So welcome to my sneaky guest post for my snowboard camp that Cheryl mentioned last week.
My adventure all started with this excellent snowboard tutorial site, Snowboard Addiction. If you ever need any tips for progressing your riding, you should 100% check them out, no matter your level — their videos taught me a ton.
Anyway, back in January I got an email from Snowboard Addiction about this snowboarding summer camp in Whistler at Treeline Camps. This snowboard summer camp is held in late June, yes, but as it is located on the Horstman Glacier at the top of Whistler/Blackcomb, there’s snow year round.
To be honest, the thought had never even crossed my mind that something like this would exist, so naturally, when it hit my inbox, I got a little excited. Getting to snowboard in summer would be amazing, and getting taught how to snowboard better by some of best coaches in the world – holy moly!
So after a chat with Cheryl (and a lucky tax return), I signed up and booked my flight to Whistler for the 3-day (half length) adult snowboard camp.
To say it was worth it would be an under statement — what a good time! My only regret was that I didn’t do the full camp. The camp directors, Lisa and Luke, were so incredible, and Lisa even lent me a piece of her bindings when one of my screws fell out, which let me finish my last day of riding on a huge high note vs. a massive bummer.
The coaches were equally awesome: Nev Lapwood (founder of Snowboard Addiction) and Duncan Mainland (a coach that regularly appears in Nev’s videos) had such an excellent way of teaching and instructing … as well as being hilarious.
After three days I certainly saw a lot of progression in my riding, but I also took away a lot of specific things to work on, as well. This is actually one of the key reasons I thought three days wasn’t quite enough — I didn’t really want to spend the time working on the areas that frustrated me, I mainly wanted to focus on having as much fun as possible, as my time was so short.
I’ll admit this was not the worst problem to have.
Some highlights:
Bears!!! There were literally black bears everywhere.
The drive from Vancouver to Whistler = so beautiful!
The people. Getting to ride with some people who are as passionate, if not more passionate, than me about snowboarding was so much fun.
The Peak to Peak Gondola (and drinking a beer on said gondola) from Blackcomb to Whistler was an amazing ride.
There is a ton of other stuff I could mention as well, but I think this guest post is definitely long enough. So in the words of my lovely wife … Bis Bald Friends!
So I picked Chris up from the airport last night after his 5-day summer snowboard camp in Whistler, and I think it’s safe to say he had an amazing time (and may have even actually learned a pretty cool trick or two).
Chris will be back hopefully early next week with his own very special guest post on the experience, but until then, enjoy the view above 😉
So I know you’re all: “Hey man, it’s May. And you’re over here talking about snow and ski passes and stuff. What’s up with that?”
Or some form of the above.
As any die-hard skier/snowboarder will know, season passes for places go on sale wicked early (as in I’ve been getting emails regarding my Epic Local Pass for over a month now, and I’ve already missed the deadline to sign up and receive 6 buddy passes along with it. Oops.) Anyway, the point is, the early bird catches the worm when it comes to ski passes, and this season there’s a whole lot more to love with the Mountain Collective 2015/16 pass, now that Sun Valley, Idaho and Thredbo, Australia have joined the fray.
If you live in the Mountain West — or even just plan to be in any of their six awesome locations for more than 3 or 4 days — this pass is absolutely worth it. Included with the $379 purchase are access to nine leading ski destinations, including Sun Valley, Idaho, Thredbo, Australia, Banff, Alberta, Whistler, BC, Aspen, Colorado, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, AltaSnowbird, Utah, Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows, California and Mammoth Mountain in California.
That’s a whole lotta great places to ski or snowboard, my friends.
Included in this deal are two days of skiing or riding at each of the nine destinations, plus a 50 percent discount on all additional days with no blackout dates. Pricing for the kids’ pass (ages 12 and under) is just $99 for the 2015-16 season.
Get your passes here before it’s too late! Hope to see you on the mountains ….
So Cath just sent us a text message to say that she’s on the plane now, headed back to Aus-Town.
Sad.
It’s only been two weeks, but MAN we packed it in in two weeks! We had gotten pretty used to having that bundle of Aussie energy around…it’ll take a bit to get back to normal, I think.
Anyway, in honor of Cath’s last day, here’s what happened on our last day of adventures at Prince Edward Island….
Cath and I sat down last night so we could go over all her notes from our trip to Prince Edward Island (a trip she’s been wanting to take for quite a while now). So without further ado, now that I’m fairly certain all of my details are accurate, here’s a rundown of our trip to Canada….
After a two-hour delay out of JFK into Charlottetown (in which we flew in what is seriously the tiniest plane I have ever been on), we didn’t end up arriving at our bed and breakfast—The Sonata Inn on Grafton Street—until after 11 p.m. We were starving, but Charlottetown reminded me a bit of Salzburg in the fact that no restaurant would be open at such a late hour.
Luckily for us, though, Dale, the lovely owner of our B&B, took our delay and late arrival into account, and upon letting us in and giving us a tour, he also informed us that he had left a small basket of food in the room just in case we were hungry. This, my friends, is one of the benefits of staying in a friendly little B&B.
