Breckenridge

Breckenridge was the last stop with Mark's family. Break is an old mining town though is now pretty touristy.

We had a few sunny days, fresh tracks and enjoyed evenings out about town. A day off in Denver to do some shopping brought out the best in all of us - we havent really evolved from the old family trips driving round lake murchison 20 odd years ago.

People mover doing what it does best.

Susan showing off some first tracks.

Outdoor pools dont always run in winter.

Sliding down the side of a dogs head - random.

Mark lapping up some cold culture.

The young-uns on the lift (girls have white goggles for reasons unknown).


Meeting the godfather of catfish in the Bass shop in Denver.

Looking at the highest peak of Breck.

3,900m+ skiing!

Mark and Susan slightly higher at the summit.

The last supper at the Bubba Gump shrimp house.

Farewell at the Arapahoe Inn; some back to work, some off to play.

Keystone part one

En route from Aspen to Keystone in the mini-van our 7th travel companion - the superbug Pete brought with him from San-Fran, took up residence in our stomachs. Most of the week at keystone was spent trying to work out which end to point at the toilet. Glad we were not in Laos for that experience.

Mark bought some new 170cm Vokl Mantras which are a mid-fat powder ski that still cuts it up at high speed on groomers... the ultimate all mountain ski.

Temperatures dropped to new lows for us. -25C at night and not much warmer during the day. Frostbite is a real concern at these temperatures as exposed skin is subject to some pretty appauling wind chill once you get skiing.

Keystone itself is an intrawest style resort, think purpose built ski town. Anyways, more on this in part deux.

Aspen

A delayed flight from Vancouver to Calgary had us miss our flight down to Denver. After a bit of excitment we had several hours to wisely spend our last Canadian currency. We met with Marks family (mum, dad, Pete, and girlfriend Gabby) in Denver at the airport hotel. Most of Jan was to be spent touring en mass in a people-mover through Colorado.

...and here we have snow.

First stop from Denver was Aspen which was the furtherest we got into the Rockies and is more of a resort town than a weekender destination (read:less crowds).

Heading through town to the slopes.

After a day to get our bearings and adjust to altitude, the gods were in our favour and started dumping the magical white fluffy stuff. It pretty much kept snowing for the whole 9 days and was the heavist snow storm in 10 years. Up to 18" a day of pow pow led to the epic flag being raised - face shots at every turn! Some of the locals were hucking big air but we were happy finding our powder-feet and making bow-waves down the hill.

Bow waves in thigh deep pow.

Dog sleds crossing the trail.

Aspen itself was very quaint with fairy lights and fur coats round town, needless to say we spent most of our waking hours on the empty slopes lapping up powder, and our evenings spent in exhaustion induced coma's on the sofa.

Snow creatures at the sculpture competition.

A documenary on the local wildlife.

Vancouver

The year in NZ finished in a flurry. Christmas functions, packing, and completing work for handover led to a lot of graft and little sleep. We didn't organise a farewell function but instead are looking forward to catching up with everyone on their adventures.

Our week in Vancouver started with some snow and about 3 days of sleep. Staying at Susan's Aunt and Uncles place in White Rock (a coastal suburb of Vancouver) we were treated to great food and hospitality while we vegetated at their place.

Getting out of the house, we went for a few walks around White Rock, and had some fun riding through ice and snow on mountain bikes.

A highlights included:
* visiting the alpine North Vancouver and walking a very slippery swing bridge
* seeing the Beluga whales at the aquarium (they come up and look at you through the glass if you jump about)
* seeing all the bums in China town (people, not gluteous maximus)
* ferry to Vancouver island to see our friends Jono and Rach for New Years

The most remarkable thing about downtown Vancouver had to be the huge population of homeless people. Apparently Vancouver, being the most temperate city in Canada, it a bum-haven. The bum district is just south of China town and we would have easily seen over a hundred bums and crack-heads dealing, pushing trolleys, eating chestnuts, and generally having a good time. It was totally bizarre.

New Years was spent in the state capital of Victoria on Vancouver island. Jono and Rach had us to stay for the night and we had a pleasant evening strolling/stumbling around the old town in Victoria. The ferry to the island and back was an interesting trip, with dolphins, seals etc. Back on dry land we were in better shape than our mate Shaun Forrest who had enjoyed the Canadian hospitality a little too much the night before.