Ski & Snowboard...

Vale and I have been here for 3 terms, almost 4, and we hadn't gone skiing/snowboarding until yesterday, despite the fact that everyone here loves doing it and some people even come to Vancouver and to UBC just to be close to the mountains. It took us quite some time because we had never had the occasion to do it or to go with someone that would teach us how to do it properly. Yesterday, however, was different. Vale's friend from Guatemala had told us he would be in Grouse all day with his friends, plus we are in the middle of Reading Week so we had free time. So at 3pm, when we finished work, we got some food from the Village and jumped on the 44, headed towards Grouse. We were starving so we ate on the bus, annoying the rest of the passengers with our food.

We arrived downtown, took the Seabus, and after getting to North Vancouver, took a bus to the base of the mountain. Of course by this time, Vale's friend had texted us that they were too tired and they were not going to stay on Grouse any longer... We considered turning back but decided that enough was enough and we had to do it, now or never. On this last bus we had a group of fully-equipped high school students from Mexico, all with new snowboards, gloves, jackets, the whole thing. Vale and I were dressed normally, and I hadn't even taken my snow jacket or my gloves (bad bad planning!) So, we got to Grouse, bought our entrance pass and took the Gondola up the mountain. This is an 8 minute trip in a lift that fits like 50 people and you go up up up to the very top, passing really tall hemlocks and cedars completely covered in snow. The visibility was poor and everything was super foggy. At the very top we got off the lift, and proceeded to rent our equipment. We didn't have anything so we had to rent everything... Vale got skis and I got a snowboard (our plan was to exchange them when we got bored so we could both try them. Of course we had no idea how the boots for skis were completely different from the ones from snowboarding, so we ended up just using the ones we had).

Everything was so beautiful there, the landscape completely covered in a blanket of soft white snow. After going outside the rental place, we just experimented a bit in the mini hills, and went down the 'Bunny Hill' (because it's so easy) run a couple times, falling a lot of course. I didn't get how to put the snowboard on without sitting down, or how to stop when I was moving. So even if I had no problem balancing and going where I wanted to go, when I gained too much speed I panicked and I had to use my hands and roll on the snow to stop. We would get to the base (a good distance from the top) and take the lift back up. After this, we decided to go where everyone else was going, to one of the main runs, and this is when the nightmare started.

First of all, this run was a never-ending run. It was sooooo long, and my fears with gaining too much speed and dying were made worse by the fact that this was steeper and it went on forever so there wasn't like a flat landing in the middle where you could slowly come to a stop and then resume the descent. No, it was steep and went on forever. Here we fell again but this time we did get hurt. One time, Vale got off track and crashed against a some small trees covered in snow and then she couldn't find one of her skis, which was buried in the snow. Our faces started to get super cold with all the snow being pushed in our faces by the furious wind and we saw people with facemasks and goggles flying by. Our hair was already frozen and stiff with snow. And then the thunder started, while we were about halfway. The lift stopped moving above us, and after a few more minutes of going down we met people that were going up the hill carrying their gear. We were stuck between stopping right there and strarting to walk up (we would have died) or keep going down and wait for the lift to work. We decided to go down, but the last part had to be done walking, as we just couldn't do it anymore.

So, we get to the base of the hill, and there are toooons of people waiting for the lift to work. Thunder was still going on, and the lifts don't get started until 20 minutes have passed from the last thunder. So we sat there and waited, and waited, and waited. The lift started, 5 minutes later there was thunder and it stopped again. We waited some more, and finally the lift started again and we managed to get on. By then we had been separated and we were each placed with 3 strangers. After 1 minute on the lift, there was this HUGE flash and crazy thunder right in front of our eyes, and the lifts stopped. Again. Completely. The thunderstorm intensified, and we would reach 15 minutes, and then another thunder. So we were stuck there for ages. After 40 minutes there was another huge thunder and the power went off. Every light turned off and we were left in complete darkeness. The fog closed in and we could no longer see the ground below us or the lift in front of us. The snow was covering us and my hands and feet were freezing because my gloves are basically a piece of fabric, they're not snow gloves.. The 3 strangers I was with were good fun, so I had a good time while hoping not to get electrocuted by a thunder. I didn't want to touch any metal and I was pressed against the guy next to me. When the lights went off after the thunder, I automatically grabbed his arm. One of them was all about preventing hypothermia, so every 5 minutes she'd check to see that we were not freezing our limbs off and she would repeat that we had to keep moving our fingers and toes etc. Then she wanted to document the moment so she got her phone out and we took a picture of the four of us, all smiling stuck in the lift in the darkness. Lady at the cafe later on that night: 'Woa! I've been coming here for the past 15 years and this had never happened to me!' Those kinds of things never happen, but they had to happen on the they we went there, obviously.

After 1 hour and a half, the power came back up, the lifts started, and we got to the top. By then Vale and I were freezing and just wanted to leave. We returned our equipment, took the Gondola back down, and then waited 30 minutes in the freezing cold for a bus. Then changed bus a couple times, ate a burger, and got home at 1.30 am all soaked. So this was our experience snowboarding/skiing.

Estimated time to get there: 2 hours
Estimated time skiing/snowboarding: 1 hour
Estimated time falling/walking/rolling: 1 hour
Estimated time waiting for the lift to work: 1 hour
Estimated time stuck on the lift: 1 hour 30 minutes
Estimated time to get home: 2 hours 30 minutes
Estimated cost: $50 (snowboard+showes), $30 (pants+jacket), $40 (entrance cost) = $120

Did we have fun? Yes! (Well, I say this now, while I write this from the comfort of my bed. They say there are two things you never remember: bad weather and pain. Which, coincidentally, were both there yesterday!) Good anecdote to tell and to laugh at once it's over.

Also, something interesting is how snowboarders and skiers are either hardcore snowboarders or hardcore skiers, never both. I've just tried snowboarding so I still don't know which one I'll pick, if I ever pick one. For now, it will be some time until I repeat this thing again. I'll stick to ice-skating.