Snow, snow and more flippin blinkin snow!

A few posts in one today. The snow.

It started a couple weeks before Christmas with a light dusting at sea level but as you can see here, even at the foot of the bike trails there was a fair bit of snow









and by the time we got to the top of the lower trails (half way up) there was about a foot.
It was fun slipping and sliding our way down but not really proper riding although we did ride a new loamy trail which was pretty clear so certainly the highlight of the ride. There was even a step-down jump thing which I jumped - part of my gap training!!

It was a fun ride but mainly for novelty value
Unfortunately this was to be our last trail ride for some time :(


Shortly after that ride the temperature dropped enough for snow at sea level and boy has it snowed!


This is the center of downtown








lunch at Granville Island with Kiyo became an adventure in snow driving - so many people dont have snow tires but still think they can drive in the snow. It's scary.










Granville Island












On Christmas Eve I went for a walk in the snow. I intended to buy some beer and drop it off at the bike shop but ended up wandering for hours. The snow was crazy - 12 to 18 inches.


This is the street outside our place








The marina just down the road - even the salt water was frozen! Click the picture for a better view





In case you're wondering, the blobs are snowflakes caught in the flash











The Esplanade













Lonsdale main drag













Outside our place again
Even now there are still loads of cars that are completely buried!











The fountain at the quay







So with all this snow it seemed appropriate to get out and enjoy it. Unfortunately even though people are skiing in Stanley Park downtown there is still not enough snow to make Whistler much fun. Ergo Michele decided we should go snowshoeing! Obviously before hitting the mountain it's important to fuel up with a good breakfast. Michele's favourite patisserie is not to far away so we met there for breakfast





Rich and Michele waiting patiently for croissants













I have to say, they do good stuff here - I didnt try the chocolatey stuff but it looked very good - oh but I did try a freshly baked thing- not sure what you call it but put it in your mouth and it just melts on your tounge mmmmmmmmmm :)









And so to the snowshoeing













All the local mountains have snowshoe trails and rent snowshoes so its very easy to to do. We went to Cypress and hiked up to the peak - about 2 1/4 hour round trip



































As usual with snow sports, I was a little unsteady on my feet!


















....but I led for most of the way













a great view of the city from here













and here we are topping out. A bit of an anti-climax but a good view

















you even look down on the ski area - this is where the Olympic snowboarding and freestyle skiing is going to be in 2010
















Michele making an angel


















The view








a HUGE raven checking out the view












You should click this one - as usual its 3 pictures glued together but I managed to get a bird taking off on the right. Perfect timing :)



Snowshoeing was fun. So silly on the way down but I couldnt help thinking it might have been even more fun to bring my snowboard up with me!