Thanks for the chips, fruit cups, and granola bars Dale!Our cute little room, which happened to have a large, walk-in closet that was haunted by a light ghost. That’s right, a ghost who kept turning the lights on and off.
After a restful night on the comfy beds at the B&B, we all headed down to the breakfast on Friday morning before we started our day. As this was my first B&B experience, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew some socializing would be on the agenda, and that we would most likely be sitting with other groups of people at the table.
Turns out it wasn’t half bad! That morning we ended up sitting with three couples—one of which happened to be the two most adventurous 80-year-old people I have ever met in my entire life (seriously, they’ve been skydiving and zip lining and para-sailing…they really live it up!)—while we chowed down on muffins, fruit, yogurt, and homemade eggs and ham (I skipped out on that brekkie, as you could probably have guessed). It was actually kind of nice to get a chance to meet some other travelers, to hear about what they had already done on the island, and to get some pointers on things we should check out.
After breakfast, and after Chris had picked up our rental car…
Then we hit the open road. We took a scenic drive along the coast, stopping to have lunch at a fantastic little place on Brackley Beach called The Dunes, overlooking the Green Gables Shore. The cafe sold food and drinks, sure, but it also was an artsy venue, as well as a flower garden and pottery studio.
It cost us $20 to get onto the beach, which is a bit much. But it definitely was pretty
Eclectic artwork at The Dunes CafeThe gardens at the CafeCrab cakes….oh my!My delicious Pho soup with the famous PEI musclesThere was awesome furniture in the outdoor area that had all been carved out of driftwood
After our fabulous lunch, we all loaded back into the car and drove up the coast to North Rustico, this adorable tiny little fishing village.
Then it was on to the famous Cavendish to partake in the history of Anne of Green Gables, which included seeing the house where L.M. Montgomery’s cousins lived, which is believed to have been the inspiration for her stories, as well as the site of where the home of her grandparents used to be, which is where L.M. herself grew up. We walked the trails surrounding the little green Anne house, read some of the history of the place, and took lots of photos.
Full disclaimer: I’ve never actually read the books. Oops. But don’t fret, friends. I purchased my very own copy of Anne of Green Gables directly from Prince Edward Island, so it will be the very next thing I read.
The famous green house of Anne of Green GablesAnne’s roomOn the trails behind the Anne house
After we’d had our fill of Anne, we tried to check out Avonlea, as well, but there was a big music festival happening the same weekend, so unfortunately it was closed off. So instead, we headed over to Cows Ice Cream (seriously some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had) in Bay View for a treat and a bit of a rest before hitting up our final destination of the day—New Glasgow for The Toy Factory, where Cath picked up some cute things for the kids in her classroom and her granddaughter.
New Glasgow scenery
After a full day of driving and site seeing, we were definitely starved. So after New Glasgow we headed back to our hotel to freshen up for our dinner at Lobster on the Wharf, where Chris and I would eat our first of three lobster rolls on this trip (Lobster Roll Rating No. 1: 3.5 for good lobster, but not enough of it, and the roll was just a bit hard (hey, we wait a long time for lobster rolls, we deserve to rate them! The potato salad was homemade and delicious, though, as was my Bloody Caesar drink (the Canadian version of a Bloody Mary, made with clam juice, so says Chris).
We ate out on the deck, which was beautiful, until I got so cold I couldn’t feel my right hand anymore and I had to ask if we could please move this party inside. Cath and Chris happily obliged.
Sunset at Lobster on the WharfCalamari and scallop appetizers…yum!Lobster roll No. 1Enjoying a little lobster
So it was a busy day, my friends. But even so, when we arrived back at the hotel after dinner we borrowed London Suite from the B&B video library to watch.
And I promptly fell asleep.
I’m told I didn’t miss much.
Bis bald, friends! Stay tuned tomorrow for an update on Saturday’s adventures…
Hi friends. So we’re back from Prince Edward Island! It was a whirlwind trip that culminated in a 7 a.m. Sunday morning flight back into the city. But that’s okay, because the early flight leaves us with enough time for brunch at Jane, which we are all getting ready for right now.
While we’re waiting, I figured I’d throw up some photos from our adventures last weekend. Here are a few highlights:
Our first beach stop on the Jersey Shore—SeabrightWe ate lunch at a great little restaurant in Seabright called Dive
The Spirit Line lunch cruise we took on Saturday gave us great views of the skyline
On Sunday it was off to Brotherhood Winery and....WhitecliffOn the way home from Newburgh, I snapped this photo of the sun setting over the Hudson at the Beacon train stationThen it was back to the city to catch the fireworks over the Hudson from the rooftop of the Saatchi & Saatchi building
So that was last weekend! Stay tuned for a Prince Edward Island update soon…but I’ll say this—it’s as quaint, beautiful, and serene as you would imagine it to be.
Hi Guys!
