Sun Peaks 2013/14
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Or just continue reading below!
Excitement Galore
What a last 2 weeks, we have had some of the best powder days and then it’s pretty much been spring conditions for the last 7 days. Lots of sunshine and good times with friends but we desperately are looking for some more powder days.
The mountain is finally 100% open, which means there is 126 runs to choose from, 12 gladed areas which house lots of tree runs, a few sneaky hiking spots of find freshies and then a few spots where you shouldn’t hike cause you get stuck on the edge of a hill trying to hike back to the proper run up at 50+ degrees.
I started off the last 2 weeks where we had Kaitlyn’s birthday party, we all went to the top of tube time where they have a small bonfire and roasted smores. As staff members we got free rides on the tubes which is pretty fun and then went out to Sushi for dinner. Overall a really good night out and we will totally have to go back and do it again this season!
Few more days of work inbetween, (I did 9 straight!) and then we had to farewell Damien who is heading back to Australia to be responsible… or something along those lines. We had a staff appreciation dinner first, then went to hockey where we won 4-1 and I got a goal from about 2/3rds of the way down the ice with a sneaky shot just over the goalies pad. And then came back to staff accom to party up!
Then to top everything off, on Friday night we organised a trip down to Kamloops to watch the Blazers play (the local hockey team). They lost 6-2 but overall it was a good night. We went to Carlos O’Bryan’s for dinner (Irish pub) and they had the biggest food I’ve ever eaten. I could barely take a bite out of the burger and then had cheesy fries to top it off! It tasted amazing but was pretty messy.
After food we went over to the game. I got a jersey from the merchandise store and we watched the game.
Once I woke up the next morning, I slowly made it out the door to go for a shred. Since we are lacking any new snow, everything is icey and not all that fun to ride. I made the best of it with a few hikes and cruised around for the majority of the afternoon where I chatted to travelers on the chairlifts and went to all my favourite spots.
Cheers guys, I’ll check in again soon!
Sweet update TJ always looking forwarded to them!
The local hockey game looks pretty sweet! Do you think you will make it to an NHL game? That would be the best experience ever!!
Sweet update TJ always looking forwarded to them!
The local hockey game looks pretty sweet! Do you think you will make it to an NHL game? That would be the best experience ever!!
Maybe, Going to try to get to a Bruins playoff game if I can whilst in Boston after the season 
That would be AWESOME!!
Went to see Canuks V Detroit in Van with rider26!!!!!
Apart from the company, the atmosphere was awesome!!!!!
Went to see Canuks V Detroit in Van with rider26!!!!!
Apart from the company, the atmosphere was awesome!!!!!
I would LOVE to go see a Canucks game!! On the bucket list for sure!!
Went to see Canuks V Detroit in Van with rider26!!!!!
Apart from the company, the atmosphere was awesome!!!!!
I would LOVE to go see a Canucks game!! On the bucket list for sure!!
Bruins beat the Canucks tonight, stoked! 
Australia Day and the Superbowl
Hey all, Sun Peaks has been phenoma-cold in the last week so there hasn’t been too much going on other than work and a few house parties. We had to say goodbye to Leyton, Jake and Monique this week which really sucks but we had a visit from Patrick (housemate Mike’s uncle) which has been really good.
For Australia Day we did the typical Aussie thing by riding down the hill in bikini’s, boardshorts and a bunch of Australian flags. It was super fun but also really cold as soon as we hit the clouds. Once I got to the bottom we pretty much ran for the lift hut and hid until our clothes came down the lift. We had a top 100 party the night before and I was pretty stoked with the result, especially since Lorde didn’t win.
The picture above stars on http://sunpeaksnews.com/ and we made the Sydney Morning Herald here: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/the-backpacker/australia-day-overseas-the-locals-shudder-20140128-31jnq.html
Then there is the first weekend on February which marks the NFL Superbowl. I joined the Seattle Seahawks bandwagon at the start of the season when I knew that Seattle was the first US city I was going to visit. So when the made the Superbowl on Sunday, I was pretty keen to watch it. I got off work at 2pm and had a front row seat at the bar ready to enjoy the game.
It ended up being a whitewash game with the Seahawks winning 43-8 so it wasn’t the most exciting game but I’m happy we won.
So that ends this week’s update. Hopefully I’ll have another one for you if we get to go on a road trip next Monday / Tuesday. I’m so keen to visit somewhere else!
Road Trippin’
It took me a while but we did it, I got out of Sun Peaks and did a road trip!
With so many fantastic mountains so close to us, it was only a matter of time. So why Manning Park? Well Dan and James both had friends working there this season and Sun Peaks has a reciprocal deal with them to get us 50% off lift tickets. We paid for a hotel so we didn’t have to intrude on the nice locals though.
We arrived late on Wednesday night and were greeted by Natalie running up and almost tackling Dan with excitement. We took all our stuff up to the room and then hung out for a while catching up which was fun and decided it was a good idea to head to bed so we could be up for first chair the next morning.
The excitement on our faces before leaving Sun Peaks
It only got more exciting the next morning!
Thursday morning was a pretty awesome site to see, we looked out the window and it was still snowing. We got ready (and drank as many free cups of coffee as we could) and made it out for the first bus up the hill. Once we had our lift passes, we headed straight for the Orange Chair. The Blue chair is not open on Thursdays but that was fine by us cause the powder stayed untouched for us on Friday.
Manning Park only has 2 chairlifts (and a few bunny hill t-bar / rope tows) so there wasn’t a massive amount of terrain but definitely enough to keep us occupied for 2 days. There was 52cm of powder on the first day and then about another 30cm on Friday, it was intense. I have never had a day with that much snow before. The best days here at Sun Peaks have been 10-15cm. We had to stick to the black and harder blue runs cause otherwise we got stuck!
When it came time to leave Manning, the Coquihalla highway was totally covered in snow. The locals tried to get us to stay but we all had work in the morning. We decided to play it safe and go the long way home. We ended up getting back for about 9pm on Friday night and I pretty much crashed straight away. Overall, an amazing road trip with great people and great snow. Can’t wait for round 2!
Bulls-eye!
Shit haven’t head that song in years! takes me back to my High School days!
Looks super fun.
Shit haven’t head that song in years! takes me back to my High School days!
Walkin on Sunshine?????
Hmm, the song has changed.
Hmm, the song has changed.
No? It starts with walking on sunshine and then goes to certain shade of green
Ahhh i thought so! i was tripping out for a second, i just watched the first 5 seconds after mizu said that.
Carry on, nothing to see here!
I went to Manning Park on a Thursday many years ago, same deal, one lift running. Had a blast on about 30cm of fresh. Super fun place with heaps of hiking potential 