Malakwa

Forgot the camera! Is it worth posting? Is it even worth skiing? :)

We were at Malakwa on Saturday for the first time this season with Fred, Steve, and Junko. Brenda and I spent Friday night camping in the van where we tested our new catalytic heater. It worked well except when Brenda tried to light it. There was a bit of a flair-up and she singed all the hair off the back of her hand. She has a similar effect on the camp stove. It's a real skill.

Did I ever mention the time she tried to burn down the Sapphire Col hut? Remind me to tell you that story one day.

We also ran out of propane in both the van and in the backup stove. To steal a phrase from our friend Louis, say the following with a thick Quebecois accent...

"Catastrophe!"

There wasn't an single flake of snow at the start of the logging road but by the time we reached kilometer 17 the snowbanks were a few feet high. There isn't as much snow as last year but good enough for us!

We made a few runs and had a good time. We also met Steve's dog Jasper, a young German Shepherd. This was her first ski trip but she quickly got the hang of things by learning not to step on the tails of your skis when she was behind you and to keep moving when she was in the lead. I wish I had some photos of her "porpoising" through the deep snow. She was one tired pooch at the end of the day.

The word is that the logging road will be plowed until Christmas and we'll try to get a few more trips here before the road becomes impassable.