Day 17 - Sunshine

Ah, Sunshine. Oh how my memories of thee do bring a feeling of goodwill upon thy brow.

With the prospect of no fresh snow, for the first time for the whole trip....oh wait, no, that's a joke. With the prospect of no fresh snow again it was going to be hope for no ice.

Sunshine either has to be epic snow or warm (and I mean warm) sunny spring conditions to hit their unbelievable park for it to be fun for this little shred monkey.

I didn't do photos again, and Packy's point-and-shoot had packed (!) up, so words shall have to suffice.

Sunshine's verrrrrry long gondola got us to the top in style and with stickers, where Greg from Falls and his friend Leanne waited.

We were greeted by news from Greg that most runs were ice so we headed up not expecting much. For a Monday, it was reasonably busy, and yes most runs were average, with cold wind and bouts of snow a portent of the front forecast to hit us tomorrow (in time Fernie).

There's not much I can say as all we did was make do with what we had. That being said, I had some pretty fun runs, hitting some nice hips on chute-type runs, thus allowing me to practice my hip-spins more.

We eventually ended up in the park. Oh my. Probably not as good as Silverstar's park, but I saw, hips, step ups, multiple kickers (lots of vert), an S box, MANY boxes varying in difficulty in terms of the pop on as well as its construction; i.e. the resident hero box had a 10ft plus gap onto it. Was a pretty good park with lots of variation catering to all skill levels. Had the day been a warm spring day I could have camped out here all day doing park lines. Not many locals throwing down and a COMPLETE lack of local or blow-in gangster dudes psyching everyone out or yo-ing down, so it was choice bro eh.

We did a few runs through here, a run out under one of the boundary ropes, lunch, then decided to call it a day at around 2PM.

We are both desperate for either fresh snow, or WARM park days. This icey mogulled in-between-seasons rubbish is most frustrating, especially when I see how good the surf is at home (could be surfing 2-3ft perfection in boardies).

We called it a day after a top to bottom Chinese downhill race which I comfortably won. What's that Packy? I didn't tell you it was a race? Ooops.

Thankfully and happily it looks like it may snow from tonight until well after we leave leave, so hopefully we can get some epic lines at Fernie, Castle Mtn and back at Whitewater.

It's funny what you notice when you're away.

The differences between your temporary home and your permanent home are subtle at first then become starkly apparent as your trip progresses.

I think the most obvious thing is coffee. The quality of coffee in Melbourne is startlingly good. So very, very good. And my standard avocado, mushroom, tomatoe, rocket, cheese and Thomy mayonnaise pita wraps for dinner/lunch. And Rock Ling and salad with Pop and a smashing Tahbilk Shiraz followed by Tiramasu fruit tart and ice cream. And the warm touch of the summer sun. The light and gentle sandpapery touch of salt on the skin after a surf in boardies at Torquay in 2-3 foot glass on a hot summer's Saturday, followed by organic eggs and mushrooms and Soul Fuel. And the cycling. Oh, the cycling.

Or, in Canada. The poor signage and marking on the roads. No cat's eyes. No poles. No reflectors. All of which makes night-time and snow-time conditions heart-racingly fraught with nerve-wracking concentration. The lack of GOOD coffee. The presence of LOTS of AWESOME burgers. The presence of a diet overwhelmingly dominated by meat. The presence of the best chocolate on Earth - Hershey's cookies and cream. The presence of sentinels of happiness and fuzziness - Nelson, wolves. Just bastions of good food, good coffee and good times. Kum-bay-yah and all that.

Differences in the call of the birds. Different light in the sky. Different stars in the night sky. Different tonalities in sentences.

The creature comforts of home, like nighttime silence and your own pillow and bed and bathroom. Putting a classical music rekkid on and just relaxing.

All the little things that make you think home is the Best Place on Earth.

Fernie tomorrow.

Night, dear reader.