Wedge Mountain

I haven't been posting much lately because we've been so busy. Moving day is tomorrow and we're still trying to pack up the house. Yikes!

We climbed Wedge Mountain 2 weeks ago. It took us 2.5 hours to get to the Hut, a small cabin that the Alpine Club of Canada built as a mountaineering base. It's is a few hundred meters from a glacier-fed lake and has the most amazing views.
Jason left me at the Hut to 'scramble' up another peak but came back later than expected. We were in complete darkness for the last half hour down! No head lamps or overnight gear; not a good idea. (FYI: 'Scrambling' is Class III climbing which means it can be done without ropes and gear but still much more difficult than hiking up a trail.)

The Wedgemount trailhead is only 5km from our new house so I'll be back to climb this beast again in the spring. There's been more snow since we were up so it's probably too slippery to go again this year.






Going up
















Almost at the top














In front of the Hut













Wedgemount glacier















Jason attempted this peak but had to turn around before reaching the top. Most people camp at the Hut and climb this on the second day.













View from the top

Our New House

It was kept under wraps for weeks, a tightly guarded secret until the paperwork was done but the cloud of suspicion surrounding our move to Whistler is ready to be unveiled: We bought a townhouse. Yep, that's right, we are the soon-to-be proud owners of a 3 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse in Alpine Meadows. It's beside the Alpine Market, 5 min walk to the pool (selling feature in my opinion!) and 4km to the Village. We take possession on Nov 1 but it's empty now so we're hoping to get in a bit early to paint. If you have a day off at the end of October and want to come up with your brush, we can provide accommodation and beer.

Buying seemed like the smart thing to do now that I have a steady job. (I love my new job by the way!) The rents in Whistler are ridiculous, you can't find a studio for much less than $900/month. I've put an ad in the local paper to rent the other two rooms so hopefully we'll have a couple of cool roommates for the winter.





Ours is the corner unit with the green chairs on the patio. I took this pic off the WHA website, there's no snow on the ground here yet, only in the Alpine.







How did we afford to buy in Whistler? Well it's a Whistler Housing Authority property, meaning it's priced below market value, but we have to work in Whistler and it's resale restricted. The profit we make is determined by the Canadian Consumer Price Index and not the Whistler market. This is to maintain affordable housing for those who want to live and work in Whistler and not out-of-town investors. There's a wait-list of several hundred to buy one of these properties but somehow this one slipped through without a buyer and was available to the public. We still had to meet the WHA qualifications but didn't have to sit on the wait-list for
years. It must have been fate.







Of course Sabrina will be moving with us too.
I just had to post these pics. She likes sitting on my bike.













Maybe she wants to take this outside. I could find her a helmet and be known as the crazy lady that rides with her rabbit. Maybe not.

The Etcetera in Pita Etc.

Now that Whistler is heading into the shoulder season, local businesses have to get more creative to attract customers. Jason and Will have come up with two little promotions: Broke-Ass Thursdays and Tuesday Night Events.

Broke-Ass Thursdays gets you anything in the store for $5 or less. It's popular with the locals who get paid on Friday and need some cheap food.

Tuesdays Night Events is a series of random competitions with prizes donated by local businesses. The first event, a Hot Dog Eating Contest, was a smashing success.



Jason said one of the best things about being a business owner is that if he feels like painting a giant, dancing hot dog on the front door, he can. And he did.....

















Let the eating begin. The winner was able to put back 4+ quater pound dogs in ten minutes. Impressive!















The officials





















Matt took home the coveted foam football helmet for his efforts.














The second Tuesday Event was a Chess Tournament. It wasn't nearly as popular. Lots of 'maybes' but in the end only four people signed up including Jason and Will. (Seriously, look at the average Whistlerite. A chess tournament? Dude, are you kidding?) Jason ended up winning and has full bragging rights until the next one.




The bronze medal match was pretty intense.
















Dave took third place and a pound of Starbuck's coffee.