Oh Canada!

 

A week ago I got back from an awesome 8 day trip to British Columbia. We skied for 7 and spent a day in Vancouver. 

When planning a ski vacation this year it wasn't easy to decide where we wanted to go! Hearing about El Niño made us seriously consider Taos, New Mexico. Some felt that it wasn't a big enough resort to hold our interest for a week. Some friends we're heading off to the Dolomites in Italy, but that was out of my price range. It seemed to be getting down to the wire when someone suggested Whistler Blackcomb. An insanely big mountain with lots to offer, they were having a good season thus far, the weak Canadian dollar was great for budgets and the flight there was insanely cheap! We were all hooked, and the planning began!

The most difficult part of planning was lodging. It took us a long time to find and secure a place. We were a group of 13 and quickly came to realize it wasn't looking in our favor to all be in one house together. We wanted to be close to town and ski on ski off. We ended up using a website that was known as the "vrbo of canada" alluraDirect and found an amazing deal at Greystone Lodge. Located in the upper village, ski on ski off, walking time of 10 minutes to the main village, we couldn't be happier with our choice. The other half of the group was also able to book a condo here as well. I would highly recommend Greystone and would stay there again when I hopefully someday get back to Whistler! 

We purchased lift tickets ahead of time from Liftopia. Another great deal. They offered 6/7 day passes or as others chose to do a 5 day pass and a 1 day pass for a cheaper price. I had $60 in liftopia credit that I had accumulated over the past year or two, making my 6 days of skiing average somewhere around $55! (Hint: if you use liftopia get the app. If you have ever gotten a gift card you can enter the number right into your account on the app and it will store it until you're ready to use it, had I not done this I'm  sure I wouldn't have remembered where I put all of the gift certificates) 

Highlights of the trip

#1 Skiing

My favorite day of skiing was day 4, our back country day which deserves its own post. But skiing at Whistler Blakcomb was amazing. Days 1-3 were the best conditions while days 5-7 were still good, but not AS good. No new snow during the trip was a knife to the heart. But even so, it was still easy to have the best time.

Every day I was constantly amazed by the terrain. The vast wide open areas and bowls were stunning. It actually took the full 6 days to hit all areas (of interest) on both mountains.

Favorite Runs: Whistler Bowl (Pictured above, just off to the right of the center peak) & Blackcomb Glacier. I did countless runs on each. Whistler Bowl is located just off the peak express lift. This is the lift is a go to if you want to bag runs. I found that most lifts were often long rides, which means longer runs, but it was nice to have a short lift ride as an option with a fun, challenging trail to ski down over and over. Blackcomb Glacier is located off the Showcase T-Bar. A short, 5 min boot pack brings you into the vast glacier with many lines to choose from, Blackcomb Glacier offered the best snow through out the week, even on day 7 when the rest of the mountain got a little hard.

Favorite Lift: Peak to Peak Gondola. Not only does this 11 min ride makes it easy to travel in between Whistler > Blakcomb and vice versa, but is is a tourist attraction in and of itself. It holds the title of longest free span between ropeway towers and highest distance from the ground in the Guinness Book of World Record. Personally, the glass bottom cabin is not worth waiting for! We all thought the glass bottom would span the entire floor of the cabin, but it is a tiny gated off section in the center. The other cabins actually offer more room and we enjoyed them better.

 

 #2 Celebrations/Food 

Night 2 we celebrated Kristen's Birthday. We dined at Araxi Resturant. I'm sure Indulge Inspire Imbibe will be doing a full recap of all things food.

 

Night 8 we celebrated Bobs Birthday in Vancouver and dined out at Minami. 

In between there were lots of great meals out as well as cooked in the condos. Lunches on the mountain were also very noteworthy. I have never seen so many choices at a mid mountain lodge. Burritos, ramen, burgers, poutine. Also, WB has several huts around the mountain that serve specialty items. They are probably all worth checking out. My Favorites? Hortstman Hut for the Glühwein and Crystal Hut for the waffle.

