Winter has arrived!

  Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Nov 2/08
Well October has gone by quickly. Not sure where, but we did start into our winter routine.
At the end of September, we decided that we needed to go back to MB to make sure we had another good visit with Cheryl's Dad. Back in the spring, Alex had been diagnosed with cancer, (multiple Myeloma, cancer of the plasma), and the first round of Chemo was ineffective. Our timing was right. We got home and Alex was in the hospital with pneumonia.
He lasted about 10 days and passed away on Oct 21 two days after his and Donna's 61st anniversary.  He was 84. It was a sad time for the family.  He was a man with big hands and a bigger heart. I remember how his eyes lit up when we came to visit and Cheryl walked in the door.  Cheryl stayed an extra 10 day in Rivers to help her Mom.
 
I returned to winter. -20 at night with highs of -10. It has snowed up here. It is early for snow but we're skiing already. Rocks skis are need as the packed snow cover just barely covers the ground.
I've signed up to help with the grooming at Mt McIntyre Cross Country area which is right on the edge of town about 15 minutes from home. I spent Tues night out on a twin-track skidoo, packing trails. I had forgotten the lovely smell of 2 stroke engine exhaust! The club tracks and packs trails with these skidoos until there is enough snow to use the big Piston Bully snow groomer. The only problem with grooming is that the club grooms in the evening and early morning 6:30 AM . I'm busy 4 nights/week so there aren't many nights left to groom. I'm not really keen on the early morning start but it is a great way to learn the trails.
 
 
 
I went skiing on Oct 30 so I got more snow time than all of you !!!!  I got another ski in on Nov 1 as well. I tell you it's rough getting older. The inside of my thighs are killing me.  We got about 2 cms again last night so the snow pack is growing. 
The cold weather has its pluses. I went walking with Cedar today and went down a trail that has been flooded by beavers so until it froze we couldn't get too far. On the other side of the swamp is a trail that is perfect for skiing. I was on snowshoes and walked for about 45 minutes until I turned back. There is a sign up on a tree asking for non skiers to stay off so it may be a great local trail right out our back door.
To that end one of our neighbours has a snow machine and a track setter. We went to their place for Thanksgiving and he appears to be quite keen on maintaining trails right out or door or most likely he wants me to do it. Jeez, he must think we retired types have all the time in the world......
 
 
Our curling is going well. In spite of our trip 'out' we've managed to get a lot of curling in. Our mixed team is 4 and 1.  Our Thurs night team is 3 and 2.
We were lucky enough to get a two hour teaching session with a professional curling coach who coaches Pat Simmons from Saskatoon and a women's team from QC. He coached the Yukon/NWT team at the Briar last year as well. We spent most of our time working on our deliveries using video. Both of us learned a lot and gained confidence in our deliveries. I can actually hit the broom on my Inturns!
We also will be helping out teaching curling to school kids.
Cheryl and I both went to the Asham curling store in Winnipeg and bought new curling shoes. Now we're hot!!!!
The best part of curling is that once the game is finished both teams go upstairs to the lounge and sit around with a drink, chatting. We've met a lot of great people so far. Some are transplants who came up for a visit and never left and others are born a raised here. Everyone is very helpful and pleasant.
 
The question we've been asked the most from everyone down south is what the sunlight or lack there of is right now.
With the time change the sun rises around 8:45 and sets at 4:45. We're losing around 5 minutes/day
By Dec 21 our time will be 10:10 AM / 3:34 PM, roughly 5.5 hours of sunlight/day. In comparison Winnipeg and Calgary are currently at 7:30 and 5:00 and on Dec 21 8:44/ 4:37  8h of sunlight.

Sunset from the Hot Tub

 
Nov 18/08
Cheryl got back from staying with her Mom early in the month and we've settled into a winter routine. We are getting up later and later as the sun now rises after 9:00 AM. We have coffee and breakfast and get ready to ski, snowshoe or just hang out. We've decided we need rest days so some days all we do is walk the dog.
 
Our ski trail out back has evolved into a 2.5 h snowshoe or a 1.25h ski. We've packed the trails on snow shoes and then ski in a track. Other than the occasional Snow machine or quad, so far the only other person on the trail appears to be a neighbour who runs on it with about 6 dogs. Not the best but it's not our trail so we'll live with it. We've gone out with a brush saw and taken out deadfall and small bushes that will catch ski tips. There are rocks and as the snow cover is thin we've had to postpone using our neighbour's snow machine to pack. Skiing is still good though and it does give one a sense of satisfaction to clear and pack you own trail. Old time skiing.
 
We also ski at Mt McIntyre, the local ski trails, where I help groom. I've been out 2 xs to groom. It is certainly cool literally and figuratively grooming in the AM (6:30) and have the sun come up while one the trails. The trails themselves range from flat to challenging race courses. The Whitehorse club hosted a 1981 World Cup here and the trails have since then been upgraded to current race standards. They will be hosting the 2010 Sr. Nationals right after the Vancouver Olympics. We have been skiing the flatter trails as they have the best snow cover in early season. This AM it was -19 with hoar frost everywhere. We skied out and got to a sunny point to soak up some rays. The hoar frost was on every tree and bush. Truly spectacular!!
 

Tom and cheryl before the dance,

Our circle of friends is growing. We went out to a friend's acreage about 1/2h from town last W/E for a ski, potluck dinner and sleep over.  As part of the deal we went to a barn dance complete with caller at Mt Lorne Rec hall. Live fiddle music, allemande lefts, and all. It really was a laugh.  There were about 12 of us so we did

Ready to party!!!!

create a bit of a stir as the locals wondered who the heck was invading. In true Yukon fashion however, we all were having a great time do si doing and bowing to our partners. We, of course, danced superbly and were the hit of the dance, or maybe it was the wine.... We ended up for a night cap at a house that sits on a south facing ridge overlooking the Watson River. Their view from the huge windows is spectacular. On sunny days, with the huge south facing aspect, they have to shut the heat off even at -35C. On a clear day they can see all the way to Carcross.
 
They have started blowing snow at Mt. Sima, the local ski hill, which is 5 minutes from here.  It may appear funny to have an on-hill snowmaking operation so far north. It's not the cold but the snow cover that is the problem here. We are in the shadow of the coastal mountains and we don't get a lot of snow (or enough to keep good snow cover on a hill). We're not really into DH skiing but it is so close and I'm sure someone will organize a ski day. The temperature is cooperating for them as -20 is optimal for snowmaking and it seems to hover around that temp day and night.
 

Finally wood to split

Just as a quick note our return plan date is a moving target. Kevin and Myra have postponed their wedding date from June 09 to ??? so, we've decided to rent our house in Canmore out until the end of July and are planning to stay up here for two more months. This of course may change but now is the time to plan a trip up here. We should be around until the end of July. We won't have a place for you to stay after June 1 though but there are lots a canoe trips to do and rental RVs.