21 Feb-2 March 2014: Whistler, Canada

Third year in a row...just shows what a fab-u-lous place Whistler is!  Love it.  Again a 10 day trip and staying in the village - only way to do it.  Literally a 5min walk to the ski lifts and straight onto the slopes. 

This year's partner in crime was again Terries, with Sera, Alex (and Alex) dropping in for a quick 5 day visit. 

Below are the photos to prove what a wonderful place this is, and the amazing slopes we had the run of over the 10 days.

20-30 March 2013: Whistler, Canada

Once again we (Terreis and I) found ourselves in Whistler, Canada – our favourite place to ski.  Once you’ve skied here, you’ve been spoilt for life!

We did it slightly differently than last year and went with a hotel for accommodation only.  The hotel – Aava Hotel – was OK and we were more than comfortable for the 10 days we were there.

Terreis didn’t start off too well with being delayed for a day…that didn’t stop me getting out and enjoying my first day on the slopes :).  The sun was out, the temps were warm and I was eager to try out my new app – Ski Trax.  This clocks everything from speed, to distance to elevation.  By the end of the trip I had clocked my fastest speed at 83km/hr!!  I was skiing about 35-40km per day over 9 days and my knees were not very impressed at all!

The weather in the first 4 days was outstanding – sun, warm temps - very unseasonably good weather.  By day 5 we were getting worried as it was too warm (70 degrees in Whistler village one afternoon).  By day 6 we had given up on fresh snow and basically went out late’ish morning (after the ice had thwarted), skied straight through till early/mid afternoon and then called it a day.  Nothing worse than skiing through mush on tired legs!

One afternoon I even decided to go and do some cross country skiing…if my knees weren’t already feeling like they were 80 years old, they certainly did after 3hrs of this!  Very hard work but worth the effort.

We usually ate out for our meals and tried quite a few different restaurants.  All very good, but some more expensive than others.  But that is Whistler Village for you – even the massage we had one afternoon was nearly 0.5x more expensive than New York.

It was a fantastic, if not tiring, 9 days and I really do recommend Whistler to everyone who skis/snowboards. There is a slope for everyone and you never get bored.  Remember there are two mountains here with a very long gondola between them!!



11-23 February 2012: Whistler, Canada

12 days skiing at Whistler - I couldn't turn that opportunity down and so booked the trip with a friend from London...six months ago...not knowing I was going to be moving to New York! But thankfully it was Canada and not Europe that I was going to.

We booked an all inclusive package that included accommodation, breakfast and an evening meal.  We also organised ski passes, ski hire and everything else beforehand so the first day we were straight on the mountain (even though I didn't get to bed until 2am due to a delayed plane).  We had a 10 day ski pass so every day counted as we only had 10 days (+ 2 days travelling).

The biggest difference between Whistler and European slopes is that the runs are wider, lots more powder, lots more runs, not as crowded and there were two massive mountains to choose from (Whistler & Blackcomb).  Everyday we got to where both gondalas go to their respective mountain and decided which one we were going to spend the day on.  Of course, depending on conditions we switched mountains during the day via a gondala at 2,300 feet!

The first three days was sunny and warmish - which meant no new snow, hardpacked, a bit icy and then a bit sludgy by the end of the day.  I really enjoyed it as it was similar to European slopes.  Then it snowed on and off for the rest of the days we were there.  Of course that bought some unpleasant conditions such as low visibility, cold winds, and blasting snow!  But we did learn how to ski in poweder, and that can be hard work!

In fact I took a day's ski lesson which was really helpful.  They are called Max4 lessons and only 4 to a instructor  - I ended up sharing an instructor with 2 Aussies (there were a hell of a lot of Aussies on the slopes working!).  It was great as we were at the same level and he took us to the Blackcomb glacier (involved a walk up to it) and other areas I hadn't gone to yet.  And of course, I learnt some new stuff as well.

As for evenings we would head back to the chalet (about 20min walk from the slopes) and then join about 4-8 others for a meal.  They were a combination of many different nationalities....Brits, European, Canadian, Japenese.... We didn't go into town much at night as we were tired out and it involved another 20min walk! But we did see the Snow and Light show which is every Sunday, and did enjoy a couple of meals in Whistler village.

On one of the days we took the afternoon off to go dogsledding. What fun!  We were the only ones and got to enjoy the experience of having 7 dogs dragging us along!  Unfortunately they were not particularly motivated and so the poor guide did have to do a lot of work to get them going!! Not cheap at C$190, but really worth the experience.

It was a fantastic, if not tiring, 10 days and I really do recommend Whistler to everyone who skis/snowboards. Certainly a bit different skiing on powder, including different types of skis, but you really can ski your heart out here!

25 Feb-6 March 2011: Altenmarkt, Austria

Skiing in Austria is so much fun....usually lots of snow and not many British people!  And we get to stay with our favourite people, the Klausners in Altenmarkt!

The weather really and truly did make our time there even better...eight days of skiing, seven days dealing with bright sunshine....we were definitely not complaining about this!  Though my knees were by Day 3 after I had conquered the black slopes quite a few times.

We usually headed onto the slopes about 9am, had a coffee/hot chocoloate about 11am, and then made a decision about an early or late lunch (trying to avoid the crowds).  All in all we spent about 4 hours+ each day on the slopes.

