Canada 2001 - a skiing oddity

The main tour started at Silver Star in central British Columbia (Canada). We arrived to find that, although we had paid our travel agent weeks in advance, neither the hotel nor the bus company had received a cent from the Australian based travel agent. An embarrassing moment followed before we were placated by the hotel manager telling us that they would get their money in "due course" and that this behaviour of holding back funds was not uncommon for the travel agency involved. Still it left an unpleasant taste in our mouths.

Unfortunately the snow base was much lower than average and there were many loose stones "floating" on the surface of the groomed runs. Having been to Silver Star before, I was a little stunned to see there were no "snow ghosts" on the summit, obviously due to a lack of snow. We also found many of the double black runs were closed due to lack of snow.

The weather was cold but the 5 of us enjoyed what was on offer. When comparing bad seasons in Canada with Australian snow conditions you do realise that what is bad in Canada is generally pretty good in Australia.

Due to the cold days, averaging between -15C and -24C, we soon became accustomed to stopping at the Paradise Camp hut for hot chocolates and an enormous chocolate chip cookie (shared between the 5 of us of course). These hot chocolates were without doubt the best encountered during our month in Canada. Occasionally one of the group would vary from the strict formula and order a "bowl of latte". The coffee cups dished up in the hut even out sized those oversized coffee cups used at the "Central Perk" on the TV show "Friends".

Our accommodation, although old (probably the original hotel in the resort) was in a prime location with true ski in-ski out access. The outdoor hot tub was only a short flight of stairs away and we enjoyed a daily soaking whilst looking up the ski slopes and watching the sunset . The service provided by the staff at the Pinnacles was the best I have experienced in 16 years of travelling to North America.

It was during the viewing of the video of "Perfect Storm" (one of the free video movies provided by the hotel) that we adopted the Big Dump Duck as our mascot for the trip.

On our second last day at Silver Star our prayers were answered - the Big Dump Ducks had delivered. We received 26cm of fresh light powder. Out came the powder straps - happy days were here again. Instead of rushing off with the hordes to ski the back of the resort we preferred to go for the shorter tree runs of Attridge Ridge. We got several totally untracked runs and even surprised a few locals by getting to the freshies before them. Click here to view some video clips.

The last day of skiing also rewarded our persistence with more snow and freshies. Now we were ready to move on and get more good snow...