Normally, riding up chairlifts is what it’s all about – but that’s in wintertime. In the summer, its better to ride down chairlifts because of the view. Above is a time lapse from Blackcomb Mountain – from the top of 7th Heaven to Blackcomb Base. Recorded July 15, 2009 when it was nice and dry. This summer might be a different story as the top portion of the mountain is still under a layer of snow – more than 2 metres in some places!

June 15, 2010:

Initially, I wasn’t sure what to do with the photos – over 2000 of them. However, time lapse and some music make it bearable and give it some justification for my effort.

Bon appetit.

Recorded from November 14, 2009 to May 24, 2010 with a digital camera that took a photo every 30 minutes; the film is comprised of over 8000 images. It was taken from the taco-cam perched on a windowsill above the deck in the house that I live.

East to west; from Barrie, ON to Whistler, BC in about four and a half minutes. Recorded October 26 to 31, 2009.

First tracks on the Hortsman Glacier on Blackcomb Mountain

That’s how much snow fell in the month of November in the alpine on Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. At one point in November, it snowed everyday for two weeks. The result of it all was 560 cm – 18+ feet of snow! As I described at the start of the season, this was going to be an epic winter. Hopefully this turns out to be true for the rest of the season!

There was full coverage of snow from the first day and rocks were almost all covered. It was mid-season conditions in November. We got a few days of rain in the village, but it mostly turned into snow in the alpine. There was a bit of a fright on the day before US Thanksgiving when it rained up to mid-mountain. Thankfully, the rain stopped there. The high alpine the following day was great – especially on Blackcomb Mountain (as seen above).

Hopefully the snow keeps coming – with some sunny days in between!

Here is a time lapse of the month as seen from the Batcave…

*belch*

What I ate in August…

• 56 smoothies
• 15 servings of pasta
• 14 salads
• 7 bags of chips
• 6 bowls of popcorn
• 5 veggie burgers
• 2 orders of fries
• 2 pieces of banana bread
• 2 muffins
• 1 loaf of bread
• 1 bowl of instant ramen (pictured above)
• countless fruits including pears, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, oranges, grapefruit, blackberries, peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries
• pounds of trail mix and corn nuts

I can’t recall what was my favorite thing – but I would have to assume it was the chocolate smoothie since I consumed almost two per day! Smoothies were probably a good thing because of the weather – it was hotter than normal in August.

I do know what the worst thing I ate – it was the instant noodles pictured above. I bought it because it was on sale for an unbelievable $0.88. I was also intrigued by the ingredients – even the beef, chicken and seafood flavours did not contain any animal products. However, they contained lots of ingredients that I could not identify or pronounce. After eating it, I felt a bit nauseous – it wasn’t tasteless, but I found most of the taste came from salt – a bit empty in terms of real taste and probably nutrition too. I won’t be eating this again too soon in the future. It was a one-meal stand.

Here’s the set of food that I ate in August. Click on the larger image to advance to the next image. If you’re on a mobile device, click here to go to my flickr set.

The Champ

I’ve just crowned popcorn as the undisputed champ of the snack world. I’ve made it a few times in the last week or two and it’s been a highlight of my food consumption recently. It’s fun to make, tastes great and is good for you!

If you’ve never made it on the stove-top before you must try it! In a 3 liter pot, add two tablespoons of oil, enough popcorn kernels to cover the bottom of the pot and heat on medium with the lid on. Wait for the first kernel to pop and then turn down heat to low-medium. Move the pot back and forth with the lid slightly ajar to let steam escape – but not too much or the kernels will escape. When the popping slows, turn heat off and continue to move the pot back and forth. When popping slows considerably, remove from heat – pour into a bowl and add toppings.

The above 3l pot has about 280 calories. Most of the calories (240) are from the olive oil and the rest from the popcorn. If you’re worried about fat – don’t. I use olive oil which is pretty good for you and you also need fat to absorb some of the vitamins in corn. Plus it’s much tastier than hot air popcorn; less greasy, chemicals and wasted packaging than microwave popcorn. It requires less than 5 minutes to make this. Not much more time than microwave popcorn. The ingredients cost only about 25 cents.

Making popcorn on the stove is like cooking – but more immediate gratification; add any topping you like – ever tried curry powder? It’s also relatively healthy! That’s why popcorn is the champ!

If you have a pot with a glass lid – you’re in for a treat! I made it recently in one and it was pretty cool. I’ll have to make it again and film it!

April Fool – Chalk Circle. A song I heard on the radio today. Shazam on my iPhone couldn’t figure it out; but I managed to somehow pull it out of the archives.

Yesterday, trying to make a hung-over friend feel better, I mentioned how beer makes one smarter by killing off the weakest brain cells like killing off the weakest buffalo in a herd – à la Cliff Claven in Cheers…

“Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

Beers on the weekend. Click here for the slideshow or click on the image below to advance to the next image.

Blackcomb burning

After a lightning strike last Thursday, a fire started on the Crystal Ridge area of Blackcomb Mountain. It was mostly contained within the first day as I’m sure workers were pulled off the 100 or so other fires burning in the province. I imagine fires in Whistler are given some sort of priority over other fires given the high profile nature of the location.

For the many firemen in town for the World Police and Fire Games, I wonder if it was a treat or a horror show for them to watch the mountain burning.

As of yesterday, four days after the original fire another fire started on Ruby Bowl, an area with very steep terrain. Blackcomb mountain was closed to tourists and hikers for a few days after the original fire, but remains open after the new fire on Ruby Bowl yesterday. Whistler mountain and the Peak 2 Peak are open with the exception of the backcountry trails which the province has issued a voluntary ban on hiking due to the fire risk. It’s been an eventful week.

As I know all of you like watching stuff burn, here are my photos from the fire. Click on the larger image to advance to the next one. If you’re on a mobile device, click here to view the images.

Beetle Kill

The red areas represent trees that are dying as a result of an infestation by the mountain pine beetle. The beetle is not new to BC, but warmer weather conditions have enabled the beetle population to flourish. According to a 2006 report by Natural Resources Canada, “50 per cent of the mature pine will be dead by 2008 and 80 per cent by 2013.” It is a almost unbelievable that this could happen in such a short period.

Total Area Affected by Mountain Pine Beetle in Western Canada (Natural Resources Canada)

The devastation isn’t limited to BC, much of the forest in the western United States has also been affected. The only thing that might end the outbreak is a winter low of -40°C or a sudden cold snap in early fall or late spring of -25°C . Here’s one vote for a new ice age.

More information about the mountain pine beetle can be found at the BC Government website.