Physical distancing during COVID-19: A Canadian view...

from Wild Wise Sooke (https://www.wildwisesooke.com/)

We are going for daily walks here in Whistler, often around the Whistler Golf Course.

In the past week, we've seen two three black bears (one two on the golf course and one that crossed our path right in front of us). In these cases, we are maintaining much more than the 2m distance required between humans...!

Bear grazing on the golf course (April 12, 2020)

COVID-19: Whistler, British Columbia & Canada shutdown...

Illustration for The Tyee by Christopher Cheung. The Scream via Wikipedia, public domain; mask image via Wikipedia, public domain. https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/03/27/Coronavirus-Curated-Top-Links-March-27/

March 15th: Vail Resorts shuts down all of its ski resorts in North America, including Whistler-Blackcomb. (Within a few days afterwards, pretty well all ski areas in B.C. also shutdown.)

A sudden, surprising end to the ski season.

But that's nothing compared to what's happening across Canada and around the world, as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads.

Borders are closed (including all "non-essential" travel across the USA-Canada border). We, like almost all Canadians, are keeping our distance from others (physical distancing), going out only for required food (and liquor 😉) shopping, as well as walks (on the now-quiet Valley Trail) for fresh air and exercise.

(Well, David has driven down to the boat a couple of times; but still keeping isolated.)

Our plans to sail North on Pelagia this Summer would seem an excellent way to self-isolate (even our doctor thinks so), but...

Communities up-and-down the B.C. coast are circling-the-wagons and telling non-residents to stay away. Anchoring in coves away from communities should be fine, but we do have to re-provision, get water (though there are streams) and fuel up.

So, plans this Spring-Summer are truly "written in the sand at low tide". Still some time to go. We shall see.

Until then, we are trying to stay healthy, and wish the same for all others!

Empty Whistler (https://www.wayneflannavalancheblog.com/)

The skiing is good... despite Vail Resorts (owners of Whistler-Blackcomb ski area)

Whistler peak, February 12, 2020

Mid February and the skiing is good.

LOTS of snow fell in January (after almost none November & December).

Weekends (especially holiday weekends such as this weekend) are quite crowded -- welcome to Whistler -- and Vail Resorts (owners of Whistler-Blackcomb) are not making a lot of friends with "locals" (Whistler, Sea-to-Sky area, Vancouver)! A current change.org petition, with nearly 9000 signers (to date), shows how upset people are.

Vail tries to suggest this is all due to the poor start of the season snow-wise (it was terrible until the first days of January, with little snow, little open and huge Christmas crowds), but those who live here know that's not the reasons people are so unhappy with Vail Resorts. Checkout the comments in the petition to see the many reasons.

We live here, so we make the best of it (such as staying away from the hill on a holiday weekend!)....

And it's so much better than living in the city!

Ski season 2019-2020 begins

Opening day: November 28, 2019, Blackcomb Mt

Well, not such a great beginning.

We are both still hacking and coughing with terrible colds that just won't go away.

There's no natural snow for skiing; just man-made.

But always optimistic! (Look where that got us the last two seasons....)

Fingers crossed for more snow and good health this season!

Overlapping seasons: Skiing, sailing and hiking

April 26: Downwind sail back to home berth in Stanley Park

It is that crossover time of year. A time we can go for a sail, a hike, or go skiing.

Finally got out on Pelagia at the end of April for a few sunny days. First night (Wednesday April 24), we anchored in Port Graves in Howe Sound, one of only two boats. A beautiful quiet, calm night. Too warm to bother lighting the furnace. Next day, with gale force southerly inflow winds forecast for Howe Sound -- not a good forecast for Port Graves, as it is open to the south -- we headed over to the Vancouver Rowing Club's dock space in Snug Cove (Bowen Island). Again, just two boats on the club docks. "Snugly" tied up, we then went for a 2-hour hike (OK, a walk) around Killarney Lake. The forecasted inflow gales never materialized and we had another nice quiet eve on board. It was a nice visit, as we have not been to Snug Cove since 2016. (Surprisingly, the same folks from SV La Reina who helped us go up the mast in April 2016 were back again when we were there this April.)

At the far end of Killarney Lake (Bowen Island)

Our plans were to spend a third night out on Pelagia. However, the forecasts were full of 35-40 knot gale warnings for the Strait of Georgia, beginning late Friday night. With a dinner arrangement with friends back home in Whistler on Saturday night, so we decided it best to head back to Vancouver Friday. We had a nice, gentle downwind sail all the way to Stanley Park. We stayed Friday night on Pelagia at VRC in Stanley Park; at 12:20am, the winds started howling. They stayed howling all night and Saturday. Heading home Saturday morning, driving over the Lions Gate Bridge, we marvelled at the nasty seas out in Vancouver's English Bay. We were very glad we returned to Vancouver on Friday!

