March 2007: Ski Trip (Part 2)

If you haven’t already looked at them then be sure to check out Aunt Mary’s photos in Part 1.

The airplane ride we were glad to take.
After the “get the kids up early too, three hour time change, and 4am wake ups” disaster from last year, we carefully planned our flight departure times for this year. We figured that we were in good shape when we arrived at the airport – kids in a good mood, parents somewhat rested – only to learn that our flight had been cancelled. A weather system in Halifax meant the plane wasn’t going to make it. The airline the said they wouldn’t be able to get us to Calgary until two days later. Needless to say, the family was a bunch of unhappy campers during the cab ride home. Once home, and after blaring some tunes and dancing around with Declan and Eliot, we worked the phones with the airline reservations desk. Shortly after lunch they were able to get us on a flight.

John & Eliot on the plane

Declan rides up high

Backcountry snowmobiling adventures.
Up at Panorama, BC, Jodi, Declan, Rich, Mark and I joined Uncle Tim for some backcountry snowmobiling. Tim is spends his winters helping to run the operations for Toby Creek Adventures Snowmobile. The tours are high alpine treks. It’s more than a 10km ride up through the trees to get to the Paradise Basin. The full day tour was outstanding. The basin is a huge bowl with heaps of snow. It’s is well worth it to spend a day riding with the Toby Creek crews.

The frozen waterfall.
Our descent from Paradise Basin weaved on snow covered old logging roads. Tim detoured us through a well treed area to show the gang a spectacular frozen waterfall. We hiked up to the base of the waterfall and then climbed our way up to a point where we were actually between the ice and the rock. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After we made our way back to base camp, Tim pulled out a mini-snowmobile that was just the right size for Declan. A few tries and Declan had the hang of it. He loved riding around and I ended up having to chase him on foot a distance greater than two football fields. Great exercise when you’re wearing the heavy snowmobiling boots. I’ve got some video of the little man touring in the flats. Hope to get that posted here soon.