This morning I spent a few hours putting the finishing touches on my book, Swords or Iron, Israel at War, a Canadian Surgeon’s Perspective. I will meet with my editor on Monday and hope to have the book published in 2 weeks.
We met Antoine at Starbucks for a coffee and then drove out to the University of British Columbia. The university is situated on a huge piece of protected land on the coast, west of the city. The campus is absolutely beautiful. The Museum of Anthropology is situated on the campus. We spent a few hours there looking at native art from B.C. and other places around the world. There is a large collection of totem poles both in the museum and on the campus. We also visited the concert hall.
We ate dinner with Antoine and Julia at their appartment this evening. We fly to Montreal tomorrow morning.
Last evening we were guests of Antoine and Julia at a fondue restaurant. The food was great. I love to dip bread crusts into cheese fondue.
Today was cloudy and foggy but in spite of the poor visibility, the snow conditions were exceptional. We started the day at Blackcomb and took the Peak to Peak gondola to Whistler at noon where we did a few runs and them stopped for lunch. Our group consisted of 5 skiers all about the same level. Everyone skis faster than me on the intemediate trails but I am able to hold my my own on steep, powdery, tree, glade, trails with big moguls. That seems to be my speciality. Antoine takes good care of me, never letting me out of his sight when we are on expert double diamond terrain. Often he will ski behind me to play ‘clean up’ in case I get into trouble.
Tonight Dominique and I went out to eat at a high end Italian restaurant not far from the Sheraton where we are staying.
Last evening was the beginning of passover so we had a mini seder. I tried in vain to buy matzah in Whistler but non of the groceries even knew what matzah is. Antoine looked up ‘how to make your own matzah’ on the internet and found a great recipe. He made the best matzah that I had ever eaten.
Today was a cloudy day with fog at the top of the mountain. Visibility was poor. The snow conditions consisted of heavy, heavy broken powder from the night before. It was very tiring on the thighs. Nevertheless we managed do 13,000 vertical feet which is what we usually do. We did a couple of steep tree runs with moguls and that is where we found the best snow.
Later we met up with the girls in the village and I had a spicy margarita. We are going to out for cheese fondu this evening.
We awoke to wet snow this morning at the base which quickly changed to better wet snow at the top of the mountain. Visiblity was poor in the middle of the mountain but seemed clearer at the top. I snowed lightly all day. We met up with Chris, Julia’s cousin and skied with him for the day. We took the Blackcomb Goncola up to the Glacier chair and then the t-bar to the top to the glacier. We then had to climb about 150 metres to get to the glacier. The first time I did it with much heavy breathing. The second time, Chris acted as my sherpa. He took my skies and I took his poles. I obviously got the better deal.
We saw one 2-3 year old kid do a difficult entry to the glacier with ease and the continued down the hill with his father. We all stood there in awe. The ski down was great. If you chose a good line, you could do most of the descent in unbroken or broken powder. At he end of the day we had our usual pizza with beer at the Handlebar Bar.
We awoke to another bluebird day with the temp. up 10 degrees to 5 C. We took the Blackcomb Gondola to the top of the mountain and then took the Peak to Peak gondola to Whistler. The gondola is the highest and probably the longest ski gondola in the world. It rises 1 mile above the valley below. It can carry about 20 passengers at a time and there are several going up and down in the same direction. Most gondolas only have 1 up and 1 down at a time. Every dozen gondolas there is 1with a plastic see through floor. Some people wait in line to take it while others avoid it at all costs.
We skied on Whistler Mountain today with Julia’s aunt. In the afternoon the girls skied together on intermediate slopes while Antoine and I did the high bowls which were steep black diamond runs. The bowls had good coverage with soft moguls as big as Volkswagens. Our best runs were on Sun Bowl which as the name suggest faces the sun for much of the day. The slope must be about 40 to 45 degrees and the moguls were topped with soft snow making them rather nice to ski around. Falling is out of the question as you could easily slide 100 to 200 meters. We did not fall. My skis were great in the soft broken powder snow.
We skied until 4:00 pm and were both pretty tired. Our thighs were burning. We met Julia, Dominique and Heather, my friend’s daughter who lives in Whistler, at the Handlebar Bar for piazza and beer. Unfortunately we missed the last chair and had to walk several hundred meters up hill to our condo.
