Spring has officially arrived and with it comes a myriad of emotions as well as weather phenomena. Not only has the snow started to melt, and I should state at quite the rate of knots, but also it's sad as it means the end is near for my ski season. I think I really felt this when the public ice rink disappeared in a matter of days in the town centre. There was something rather poignant about it as a statement of winter and to see it melt and all the melt water drain away, made me realise my ski season is coming to an end.
However, having said this, the warmer weather is also welcome treat and for some time we were in shorts and T-shirts. Quite the novelty from -30oC. Adam and I went for a short walk down to the river some weeks back and took photos on a log that was frozen in the middle of the river. This log is completely exposed now, no snow near it whatsoever, and the river is flowing freely. I even spotted some keen fishermen in the water up to their waists.
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| Posing in front of Mt Rundle |
Some weeks back, during this period of warm weather I organised the first proper (using charcoal) BBQ which turned out to be a brilliant evening. Especially as I had met a charming couple and their half wolf dog at the coffee shop that afternoon who I invited and was delighted to see actually turn up. It's this spirit of meeting new friends and hanging out, especially at a BBQ, that I like about the whole travelling scene thing. In fact, it turned out they were great company and I was indebted to them for letting me use their pan to cook on. Bit of a BBQ fail, as we needed more cooking space.
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| Beers and BBQs |
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| Spring skiing at its best |
I should also note that one of the biggest updates is that I have moved houses. We had to move out of the "Beaver St Crack Den" as the lease was up. A truly run down house but cheap, and quite the experience with various random people coming back for kick-ons (after parties) even if we hadn't invited them. However, after one night back in the hostel, the new house is quite the upgrade.
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| It was back in the hostel for one night during the move |
With this spell of lovely weather, I decided to go for a hike with a friend. JB (Jeremy) a fellow ski/ snowboard bum, but he actually has a job, we ended up hiking round to the golf course through the woods. I must admit, the prospect of bears awakening, the news of cougar sighting, not to mention the general acceptance that whilst places like australia have some nasty creepy crawlies, Canada has larger more bitey/ rip your head animals. There was actually one moment where all the birds stopped tweeting and we realised we were off the beaten track. I soon decided to arm myself.. that's right, I had picked up a trusty stick and in the absence of having any bear spray I had a packet of Smints in my pocket to use as a death rattle. And if this didn't work, I could only pray that bears didn't like my minty freshness.
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| Me and my trusty stick |
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| JB appreciating the scenic bear country |
Outside of these off piste adventures, there have been a few interesting on mountain moments as well. Hitting Lake Louise on my own, as everyone else went to Sunshine, a classic mistake. However, the benefits of skiing alone... I get to decide what I want to do. With this, I hit every double diamond back bowl chute at Lake Louise, really testing myself and it was so worth it, the scenery was insane. Dropping in next to exposed rocky cliffs was so cool. I do live this place, just wish there was more snow this season!!!
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| Smiles all round skiing this terrain |
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| Steep and rocky back bowl |
On Saturday there was a rock concert at Sunshine village and after only three runs, a friend and I decided to hit the beers and proceeded spend the whole day getting rather sozzled in the mountains. listening to live music. This was a brilliant day with a few snowballs being thrown and everyone getting in the spirit of the live music on the mountain.
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| Untracked Concert Series at Sunshine Village |
Back to town living, and I decided to try my hand at baking after watching celebrity Bake Off. Well I can tell you I have some way to go before I start selling them at the local WI market, but it was rather tasty.. more pie than cake. A "simple" sponge with a strawberry jam centre. I had to eyeball the measurements as we had no scales and the self raising flour did not self raise as I only had a fork to mix it all up. It's kept me going all week though and was delicious with a cup of Twinings Breakfast Tea, of which I still have a few tea bags from when i made Adam purchase them in duty free. So English, yet so good!
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| This cake was actually rather tasty, but more like a pie. |
And lastly I can inform you all that I didn't get the Denmark Job.. this would have had me move to Denmark for a 3yr oil and gas decom/ brownfield redevelopment project. Well even though Total said they love my personality, and that I would have been a great asset to their team, they don't want said asset in their team. Amazing! Oh well, bring on the summer and let's continue this quarter life crisis. I should also state that I now need to find a job in Banff to legally stay here (something called a right to reside) so let's see what terrible, comedy job I can find, and start earning minimum wage.
Chow for now!
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