And we can't forget about the most important meal of the day, breakfast! (No not the waffle, that was lunch) Also in the planning phase of the trip included the purchase of a Fresh Tracks ticket. WB does this daily, and I highly recommend doing it at least once. You ride up the gondola @ 7:15 and can be doing runs mid mountain before crowds hit. Fresh Tracks is most popular on powder days (they say you need to be in line @ 6:30) but in our case, we didn't have one of those. Still so worth it for an all you can eat breakfast buffet followed by 5 runs on fresh corduroy with no lift lines, it really made our day.

#3 Après-ski

We Apred at : Longhorn Saloon and Grill, Garibaldi Lift Co, Black's Pub, Merlins and Whistler Brewing Co. 

Favorite Spot? Hands down, Merlins (Located @ Blacocomb base). The awesome band, packed house, shot ski and dance party made for the ultimate apres ski.

Whistler Brewing Co. is located about a 10 min drive out of town. We went here on day 7 when were were headed back to Vancouver. A laid back vibe in an industrial type building with good beer. Ask for a black nut.

#4 Spa

No photos to be shared, but our time at the Scandinave Spa was the most relxing,calming and revitalizing experience I have ever had. I actually researched quite a few spas in Whistler before booking massages at Scandinave, nothing quite compared to what their facilities have to offer. It is a 10 minute drive from Whistler and they also have buses that run there. We arrived an hour before our 5:15 massages and then spent an additional hour and a half at the facilities after. You could spend all day going through the traditional scandinave relaxation treatment; warm the body for 15 minutes, cool the body in a cold plunge then relax in a tranquil room for 15 minutes. They have two large hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, cold plunge pools and several solariums/resting spaces. Don't skip out on any of the steps! While it is hard to dunk into a 55 degree pool once you get out your body quickly warms and makes it easier to relax after. You may think the no talking policy is strict at first, but you will quickly learn to appreciate it once you are in there.

I loved my first trip to British Columbia and hopefully will get to go back sometime in the future!

A Weekend at High Cabin

Alex and I have had our eye on High Cabin since we first explored Mount Cardigan last winter. It's located two miles up and sits a 1/2 mile from the summit. Back in the beginning of October Alex surprised me and  had booked a weekend at High Cabin. He had gotten one of the last open weekends for the winter as it generally books up very early. Initially I was concerned... some of the concerns being, temperature inside the cabin at night and our ability to carry in everything we needed, including wood! When we visited the cabin last winter we were able to duck in as the previous guests had left the door unlocked upon their departure. Recalling that it was toasty warm even on a frigid day,we figured we would survive! There was also some wood there (we assumed the group didn't use everything they brought) as well as some pots and pans & dishes. The cabin has a carry in carry out policy for everything you bring, I guess people choose to leave some things, too many things in my opinion!

So, our research and preparations ensued. My concerns quickly turned to excitement. One of our big preps was making a sled to carry up the wood and other supplies in. We looked online and learned how to make a pulk.

Saidie approved, and so did we. We put this thing through the wringer getting up there and back and it stayed in one piece. We used 1/2" PVC pipe and if we ever use it again we'll swap it out for 3/4" or 1" for a little more rigidity.

We arrived at Cardigan Lodge on Friday afternoon. Side note: Alex and I stayed at the lodge last year and had the best experience. Even if you are coming up to hike for the day you are welcome to go in the lodge, they have a small supply store to purchase any last minute items you may need for your hike, fill your water bottles, grab a snack etc.  Anyways, we checked in, got the combo for the door and for the propane in case we needed another tank and asked where we picked up the wood. The gentleman described it being under the deck on the side of the cabin, but that the box inside the cabin should be full. Wait, WHAT? There is wood already there? YES. This is something that AMC has yet to update on their website and something that reservations failed to tell us. A huge win for us because in hindsight, I'm not sure we would have made it!

We still used the sled to carry up our hiking boots, a box of wine, a pot and a pan. We set off for the cabin around 3:30 and with our two mile journey ahead of us, we expected to arrive at 5:30. We were wrong. While the sled glided effortlessly over flat terrain, figuring out how to move the sled over tricky terrain and getting it up steep parts was challenging and time consuming. I didn't remember the rocky parts of the trail, and that's probably because the snow pack was maybe, triple last year? I think we were working with a good base of 7"? and that might even be generous!

