Not the best footage but she was rippin it up!.. then we caught the gondola up to the peak of Whistler and went on our first black diamond hiking trail.. estimated round trip time for the 8kms of terrain was 4-5 hours but we cranked through it in 1hr 45mins... today is sunday.. now were feelin it..
awesome views from up the hill so more photos to come..
Tonight, the rockin' TOOL play Vancouver & the wonderful Kat has hooked us up with some tickets.. So, tonight we're picking up a car at 5pm and legging it out of Whistler to the big smoke.. Can't wait!! Photos to come..
Rich and i got our mountain season passes - WAHOO! Here's some of the beautiful views from the peak..
So the Black Tie Loonie Race went off without a hitch, people here are crazy fit!! I think there were estimates of some 300 people taking part which is pretty huge. Lots of people were dressed up & raced in top hats and ball gowns, still powering along & racing seriously though! There was even a girl in a kimono & japanese sandals.. Here's a photo of the scene before the race -thats me in the pink!
nic
The Loonie Race is part of Whistler local history. Back in the day, it involved locals paying a 'loonie' (that's the nickname for a $1 coin, but with inflation it's now a 'toonie' $2) to enter a fun bike race which is always sponsored by an eatery & a bike shop..The bike sponsor designs a course which then ends at the food sponsors place where everyone gets stuck in to food & beers for the money they contributed.
Tonight's race is a special event. It's called the Black Tie Loonie Race, and because Rich and I are yet to own bikes :o( we have volunteered to be officials on the course.. This means we get to indulge in the after-race antics too ( food & drinks) which tonight, as it is such a special occasion, will be held at the very flash hotel in the upper village The Fairmont Chateau. Apparently people race in the full black tie get-up so we too will be dressed up on the course. It should be good fun - and fingers crossed we actually get to race in the next one!!
Today, I was laying reading in the sun next to Lost Lake which is right near the Upper Village in Whistler.. there were tonnes of people around playing, swimming & sunning. Then all of a sudden I heard some people yelling "ladies! ladies!", so I sat up & turned around to see what was happenin. Some people near me were trying to catch the attention of 2 girls laying on their towels sunbathing.. Why?? Because there was a black bear walking by them, his big paw about a metre from their heads!! They cautiously sat up and watched him go by, looking just a little scared.. He carried on weaving through people, and then wandered off in to the forest again, no fear.. now thats my second up close and personal encounter with a black bear!! No photos this time, it all happened too fast!
Tonight we went with the H.I.T (Habitat Improvement Team) down to the River of Golden Dreams to help salmon & trout spawn! We ended up building things that looked like small rafts that were then secured to logs in the river in places where the water was pooling. This is all to create a safe, sheltered & secluded (possibly romantique?) environment for the fish to breed in the upcoming months.. Another part of the project was to drag huge logs and tree roots to areas of the river, again to cause the water to pool & slow down. These guys meet every second Thursday & every activity is followed by beers & nachos - yeehaa - what more could you ask for?
So today, we ran in to our first bear! Woohoo!! He was soooo awesome & had a beautiful black shiny coat.. We were just walking along north of Whistler village on the bike path when we suddenly saw a rustling in the bushes & a branch flew out on to the path..And then, out walked a big black bear..He just walked out and stood up on his hind legs and started picking berries off a tree. he didn't seem to care that we were there about 20 metres away snapping photos!! Although, there was a point where he looked straight at us and started walking over (it could've been the fact Rich had just eaten a stinky vege samosa or that i was in a red hoodie and would've passed as a large juicy berry) and that was when we decided to back off and climb up on to the highway to get past him.. Anyway, you can see him for yourself! Oh and the last one is of a live bear trap we saw in town yesterday for humanely capturing bears that roam 'residentially'..hehe
Disclaimer: No bears were harmed in the taking of these photos..
Last weekend Whistler Creekside was transformed in to a frenzied hub of great smells, sizzling crackles and tummy rumblings! Yes, it was the Canadian National BBQ Comp! It's true, there really is a professional league of bbq-ers out there... And it's a really big deal because the winner of the ribs comp, goes on to the International finals somewhere in Texas, where 16,000 spectators go out in to the desert to w
atch 375 bbq maestros compete! We were told that some of the bbq's are worth up to $50,000 and can only be transported by huge trailers.. NUTS!! We'd never heard of anything like it and so we had to go check it out..
After exploring a new trail down to the Creek which involved some seriously steep descents, a lot of off-roading and just a touch of kung fu rock dancing we then paid $5 to sample all the goods coming off the grills.. Man, ribs - slow roasted for 18 hours - never tasted so good.. We tried ribs and pulled pork, I think Chilli and burgers had been the day before. It was a bit of a scramble to get to the stand that was just putting their food out as everything was coming off the grills at different times.. You had to have a keen, sharp eye for someone making a 'grill to table' movement and a partner in crime spotting in the other direction always helps! After ample scoffing and a few beers we headed on home in the sunshine happy to have experienced a truly Canadian event..except there did seem to be a lot of Americans there..
WOW!!... this place is mad.. check out the air dome in the bike park here in whistler.
Its basically a bunch of huge foam pits that people can practice doing huge airs into rather than workin themselves on the dirt in the main bike park..
Once again this place blows me away.. check out www.whistlerbike.com for more about the bike park if youre interested... its 'O' for awesome bro!