Back in Whistler, there is still lots of snow on the mountains, and skiing has actually been very good (indeed, one can still ski from the Peak all the way down to the Village... but only for a little while longer*). David has been having some good days on the hill (Michelle thinks it is too warm to ski.). A most fun run was down Seppo's ( empty of skiers, as the Garbanzo Chair is shut down for the season thus one has to hike up to reach Seppo's (only 10 mins)). Skiing off the Peak has been excellent.

*May 5th turned out to be the last day to ski all the way down to village. On May 6th W-B closed the lowest portion, digging it up to prepare for the bike park opening. Downloading on gondola from Olympic midstation now required.

May 3rd: Whistler

May 3: Looking down "Seppo's" -- still tons of snow. Lots of fun.

The Peak and Whistler Bowl (May 6th)

Temperatures down in the Whistler valley are now reaching into the 20s (degrees C), so perhaps it is getting too warm for skiing for even David. Bears are out of hibernation and we are seeing them regularly on the golf course.

It is an interesting time of the year here.

Back home... and skiing!

Plenty of snow on Blackcomb Mountain (March 12)

Arrived home to Whistler late last night, after 6 days relaxing (and eating!) in Thailand. From +34°C to -3°C and fresh snow. 

Beautiful day to ski, even with the jetlag.

And today marks Michelle's return to skiing, three months since breaking her wrist in December.

Michelle skiing on Springboard

Happy to be back on the mountain together

Another ski season begins (albeit slowly)

Michelle hates being photographed skiing...

Skiing at Whistler-Blackcomb opened today, albeit pretty limited (only 2.5 runs open). We spent a few hours on the hill just to get a feel, then escaped the crowds.

Skiing down Ego Bowl, Whistler Mtn

Meanwhile, down in the valley, not all the bears have gone to sleep....

Bear on Whistler Golf Course (November 21, 2018)

Back home in the mountains (Whistler)

Decker Tarn (Overload Glacier & Fissile Peak in background), August 2017

Finally returned home to Whistler after 2 months cruising on Pelagia.

Quickly got up for hikes on local mountains.

Wonderful to be back in the mountains.

We're still here... skiing

Michelle at Whistler Peak, Easter Sunday: heading down Whistler Bowl

Blog went silent for months as all we've done is basically ski... well, mostly.

It has been a great season snow-wise here at Whistler. Tons of snow since opening day in November. As photo above shows (from yesterday, Easter Sunday), there is still is lots of snow left (indeed, more than there was in January/February).

For David, it has been a somewhat frustrating ski season: torn calf on Day 2 of season (3.5 weeks recovery), 8 days off for bad cold (both of us), and in February another 2 weeks off for a back and shoulder injury from a "hard" fall. In between injuries, much more "cautious" skiing. Lots of aches and pain... (must be getting old 😒). So, not quite as "gung ho" of a season as we would have liked.

Not to say we haven't had some great days skiing! 🎿🎿

On top of Spanky's Ladder (March 20, 2017)

Looking up at Ruby Bowl (Spanky's at top)

Still, we are still skiing and had a great day on the slopes in the sun on Easter Sunday.

Whistler Mountain closes April 23rd; Blackcomb Mountain stays open until May 22nd. There will be no shortage of snow.

Meanwhile, we are making plans for sailing this Summer, as well as a biking-boat trip in Germany in May.

Back skiing!

3.5 weeks after tearing his right calf muscle, David is finally back on the mountain. Just in time as we received 31 cm of powder in the past 24 hours (not that he went near the pow... calf is not ready for that yet).

A little less of an "old man" today.

Back home in Whistler, BC: Snow on the mountains!

We are now back home in Whistler.

While away in Nepal, a warming trend melted much of the snow on the mountains. However, it has been (and is currently) snowing, and we fully expect to be skiing next week!

We have updated our preceding blog post (with photos) concerning our Poon Hill/Annapurna Base Camp treks, and have posted all our Poon Hill/ABR trek photos on an album on our FLICKR account:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sv-pelagia/albums/72157675133841272 

Changing seasons...

Brandywine Meadows (looking across to Black Tusk), August 30th, 2016

After returning from our Vancouver Island circumnavigation, our plan was to return to Whistler to get some "mountain" time. During August-September, we did numerous dayhikes, as well as one 2-night/3-day backpack. We soon found  out that our 2+months on Pelagia this Summer didn't help to keep us in hiking shape.

