Mount Cain Snow!!

It's been awhile since I've posted.  The theme here is snowboarding and more specifically Mt. Cain and how much snow it's got received (that's for you mom) this year.

Our first visit was over New Years where we celebrated and rode nothing but powder.  Check out the snow level around the cabin, at least the last 4 stairs showing and a big drop still off the decks out front and back.

I guess the tobogganing was really quite tame and perhaps too boring for Amber.

But she had a great time partying on New Years

The next time I was up there was just me; more powder and the Cain Cup in late January, a fun little slalom race down the face of the lower t-bar.  It was snowing so hard that I missed the last gate on the course in my first run due to visibility which was too bad because I had a great run.  The 2nd run I lost an edge a couple times but still ended up getting 1st in the men's oldtimer snowboard category which was a real laugh.  I snapped this self photo showing the cabin but again check the snow level Jan 21st-ish.

Lee, our cabin mate, ended up getting 2nd so it's made for some great cabin banter, although there was probably enough already without this.  The only place in the world where my 1st place medal looks any good is next to his 2nd place one so they are now up on the wall in the cabin. Here's Lee about to drop in for his second place performance.  Note that he has ski poles for the start whereas I did not, again just more of the banter and I'll be training hard for next year's race.

The next visit was late February where we had a great crew of people and if you can believe it, powder again each day, the 2nd of which was bluebird.  There was another race, this time a boardercross but it conflicted with my daddy daycare time.  Kristy finally got to get out and snowboard two days in a row.  I was really happy for her as these were her first couple days in two seasons and she got to rip lots of untracked runs on the upper t-bar.  Unfortunately I didn't take any outdoor shots of the cabin this time for some reason but got some party shots.

And some posing scenery shots...

But back to the snow levels.....check out this shot of the cabin taken March 24th and look at where Loca is standing next to the window.  Also note that we are now digging DOWN onto our stairs.

For the full appreciation you have to contrast this with a similar shot showing it in the summer.

So note that where Loca is standing is about on top of about 15 feet of snow.  The other thing is that in the back Loca can now walk off the side of the deck where you can see in the shot taken in January, it was easily still an 8 foot drop off the deck.


And speaking of amazing, how about the real reason all these cabins and a volunteer-run ski hill exist up there anyways....the skiing!  Well actually snowboarding and splitboarding for me. This photo is of the famous "Dream Chute" which you can see we ripped apart.  It's quite the mission to do this actually.  We were waiting in line for first t-bar at 9:30 and got back the 1st time around noon.  This shot was taken as we were approaching it for the second time.  It was so good that I just had to do it again.

Here is a shot of Lee ripping down Dream Chute from our morning run.  When photographed in portrait mode you get a better idea of the pitch of the run.  The very first pitch seems near vertical when you're dropping in.  We were tempted to air into this but at Mt. Cain the consequences of hurting yourself in this location are pretty bad.  The only way out of here is a traversing climb through the trees across a bowl (and slidepath) so we just played it safe and enjoyed it for what it was.

This is a shot of me charging it the 2nd time.  The wide angle of the camera just does not do it justice and makes it look about half as steep as it is.

And as long as I live, I'll never forget how good this backside slash felt.  I was just going so fast and then adding to that the g-forces from being up on the shoulder; if my soul has batteries this is the recharger.  I imagine surfing on a big ocean wave must feel something like this but at this point I can still only imagine.

And here is the video of my 2nd run that I will always remember.

Getting over to this place, even though it's right next to the ski hill is not easy.  This next shot is a view looking back towards the east side of the mountain to give an idea of where we were.  To get out you cross the bowl and traverse up through the trees.

Also on top of the mountain we found the elusive Kokanee Sasquatch.  This particular Sasquatch was my partner in crime for the "Double Dream Chute" and who's deep breathing you heard on the video.  I was impressed that Big T (Tyson) did the climb twice, especially because he wasn't on a splitboard for the traverse out and instead did it on snow shoes.

And simply because no post about Mt Cain is complete without the quintessential view of Mt Abel here she was.  On the Saturday, a group of 4 skiers did a line down this in front of a rocking beer garden just before sundown.  They definitely one-upped our descents down the relatively tame Dream Chute but for both our morning and afternoon rips we could see quite a gathering of people at the top lift watching us.  Overall, it was my best shredding of the winter.

As you can see it's been a great winter up at Mt.Cain!!

A much needed update

It's been far too long since I posted a McNelson family update! A lot has happened since the last post so I'll try to keep things as succinct as possible.

The first big event of the year was Amber's first birthday. We had a small celebration with just a few family members. The birthday girl had a pretty great day....especially when the birthday cake came out!

Mmmmm.....can I have cake for dinner too?

Other highlights of her birthday included:

Goofing around with "Uncle" Aaron

And getting in a birthday snug with Tibs

And the day wouldn't be complete without a birthday nap/snug with Grandma :)

Just over one month later I celebrated my big 3-0! I had a fantastic birthday weekend thanks to Tim who started things off by taking me out for a fancy dinner at one of Vancouver's revolving restaurants. The view from the top was amazing and the meal was delicious too!

Great view in the daylight

Even better view in the nightlight :)

After a great dinner we kept the celebration going with a trip to the Aquarium with a great group of friends. Although it was a big year to celebrate I opted for a more subdued celebration as there were a number of us that had small children. We had a great time nonetheless!

What's a birthday without cupcakes!

Our next family adventure was our trip to Mount Cain last weekend. It's always quite an ordeal to get there, but it pays off 100 times over when you get days like this:

It snowed so much that the first morning we were there the mountain was just a nice place to hang out. Everyone that did battle the mountains of endless powder said that they spent the entire morning getting stuck in one snow bank after another. Once the runs got a little more 'tracked out' we were able to get some nice powder turns in before closing time.

Amber also got geared up a few times for some snow treks. What is hilarious about this photo that you probably can't fully see is that Amber is such a marshmallow in this suit that she is actually physically stuck wherever I put her. Poor thing, although it's nice not having to worry about her being cold!

As for a general Amber update, she's progressing steadily. She's finally started pulling herself to standing - one morning I came into her room to find this:

She was standing, waiting for me to come and get her. When she saw me enter the room she started bouncing and shrieking with delight. I couldn't help but laugh :)

Due to our daycare provider being on vacation, Amber has been spending some quality time with Dad and, because she's so spoiled, Grandma McCourt has also been around to spend some time with her.

A familiar pose? I think so :)

Since Amber has been spending so much quality time with Dad these days she's really developing a great bond with him. She has the biggest smiles whenever she sees him and lately. She's also thinks it's hilarious to feed him her snacks. I guess she notices that he steals them any ways....lol.

I think that covers everything since the last blog. Hopefully I'll keep up with the posts a little better in the future so I won't have to have these mega posts every couple of months!