Tan and I woke up first out of the group in the condo. Our check out time was 10am and we woke up at 9:30am. After our shower Tan did the rounds waking everyone up. There were a lot of sore heads after the late night. We cleaned up and when everyone was nearly ready, there was a knock on the door. Four young blokes turned up just we all had finished packing. The give away was that one was carrying a vacuum cleaner. So that was a good cue to call the taxis to go into town.
With our gear dropped off we hit the Irish pub for a quick breakfast. Belly, Mick and I were very keen to hit the slopes. During breakfast Brendo had a wave of nausea which wasn’t much fun. We parked him up outside in the cool air and it didn’t take long for him to feel better.
The three of us hit the lifts with Jaimie following a few gondolas behind. At the top of the gondola the view was magic! Mick was keen to practice by himself on the slopes after a fall the day before. I, on the other hand, was keen to try anything Belly and Jaimie had to throw at me! With only 500m of boarding under my belt for the day, we hit the Peak chairlift. This took us to the top of Whistler. It was a cool -10 C but it was party cloudy and the view was absolutely unbelievable!! A full 360 degree panorama greeted us. We stopped for a few photos and then we were off down the slopes. Our first run was on the icy side of the peak. At one stage I fell and the icy slope was like a big slippery slide. As soon my edge grabbed I slow down and composed myself to board down. Jaimie and Belly were great. They were quicker than me but always stopped to make sure I was alright and could catch up.
Back up another two chairlifts and we were on the peak again but we went the other way. We went all over the mountain, hunting out relatively fresh snow. One black run, was a steep slope where I could put my hands out on the slope while going down. Towards the base of it I had to get quite a bit of speed to get through the powdery bowl. I stopped on a ridge and made a video of me snowboarding and after about 30 seconds I crashed. The snow here was really soft and it was more funny than sore to fall.
We hit more slopes and ended up going down a black run full of moguls along a ridge with drop offs. I felt confident and took it easy. Once off the ridge we met a awesome slope full of powder that was sensational. At the base of the chairlift we consulted the run map and realized we could get something similar by hitting the Glacier Bowl. We did and it was that good, we hit again, with 7 minutes left before that lift closed. Such a memorable run, and the best fun I have had in a while (and I have done a lot of fun things too). Belly and Jaimie pushed me hard and I rose to the challenge, very sore and exhausted.
We broke up and boarded into the Whistler Village where everybody was hanging out. Tan, Brendo and Toni spent the best part of the day being pampered in a day spa and drinking hot chocolate.
The limo arrived at 5:30pm and the driver wasn’t concerned about speeding. This guy flew down the mountain and got us into Vancouver in no time. At this stage we didn’t really care as we were all tired after our Whistler Rock Star weekend “Living the dream!!”.
With our gear dropped off we hit the Irish pub for a quick breakfast. Belly, Mick and I were very keen to hit the slopes. During breakfast Brendo had a wave of nausea which wasn’t much fun. We parked him up outside in the cool air and it didn’t take long for him to feel better.The three of us hit the lifts with Jaimie following a few gondolas behind. At the top of the gondola the view was magic! Mick was keen to practice by himself on the slopes after a fall the day before. I, on the other hand, was keen to try anything Belly and Jaimie had to throw at me! With only 500m of boarding under my belt for the day, we hit the Peak chairlift. This took us to the top of Whistler. It was a cool -10 C but it was party cloudy and the view was absolutely unbelievable!! A full 360 degree panorama greeted us. We stopped for a few photos and then we were off down the slopes. Our first run was on the icy side of the peak. At one stage I fell and the icy slope was like a big slippery slide. As soon my edge grabbed I slow down and composed myself to board down. Jaimie and Belly were great. They were quicker than me but always stopped to make sure I was alright and could catch up.
