Snow is falling, all around me...

Whistler singing pass hike and the ski runs getting snow on them now



Vancouver city skyline by night

Big black bear on the Olympic downhill ski jump

Well, I lie, kind of. It's actually raining in Vancouver but it did snow on Lisa on Monday night.

Our current situation is that I am in Vancouver committed to the office for another 4 months and Lisa has just moved up to Whistler. The plan is for me to do some sort of semi live in the city, commute a few days a week from the mountain retreat style setup like all those high flying city slickers. Except for the fact that my city pad will most likely be a dirty hostel for a few nights a week, the mountain retreat, great as it is, is a room in a shared house and the commute may end up being a 2 hour bus trip each way. Still, the skis area ready to be set up, the boots need breaking in and the first few flakes of snow have been spotted in Whistler village so that will keep me going.

The ongoing work saga for us is still, well, ongoing. People being slow at keeping their promises, annoying and inefficient bosses who change their minds every 5 minutes, etc, etc. I still have no contract in place although I have been told that it will be with you in writing soon and Lisa's job description and hours are proving to be a nightmare to juggle with her other mountain job.

Fingers crossed that things will work out as it's almost time to start enjoying the snow for 5 months and then looking forward to some travelling again around Easter time if we can save our pennies and not blow them all on heli-ski trips and more winter gear. Ha ha yea right!

Thursday is remembrance day here as it is the UK but in Canada they give everyone a day off work and organise loads of parades in the city. My plan at the moment is head off and make the most of the 1 zone all day travel and do some exploring on the outskirts of the city and push the limits of the metro Vancouver transport system. Got a few ideas as to where to head off to for my picnic lunch but it is going be (as I am getting used to saying now) weather dependent. Hopefully there will be a few cool photos to put up and I won't end up hiding from the rain in museums and coffee shops all day. That's pretty much all the news for now from the Vancouver side. More from the mountain resort shortly no doubt...

Here in Whistler, there are black bears crossing the roads in daylight and more excitingly we had quite a snow dump here last night, snow remained on the garden and cars this morning and has given the groomers something to do high up on the slopes. It shouldn't be too long now until the ski season begins. Work issues as Lee mentioned are super tough at the moment, but through friends, family and the support we can give to each other, we really hope things will start to go a little more smoothly soon. So for now its a skype call from the Mountain to the city that will have to suffice...... Updates to continue