This is the trip report DadBob wrote to his buddy. I like his writing, and asked if I could post this, and he said OK. And it's a pretty nice summary of the trip. Note that DadBob was born in Canada, so take lightly the Canada remarks--they are made lightly.
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We departed around 10:45 after loading up on groceries in anticipation of high Canadian prices and to avoid the post-arrival shopping trip. Weather was balmy, continuing the relentless spring-like weather that has closed down skiing in the Northwest. We stopped in Lynden to eat at the Dutch cafeteria (across from the 4th Dutch Reformed Church), and fortified with pea soup and Dutch apple pie we breezed across the border at Sumas. This was BoyBob's first trip outside the US, so we got courtesy stamps on our brand new passports.
I opt for the shorter toll route on 5 rather than the scenic drive on 1. This takes us past Bridal Veil falls, which puts one falls on the list that (Lifetime Friend of DadBob, and addressee of this trip report) Bill does not have and gives me a smug, satisfied smile that lasts for hours. The two 3500 foot passes and the $10 toll are uneventful, with slight flurries on the upper stretches. We are dismayed by the temperature which never falls below freezing and the lack of snow. I've seen late summers on Colorado’s front range with more snow.
We arrive at 5:00 or so (330 miles) and have some trouble finding the rental office. The village is sandwiched between strips of hotels and does not appear to be very busy. After an hour of futzing and a quick stop at the convenience store (hardly worthy of the name), we arrive and unpack. MomBob's packing genius makes this task a snap, with all our clothes and food neatly stored in plastic boxes. The Thule car-top box once again proves its worth.
We enjoy a meal and a glass of wine, watch some skiing on TV (Canadian TV is horrible beyond belief), and snuggle into our comfy bed ready for the ski days ahead.
Morning arrives and we doddle as is our fashion and get to the slopes at noon. The condo is "ski out", meaning we have to hike about 100 yards before we put on our skis. It isn't bad, however, and it is almost possible to ski back without herringbone climbs, which I consider to be more desirable. For some reason, there is no explanation in any literature on how to find the slopes. We asked a few folks and finally got the lay of the land.
The weather is clear and balmy. The snow at the bottom of the slopes is spring conditions (soft, but not corn). There are 3 mountains at Sun Peaks. The Morrisey mountain is south (facing north) and is reached by a trail run and a road crossing. It looks appealing because of the narrow, winding runs similar to the Pony Express at Steamboat. However, we'll give it a miss this trip. The closer peak to us is served by a quad, and we ski this exclusively for the first 2 days. It is ringed by long green runs much to MomBob's delight, with a terrain park and half-pipe in the center, much to BoyBob's delight. The groomed trails are wide and there are a couple of mogul runs and a nice sparsely treed glade.
The first run is a family tune-up with MomBob showing her improvement over last year. I'm still having trouble with my boots. I cut away some of the material under my arch but the boots still pinch, causing my feet to cramp. This is a benefit, since my sore legs don't bother me so much. We have so much fun, we go up together again for the run to the other side. This one MomBob likes even better, and BoyBob finds lots of jumps on the side of the trail. It begins to flurry and gets a bit colder. The snow is a bit crusty at the top half of the mountain, but gets a bit soft at the bottom half. These conditions will prevail during the entire trip.
BoyBob and I take off for the blues, and MomBob retires for the day. We have a nice run on Granny Green (similar to Buddy's Run at Steamboat) with its wide groomed trail and decent snow giving us a chance to practice carving. This is old man skiing at its best and I make the most of it. We then go on Three Bears, the glade run, and on to the ungroomed moguls. My feet and legs have had it after this and we retire for the day.
