The Ski And Snowboard Season
It's no secret that I'm not really big into winter sports. I've always liked them, I've just never been an active participant. As a kid, I went a few times with my parents back when they were still together I believe, but I didn't really go all that much in high school or university. In fact, I've only really been snowboarding once, and that was Dec 31st, 1995 I believe (I remember because I was so insanely sore for the following New Year's Day).
In university my friend Dustin used to go night skiing all the time. I always though it was pretty cool that he would just load his car up in the evening, disappear for a while, and by the time he was back, and a few beers that were ice cold in the fridge waiting. I have a gym pass in Chilliwack here, and I go from time to time, but I'd like to do something a bit more active in the winter, and skiing/snowboarding seems to be a pretty good idea.
I'm about to replace the tires on my car, and I'm actually thinking about getting a performance all-weather tire (which is different than an all season tire -- all-weather tires use winter tread styles but use all-season rubber, so you get a hybrid of both). Putting true winter tires on my car would be great from a "don't crash into things" perspective, but not on the wallet. So I think the all-weather tires would be a good compromise (since my car is pretty crappy in the rain, and absolutely horrible in the snow right now). But really, my car is made for this kind of stuff, so I'd love to finally start to use it in that capacity.
From Chilliwack, getting up to Hemlock or Manning would be fairly easy on the weekends (about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes normally). Right now, I'm leaning towards a season's pass at Hemlock. I doubt I'd make it up during the week very often, so I'm probably just going to get an evening pass for the weekends if I get one (Thurs to Sat). If I want to do a full day, I can always pay for that when I go. But really, I could easily take off early on Thursdays and head up for the evening once and a while. Plus Friday/Saturday nights are open game as well. Hemlock seems more appealing to me since it's accessible from Vancouver as well, which means I could meet some friends up there from time to time. And from what I remember during the odd school trips as a kid, it was a pretty decent hill.
A season's pass for night skiing/snowboarding at Hemlock is only around $220 I think, so that's not bad at all. I'm sure I could rent for a bit and figure out what I like, and then maybe get something. But it might be a fun way to pass time in the winter while getting a bit of exercise.