Back up another two chairlifts and we were on the peak again but we went the other way. We went all over the mountain, hunting out relatively fresh snow. One black run, was a steep slope where I could put my hands out on the slope while going down. Towards the base of it I had to get quite a bit of speed to get through the powdery bowl. I stopped on a ridge and made a video of me snowboarding and after about 30 seconds I crashed. The snow here was really soft and it was more funny than sore to fall.We hit more slopes and ended up going down a black run full of moguls along a ridge with drop offs. I felt confident and took it easy. Once off the ridge we met a awesome slope full of powder that was sensational. At the base of the chairlift we consulted the run map and realized we could get something similar by hitting the Glacier Bowl. We did and it was that good, we hit again, with 7 minutes left before that lift closed. Such a memorable run, and the best fun I have had in a while (and I have done a lot of fun things too). Belly and Jaimie pushed me hard and I rose to the challenge, very sore and exhausted.
We broke up and boarded into the Whistler Village where everybody was hanging out. Tan, Brendo and Toni spent the best part of the day being pampered in a day spa and drinking hot chocolate.The limo arrived at 5:30pm and the driver wasn’t concerned about speeding. This guy flew down the mountain and got us into Vancouver in no time. At this stage we didn’t really care as we were all tired after our Whistler Rock Star weekend “Living the dream!!”.
After a quick breakfast, I geared up and then went up the chairlift then onto another. Here I was ready for my first run, a blue or intermediate run. I was a little risty at the start feeling the edge on this different board and the run was a little icy. I made it successfully to the bottom and then hit the next parallel run and threw in a few jumps. I was feeling good by now! 
I waited for the group after a few phone calls, six of us met at the bottom of Jersey Cream chairlift. Belly, Jaimie and Toni on skis and Horn, Andrea and I on boards. We cruised down the start of the run I did previous and then decided we would hit a black (or difficult) run. On the way I hit a jump and got about 1m of air but I had a flat landing.
We had a late lunch, chili, of course, and then hit the same area. We went down a steep moguled black run called Heavenly Paradise. We took it easy, as Leo twisted his ankle. After that I went back to the top and boarded all the way down the mountain to the bottom. 
When I realized I had gone to the wrong spot I went up the slowest chairlift ever on the beginner run to get back and around to the base of the Whistler and Blackcomb gondolas. With one more day under belt on the slopes, I felt quite confident to hit small jumps, link turns and board switch heel side – pretty impressed. Along the way down, I boarded into an awaiting Brendo and Tan, who had spent the day watching Logan’s Run (dreadful 60’s flick) and James Bond. We walked the 500m down the ski slope to Black’s pub to catch up with the rest of the crew. 
With some indecision, six of us stayed in for booze and food with the idea of cooking a BBQ. All but one of us were Aussies, so a BBQ sounded like a great area. But first the hot tub beckoned us all to come in, so we did, complete with champers and Coronas. The hot water on the aching muscles was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Well, it was way to cold to cook outside, so Belly and I started with the snags in the fry pan. We had no oil and the Canadian snags aren’t like ours which are filled with fat and oil and the occasional bit of meat. We cooked the snags in a mix of water, hommus and beer. Very untraditional but we had limited (no) supplies. It turned out well! 
Talk about rock stars (it’s actually just as cheap with a large group to go in style instead of catching the bus). Jaimie and Brendo powered in, with Mick, Tan and I next. Leo and Andrea lay back in style while Belly and Toni took control of the heating, Corona opening and the tunes. 
We were all like kids in a candy shop, laughing and talking up the trip. The limo was full of gadgets, flashing lights and a mirrored roof. Carlos, our driver did a great job on the slippery and busy roads and put up with our raucous behaviour. Talk about a lot of fun! On departing the limo, it was an absolute disgrace, so as in Canada we gave him a generous tip.
We made it to upper Whistler Village, to our 4 bed room condo complete with hot tub and thick blanket of the white fluffy stuff we have grown to love. Tan did a fantastic job organising the trip with our new best travel agent, Linda Benoit!
