Sun Peaks trip 2018 – Week 5

Thursday 15 Feb 2018. Sunny and cold -13ºC in the village and -17ºC at Morrisey top. We skate skied the same track as Tues 13 Feb – Down Holy Cow, along Moose, down part of MacGillivray, down Black Bear up and along Vista back to Morrisey base. Despite beautiful looking grooming, the snow was a bit sticky and difficult at the top and on Vista. Our experiment today was to take the in-resort shuttle bus to and from Morrisey. This saves the worst part – the trudge to and from the Stables. However, because of the shuttle timetable, it adds an hour to the trip. Hmm. 2:39 hours, 12.16 km, max speed 31.2 kph, 405 m descent, 1500 kcals, 2 days 19 hours to recover. This was a good session, but I am exhausted.

 

Groomer on Gentle Giant in early morning

Friday 16 Feb 2018. Snowing. A day off for me. Helen had a few runs of resort telemark off the Sundance chair. The Sunburst chair had mechanical difficulties and was stopped all morning. Bugger. That lift services the bulk of the hill.

Check the snow blowing off the groomer to the left. As these move around the hill at fairly high speed, they send off a cloud of snow.

 

 

 

Small child and instructor

Saturday 17 Feb 2018. Snowing all day. 20cm. Day off.

Sunday 18 Feb 2018. Sunny & cold. This turned out to be an adventure. The day was to be cold, so we delayed out departure until it warmed a bit and decided to not ski from Morrisey top. Good decisions. What we forgot was the wind and its chill. Together, these gave us an effective temp of about -30ºC – which was bloody cold. We do not have the cross-country gear for that.

 

 

Much needed hot tub – outside

My fingers got very cold, as did Helen’s feet. We went out along Cotton Tail (and did not even get to its end). It was not too bad as we skied with the wind, but when we turned around to come back, it became more than horrible. The two of us trying to warm our hands between our legs on each stop. The worst bit was between Morrisey base (sheltered) and the stables, which was very exposed. By the time we got to the Covered Bridge, we were extremely cold and went in for a hot chocolate at Bolacco. Wow, my middle fingers were so cold they were extremely painful. After we warmed up, we walked to and went up the Platter and skied down to the hotel. That is a good way for us to get out and avoids the long slog back from the Stables. A much needed hot tub to warm up. Just 1:09 hours, 3km, 678 kcals, recovery time 30 hours. The next two days will be very cold and we are not going out.

 

 

View from our Cahilty room Gentle Giant and Sunbeam runout Sundance and distant Sunburst chairs

Monday 19 Feb 2018. Sunny and very f*#^ing cold. -22ºC minus wind. We sat and watched the slope. We have become very attached to our view from this room. Discussion has begun about coming back and even buying a room – with this view. There is something very restful about watching skiers and boards going passed – down Gentle Giant, Sunbeam and runouts to the chair lifts. Lights are on until just after 7pm each night and there is considerable activity on Platter and the two magic carpets – mainly kids. Also surprising is the number of people doing jumps off the pipes and rails set up at the bottom of Cowabunga. We really do like this place a lot.

 

 

 

Village Walking Trail A 3m trough through the snow Sun Peaks

Tuesday 20 Feb 2018. Very cold -23ºC with a light wind. Too bloody cold. After a day inside yesterday, we talked about going out for a few resort telemark runs. Reality prevailed when we saw that -23ºC. Maybe a walk later. We went for a walk out to the Nordic Centre near Morrisey base and back.

Wednesday 21 Feb 2018. Very cold again. -22ºC. More time inside. We have been watching a fair bit of the Winter Olympics and over the last few days have been fascinated with the biathlon and how quickly and dramatically the lead can change with shooting. Below are links to three biathlon events in which the French win. The hero to watch is Martin Fourcade who is quite remarkable. They are each over an hour long. Mens 15 km mass start, Mixed relay, Mens 12.5km pursuit. This one (Le Grand Bornand) in French which just shows the shooting is shorter.

 

 

Helen on Holy Cow

Thursday 22 Feb 2018. Cold and sunny -18ºC. We were sick of sitting inside, so skate skied from the top of Morrisey down Holy Cow, Moose, Black Bear, Cotton Tail. We waited until it had warmed up a little and left at 11am. To keep warm I had on: two hats and a neck warmer; two thermal shirts, a vest, a heavy polar 100 and a shell; knees socks, thermal bottoms and CCC recovery pants and cross country pants; two pairs of gloves. The skating was delightful – but I have significantly overdone it. 3:22 hours, 13.18 km, 1991 kcals, 420m descent – all good to here – but I kept my heart rate too high overall, 2 hours 21 mins in 80-90% of max heart rate zone – more than 8 days to recover. Eight days!!! Munted.

I overdid it bigtime today. Several errors.

1. When stopping after 17 skates, I did not allow my heart rate to drop to 130 bpm – I set off at about 138-9 which means that I did not recover much after each exertion.
2. Many times I did not stop at 17 but went through to as many as 30 skates.
3. I skated on the gentle downhill which, although it improved my skating balance, was more strenuous overall.
4. Feeling too confident.

Initially, these did not mean much – I was feeling very good and skating well. But the accumulation over 3 hours was very bad. From about the middle of Moose, I was in difficulties.

Today is a day of National Mourning in Canada. The Canada Women Hockey team lost its gold medal match to the arch enemy USA.

Friday 23 Feb 2018. Snow all day. A day off for me. Helen went out for resort telemark runs. Another day of National Mourning today when the Canada Men Hockey team lost to Germany which means they cannot even play for gold in the final.