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Jasper Ski Trip 2003

Whitecourt, Venturers

February 21-23,2003

Friday:
At approximately 5pm we all arrived at Vickie’s house, to pack up the gear and head off. The approximately is of course a polite term for Sof, Darren, and Allister. (Allister was the only one who seemed to have a valid excuse though). Derek collected some outstanding red tape, and the caravan prepared for departure. The beast of course was the flagship, with Allister’s truck being the sportiest of the bunch. Bob’s vehicle, an intrepid looked comfortable, but the “I love Mayerthorpe license plan was somewhat disturbing. Greg, Matt, and Derek took the risk though, and Bob is really a cool guy…that is except for the fact that he allowed Greg to play techno at ear-shattering levels for far too long. Bill’s corolla, and Rose’s Saturn rounded up the fleet. Soon we were on the road and headed towards wonderful Jasper. We stopped momentarily at the gas station in Edson, where we picked up Scott Kopyn. Some of us wanted to go to Wendy’s for some hot food, but for some reason, there was like a gazillion people in the restaurant. After hooking everyone up with FRS radio’s we headed off into the open road once again. Near the park gates in Jasper , the radio waves were crowded with our favorite catch phrases such as , “have you seen the precious”, and “your mother”. Hans I think was trying to invent a second language. Luckily the techno in Bob’s vehicle had ceased, and some choice-excellent Simon and Garfunkel was being played. Soon it was about 9pm and we arrived in Jasper, at the McCready center. The Mcleoud valley Venturer group was already present (at least some people know how to be on time). Soon we unloaded the baggage, and headed off to skis please for ski rentals. When Vicki got the bill, we thought that we had gotten a killer discount…turns out that we only paid for one day rentals, so it wasn’t so killer. Back at the Mcready Centre, we all arranged our gear, and the food. Everyone was introduced, and Derek laid down the iron fist (what the deal was for the weekend). Then we prepared mug-up and later the lunch for the next day. Naturally the four person chess board found it’s way out, and everyone settled down for some games. Strangely enough some of the McLeod venturers had brought homework. (see guys, girls are crazy). Lights out came too soon, at 12PM. Though, the fun continued long into the night.

Saturday:
Saturday began with a sacrificial start. We threw Skylar to the snow. Well okay not really, but we had to sacrifice our sleep in order to get to the slopes early. Breakfast was regular oatmeal..not the instant stuff that comes in those little packages. Some the skeptics were convinced of its wholesomy goodness when they saw the brown sugar, raisins, and cream. With much delay we were off. Rose opted not to take her vehicle, because there was enough seats. Soon we made a startling discouvery….YR radio is good for something. On the way up to Marmot we heard the Ski Report….20cm of fresh snow. Yabba dabba dooooooo! Though everyone had been told before hand to meet at the 4th parking lot, there was obviously some misunderstanding there. Bob seemed to be the only one who knew where he was going. Vicki and Derek booked lessons, and went to pick up the lift tickets. Soon everyone headed up the slopes, hoping to take advantage of the snow before their lessons. Lessons were at 10 and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Derek hung out alone with an instructor who just took him down some sweet glades. Many of the snowbladers had fun except when their instructor wanted them to hit jumps. He finally gave up and just took the group down blue cruisers. Darren and Hans conveniently missed their lessons when they had to go to the bathroom. After the lessons, everyone took off their separate ways. Most of these separate ways ended off in the lower chalet for a few minutes while everyone enjoyed greasy pizza and poutine for elevinsies. Derek and Greg took off a real separate way after though. Greg suggested that they climb to the peak. One hour later it was climbed, but not without pain. Greg’s skis had a nickname I think, something like anvil. At the top, Derek called Tomas, Sof, and Scott on the FRS. After a few minutes at the top Greg and Derek headed down through the unpillaged powder. Derek was down in a zip, but Greg took a little while to get used to the powder. At 1pm everyone met in the chalet for lunch. Turns out the cheese had been evil and had melted all over our buns somehow. Other than that lunch was great. Greg, feeling the pain of the summit, opted to stay a little longer in the chalet. After a few more hours of great skiing the crew met up in the fourth parking lot. It’s a wonder everyone knew where it was, reflecting on the morning fiasco. After the short drive into Jasper we took off to the pool. First on the checklist was the hot tub, but the steam room was also in high demand. After the pool cleared, we got a game of water polo going: full contact of course. Unfortunately Derek got tired of Tomas doing his net minding (Tomas was on the other team), so he decided to slam Tomas with the ball. Later the game ended, and everyone began to leave the pool. The enchanting ice cream machine was not to be reckoned with though, and soon we were feeding it coins, to see the suction action. The machine did not look favorable on Joel though. Back at the McCready center we started supper, which turned out pretty good. We had chill time then, and everyone did his or her own thing. Ice cream was had for dessert, though there was a lack of interesting toppings this time around. Lunch was soon prepared for the next day. Lights out came once again too soon, but we all sucked it up and fell asleep.

Sunday:
This morning we had our usual oatmeal, and tons of fruit. Everyone began to pack up and ready themselves to leave. We cleaned up the hall, and headed out soon enough. We arrived at Marmot before opening, and it seemed deserted. There was a definite lack of people. The group of us young and agile people made it to the bottom and went to lessons immediately. The old people took a disturbingly long time to get to the bottom, and they missed us. Lessons were somewhat…interesting today. Though it was supposed to be a blue lesson, we ended up going down green runs. We knew it was going to be a joke when the instructor asked if we knew how to use the lift. I think we only learned one thing from that lesson: how to play hide and go seek. Well the rest of the day was great. Though it was about –25, we were warm, and it drove the crowds away. Greg would have none of hiking today for some odd reason. Once again we met for elevensies just before lunch. Lunch turned out to be less than spectacular than expected. I think Sof termed it correctly: soggy vinigar bread (pitas). Well after we ate as much lunch as we wanted, we were off for some more runs. Hans found a ledge that we could jump off, which proved to be fun. After Bill’s lesson a race was arranged between Bill, Derek, and anyone else who was in for the challenge. Tomas and Sofi went to the bottom of highway 16 to mark off the end point. After they were gone for about a minute the racing group took off. Derek and Hans took off and beat Sof and Tomas to the bottom some how. Just a few seconds….no maybe more than a few, well okay about a half minute later, Bill came down the slope. What a contest. Well after a few minutes the day had reached a close, and we headed off. Sob sob. At the rental shop we left our rentals. Derek pulled a sneaky sneaky and phoned pizza hut in Hinton ahead of time and let them know that we were coming. On the way we practiced quotes from Bond, Powers, and LOTHR. Hey it’s the best we could do to keep ourselves entertained. Once we arrived in Hinton our pizza was almost done. As usual ice wars broke out after supper. Scott couldn’t seem to get a glass of iced tea, and Tanner had a real problem getting a full size of pizza. Soon we said good-bye’s to the Mcleod Valley people, and headed back to good ‘ol Whitecourt. Along the way we had a “guess the song” competition, which must have caused some deafness. Soon we arrived in Hinton again and dropped Scott off. Soon Whitecourt jumped in front of our vehicles and the trip had reached a close. Another great weekend of skiing.