Friday, November 28, 2014

T minus 7 and dripping

Yes, we are experiencing just about the wettest conditions I can remember in Fernie which is not an ideal curtain raiser to a ski season, but more of that later. Despite my earlier misgivings it did look for a while as if we would be getting a bonus weekend this weekend and as late as the management meeting on Wednesday the matter was still to be decided. Unfortunately conditions since then mean that the chances of some early skiing have gone west in a big way and now the best we can hope for is an on time opening next Friday.

Since last posting a report we have got things pretty much in order for the winter. Our skis are still to be picked up from being serviced by Straight Line but I was in there earlier today and they have promised I can pick them up on the way to the pub this evening. The hot tub is still to be fired up but Alpine Spa have said they will be round to do it on Monday and they have always been very reliable. Of course the bank didn't have our credit cards waiting as promised but they do have approval for them and assure me they will be in our hands by the end of next week - so everything is well on the way to being in place.

The big story is the weather. It was snowing when I reported on Wednesday morning and it continued to snow all Wednesday so that by the end of the day we had about 20 cms on the ground. Suddenly on Wednesday evening we had a rise in temps and the snow turned to rain. Since that time (48 hours ago) it has rained continuously and very hard in the valley. Yesterday temps got up to + 8 and never dropped below +4 on either Wednesday or Thursday night. Today temps started at +5 and are now dropping, currently at +3 and still raining hard.

The result has been rain to the top of the hill and the snow going to heavy elephant snot I would imagine although I can't get up there to check. This is no bad thing as a patroller buddy of mine was telling me that there was a very nasty faceted layer on the hill which was likely to case stability problems during the season. With this latest good soaking the layers should be bonded well and may form a very good base for the remainder of the season - in that respect this rain event which has robbed us of the bonus weekend may be a blessing in disguise and we have just had to take one for the team.

The outlook is even crazier than the events of the past couple of days. Temps are forecast to fall rapidly tonight so that by morning we have -20 on the mercury with a wind chill of nearer -30. With so much standing water in town and on the roads I hate to think of what getting about is going to be like tomorrow. On top of that the precip is due to continue turning to snow during the evening and giving us maybe 40 cms of snow in the next 24 hours. Of course if the weather system stalls over us we could get hit by a complete snow bomb of much more than that. Add in winds of 70 klicks and it looks like we are in for a full on winter storm with warnings already posted for the whole Elk Valley.

All these forecasts are for the valley and we may have even colder weather, more snow and stronger winds on the hill so perhaps calling off the bonus weekend is no bad thing.

So it looks like we will have to spend the next week in our current regime of getting up, going for a swim at the Aquatic Centre, wandering around town to sort out odds and ends for the house while we have the chance. Entertainment so far has comprised early nights and just once going to the movie house to see the new Warren Miller snow porn which was pretty good entertainment and a great chance to catch up with some ski buddies. Saturday night should be our first hockey game since arriving but we may decide to take a rain check, staying inside in the warm looks an awful good way to spend an evening given the forecast weather conditions.

 Continue to watch this space for further reports probably earlier next week.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

T minus 9 and counting


Apologies to all those of you who weren't brought up on the space jargon of NASA in the 1960's (by the way the Americans did land on the moon, really), what the heading means is that we are only 9 days away from opening day. So lets start with the story of how we got here.

We left Cornwall about lunch time on Saturday. I had debated long and hard with myself how to get to Heathrow on a one way journey. I rejected flying from Newquay to Gatwick (very inconvenient), getting a taxi (very expensive) and catching the train (very inconvenient and very expensive). There is some truth in the old joke that Cornwall is a county cut off on three sides by the sea and the other side by Great Western Trains. In the end we got a one way car rental from Budget which at 62 quid for two and a half days was by a margin the cheapest and easiest way of doing things.

