Wednesday January 17

Off we went on UA 870 – unfortunately the flight was delayed by about 2 hours due to a last minute need to re-fuel (looked like pilot error). We had seat 12 A,B – bulk head row in the upper deck.  Uneventful flight after the delay – service was quite good - food was airline slop.

Due to our late arrival in SFO we missed our connection but were able to get onto one within 45 minutes of landing so it was not too bad – we still had to re-book the onto the 4:30PM bus which we made with only 15 minutes to spare – at least there was no waiting around. When we arrived in Vancouver we found out that our skis had not made the connection in SFO, fortunately we found this out right away and did not need to wait for the last of the luggage to be unloaded. United assured us they would be delivered that night around midnight and they were right – reception called us bright and early the next morning to tell they had arrived.

After a relatively long bus trip (due to the usual Vancouver traffic) we crashed into our Intrawest 1-bedroom at about 7:30PM – thank goodness. We immediately headed out to Monk’s Grill for our traditional welcome back to Whistler dinner.

Thursday January 18

Up and at ‘em about 9:00AM – not bad considering our 25 hour journey. While Dieter sorted the skis, I bought breakfast groceries at the Upper Village Market.

We set out on a very snowy morning about 11:00 AM for our first day on the slopes. We made a reservation at Christine’s before leaving – one needs to get these ski holidays off on the right foot !!  We collected our “Edge” cards with no problems and headed up the Wizard lift.  Snow was falling - the village, lower mountain and all the tree were covered in it. On up the Solar Coaster for our first run of the day – traditionally on the Cruiser – lots of snow – not too crowded.

We stopped for lunch at 1:30 PM (at Christine’s) and had a most enjoyable lunch then headed down to the bottom – enough for day 1. We topped off the day’s skiing with an Après Ski drink at the Mallard Bar – still the best !!

We got home – changed and headed to the Marketplace for our “big shop” – new strategy – stock up on the heavy stuff on day 1 and take a taxi back – worked fine.

We relaxed at the condo then had cc’s for dinner – watched some tennis (Ozzie Open) – then off to bed.

Friday January 19

With a bit of day 2 jet-lag we had a bit of sleep in – then Dieter had to do some banking so we only hit the slopes at midday. This didn’t really matter as it was very foggy on the mountain.

Due to the conditions we did not go over to Whistler as planned but stayed on Blackcombe – had lunch at Christine’s then Après at Monk’s Grill.

Back to the condo at about 5PM for spa and showers before going to the Four Seasons (Fifty Two 80) for dinner. Dinner was great – I had seared scallops followed by Black Cod – Dieter had a green salad followed by the rotisserie special of venison.

Saturday January 20

I had a bad night (awake from 1:30 AM until 6:30 AM) so we slept in until after 10 AM and decided to take the day off and get my new ski boots (last season) adjusted as my bunions were hurting. Mission accomplished.  I tried to find a new ski jacket but Horstman’s (in the Westin) has closed down and I couldn’t find any Bogners in town. I did get some flash new gloves as a consolation.

We did some grocery shopping and had dinner at home – sirloin steak and Idaho baked potatoes.

Sunday January 21

Up and at ‘em – we headed over to Whistler and had a great day skiing - was fantastic – we skied mainly on the Tokum and the Bear Paw. We had lunch at Steeps Grill then Après at the Dub Linh.  We had planned dinner at Caramba but they were booked out so we stayed in for cold cuts, cheese and green salad.

Monday January 22

We woke up (late due to both of us not sleeping too well) and the snow was coming down in buckets.  We headed up Blackcombe and were pretty wet by the time we reached the top of the Solar Coaster.  Part way down the first run (Honeycombe) we decided to head over to Whistler – mainly because it was snowing so heavily with very poor visibility and also because Christine’s was booked out for a private function.

Anyway once we reached the top of Whistler we stopped for lunch at Steeps – by the time we finished it had cleared considerably and we had some great skiing – much tougher conditions than Monday.

Après at the Dub Lihn then dinner at Caramba (booked last night).

Tuesday January 23

A bit of a grim day – cloudy and raining in the village. We went out anyway and had a pretty good day skiing regardless. I flew down Ross’ Gold in very heavy conditions much to Dieter’s surprise !! We knocked off at about 1:30PM for lunch at Monk’s Grill where we met some Aussies from Melbourne (a father and son) and their Canadian father-in-law.  The father comes to Whistler every year for 5 weeks – he also owns 10 condo’s at Mt Hotham and knows Zirky.

We stayed home for a quite dinner of pesto pasta.

Wednesday January 24

Ah sun at last but very warm temperatures. We headed out to a great “day” but the conditions were really icy – no packed powder or anything like it anywhere. We headed over to Whistler looking for better conditions. We met 2 German – Canadians on the Gondola and had a pleasant chat – found a John Howard supporter !!  Conditions here weren’t much better – we had 1 run on Tokum then a few on the Harmony Chair then lunch at Steeps Grill – back down Tokum and Après at the Dub Lihn. 

We wanted to have dinner at the Four Seasons but alas they were booked out so we went to La Rua – it was also very good.

Thursday January 25

We took a lay-day after yesterday’s poor conditions – it was a partly cloudy day. We kept a low profile – had lunch at Black’s Bistro (bottom of Whistler) – 2 out of 10 on my scale – a bit of banking and shopping followed by fives at Monks Grill – thanks goodness you can count on your old favorites.

Friday January 26 – Australia Day

Sunny sunny – up to Whistler – skied the Peak Chair then over to Harmony. Good conditions up top – hard / icy most other places. Lunch at Steeps followed by Après at Monk’s Grill then dinner at the Four Seasons.

Saturday January 27

Sunny sunny again – up to the top of Whistler – skied the glacier T-bars. Lunch at Chirstine’s followed by Après at Monk’s Grill, dinner at home.

Sunday January 28

Skied at Whistler – lots of sun and pretty good conditions.  Did a few runs on the Peak to Creek as well as the T-Bar which was running for the first time. After a quick lunch at Steeps (2 Symphony Salads – our usual) then up the Peak Chair and over to Harmony and down to Monks Grill for Après.  Dinner at Caramba.

Monday January 29

Sunny again – up onto Blackcombe. Started at the Glacier T-Bars then moved to 7th Heaven – great skiing on Cloud Nine and no line up. Lunch at Christine’s then down to Monk’s Grill for Après.  We went shopping for dinner – a couple of excellent New York Sirloins.

Tuesday January 30

Last day – hot and sunny – we decided not to ski as Dieter’s knee had been bothering him all night. Took our time packing, strolling around the village then a leisurely lunch at Monk’s Grill before boarding the bus for the Interwest at the Sheraton Wall Center in downtown Vancouver.

Wednesday January 31

We met Marilyn and Bob for lunch - it was fine - Marilyn looked good. We went for a long walk then had lunch at the Lift Restaurant right at the water front (near Stanley Park) - note the seawall was closed due recent storm damage).  While walking around the marina we saw (and spoke briefly to the owner of) a 56’ Maritimo (cousin of the Riviera) We caught our 5:30PM flight back to Sydney via SFO - uneventful. Sydney airport as total chaos - took forever to get all our luggage. We met up with Tom and Marilyn who had also just arrived on the LAX flight - Tom gave us our Bose head phones (which he had ordered for us as they are about ½ price in the US) and some MAC software, iRemember, for me.  They headed off to Canberra and we finally got home at 10:30 AM.