Nightboarding 2: Electric Boogaloo

Its been awhile since I got up to Cypress Mountain and out snowboarding, but this week my friend Mike and I got back in our weekly groove of fitting in a few evening runs after work. It was particularly foggy and there were a few times I took wrong turns and nearly found myself on unfamiliar runs, but those problems were quickly solved.
And before any parents or in-laws go fussing, I got myself a proper helmet this year along with the padding, goggles, gloves and snow pants I have from previous years, so I am well insulated and warm.
It was so misty at the top that most of my pictures don't really show much and with any luck I'll get better ones in a week or two, so I'm finishing off with a panorama (click it to enlarge) of Vancouver that I shot from a viewpoint part way up the mountain. You can see Lionsgate Bridge in the middle at the bottom with Burnaby on the left and Kitsilano on the right.Everyone that has been making noise about coming out to visit for snowboarding officially has no excuse to not be out in the next few months ;)
SPECIAL UPDATE: The following week Kathryn came up the mountain with us and not only had a great time but greatly improved her skills and seems to have gotten the snowboarding bug in a major way.

The Amusing Paradox of the Vancouver Winter

Most weekends when I call up my parents my father will ask how we're doing in the snow, either having read about weather warnings in BC or likely because its very snowy in Manitoba. Vancouver gets very little snow to be honest and its typically fleeting. The picture below shows the first of two snowfalls we had this year. The second was actually a heavier fall but I didn't get a picture of it in 2 days and by then it was gone. For those of you in Manitoba I'll let that sink in. Gone in 2 days ;)
Most winter weather out here is grey and rainy with the occassional bright day thrown in for good behavior. This photo is from Christmas Day of 2009 and shows a light covering of morning frost out by Stanley Park as we were out feeding chickadess and seeing raccoons.
Not that the entire city is spared mind you, since we live by the sea and have a very low elevation we have it easier than other places. This picture is from our first winter in Burnaby when we were living part way up Burnaby Mountain and had some heavy snow for a few weeks and probably a month of some sort of covering.
The downside to all this mind you is that Vancouver is totally unprepared for actual snow. The bus lines shut down in more than half an inch of snow and nobody has any idea how to drive safely on a good day much less in the snow. Any day even resembling winter is a good one to stay home or take transit if you are truly forced outdoors.

Tubing

Tubing has been on Kathryns list of things to do since we moved here and I feel very silly that it took us this long to get properly fit it in. With her brother Steven in town for the week we finally had the excuse and time to go and took a shuttle up to Cypress Mountain for an afternoon of recreational winter. The snowboard hills are on the mountain further away in the picture below.
The tube park itself was snug but given that its more for kids we still had a thoroughly enjoyable time. The only downside being that there were lots of lines for the lift up (though you can walk up and we often did) and there were lines again at the top to prevent heaps of people from colliding with each other. It was understandable structure but it does somewhat slow down your afternoon to wait in line every minute or so.
All it all it made for a most enjoyable day and got us out in the snow for a fun day of sliding, exercise and enjoying being away from screens and the like. Steven was kind enough to bring up a new waterproof/crushproof/freezeproof camera that I have been coveting for awhile now so it was also fun to get pictures while sliding around and not worrying about breaking anything.