And currently...?

Well, that's easy. Currently I am living in Revelstoke. After a year in Whistler, it really was time for a change. Reading my last blog would surely have conveyed that, but despite everything I wrote, I was actually finally settling in and making some really good friends there. I was getting to the stage I was enjoying it for more than just the snowboarding and mountain biking, which made leaving almost hard.

The 'new' bike - a 2015 Kona Process 167. Fun as it is, it definitely comes with it's own problems. A bit like finding this spot! It was a total pain to get to, but stunning once I eventually did! This is in Cumberland.

I took a week off at the end of my time in Whistler to explore Vancouver Island a little - I'd heard great things and knew there was some great biking to be had there. I visited Victoria, Sooke, Duncan and Cumberland and would love to go back next year to spend some time in Cumberland and explore the places I didn't have time to view.

This was taken from the top of a hill the local First Nation people used to leave tributes at for dead family and friends, discovered as I was driving from Whistler to Revelstoke.

When I got to Revelstoke I was pretty desperate for money, before I left Whistler Mum and Dad had visited, so I didn't work a lot during that period. My bike broke just after they left, and I had the aforementioned trip to Vancouver Island for a week. A new bike, plus the Island, and a little splurging while I was there effectively cleared me out! After handing lots of CV's out I was offered a job working at the local supermarket, which I grudging accepted. It was an almost immediate start, but really, really wasn't what I wanted to do. I knew it would tide me over until something else came along though.

Revelstoke valley as seen from part way up the ski hill.

It was working in the supermarket that I started getting a feel for Revelstoke, I met many, many of the locals and I quickly felt more at home than I ever did in Whistler. The locals are friendlier; maybe this is because the ratio of local Canadians vs short-term season workers here swings towards Canadians, or maybe because this is a town that functions separately to the local ski hill instead of being reliant on it. Revelstoke has a history with First Nation tribes living in the area, then there was a gold rush, then came the railway and logging - both industries are still big elements of life here. Almost everyone I met welcomed me, pleased to see a new face in town rather than just another short term visitor and consequently I've made some really good friends in the last 2 months.

The first big snow in Revelstoke!

I now work for RMR - Revelstoke Mountain Resort in 2 positions. For 3 days, 30 hours, I work as a lift operator and for 10 hours I work in rentals. I worked in rentals last winter, so it has come very easily, I just had to learn some new products and a different computer system, but everything else was the same. Being a lifty is hard work, but I normally get several runs on the mountain each day and we get some of the best scenery around - the sun sets behind the mountains on the other side of the valley and is absolutely stunning. Rentals gets me benefits too - I get to test new equipment (one of my favourite things to do) and I get to service my own gear for free.

Tilda, Gareth, Alex, Stephane and myself doing some back country touring in Rogers pass. What a view!

I am still living in my van and have been working on some updates to keep it cosier in the winter - a dehumidifier to combat breathing (what a problem!) and a 20lb propane bottle so I can run a heater and a cooker without regularly forking out for expensive and environmentally unfriendly 1lb bottles. I'll stay in the van as long as I can, if it becomes unbearable I'll find something else, but for now I'd like to make it work - I'd like to be able to afford a new bike next year! (my 'new' bike wasn't new, and, cool as it is, isn't what I want long term.)

Sunset on resort opening day - we were blessed with fresh snow and bluebird skies, what a rarity!

Well, there is my life updated, I'll start posting small regular blog-type posts soon. Don't hold your breath though folks, I'm not exactly known for my regularity!