We arrived in Whistler yesterday afternoon and took possession of our condo. The girls went out shopping for food while Antoine accompanied me on my quest for gortex ski pants made by any company that had pants that fit me. Apparently, this is the last year for goretex to be manufactured. It is a wonderfu material designed by Mr. Gore who passed away a few years ago. It is 100% waterproof even in pouring rain and breaths so you don’t get overheated. It also lasts for ever and is virtually indistructable. Unfortunately, the manufacturing process is carcinogenic for the factory workers and it is impossible to recycle. I have been looking for gortex lined (not a shell) pants that fit me for over 1 year. After visiting a number of stores and trying on a dozen pairs of pants I finally found one made by Peak Performance, a Swedish company. I must have one in black as that is the colour for ski patrol pants. There was one left in the world so they will ship it to me in 2 weeks. Wow!!
We were up early and skied from 9:30 to 3:30 with a short break for lunch. Whistler is a fabulous ski station. It is divided into 2 parts, Whistler and Blackcomb. We skied all day on Blackcomp and didn’t ever touch half the trails. The Whistler Resort is huge, the biggest in North America and twice as big as most of the other resorts. It was a bluebird day with sunny skis, a few clouds and -5 C. You could not ask for a better day of skiing. The day started off with hard packed snow which eventually softened up around noon. We did groomer, broken powder runs, bowls and tree runs.
Spanky’s ladder is a snow ladder, 100 meters high at the top of the mountain and leads to expert black diamond and double black diamond trails. We took off our skis and started climbing. I make it ¾ of the way up and was gasping for breath hopefully only because of the altitude. Antoine generously climbed down to meet me and took my skis up for the last ¼ of the climb. The climb was well worth the effort as the run was largely untracked in places allowing me to enjoy my new skis. At the end of the day we did a diamond, tight, steep tree run appropriately named ‘Where’s Joe’ as is difficult to keep your colleagues in sight. This was the first time that I was able to try my skis on a tree run and they performed really well. To reward ouselves for a day well done, we had piazza and beer at the Handlebar, Bar where we met Dominique.
We each take turns cooking. Last evening it was Dominique’s turn. Tonight it is Antoine and Julia’s turn. They all know better that to ask me to take a turn.
Yesterday, we had a croissant and coffee in the hotel allowing me some time to write my blog. I then had a very liquid day that I will explain. We had our usual scone and cappuccino at a local coffee shop and then walked towards the port where we had arranged to meet up with Antoine. We toured the port allowing me time to admire the many sailboats. I could walk along docks and look at boats all day in any waterfront city and never get tired of taking similar photos.
We ate lunch at an upscale Vietnamese-French restaurant where we were the only individuals of white origin. Antoine and Dominique had salads but I was not hungry so I just drank a Vietnamese beer. We then took the ferry boat to Granville Island. The island is a cute destination and is filled with book stores, restaurants and shops. After walking around for a while we stopped for a liquid snack at a sake bar. We each drank a few glasses and left with a bottle of sake to take to Whistler. If I continue with this ‘healthy’ diet I will begin to look like the fellow in the film ‘Supersize Me.’
We later met up with Antoine’s wife Julia and her family at a renowned bub in downtown Vancouver just steps from our hotel.
This is my second trip out west to ski and probably my 40th altogether. We flew on a direct flight from Montreal to Vancouver, the only incident being that my wife and I were not seated next to each other. The flight attendant offered us chocolate bars and drinks an hour into the flight. I chose tomato juice and wine which I realized was an error on my first sip at 10:00 a.m. They no longer serve food on domestic flights so we brought along our own empanadas. I was able to drink the wine with the empanadas for lunch.
We are staying in Vancouver for 2 nights at a downtown boutique hotel called the Victorian. It is located in a great area close to walking distance to the major attractions. We walked along Hastings Street to get to Gastown which is the older part of downtown Vancouver. When I first came here 40 years ago, there was 1 block on Hastings where all the druggies lived on the street. The area has expanded greatly since then as Vancouver attracts down and outs from all across Canada due to the climate here and the ability for one to sleep out on the street in the winter. For one reason or another we have left a large segment of the population behind in our country. I don’t know the solution.
We walked all over the downtown area. There are an over abundance of coffee shops, all quite cute and selling $8.00 croissants and $6.00 cappuccinos with 18%, 20% or 20% suggested tips. There is a beautiful view of the mountains in the distance and one can see the harbour as well. The beach is not far away. The flowers are in bloom everywhere. Vancouver rarely gets snow and had non this season. Later we met my son Antoine for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. I never take home a doggy bag but the bread was so good we took some home for breakfast.
