Day 283, 13 April 2013, Whistler, B.C. - to Vancouver - via the Sea to Sky Highway - wow! We did indeed wake up to a magical kingdom this morning - must have been a huge dump of fresh snow on the mountains - easily 2 inches at our place in the village. Glorious blue sky, sunshine, glittery air and crunchy underfoot. A beautiful day to be alive. A terrible day to leave Whistler-Blackcomb. A bit like swimming against a strong tide - everyone with any sense was ...

Day 282, 12 April 2013, Whistler, B.C. Packing Day. Cleaning Day. Did I mention it was Packing Day? We've been playing house for a month and the bags were well and truly unpacked during that time. We had thought about getting in a morning's skiing today... but lucky we didn't as the packing up and cleaning up took most of the day. By late afternoon, the laundry was finally finished and we were settled in watching a murder mystery and gazing at the snow that h...

Day 281, 11 April 2013, Whistler, B.C. Brrrrrr.... freezing level down to 900m and the ski runs were initially like sloping ice rinks but they softened up after a while and we had a great morning skiing together. James took off on a tour and I took off home - ecstatic to finish on a high note. James's mountain host was a very keen skier who made their 1.5 - 2 hour session last 3 hours! Not bad for a free tour! I think we can officially say there's not much of...

Day 280, 10 April 2013, Whistler, B.C. It was pouring with rain this morning. The mountains were noticeable only by their absence (completely covered in fog) and the weather report was not particularly encouraging. I didn't fancy getting rained on so stayed put and went back to bed after breakfast. Managed to stay awake long enough to see the rain turn into big fluffy snowflakes just outside the window and settle on the ground. James went for a look and enjo...

Day 279, 9 April 2013, Whistler, B.C. Took a chance on the weather this morning and headed up the mountain to see what it was like. I have christened this practice "meercat skiing". Only feasibly possible when you have a season pass. As it turned out, once we were through a massive foggy layer of cloud, the snow was gentle and the runs were silky smooth. We even ran into one of the few folks we know in Whistler - completely unplanned - just pulled up next to...