Graeme and I were on our own on Whistler for the last day. Hit blacks at the peak before really warming up and had kind of a frustrating morning. Eased off a bit in the afternoon, though, and had a much better time of it. Did keep getting lost, though. I really learned to appreciate the guides, as the maps don't always, well, map well to what you see in front of you, and things aren't always signed well, or even at all, and may even be signed in what seems in the heat of the moment to be a deliberately misleading fashion. But still, we went out of bounds for one the last routes, and had just a great time flying through very lightly travelled snow. Always end on a high note.
Went back to the hotel to grab our "civilian" clothes from the Jeep and head over to David's to shower, as we'd checked out that morning and stored everything in the Jeep. That was when we learned why it's important to zip pockets while riding a snowboard. JP learned a similar lesson last year when he lost his cell phone. Graeme had no key to unlock the Jeep. Much hilarity ensued, but in the end the tow truck guy the rental company called opened the car for us, we got out stuff out, and I managed to convince a very worried Graeme to walk away and stop watching the driver try to tow the Jeep out of an extremely tight underground parking spot.
It's not really so much that I wasn't worried that he was going to damage the Jeep, because quite frankly I couldn't see a way for the tow truck to pull the Jeep out without maybe taking its doors off. There really was nothing I could do to help, though, and I know nothing about towing and may have been worrying for nothing. The distractingly good-looking tow-truck driver was completely sanguine, and good-looking people are always right, yes?
Took the bus to YVR, finishing the last of the bourbon to quiet our jangly nerves, and found a quiet bench for Graeme to sleep on, as his flight wasn't until morning and it cost a testicle to stay at the Faimont at the airport.
All's well that ends well.
Pics are here.
Posted by Ken Allen at February 5, 2005 10:57 PM