Olympic Fever sets in!
12 February 2010 | Apex Mountain, BC
Sunny, -3C at Peak, calm
SJL skiing the deep powder of Apex
Well, we left Silver Star on Tuesday and spent the night in Kelowna where we visited with friends living there. Then yesterday we drove down to Penticton and in 35 km in to Apex Mountain. And for 35 km we drove up and up and up! By the time we arrived at the resort, our ears were seroiously popping. And with the altitude came mountains of snow.
In Kelowna, the weather, typical for the Okanagan winter, was a warm 10C (50F) with not a sign of winter. In fact, we decided to buy a shovel and scraper for the car and had to go to three hardware stores before we found one. The winter stuff is all stored away, with the spring gardening centers opening! Some time I'll write about the many wineries of the Okanagan, where they produce beautiful vintages.
Up in Apex we found a small folksy base with few skiers about. We checked in for two days of skiing.
On Thursday we headed out to explore the mountain. We bought lift tickets for two days, and in two days, no one ever looked at them. Cecking out the mountain we found we were virtually alone. No lift lines meaning no skiers around! We got to the point where we felt crowded if we saw another person on our run.
In mid-morning we skiied down to watch the Chineese Aerial team practising... fantastic the heights they achieve! That makes three Olympic teams we have seen. We saw the Austrian Downhill team at Sun Peaks, and the Russian Biathalon at Silver Star. So we're clearly getting into the Olympic mood!
Today we headed out for more skiing into sunny skies and another 15 cm of fresh snow. And again no crowds. But we did see some vintage gear, rear-entry boots dating to the 1970's and some long straight skis!
By late afternoon, after a day of countless runs in the fresh powder and soft moguls, we were exhausted and headed back to pack up for our next adventure, up to Revelstoke, BC's newest resort in the Selkirk Mountains.