It wasn't too expensive either...for an 8 day ski pass it was €240, and €90 for 8 day ski hire.  We did eat out most nights but usually ended up at one particular restaurant as it was the only really decent one and did Terreis' favourite meal/dessert!

Here are a few photos of my time skiing in Austria (Zuchensee - about 40mins from Salzburg).


What else to do but rest the weary legs



 

Loving the scenery at Zuchensee!

A lone skier heading downhill



Blue, white and red...I do like my mix of colours!





Terreis enjoying the fine weather!



   



27 Feb-8 Mar 2010: Altenmarkt, Austria

Oh how I love Austria! The snow, food, good company, quaint little town of Altenmarkt, the Klausners...this is my third time back and I would come back again and again.

This time I came with Sera, Alex, Terreis and Nick. We had some mixed weather...starting off sunny (and warm) and then heading towards a blizzard by the end of the week. But we had a great time, and we can't complain about the amount of snow we had (though going down to -14 degrees on the slopes was a tad cold!).

Zauchensee ski slopes were in great shape...lots of good snow, not too much ice, and not a lot of Brits in hearing distance! The ski field is run really well and they even provide free shuttle buses to and from Altenmarkt, all day and for free. With the Euro still strong, this was a bonus as it wasn't cheap buying a 7 day ski pass.

As for the food...lots of delicious things to choose from and for some...it was the highlight of the trip!!

Here are some pics that tell it better than I can....

29 Feb-3 March 2008 – Altenmarkt, Austria (skiing trip 2)

Some of us decided to head back to Altenmarkt for another weekend of skiing (myself, Carla and Terreis). Very much like last time, but the weather was warmer and there was less snow about (the warmest any local has ever experienced in February).

Saying that, the field was closed for two afternoons due to high winds (talk about being blown down the mountain) and we also had wet weather and snow one night. We spent the afternoons shopping (well Carla and Terreis did) and eating and drinking.

On the Friday night we went out night clubbing and as C and T aren't the young bunnies they once were, they ended up sleeping the whole next day to get rid of their hang overs! I was on the skifield skiing my heart out - the weather wasn't too nice, but the snow was good and there were not many people about.

The consolation prize was the last day when the sun was shining very brightly and we had a fantastic day skiing over in Flachau - another ski field but in the same general area. This ski field was wider and not as steep as Zauchensee, but was it busy! Every man, woman, child and dog was on the ski field and it took 4 chairlifts to get to the top of the mountain. At least in Zauchensee it was at most two.

At Flachau there was great, OK and just plain ugly snow conditions as the sun was quite hot and there were lots of people about. Talk about quad-burn on the last run down - it was a combination of moguls and slush! But we all had fun and I came back injury-free. We are already thinking about next year's trip....

17-20 January 2008 – Altenmarkt, Austria (skiing)

There were 16 of us in total meeting up in Altenmarkt (45mins from Salzburg airport) for a long weekend skiing. Seven of us were coming from the London Credit Suisse presentation team, and nine from the Frankfurt Deutsche Bank presentation team (a big thanks to Wolfgang, Alex and Vesko for organising this).

Some of us from London were flying in on little sleep – for me I had no sleep as the flight was at 6.30am and I went straight from work to the airport. It meant that when we got to the ski resort, we dumped our stuff at the very lovely apartment we were staying at, got the shuttle bus to the ski slope, got our hire gear and pass and skied for the afternoon.

The skifield (Zauchensee) was great – lots of runs to choose from and though it was snowing, there was no wind and little people about. The runs were mostly intermediate with some black runs thrown in. With it snowing there was lots of powder and we had reasonably good visibility. We skied the whole afternoon and then got the shuttle bus back to Altenmarkt (only 20mins away).

The ‘Germans’ were coming by train and didn’t get there till that evening. When they turned up we got ready and headed out to dinner with them. I was literally falling asleep at the table by 10pm, so I excused myself and went to bed. Some stayed out a little later but most of the us from CS were in bed by midnight. The Frankfurt guys were out later, but they had slept the previous night!

And then it all went wrong…

…The next morning I was skiing along happily (and doing pretty well considering I hadn't skiied for two years) when I stupidly got my pole in the way of a ski and took a tumble. Not a bad fall in any way, shape or form, but I did fall awkwardly and ended up tearing my left calf muscle. By the time I got down the slope I couldn’t even clench my calf muscle without it screaming in pain! I ended up going to the hospital and after an ultrasound came back negative on a haematoma (bleeding in the muscle), I limped out with painkillers and 1-2 weeks of no activity ahead of me.

Though I couldn’t ski, I still managed to hobble around and keep occupied. There were others who kept me company as they were either injured or tired so I wasn’t completely bored. Still managed to enjoy meals out, go to a nightclub and have fun with everyone. I just couldn’t walk very fast, or put any weight on my calf muscle.

In fact my injury kept me from making a very unwise decision on the Saturday night – to go down a very long, steep and icy slope that had no lighting except for the moon, on the back of a sled with people who had been drinking since 8pm that night! Let’s just say that there were a few more people not skiing the next day!

Being injured was not the scenario I had in mind for the long weekend but I did get some fresh air (except for smoking in public places which is allowed in Austria), met some fab people and had a good laugh.