Panorama 2009!!

Friday, January 2, 2009, 6pm: scheduled departure from Fort Edmonton Park. Funny how I don't look tired at all... it was the beginning of a veryyy long weekend.
We left late, around 630ish. and made it to Panorama about 2am. Finally, everyone got their rooms and we settled in for the night around 3am. Most of our bus was upgraded to gold star condos, and I ended up at the Ski Tip Lodge, which was right at the base of the chairlift - so I could basically ski right into my condo! The slopes opened at 9 =)


It was -25C on Saturday, and by the time I got up the first chairlift (1 mile quad), I realized how unprepared for skiing on the mountains I really was.. but I made it down, safely, and relatively unharmed. and was ready for round 2. James, Tyler, and Mike were on the hill and made for good companionship when going down the run.
I got better as the day progressed, and soon I wasn't falling anymore and actually very much enjoying myself and the beautiful weather. The ski hill closed at 4, and we ventured back into the condos. After dinner and a nice long nap, we headed out to Kelly and Tifanie's condo about halfway down the village, for pre-drinking madness. James was already pretty far gone when I arrived, and I finally met the legendary Brody. yeahhhhhhhhhh =D too bad Aaron didn't come on the trip, or else it would have been significantly more epic of a night. After about another hour of drinking and random SouthPark cartoon watching, we decided it was time to head out. We trudged back up the village to T-Bar Grill, and luckily it was only about 3/4 full at that point, so getting in wasn't a problem.

The night was a downward spiral from then on. With copious amounts of beer drinking, and what I consider way too much drunken dancing, the time flew by as the bar got more packed. Tifanie lost her ID and subsequently wasn't allowed in, so it was just Kelly and I with the rest of the guys. A couple guys at the table next to us were very drunk already by the time we got there, and showing off some ridiculously odd sitting-in-chair-dancing skills they possessed. Needless to say they were the initial source of entertainment in the bar.

A wild night out at the bar wouldn't be complete without the typical moments of bromance. I love how the picture makes it look like Reid is blushing or laughing at something Jams is saying.
Love is in the air! =)
Anyways, I eventually headed back upstairs, because there was one more day of skiing left, and I was determined to get my ski on. Heading upstairs some time after 1am, I was bound to wake up before 9... right?

Since I was still running off the high from yesterday's skiing, I ventured up the second chairlift on day 2, and was adamant to make it down without falling. Some of the runs had moguls so I had to stop and turn around, but overall, the blue runs up higher weren't much more difficult.

Despite the overnight snowfall, there wasn't much powder and the slopes were still icy and hard, but manageable. Tyler and James ditched out, so Greg and I went to Cappuccino Hut ourselves. I'm sure there are pictures somewhere, that I don't currently have. I made a fool out of myself when I didn't grab a lid for my cappuccino, and subsequently spilled hot coffee on my bare hand as I stumbled in my ski boots to get up the snow covered steps. Thankfully another person saw and grabbed my cup from me so I could make it up the steps without any more scalding burns.
The view was fantastic, as we were situated roughly 2km above the level ground. It was a balmy -15 on day 2, and foggy as heck up high on the mountain. With the continual snowfall, and the generation of some fake snow, the fog was so bad in some areas that I actually had to stop skiing because I couldn't see directly ahead. This was frustrating, as it was hindering my ability to make it down in one go without falling - as I so adamantly protested that I be able to do by the end of the trip.

After a couple runs on the second chairlift, my physical incapabilities were catching up, and I needed to rest big time. I headed in to T-Bar to have lunch with Mike, Tyler and Brody, and managed to convince Tyler to head up for one more run with me. I was informed of James' venture up to Summit, and was unimpressed with being left behind, and of not being convincing enough myself to get James to head up with me. Leave it to Reid and Chris to coerce such a thing out of James.

Considering James spent a lot of the trip looking like the picture on the right, I was duly impressed that he was actually coerced to head up the second chairlift, not to mention to make it up the third to Summit as well.

Given the massive amounts of skiing and drinking done, the trip had to come to a close. Buses arrived at 330, and schedule to leave at 4. And the sad reality set in, that school was beginning the next day. =(


Arriving in Edmonton around 1130pm, we unloaded quickly and headed home - excited to plan the next trip out!