A WEEK OF SUN AND FUN

Twenty avid members of the 4T Plus Ski Club converged on the Sunpeaks Ski Resort one sunny Sunday in February.  We were looking forward to a great week full of fun and skiing in the sunshine. 

Jenny was a terrific organizer.  She had arranged for two houses for us to stay; “Tiggers Triumph” and “Cassojax”.  These two houses were only a short distance apart.  The trek from Cassojax seemed a lot further in ski boots, with skis over your shoulders, but the group soon found a way around that.  They left their equipment at Tiggers and picked it up on the way to the trail each morning.

Tiggers Triumph was rented as accommodation to sleep sixteen people.  That included one chained together hide-a-bed, which forced Jim and Mary to sleep on the floor.  They found a very comfortable mattress to use and were quite happy.  It was just like camping.  There was another hide-a-bed in the games room that Tom and Marion found unbearable, however, after one sleepless night, they both cheerfully moved over to Casojax. 

The Casojax cabin didn’t boast as many beds, but clearly some that were more comfortable.  Pat could attest to that as she was constantly packing up and moving her gear from one room to another, upstairs and down.  She even resorted to sleeping under the dining room table one evening.  Elaine had a little trouble with the bunks and was seen in the wee hours of the morning sitting up and muttering about how to get down from the top bunk.  A little coaching from Pat and Mary solved her dilemma.

Sally, Gail, Grace and I had the good fortune of sharing the loft at Tiggers, which turned out to be a completely self-sustainable 2 bedroom suite on the lower floor, complete with a fireplace, a television off Noah’s ark, a non-working stereo, two or three chipped cups, assorted bits and pieces of cracked china and even a spoon or two.  We soon remedied that situation by robbing the cupboards of the main kitchen upstairs.

Monday morning dawned bright with clear blue skies, just as we had hoped.  Several centimeters of new snow had fallen overnight.  We were “powder hounds” on a mission to conquer all of the 120 ski runs on the mountain.  Several of us decided to go with a ski host to guide us through Mt. Morrissey ’s “gladed and powder choked” runs.  That was some kind of powder, very light, dry and fluffy.  After a few “deep powder runs”, we suggested to our guide that a “groomed run” would be good.  As we encountered yet another run with “powder to our knees”, our host snickered and said, “But they told me this one was groomed.”  

At lunch we all went our various ways to eat and then sought out some “groomed areas”; only to meet once again, glasses of wine in hand, in a fabulous outdoor hot tub, trying to relax those tired and aching muscles.  Our group at Tiggers were quite mellow; not like those “crazy girls” at Casojax, hanging off the sides of the hot tub, making angels in the snow.

 A quick shower and it was time for appies.  After dinner it was early to bed for us all.  The powder had certainly taken its toll.

           The group from Casojax strolled into the village for their dinner a few of the nights.  One night they came upon a little mouse that was lost on the trail.  Lucille managed to find its snow hole and helped it home.  Our group at Tiggers’ cabin never did venture out to the village for dinner.  There were too many good cooks and great menus.  Besides, we got a bit lazy and laid back in the evenings.  

It snowed throughout the week, but nothing like the first day. It was easy to find “groomed runs” when we chose but we could still find runs with   “deep powder as soft as goose down” when we desired.  We just needed to go off the beaten track a little. 

The weather continued to honor the resort all week by indeed giving us sunny peaks.

Dave and Tom enjoyed the tranquility of several kilometers of cross-country skiing, while Lynn e searched out the many snow-shoe trails.

Most of us continued to ski with the ski hosts for the second and third days of our stay.  On Tuesday, eleven of us began with Dodie and had so much fun that she encouraged us to meet her again in the afternoon, which several of us did.  We got so much attention racing down the slopes that we heard about the group of senior ladies out “burning up the hill”.  At one point, one of the locals joined in our human slalom.

Jim, our trusty musician, brought his guitar and song books, which we all appreciated.  The first night was very pleasant, as we all eagerly joined in to sing songs from Jim and Lynne’s music sheets.  The second night we threw our inhibitions to the wind and allowed our voices to flow unrestrained.  Gail and Mary played the spoons in accompaniment. We sang everything from folk songs, ballads, rugby songs, Girl Scout songs to our own rendition of Rock and Roll, including Elvis’ songs.  Even Frank Sinatra’s music was not sacred on this night.  Shirley A., Dave and Jim G. were in fine fettle and sang with gusto, as did Germaine, who entertained us in French with her rendition of “Savez-vous plantez des choux, a la mode de chez nous?” This is a children’s song which translated means “Do you know how to plant cabbages the way we do?”

          As the week wore on, some of our members, who traditionally only ski “blue runs”, tackled the “blacks” with daring and confidence, whether they were “groomed” or “powder”.

Roland was famous for saying, “I’m not a very good skier, you know,” as she gamely followed along, not daunted for a moment.  Even Tom decided to give downhill a try, after several years of only cross-country skiing. I think he may be converted.

          Sally and Marion skied with Nancy Greene one morning and had a wonderful whirlwind tour of the mountain.  They had an opportunity to ride up the extremely slow Burfield chair with her and ask her all kinds of questions which she graciously answered.  There were only about nine in the group, including a very good-looking priest, so they also got many tips on skiing with shaped skis and on skiing moguls. 

After hearing about their experience over lunch that day, several of us decided to take the 1:30 tour with Nancy .  Unfortunately, so did about twenty other people!  We raced madly down the hill after Nancy like a bunch of banshees.  Inevitably, someone was going to crash.

 Suddenly we heard a yell, and then saw a body, skis, poles and goggles all going in different directions down the hill.  Grace was down and seemed a bit dazed.  She kept saying, “Where are my goggles?”  I replied, “They’re on your face, Grace.”  We then spied a crumpled heap lying about 100 ft. further down the hill which turned out to be Mary.  She soon moved and cursed so we knew she was okay.  That was the end of our skiing experience with Nancy .

          Thursday came too suddenly.  It was our last day!  We still had new runs to conquer and old favorites to re-visit.  Skiing was fast and furious.  No one wanted to leave a run untouched, but towards the end of the day we were saying, “Is it time to quit yet?”  “It can’t be only 3 o’clock .”  Our spirits wanted us to ski until the last possible moment, but our legs were too weary.  We finally gave in and went for celebratory drinks at the pub before going back to our cabins to begin packing up.  As we left the pub, we met up with Sharon sporting brand new skis.  What a deal she got!

          The group at Casojax hosted a very tasty farewell dinner for all of us that night.  This was a great way to end a fabulous week of sun and fun.  We all agreed it was one fantastic ski trip.  Jenny agreed to organize another trip next year and most of us are already signed up and ready to go.

Shirley Buckler

March, 2007