After spending the weekend visiting various parts of Lynda's family to say happy Christmas we spent Sunday night with her cousin Dave and his wife Ellen who have been out to Fernie to stay and with a bit of luck should be out again in March. Lynda is now fully recovered from her chemo and was given the all clear at a check up last week which means she has passed the one year landmark making a return of her lymphoma much less likely. Unfortunately she is pretty much back to her old self in terms of keeping me in line as if I don't have enough problems. On Sunday night we were joined by Steve and Liz some more Fernie guests who indicated that they didn't think they could make it out this winter but by the end of the evening and quite a lot of wine they were showing signs of weakness.

Monday lunch time we dropped the car at Heathrow and got a transfer to Terminal 5where we had coffee with another ski buddy Dave who is working there. The reason we were at T5 was that we were flying BA and the reason for this was that this flight is the first leg of a round the world trip which continues next April via Seattle, San Fran, LA, Fiji. North Queensland, Gt Barrier Reef, KL and Dubai. I usually try and avoid BA after they lost a brand new pair of ski boots for me on a flight to San Fran some years ago and were less than helpful when I complained. This time things went without a hitch and I have to admit that T5 is a real cut above the rest at Heathrow. We also had our first taste of flying on one of the 787 dream liners which was interesting. The seats seemed a bit more comfortable and there was a much wider selection of movies and TV shows that you didn't bother to watch first time round available, but most importantly the flight departed on time and arrived half an hour early at around 5 in the afternoon.

I had expected hassle at immigration as I was staying 144 days (not going back to the UK mid season this year) but the officials seemed much more interested in whether or not I had contacted anyone with ebola recently and when they found I hadn't they lost interest and just waved me through. I also think that one of the few advantages of getting old is that you are seen as respectable although Lynda claims that it is her presence that lends me this aura of respectability. Another reason I don't fly BA to Calgary is that the flight arrives so late that you really have to spend the night there and travel the next day. I had done one of those super cheap deals with Expedia where they book you a hotel and you don't know where you are staying until the booking is complete. This found us staying in the Clarion which was ok, clean and convenient with quiet rooms. The only problem was that the draft beer pumps in the bar were broken and we had to drink bottles - the only major problem on our journey.

Tuesday (yesterday) a buddy Andrew picked us up from the hotel around midday and gave us a lift to Fernie.  A big snow storm was forecast but we made it in by late afternoon and the snow held off until evening so we rather dodged the bullet on that. Rather worryingly everything went smoothly and the house was in good shape but perhaps that was because we were only here 5 weeks ago. The phone, wifi and cable TV were reconnected by Shaw although it took a phone call to get the TV working. The truck was insured for 5 months without hassle (usually ICBC can find some problem) and fired up first time. By the early evening when we were ready for bed we had gone out and got the food basics and some beer and of course Jamesons Irish Whiskey.

So what are the conditions like ? Well there is snow on the ground in the valley and it looks like there are ok, but early season conditions on the hill. It snowed overnight and we have probably got another 10 cms since yesterday's snow readings. Temp on the deck is a mild -3. Looks like some odd stuff coming up with a sharp temperature rise to +5 tomorrow bring mixed pecip to the valley floor at least. After that they are calling for a cooling trend into the weekend bringing around 40cms of snow by Saturday and temps on Saturday night dropping to -28. There is more snow in the forecast for next week with opening still scheduled for a week on Friday.

What this means to me is that we are unlikely to get a bonus weekend this weekend even with limited opening but I will keep my ear to the ground. Unless things go pear shaped opening on the 5th looks like a slam dunk although the conditions will be decidedly "early season". I am worried about this temp rise and precip tomorrow. If we are lucky it will make for a good solid heavy snow base for the season which would be great. If we are unlucky it will form an ice freeze line just above the snow base and we will have slides down to that layer all season with real avalanche problems - lets keep our fingers crossed.

Today's first job will be to shovel the snow from the decks and check out the wild life. We saw a big moose by the road on the drive from the airport and there are deer tracks in the snow outside the house so wildlife is about although I assume the bears are tucked up in bed now until the spring. We have to get the ski's serviced (probably Straight Line) pick up credit cards from the bank (yes, they have agreed we can have some as long as they are cash covered) and get Alpine Spa to fire up the hot tub ready for the season.

Look for my next report which will be more about how the season is shaping up and less like a travel guide in the next few days - good to be back in Fernie.