And so, we were still on the trail at dark. Some parts were too steep to skin up and resulted in carrying the skis. Alex did an amazing job hauling the sled up. I helped out where I could pushing it with my pole from the back (at least I like to think I was helping). We had been on this trail before so knew where we were going which helped ease my nerves as dark hit. The cabin is not difficult to navigate to, but there's just something about the darkness...

We struggled, we fought but worked together and made it to High Cabin just before 7pm. Alex quickly got the fire going, I got some water boiling and made us hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps.

 

I was so glad we had enough water to drink and cook with that night. Melting snow for water is not something I would have had the patience for after our journey there.

 

The cabin got so warm and cozy. We relaxed, drank wine, had a delicious meal and played cards. We have tried quite a few dehydrated meals and different brands. Mountian House has some great meals but this was our first time trying Backpatker's Pantry. Their Kathmandu Curry was a winner and one we will definitely buy again.

A new purchase since our last hut trip were a pair of Baffin Base Camp Booties. On our previous trip we brought our slippers that had a hard bottom, we wanted something a little lighter and more flexible to pack better. We also didn't want to break the bank. They seem very durable and while not a hard bottom they are tough enough to go outside in. They kept my feet super warm. I do wish they compressed down more to pack better. Alex used a compression sack with them and said it worked great.

The cabin has 12 wooden bunks with mattress pads. We doubled up on the pads which actually made sleeping very comfortable! The cabin stayed warm for most of the night, almost too warm. It did get chilly in the cabin in the early morning but it was manageable. At the warmest the cabin got up to 70 degrees and the coldest was around 50 in the morning.

 

In the morning we did a few chores including melting snow for water. We were hopeful the nearby stream would be running as ones about a 1/2 mile down the mountain were... but this one was frozen. Melting snow was time consuming as all the snow had debris in it from the trees. We had to melt and then filter. Luckily there was a coffee filter there, a little torn up so we put a paper towel in the and it worked just fine.

Later that morning we put on our hiking boots and micro spikes and headed  partway down the trail where we met friends coming up, David and Crew!

We went back to the cabin, grabbed our skis and went for a run down the Alexandria Ski Trail and skinned back up the Holt trail. Check out a movie David made of our run! The lack of snow was definitely a disappointment, but what's new on the East Coast. As we were almost back to the top we met up with Kristen, Bob and Sarah who were just arriving. 

We headed back to the cabin and got settled in. Everyone was so happy with the accommodations! That night we had a delicious pasta dinner. Drank lots. Played cards. Told ghost stories and had the best evening around the table in-front of the hot wood stove.

Alex and I saved a real breakfast for Sunday morning when everyone was there. We brought some Canadian bacon and pre-cooked bacon we had at home, as well as a dozen eggs cracked and stored in one of our Alex Bottles. This worked perfectly! Because you can open the bottle in the middle we wouldn't have to worry that cleaning it out would be difficult. The Alex Bottle was on Kickstarter and I learned about them through Protect Our Winters Instagram account, a cool company and definitely worth checking out. I get lots of compliments on mine! 

After breakfast we headed out to the summit of Mount Cardigan via Hurricane Gap Trail that runs next to the cabin. A quick 1/2 mile up led us to 360 degree views. It was unseasonably warm for January and a relatively calm day.

After some photos with the selfie stick we headed back down the side of the peak, which was the trail we thought we came up on. With a few wrong turns and back tracks we eventually found our way back to the cabin (good thing we had a map!). It just reminded me that even if your think your going out for a short hike up and back on the same trail, always good to be prepared.

After a quick clean of the cabin it was time to head back down to reality. We had a fun run down the Alexandria trail and back to Cardigan Lodge. The snow was actually better than the day before as it softened up a little bit with the warmer temps. Alex had what I hope was a fun run with the sled! It did some barrel rolls and we had to strap the gear back on, but only once.

We all had such a positive experience for our first time at High Cabin and talked about making it an annual weekend. Until next time High Cabin!