Last evening we had the conference banquet. The conference has been going on for 46 years and I have attended many of them. The atmosphere is very relaxed and many of the urologists bring their wives and children. Everyone is dressed in ski centre casual. The food and wine were adequate and everyone was in a very good mood. The conference, although the numbers were decreased compared to recent years was very successful. Personally, I prefer the atmosphere of smaller conferences where you can speak freely with the conference presenters. I met some old friends as well as a couple, Marty and Ellen from Denver. He is a paediatric urologist originally from Winnipeg and almost took a position in Montreal. Ellen is an excellent skier and we arranged to ski together today.
One of the conference leaders, Brian, who I knew from previous meetings, asked me how many conferences that I had attended and if I could say a few words. Never at a loss for words, I told a little story. Dr. Ralph Hopkins organized the conference until 2013. At the conclusion of the conference, in Jackson Hole,while I was putting on my ski boots, he came up to me and addressing me by my first name, asked me how I had liked the conference. I was rather surprised that Dr. Hopkins, the conference leader would even recognize me. After all, I am not very important in the urology world. He then asked me if I enjoyed the skiing and would I be back next year. I replied affirmatively and we shook hands promising to see each other the following year. 3 months later he had a cardiac episode and passed away. I month later I had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. I can only imagine him looking down on me from above and muttering to himself “Hey Brian, where are you, we had a deal!”
Ellen and I met at 10:00 at a prearranged area at the bottom of the hill. It was a bluebird day, 5C and sunny. The powder that had fallen the day before and though broken, still gave adequate coverage with no ice showing. We followed the sun, skiing from one end of the mountain to the other. We did blues, blacks, tree runs, powdered bowls and trails. She is an excellent skier and can go down any type of hill. At around 1:00 we arrived at the far end of the mountain and after doing some tight powdery tree runs we stopped for hot chocolates and cookies.
To get back to our hotel we had to go up and down several trails taking several chairlifts. We were on top of the last run, at 3:00 pm, a black trail with moguls, sunny with broken powder, challenging but certainly doable. The trail narrowed at one point but I should have had no trouble getting through. I then experienced the absolutely worst fall of my 65 year ski career. I was skiing at moderate speed in good control when the tip of my ski hit a hidden rock. I fell straight forward over my skies and continued tumbling head over heels gaining more and more speed. I spread my arms and legs out, trying desperately to dig in and stop. It was no use, I just kept sliding and sliding. I wondered in my head if I would get badly hurt and hoped that I would not hit a tree on the side of the trail. I eventually stopped in powder snow, one ski on and one ski off 100 meters down the hill. One ski had fallen off and had accompanied me in my fall. Ellen picked up my pole which I had left further up the hill. The ski stop on one ski was bent. Two buckles on one boot were open and bent out of shape. The edge on the tip of one ski is badly bent and may not be reparable. I was gasping for breath but thankful that I had not been badly hurt. I have a minor sprain on my ankle and am limping. I pulled myself together and we skied slowly down to the bottom of the hill on an easy blue. What an experience!
Yesterday was a non descript day so I did not do a post. It was cloudy for most of the day with a 2 hour sunny period around noon. The snow was hard packed and I could have used my Eastern skis. I skied on blue groomers as they were the only trails available.
In the evening after dinner, I was invited to a party at the conference organizer’s hotel suite. I met several of my old friends from previous conferences and made some new acquaintances. The atmosphere is always very congenial at these smaller conferences. Next year they are planning to have the conference in Park City Utah. It has been on my bucket list for many years but this will be the first time that a urology conference will take place there.
Surprise, surprise!! It snowed all night and all day today. This gave us a total accumulation of 8 inches of heavy powder. This snowfall changed the mountain completely. The groomers had powder snow which made them more interesting. I also discovered some expert terrain which was not available the past few days. I skied on double blue and black trails. I found some glorious tree-glade terrain that had full coverage. At one point I found myself alone on a rather steep and narrow tree run. It was glorious. I continued along and found my self on top of a hidden bowl, 200 meters long, reasonably steep with untracked powder. At 2:00 pm I was the first skier to go down the slope. A chance in a life time.
I used to have trouble with tree runs. I would stop at each tree. I watched Antoine fly through the trees without stopping. When I asked him how he did it without stopping, he replied, “ Dad, your skis are 5 feet long and there is 8 feet between each tree. Don’t look at the trees. Just trace.” With some practice I understood what he meant. I don’t look at the trees anymore. I just trace my path and fly through them. Wow!
gobriantravel 