We make a visit to the villiage and, not finding anything in the shops worth noticing, we decide to eat out. My first choice is an empty Tyrolian restaurant (all the restaurants are empty), so we peek in and ask about the children's menu. The German maitre'd does not have one, but we figure the $20 chicken might work for BoyBob. I have my heart set on a Campari and soda and the schnitzel. I take BoyBob back to the car for his books and leave MomBob to make arrangements. Upon returning, we find that they won't seat us for 30 minutes. I don't think this is working out, so we decide to look elsewhere. MomBob wants to let the snotty German know it is no sale. He complains that he's already "rearranged everything". We never do find out if he ever got a customer that night. Pointer to snotty German: when business is slow, make every effort to draw in paying customers, even if you have to let them sit down 30 minutes early and invent a children's meal. We go down the near-empty villiage to another empty restaurant and are greeted by a pleasant local waitress and a children's menu. Chicken strips for BoyBob, mussels for MomBob, and grilled salmon for me washed down by a local Pinot Gris. The local wine (Okanagan) is flogged everywhere and I find it potable. The restaurant begins to get crowded with another couple, so we decide to leave. On the way home, we check out the Sport Center and find that the children’s snowmobile rides will be closed down for the rest of the week, so MomBob takes BoyBob in for a run. He starts slow as is his fashion but soon masters the art and has a fun time.
A new day, a new ski venture. At the crack of noon we traverse the ski-out like pros and stick with the old routine. I have tuned my boot inserts by removing more material from the outside of the arch. This is successful and the pinching that caused the foot cramping is no longer a problem. I am free to feel the full pain of my sore legs. BoyBob and I try the other blue runs we missed the first day. The peak clouds over and the flurries start. This appears to be the weather pattern. Clear and warm in the morning with early afternoon flurries that clear by 3:00. MomBob takes BoyBob, who is bouncing off walls, swimming. After he returns we fire up the hot tub and have a nice soak in the cool evening. We jump in the snow for a photo opp. We close up shop and retire for dinner and a double feature (M. Hulot's Holiday and The Pink Panther).
Tuesday MomBob decides to sit out this day, so BoyBob and I agree to meet her at the ski lodge for lunch. We have a couple of nice runs and BoyBob teaches me how to run the half-pipe. I get about 1 inch on to the wall and find it most stimulating. The snow conditions at the bottom of the mountain are slushy. The warmth is taking its toll on the mountain and there is no snow in the forecast. The afternoon flurries are nature's way of taunting, as it does not result in noticable accumulation. We stop by and meet MomBob for lunch and go off for a couple more runs. At the next-to-last run, I find I cannot keep up with BoyBob. I am skiing as fast as I can and find I am falling behind. This is the moment I knew would come but it still is hard to believe. My son is now a better skier than I and will only get better from now on. He finally stops and I catch up. I am putting my weight alternately on one leg and another, both hoping for and dreading the moment when feeling will return to my legs. "Are you ready yet, Dad?" "You go first." We do a final run on Three Bears. I struggle on the crusty moguls, so BoyBob gives me a tip about poling. It works! I had been poling so hard my arm was trailing and pulling my body sideways. By flicking my poles, I keep my body facing downhill and steady and this makes the carving much better. He also points out that I can bring my inside ski knee in and initiate the carve. This also works and I use it for the rest of the trip. Another hot tub visit and a night of movies (The Thin Man and Jeeves & Wooster).
