Spring Break in Canada

My spring break this year was a trip to Whistler, BC, Canada to go snowboarding. There are 2 mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb. The bases are about a 5 min walk apart. We, my mom and I, left on Sunday morning and got back Thursday night. The highlights:

Sunday- We arrived in Vancouver arount 10:30 only to find out that our luggage was sent to Seattle, all of it. And so we got our rental car and headed to Whistler, which is about a 2 hour drive. On the road... their green lights flash! Crazy! It's weird, if someone is using the crosswalk they don't flash, but if no one is then they do (least that was what we came up with). And how could I forget the metric system, much cooler than our units. The road to Whistler is 2 lanes through the mountains. It was nice, though cloudy. And everything is forest (rain forest to be detailed). Sunday night while watching sportscenter they had the World Championship of Curling! on tv. That's awesome. That's one way to know that you aren't in the US.

Monday- We still didn't have 2/4 bags. Stupid airlines. So for most of the morning we just walked around the village. Then around 1 pm we got our stuff and so we went to Blackcomb for a few hours. My first impression was that there wasn't much snow. Most of the bases of the mountains were melting. And both mountains are surprisingly low in altitude which made for rain at the base and snow midway up. For dinner that night we went to the whistler brewhouse and I wasn't carded. Either I actually look at least 19, or they didnt card me cause I was with my mom (I go with looking 19).

Tuesday- We went to Whistler for the day. The weather was warm, though cloudy most of the day. The sun did come out in the afternoon a little, and it was the only sun we saw the entire time. The snow wasn't too bad until it got slushy. The mountain was cool though and it had a nice board park. And big moguls, very big. A lot of runs weren't groomed, which made for some difficult times.

Wednesday- Since we already had a good day at Whistler we went to Blackcomb again. It basically snowed all day. The visibility was not good, especially in the clouds. Poor visibility plus not knowing the mountain makes for interesting runs. Oh! The runs, on both mountains, are long... much longer than any at Mammoth. Basically every chair is a high speed quad and they still take forever. The runs are multi-tiered. Fresh powder is always fun, as is exploring the 'high avalanche zone.' That night for dinner we went to another good resturant and the higlight was getting 2 long island ice tea's with dinner. On the drink menu it said "If you are going to drink, don't drive, don't even putt." My mom let me order the first no problem (though hinting it had a lot of alcohol in it..duh) but the second was more difficult. After nicely asking failed multiple times, I took a different approach. The deal I came up with was if I ate all my veggies I could get a 2nd. And it worked. Carrots, bell peppers, onions and zucchini all for a 2nd drink. Then we got dessert after that. I had a full meal that night.

Thursday- This was our last day. We packed, went to a bakery for breakfast then started back for the airport. On the way back we passed a blackbear on a log over a river. So I stepped into my tourist shoes, and got out of the car to take a picture. We were on a windy two lane road, with not really a fully emergency lane, but that didnt stop me. The bear was stubborn and walked too far away to get a decent picture though. The memory is stored though. We also stopped in Squamish. The have a curling center there (something that America lacks). We didn't actually go to the place but the sign was good enough. It was pouring rain the entire drive, but we stopped at a waterfall too and the way back. I got soaked walking to it, but it was worth it. And just because I was curious I walked down to feel the water temp in a river. Very cold. Then it was off to the airport with no other stops.

Overall I had lots of fun. The snow wasn't the greatest, but that's cause Mammoth has spoiled me. The mountains are nice and there are tons of runs, and the village has great food. I want to go back sometime in Jan/Feb when the snow is better and I can freeze.

Eventually

Whistler Blog coming soon.

Just Wow

Now that it's April, mother nature has decided to share. Mammoth has gotten snow non-stop the past few weeks. To sum it up: 51 feet in 5 months, and currently a base depth of 20-22 feet. Maybe the weekend before finals I'll have to go up there since spring break is already planned. Back to the point of this post... Becca this snow bank be way more fun to jump off. Just imagine snow tripping.

Research Papers

Spring Break is in 2.5 weeks. I can't wait! I spent most of today writing a research paper. (It's not due tomorrow, but it needed to get finished) I learned something: If you are going to write an in depth analysis of a play regarding comedy or tragedy, choose one that at least a few people have written about. Do not choose some play from Nigeria that nobody has ever heard of. Good thing the entire rough draft is finished. That's a load off my shoulders. I can now sleep without dreading tomorrow.

Back to Music

I will be able to actually get some sleep tonight. yay! Today was a great day. I don't remember much of anatomy this morning. But my afternoon was the good part. My Jazz appreciation class today had a guest artist, Vinny Golia. The first hour he just talked some and played a few of his instruments. This had to be the most assorted collection of instruments I've seen. It included a bass sax, a soprillo (sax), sopranino (sax), some ethnic flutes, and a couple 'normal' clarinets. It was quite interesting to listen and hear what he had to say. Then after most everyone that wasn't in jazz band left (because our class was over), Vinny and the ensemble were going to rehearse some music. I decided to stay and listen for a little bit. As the jazz band was setting up, there was only 1 trumpet there (2 others drifted in). Kris Tiner, my prof and the jazz director, knows I play trumpet and asked me to join in on the rehearsal. So I did. I played flugelhorn, which I hadn't done. It's basically the same thing as trumpet, just a little larger and has a more mellow sound. It was fun. End result: I think I am going to start practicing again and play with the jazz band for the next couple weeks, at least until their concert and possibly afterwards too.

Mammoth

Mammoth was great! We left thursday night around 8:30 or so. It snowed going through Tehachapi, then rained in the desert, then snowed a little more around Lone Pine. We (Robert, Chris, and I) had to put chains on once we got off 395. It was snowing in Mammoth. I think we finally got to the condo around 1:30am. And we were asleep by 3. The forcast for the weekend was cold temps and snow. The forcast didn't lie either. Friday was very cold. It was a high of 32°, but realistically with the wind chill it was probably around 15°-20°, if not colder. Despite the freezing temperatures, the snow was great. There was lots of powder from the storms that had hit the mountain. It snowed all 3 days we were there also. Saturday and Sunday were both similar to Friday. It was sunny for all of an hour in the morning, then the clouds moved in, it got windy, it snowed, and visibility became close to none. The weather didn't keep us off the mountain though. Whats a little chillyness going to hurt? Sure I froze my ass off at times, but the ungroomed Face of 5 was definitely worth it! Aside from snowboarding, I had fun just hanging out with Robert, Chris, and Becca. Puerto Rico (the game) was fun once we figured it out. I think my highlight off the mountain was jumping off a snow bank with Becca. Twice! It's fun being a kid.
My running jump didn't quite work. Instead my front foot sunk as I leapt. What you can't see is that at the bottom of the snow bank is a short drop and the road. Becca's standing still jump worked better. She slid and landed on her feet. Me... not so much. I more or less face planted and slid/tumbled down on my stomach and landed firmly on the road. It might have hurt, but I was laughing and any pain was quickly forgotten. It was a fantastic way to end the vacation.

Bleh

1) Doing poorly on a test sucks.
2) Doing poorly on a test and having to sit through all the correct answers sucks more.
3) Hooray for Mammoth this weekend!