[Photos above: Michelle testing out the Olympic bob sled; me seeing what it feels like to be on the top step of the podium]
After our big night out last night we had a slower start today. We leisurely made our way to the Westin to pick up our skis that we had left at Shane and Amy's the previous night. Shane and Amy were still having breakfast so Michelle and I headed up Whistler on our own. In the lift line I ran into Esta Evans who had just moved here from Toronto and was doing a session as part of Whistler Ski Ski School.
It was raining in the village but as we ascended the rain turned into snow. We started by taking Jolly Green Giant to Marmot to get over to the Harmony Express chair. My plan was to get over to Symphony where we would hopefully find some untracked powder. Not such a great plan as it turned out. Symphony was closed and visibility was brutal at the top of Harmony. A couple of snow hosts suggested we get down taking Harmony Piste and we followed their advice. At the bottom we grabbed Sidewinder to get back to the Emerald chair. Conditions off the Emerald Chair were spectacular. There was a ton of loose fresh snow and great visibility. It was crowded by western standards but way less so than I am used to in the East. We did the rest of Jolly Green Giant for our first run and then headed into Ego Bowl for our second. It is only rated a green but had some soft fluffy bumps I wanted to jump into. They were so easy to ski that I was able to fly through them.
To do something different today we decided to ski down to Creekside for lunch. I had seen Dusty's on Pontiac World of Skiing and it looked really good. We took Dave Murray's Downhill, the run that is going to be used for the Men's Downhill and Super G in the Olympics. It was cool to see where they had already set up netting and interim timing intervals. I tried to memorize the hill so I could remember it when I watch the Olympics next winter. A big chunk of the run was in the fog which hopefully the racers won't face when careening down it at speeds far exceeding ours. The bottom portion was really slushy making me think of Slurpees.
Dusty's was great - fantastic food and table service at a similar price to the cafeteria-style dining on the hill. As we finished up lunch Shane and Amy joined us, just in time to upload with us before Michelle and I quit for the day. We came back to the condo and cleaned up before meeting Shane, Amy, and Gord at Brandy's at The Keg for an apres-ski catch-up. Michelle and I then did some shopping in the village before going back to the Keg for a steak dinner. Michelle bought me a stuffed Quatchi, one of the Olympic mascots, as a thank you for staying at the condo I traded for and using the lift tickets my work suppliers provided . Quatchi is not only my favourite but judging how he is the most sold out of the mascots, everyone else's as well. Maybe Quatchi will go skiing with us tomorrow. They are calling for up to 20 cm of snow so it is going to be an early night.
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