Quelle Horreure! What awful circumstances one finds oneself in throughout life.
Imperial Emperor Pack has made the decision to hit Silverstar. Unilateral authoritarianism. It's how he rolls. Like some sort of hegemonic government.
We head off and the drive is easy, probably only 30 mins into Kelowna from Big White then another 30 minutes to Vernon and another 25 minutes up the mountain.
Happily, I find the missing battery. I had a dream about it being in the car, et voila, there it was. Funny old thing, the subconscious.
The drive along the lake is beautiful. Parts of it are frozen - two eagles are perched on the ice near a break in the ice. A fish only needs to swim and it is done. Such is the fragility of life.
The terrain although similar to that approaching Big White is paradoxically and strangely dissimilar. The pines are a lot tighter together, and it reminds me of pictures I have seen of Germany.It is simply, and stunningly, gorgeous. The simplicity of the beauty; strong vibrant green against the pure, white. It is on a par with a crystal clear ocean against a leaden grey stormy summer sky as you sit on your surfboard watching nature work its incredible magic. Nature never ceases to amaze me. I wonder how many people blithely walk through life unaware at the magic woven around them.
We are upon Silverstar soon and it is a charming village; small, clean and almost quaint in nature. Although it looks manufactured, perhaps it is because of its newness and clean-ness that it appeals so strongly. It could be a Christmas village in Norway, Sweden or Finland.
It is inviting, hospital; it feels homely.
And my goodness there is a LOT of snow. The Samesun Hostel is unbelievable. Perched right on a run, it is clean, well laid out and huge. The entire bottom floor is comprised of 3 separate identical kitchens, there is a fuzzball table, myriad lounges, billiards, table tennis, and large food lockers. The place is a haven in a maelstrom of backpacker accommodation horridness.
We quickly head out into perhaps the best snow I have ever experienced.
And on the 10th Day, God said, "let there be powder".
Guest services in the village are so smilingly helpful; it just makes you react similarly (Australian ski resorts take note!!). We ride down to Comet Express and get tickets. We somehow (legitimately) end up with youth afternoon tickets (Josh informs me they were CAN$44..."and ten cents") - unbelievable value.
What follows defies description. Run after run of dry, deep snow. Face shots - the grail of most snow riders - were bountiful and easily found. Although we are a little late and all the easy-to-reach places are tracked out, rewards are obtained after a little searching.
Tim smashing through a tree.
Pack slash.
Josh's enthusiasm is infectious as he finds tree run after tree run...."that was sick!" followed by giggling. Every run and hit was "sick".
Much caution was thrown to the wind as many "caution" signs were ignored; with outcomes rewarding our flagrancy.
Tim...photo Pack.
It is bone-numbingly cold (on my part anyway) which explains the paucity of photos; apologies.
The snow does not decrease in intensity. Indeed after a few sunny breaks, and foggy breaks, where skiiers and boarders would appear eerily out of the fog of a run, framed by golden sunlight, it starts snowing again heavily.
Imperial Chancellor Pack makes the call for early morning tracks followed by a Revelstoke transit.
We head in, glad to be out of the cold and chill in the hostel's common room. We eat 5, yes, 5, Hershey's Cookies and Cream bars - I have Packy addicted - which also happens to clean the machine out. As we are sitting there, the machine just gets all poker-machine and goes "ding ding ding" and pays out 75c which goes toward our 5th bar.
These people should be out riding.
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