I don’t often write about my life here. Perhaps I should? Or not?
This morning I had a marvellous ski up on Cypress Mountain. I managed to get all the way to the top of Hollyburn Ridge for only the second time ever. And…I didn’t have to take a break at any point to do so. It’s about 4k, mostly uphill, to the top of Romstadt. There was lots of fresh snow, so it was magical. Then I got to schluss my way down to the lodge for a cookie and hot chocolate, before skiing up and then out. Here’s the route I took (for my benefit really):
- Base – Lower Powerline – Pop Fly – Upper Powerline – Pacific – Romstadt (turnaround) – Triangle Lake – Unknown Lake – Russell (open for the first time this season) – Brother’s Canyon West – Sitzmark – Lower Wells Gray – Roller Coaster – Old Rope Tow – Lodge.
- Lodge – Old Rope Tow – Lower Telemark – Sitzmark – Lower Powerline – Base.
Normally it takes about 20-25 minutes from my door to getting my mountain pass. This morning there was mixed precipitation in the city and snow as soon as you got 200m above sea level. So there was a traffic jam going up the mountain–first time I’ve EVER seen that: two lanes, bumper-to-bumper. Took nearly an hour for the journey…thankfully most folks were going to the alpine (rather than nordic) part of Cypress. We really are spoiled here: an absolutely decent mountain less than half an hour from a city as wonderful as Vancouver.
This past week I had my first experience on a major funding body’s grant review panel (as member of the panel; I was an external reviewer last year). 3 half days of conference calls, much of it interesting, bits of it a bit tense. It’ll be interesting to see which applications are ultimately funded–and how much funding they receive. It’ll also be interesting to see if I’m invited back. 🙂
I’ve been doing ice skating lessons again this year, but not loving them. This session ends very soon; I won’t sign up again. I’d rather spend that evening in the mountains. The snow has been really variable this winter (snow one day, rain for two) and I’d much rather spend an hour boarding or skiing than skating.