As always I had problems flying out (missed connections, broken aircraft) and arrived about 5 hours late. I also became quite ill and was unable to eat for about 36 hours. Because of all this, we delayed our backcountry trip by one day and spent that day resting and touring Vancouver. Finally, we all (Carl, Joanna, Ann, Marci and me) drove to Garibaldi Provincial Park and skied up the mountain. Carl had to head home that night because he was teaching the next morning. The rest of us made camp. I cooked dinner while Marci, Ann and Joanna searched for the avalanche transceiver I had surreptitiously buried in the snow. That night we enjoyed balmy 20F temperatures.

The next morning we woke to what was the highlight of my entire vacation. In the crystal clear morning air we had a view of Mt. Garibaldi just as the morning sun lit it with brilliant colors. In the dark of the previous night we had managed to pick a camp site surrounded by majestic pines, with a single clearing that framed our view of the mountain. This was pure luck. It was the sort of morning that inspires you to spend an extra few hours in your sleeping bag looking at the mountain. It was at this point that I attempted to convince my companions that we should get an "alpine start" and that "alpine start" means staying in your sleeping bag until the sun hits it. This is not the true definition of alpine start, but perhaps I can start a trend.

That day we skied up a ridge and on towards the Neve Glacier. We spent the entire day enjoying bright blue skies and 100 mile views. Our group was on quite a mixture of equipment which limited our overall speed, but not the fun potential. Marci had the lightest gear with her touring cross- country skis. Ann was next with backcountry cross-country gear. Next came Joanna with her tele skis and climbing skins. I was on my alpine touring skis with climbing skins. With our skins, Joanna and I could easily out climb Ann and Marci. With my heels locked down, I could race through any decent. Though my gear was heavier, I was able to move through the snow with the least amount of effort. And it does need to be mentioned that my pack was the lightest. With a minimalist set of personal gear and by dumping much of the group gear on my petite female companions, I was able to spend the trip with a 35lb. pack. My injured back was thankful for the lightened load. Marci, Joanna and Ann shouldered their 40+lb. burdens with nary a complaint.

That night we retuned to our original campsite (no need to stomp snow and dig a new kitchen somewhere else). The crystal clear night and new moon allowed us to view a spectacular amount of stars. I kept fishing my glasses out of my sleeping bag for yet another look. The lack of cloud cover allowed more of the earth's heat to escape and temperatures dropped to about 10F that night.

As morning broke my "alpine start" suggestions were again ignored. We packed our gear and started down the mountain to our cars. What we discovered was certainly the lowlight of my vacation. Ann's car had been vandalized. Her belongings had been trashed and thrown into a ravine and the car completely burned. It was a total loss. After dealing with the police (and learning that this sort of incident is unfortunately quite common around Squamish, BC) Joanna and Carl were good enough to help Ann with all the headaches involved with taking care of the car and getting home.

Meanwhile, Marci and I met up with Tina and Elise (or Thelma and Louise as the Rice crew took to calling them) and the four of us drove to Whistler. There we met with the rest of the Rice Skigroup and checked into our two beautiful houses. An exciting room jack and pizza rounded out the evening. Marci discovered that she and Elise had been at Rutgers at the same time. They didn't know each other, but had some friends in common.

Tina and Elise could only stay one day, so Larry and I skied with them to the far corner of Blackcomb Mountain where we skied the Blackcomb glacier. From the top of this run it is 6 miles to the _nearest_ lift and about 9 miles to ski all the way to the base. Of course, gravity does all the work for that distance, so it isn't as difficult as going 100 yards uphill.

The rest of the trip proceeded like many other ski trips. Plenty of fun, plenty of snow, plenty of food, plenty of games. Danny promises to write a trip report, so I'm going to save my fingers and wait for his journal. There was skiing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking and Bald Eagle watching. On the game front there were some excellent hands of Bleeding Sherwood, a group Taboo game, and a short (3 hour) Illuminati game. Best thing to do is wait for June to develop the pictures she took of our entry in the House #8 guest book. That tells the whole story.