Wednesday is our last day skiiing. MomBob heard that the 5-mile green run was worth it, so we go up the west peak. This is about 1000 feet higher than the other peak with about 50% more runs. The quad for this peak is 50 yards from the other. In general, access from base is convenient and well laid out. The time to the top is much longer than on the other lift. At the top, we ski down to a triple chair for the final jump to the peak. At top, the view is much nicer and it seems much higher than the other peak. It is windy and cold. There is a snow bowl to the west and another bowl served by another quad that is slightly higher. We decide to leave that lift for another trip. In good conditions this would be a place worth our time. I hear there are cat trips to the back bowls from here. Again, conditions did not warrant the effort. We prevail on a nice ski patrolman to take our picture and MomBob goes off on her 5-mile trip. BoyBob and I ski down the crusty bowl and complete our short warmup run down a groomed blue to the triple chair. We decide that this is the best it will get and stay on the triple chair. Others we meet (they all appear to be Aussies) agree this is the best choice. BoyBob notices the moguls on the chairline (West Bushwhacker) so we do this a couple of times. I'm getting more confident on the moguls. BoyBob now beats me down the mountain every time. He's kind and encouraging ("You're skiing a lot better, Dad.") A squall comes through so we decide to head down. The trip down is terrible, with slush beginning just below the triple. It is a difficult and tiring run to the bottom. It is positively warm at the bottom, and we just about quit when MomBob pops out from the lodge. We invite her to join us for a last green run and she accepts. We have a lovely time on the same green we first skiied. BoyBob and I take turns running into the woods and doing small jumps. I meet up with an old couple (there are lots of old folks skiiing) who just debouched from the Peek-a-Boo black run. They claim it is wonderful and not very mushy. I lose sight of MomBob and BoyBob during our chat and assume they have gone ahead. I decide to take BoyBob on this run (basically a black mogul run parallel to Three Bears). I cannot find them. It turns out they were behind me and BoyBob had fallen in the trees. He bent his pole and lost a ski and got somewhat disconcerted over this. MomBob assured him that a bent pole was better than the bodily alternative and that it was indeed a badge of honor. He was mollified and they did a few small runs on the platter-lift run. I went up again and down the black. I was alone on the run and it was as advertised. The upper stretch of bumps I took carefully. I was halfway down when an instructor and student entered the field. I saw how smoothly he was running the upper stretch, and this got my goat a bit so I decided I would end up with style. I jumped on the middle stretch and got down looking at least like I belonged there. They passed me with the instructor doing easy carving turns, so I got in their tracks and kept up. In all, a very nice way to end the skiing portion of the vacation.
I got back ahead of MomBob and BoyBob. When they returned, they had a quick snack and headed out to the tube run. Since it was $3 per run or $10 per 2 hours, MomBob opted for the better deal and they made the most of it. BoyBob ended up on the fast tubes on the fast track and came close to flying off the track. MomBob caught a cold and had a bit of a rough night with congestion. We were up and out by 10, with a stop in Kamloops for breakfast. Driving past the slopes we were shocked to see how much snow had melted off the lower runs. A few more days of this and the entire mountain could close. We were very lucky to get there in time for decent conditions. (Note that two days after we left, there were 17” of new powder.)
We caught the last part of President Bush's SOU address (Canadian take: President praises Canada's participation in the War on Terror). We thought his tribute to our brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who are fighting the War on Terror was moving and inspiring.
We took the same run back home (with another look at Bridal Veils Falls - heh, heh), a souvenir purchase of a moose mountie at the duty free shop, and arrival home by 4:30. Kamloops at midday on Thursday looked like Colorado Springs on Sunday afternoon. I don't think the economy is very good in Canada. The prices are high, with a very high tax rate. Clerk jobs in stores are held by educated people. This makes for interesting conversations, but it does not indicate a good job market. I noticed that most of the people on the lifts were permanent residents who were transplanted Ontarians. The resort itself was still building and it looks like as long as there were Ontarians wanting to cash out of the east coast rat race the property values will be high.
We thought the Sun Peaks area had a lot of potential, and during normal snow conditions the choice of activities would be much richer. We hear that Whistler will be laying off 40% of the workforce if conditions don't improve, with similar changes at Sun Peaks, so it would not be fair to judge solely by our experience. That said, we agreed that a) we like America better and b) we love Steamboat for the real town it is. Sun Peaks is a nice alternative for us from the normal moist Northwest conditions. We hear Idaho (Sun Valley, Schweitzer) and Montana are also good choices during normal snow years. Of course, the 6 hour vs. 2 day drive time is a big consideration. On the other hand, being able to meet up with the Bill Family is a major inducement for the longer trip to Colorado.
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