I thanked God for the drive that rolled me out of bed this morning and continues to do so every single Saturday and Sunday of the winter season. I am fast realising that however great summer's are here in Whistler, winter time will always be my favourite.