Black Tusk (from trail to Mt. Price), September 13, 2016

Looking south towards Whistler (from trail to Cougar Mt.), October 2, 2016

Ancient Cedars trail (October 2, 2016)

Enjoying our time in the mountains, we only managed one 3-night trip out on Pelagia, with one very wild sail (average 7+ knots) for 5 hours. During that short trip, we reconnected with David and Gillian on SV Carousel (our "buddy boat" for a few weeks this past Summer. Pelagia is now "bundled up" for the Winter.

As October came along, the season did a fast shift from Summer to Fall to perhaps "early" Winter. The aspens and other trees have turned golden and other colours. Bears (and other animals) are frantically filling-up with food for their Winter hibernation.

Bear in our parking lot (filling up on berries from tree), October 8, 2016

And to everyone's great excitement -- well, perhaps not the bears' -- snow has now blanketed the upper half of the mountains. Lots of snow (over 76 cm fallen as of Oct 18th)!

Snow on Blackcomb Mt., October 9, 2016

Whistler Peak, October 9, 2016

Looking down 7th Heaven, October 9, 2016

Emerald  chair on Whistler Mt, October 19, 2016

Skiing officially starts November 24th -- we're hoping for an earlier start!

Back to the mountains...

Wildflowers on Whistler Mt

Our circumnavigation of Vancouver Island is now complete, and we are back home in Whistler, enjoying the mountains. It's hot up here!

We ended our circumnavigation with a few nights on Pelagia in the Gulf Islands. Beautiful as ever, but oh so crowded. We really were spoiled on the west coast of the island as well as in the Broughtons. Prior to the Gulf Islands, the most boats we had in an anchorage was 14 (the one night in Joe's Bay in the Broken Group), and that was an aberration (other places in Barkley Sound had only  1-4 other boats anchored).

So, we were happy to get Pelagia back to her home berth at the Vancouver Rowing Club.

Black Tusk from Whistler "High Note" trail

Overlord Glacier and Mt. Fissile from Decker Loop trail (Blackcomb Mt)

Back home in Whistler -- Powder skiing!

Blackcomb Glacier: Michelle just had her best powder run of the season....

Back home in Whistler, after two weeks of sun and heat in Thailand. David's ribs mostly (though not completely) healed. Good enough to get back skiing.

While we were gone, the mountains received over a couple hundred centimetres of new snow.

Great powder skiing today.

Aren't you bored living up at Whistler?

View of the Black Tusk from Whistler Peak (December, 2015)

Nope!

It always surprises us, but it's a question we've been asked several times recently. Our answer is an emphatic "No!" With the snows of winter now well established here in Whistler, we have been (and are) more active than ever.

We typically go downhill skiing on Whistler and/or Blackcomb Mountains 3-4 times per week. Most times, we arrive back home in our condo (less than a 10 minute walk from the lifts, not including time for a stop at the liquor store...) at the end of the skiing day tired but happy.

Michelle heading down "Peak-to-Creek" (December, 2015)

At the Peak (January, 2016)

The other days of the week, we choose between

• long walks (usually on the plowed "Valley Trail" or the nearby golf course). We see lots of other people and their dogs (the dogs clearly love the snow), and often see wildlife 

Walk on the Whistler Golf Course (Dec 28, 2015)

View of Blackcomb Mt while walking on the Whistler Golf Course (Dec 28, 2015)

For some reason, bobcats seem more plentiful this Winter (today's sighting was the 3rd bobcat seen by Michelle) 

Bobcat seen during walk today on the Valley Trail (Jan 11, 2016)

 

Bobcat on Valley Trail (Jan 11, 2016)

• snowshoeing in the woods somewhere in the valley

1st snowshoe of the Winter (Green Lake Loop, December 2015)

Cheakamus River (Logger's Lake snowshoe, January 3, 2016)

Footbridge over Cheakamus River (Logger's Lake snowshoe, January 3, 2016)

Happy snowshoers...

Logger's Lake: our lunch goal on this snowshoe day (Jan 3, 2016)

Whiskey Jack (Canada Jay or Gray Jay) after our snacks at Logger's Lake

Whiskey Jack: Cute but persistent...

• X-country skiing (so far, on free tracks set nearby on the Valley Trail or on the golf course; in the next few weeks, we'll likely go to the extensive trail systems at Lost Lake Park or Whistler Olympic Park/Callaghan Valley -- both requiring trail passes).

New snow on the golf course (Dec, 2015)

1st XC ski of season (Whistler golf course, December 2015)

X-C skiing at Rainbow Park, Alta Lake and Blackcomb Mt. in background (Jan 10, 2016)

Of course, just sitting in our living room with a view to the ski hills and watching the snow come down, as we are doing right now, is also an enjoyable past time.

No, we are not bored living here at Whistler.