Le Chalet

We’re back on the mountain! We had to take a hiatus from last year’s annual trip, for a few reasons. First, Covid rules would have put at least Ryley in quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, and second, our condo building was out of commission!

(Long story short… in October 2020 – just before the ski season started – there was a sprinkler flood in our building that destroyed some of the units (not ours); due to the extent of the water damage most of the interior at the east end of the building needed to be rebuilt (down to studs!) and most other units required at least some damage repaired at the areas along the main central hallway (so most bathrooms had to be redone). The building had to be shut down and assessed by an insurance adjuster, then the long process of pricing out the rebuild via the insurance company and choosing a contractor had to happen before finally starting the rebuild. The building had to be disassembled and dried out fully (mould remediation / prevention) before they could actually start – construction didn’t start until about October 2021, a year after the indicent.)

Anyway, this year the Covid rules had changed so we needn’t quarantine when coming into Canada, so we were clear to hit the slopes at Big White. Only problem was that we didn’t have a place to stay! Luckily we received some insurance money back from the loss of rental income, so we put it towards renting a big house on the hill instead of staying in the condo. Turned out pretty well – the ski-in / ski-out was not quite as convenient as the condo, but otherwise the house was awesome, it was good to have everyone in the same place.

Ski Bums

So we arrived to Kelowna mid-day on a Friday, ahead of Jenn’s family, so we took the opportunity to have a nice visit with the Gilberts in town, and stayed overnight in the Sheraton by the airport. Saturday morning we did a bit of shopping, then Cactus Club for lunch, then the big grocery shop for the week’s supplies; we transferred everything from the rental car to the Big White shuttle back at the airport and up to the hill we went! By Saturday night we were settled in, Jenn’s brother and his family had also arrived by dinner.

Sunday we were out early to get our ski rentals (I would just use my 20+ year old snowboard), and hit the slopes for the day while we waited for the rest of the family (Jenn’s sister’s family and her folks) to arrive. It was a good first day, weather and snow were great. Ultimately, everyone was present and accounted for by late afternoon, in time for our traditional dinner pizza party… marking the official commencement of Big White 2022!

Monday and Tuesday were bluebird skiing days, lots of snow and warm temps – it was a bit slushy and sticky in spots, it took a little bit to get used to spring skiing conditions!

Wednesday turned into a good day for a break, it snowed like crazy overnight and throughout the day. We had an early Easter egg hunt in the morning, then went for a snowshoe walk around Happy Valley in the afternoon to (mostly) enjoy the snow… our guide took us a little further than perhaps some would have liked… some cheering up was required afterwards! Luckily the sun decided to some out to help. Josh wanted to try out the snowboard; after a few trips down the bunny hill he decided snowboarding wasn’t for him (he wasn’t perfect his first try, much to his frustration!). ‘Twas a busy ‘off day’ from skiing, so after some fish tacos we were off to bed.

Cousins!

The next few ski days were absolutely epic! SO MUCH fresh new snow, it had cooled just a bit so it wasn’t slushy, the sun was out, there were no lines to get on the lifts… so awesome. These are the days you’re dreaming of when you book a ski vacation for sure.

We had a few light days of occasional skiing and just chilling out over the weekend before hitting it hard again on Monday. It was overcast and snowing all day, my beard (grown annually for the ski trip) turned into a huge ice beard as we shredded the powder all over the hill everwhere we went! The sun would peek out for a bit in the afternoon before the snow returned overnight to provide another epic day on Tuesday.

Wednesday was our last day on the hill; the family left in the morning. When we went to return rentals, there were some signs and a rack or two of used skis… I recalled the constant groaning from my wife and the rest of the family of skiers as I had to stop and do up my bindings after the lift on every run… and decided that I would endure the whining no longer! (And the rental fees!) I will be trying out my new (used) skis next year – I have never skiied in my life (snowboard or snowblade only), should be interesting.

Our final order of business before leaving the hill later that afternoon was to take a little tour around with a realtor to check out some possible alternatives to the condo… we have some ideas but will see if anything comes to fruition!

Another awesome Big White holiday, can’t wait for next year!