Lets hit the slopes......

Thankfully when we woke up the rain had stopped drumming on the plastic skylights.

The RV was a bit cold and damp but as soon as we got the kettle going and the gas hob lit for the bacon and eggs it started to warm up.

The cooking smells gave us away and midway through our delicious breakfast rolls there was a hard knock on the door. The park ranger smiled nicely but issued us with a warning for camping. Apparently we were allowed to park the RV in the car park but not to stay overnight/camp in it. We were allowed to stay for the rest of the day but would need to move in the evening to the local RV campground.

The slopes opened at ten so we ambled the short five minute walk to the lifts a bit earlier to kit me out with boots. Terry and Elaine had kindly lent us their ski gear to use to help keep the costs down. The ski rental shop fitted me out with some decent womens boots and I couldn't resist hiring the ladies Rossignol S3's for the day.

Only the mid and lower slopes of Blackcombe were open because of the weather, risk of avalanche and time of year, but that still gave us plenty of skiing to keep us out of mischief for the day. During the night the temperature had dropped and the snow had fallen on the higher slopes, however the snow underneath was so sodden from the rain the previous week that the powder was heavy and difficult to ski, so we stuck mainly to the pistes.

The clouds cleared at the top briefly in the morning so we got a feel for the area but by mid-afternoon the rain had recommenced and we were drenched.

Whilst having coffee mid-morning a representative from Intrawest, the resort owners had approached us and struck up a conversation. He was offering free passes, jackets or vouchers for restaurants in return for sitting through a 90-minute presentation. We had attended similar sales seminars before in Cornwall in exchange for free accommodation so knew the game.

As the slopes closed at four o'clock we reasoned that we could do with a nice warm environment to warm up with free coffee after skiing so accepted his offer.

However, we were so soaked through by three o'clock that we abandoned the slopes in favour for some dry clothes and never made the meeting.

Instead we hung up our dripping coats and salopettes in the shower cubicle and moved the RV to the campground where we hooked up the electricity and water, turned on the RV heating system and made full use of the free WiFi with a cup of tea and slice of lemon cheesecake.

The weather was forecast to be much the same for the following day, so we planned to abandon our hopes of skiing and take a leisurely drive to Vancouver and our next RV camp.