5 COUNTRIES, 2 CONTINENTS

This past weekend I went skiing for the very first time up at Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains 2 hours north of Vancouver Canada. It was a special trip for a number of reasons: 1. This would be my first time in both Vancouver and at Whistler. 2. Canada would be the 5th country I have gone downhill skiing in. The other 4 countries are the U.S. (both East Coast, West Coast and the Rockies), Spain, Switzerland, and Austria. 3. I was going the week after the Winter Olympics.

Whistler & Blackcomb are world class mountains and definitely deserving of the Olympics. Of the 2 peaks, Blackcomb is a better mountain than Whistler. Whistler is cut into the side of the mountain, so you're skiing downhill and over and then you drop 100 yards and then you're skiing downhill and to the side. Blackcomb (the most recently developed of the 2) was actually cut with the fall line down the mountain, which makes for much better skiing. Blackcomb is also the least busy, or at least it was when I was there.

In a twist that could only happen to me, I was at Whistler for both Gay Ski Week (which was terrible, don't even get me started on how poorly run it was) and a heterosexual bachelor party for my boy Jon. My friend Tom and I skiing hard all day Friday for 9AM-3PM. Then on Saturday, the bachelor party arrived and I skied with 2 of the 5 guys all day Saturday. I'm an advanced intermediate skier (not an expert, but damn close). The 2 guys who were snowboarding while I was skiing were intermidate skiers. After the Winter Olympics always follows the Paralympics. So the 2 snowboarders and I ascend to Blackcomb Glacier and we're sitting up the top looking down into the bowl and they both start to hedge, "Wow, this looks pretty steep. Should we go over here or should we cut down there?" And I said, "Guys, it's not that bad, just stay over to the right and cut over." I no sooner get done saying that and WOOSH! From behind us come 2 paralympics skiers with only 1 leg each come skiing by us and go right down the glacier. I just threw up my hands and said, "Guys, come on, you've got 2 legs. What's your excuse?" And then I took off down the glacier myself. The timing couldn't have been any better if I had tried to plan it.

Next is either skiing in New Zealand or skiing in Argentina or Chile. If I manage to do either continent that will be fine with me. And remember, you ski in both New Zealand and Argentina in July, since that's winter in the southern hemisphere.

Sadly the website doesn't do any justice to just how beautiful the mountains are: http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/index.htm