Things we do in life to fulfil our desires- Part 2- A leisurely stroll down the Americas to the Argentinian Andes.

Two weeks in a beaten up Van, well over twenty hours in the air, hopping about on cheap red-eye connections, 20 bottles of vino, & almost 30hours on a coach, just to achieve one goal. The hunt for South American champagne powder! Admittedly, the Argentinian bus system is one of the most comfortable bus rides available anywhere on earth, but the figures needed to chase your dreams can be- in hindsight- astounding. This tally has nothing to do with our endless search- before this particular adventure- for the best powder on earth, that has taken us, as a duo, to Japan, Canada, the USA, New Zealand and last and definitely least… Australia.

My girlfriend and myself had decided long before the 09-10 North American winter th

at we needed to voyage- at any cost- down to South America to continue our winter chasing tally,

which would officially stand at four consecutive bounces across the equator, and had settled on a five winter goal before we would spend an entire summer in one locality. Five winters would be counted after we arrived back in the rockies from Argentina, and yet another season of doing whatever it takes to get as many full days off as possible together, to ride as much as our- “increasingly mature”- twenty something bodies would let us get away with.

We settled on one of the cheapest resorts Argentina had to offer, because pure and simply, we needed the cheapest resort in Argentina, if we wanted to ride the season on our ‘modest’ budget. After finally making our way through Peru, which granted us a fantastic week in the desert in an oasis paradise, where we found snowboards, and slid down insanely high looming sandy mountains. The image above was taken when a four legged friend made his way up the slope to see why all the tourists thought this would be a good idea… Fast forward to our arrival to the small mountain town of Esquel, deep inside the Patagonian countryside,

Argentina.

After our extended bee-line journey to Patagonia, we finally arrive in our new found home, Esquel, closest town to the La Hoya ski resort. Another important reason we chose this resort, was the lack of information available on the internet. We wanted to get off the tourist trail as much as possible, as we felt, this would be the way to best get off the beaten path... or piste as our chosen activity would suggest. The long and short of it was that our hunt for South American powder churned out 4 days at best of actual powder days. Every 10 or so days, we would hear word from our neighbours next door (Planeta hostel in Esquel- fantastic owners, highly recommended them for those who make it down Patagonia way), that Bariloche, only 4 hours north but 10 times the price for a season pass, would be puking flakes. I now state that absolutely nothing would be happening on the ski hill at La Hoya. Apparently as the way it can happen with mother natures sports, we just happened to nominate a bad season.

The locals attempted to comfort us by telling us, as best they could in broken English, that if its snowing in Bariloche, then its also dumping up at La Hoya. Every time, we would hear this, we knew we just couldn’t afford the costs to shred Bariloche.

As we didn’t want to leave, just in case the next big dump was right around the corner- also if I’m being honest, there is some of the best meat available anywhere in the world for peanut, we would wait one more day, then one more week, until we knew we could wait until the end of the season, but the time to leave was upon us. With our money dwindling day by day, we left for a week in Bariloche to put our funds to good use, and trying to forge fond memories in a country that seemed snowless.

Hallelujah! We had found a mountain with enough stashes to push ourselves to our limits before heading northward across the equator in one more week. Unfortunately our time at La Hoya only honed our skills are riding ice sheets, at times it would have been easier if we bought ice skates for the ski runs. Learning to ride ice is a valued skill, but one that does not need to be practiced every day, for months on end.

So with countless kilometres under our belts, two ski hills, and mixed emotions, we knew our time spent in South America would burn its imprint firmly into our consciousness. Now on to Canada, Toronto, then on to more white winters. Inevitably, the search for the perfect white stationary-wave MUST continue...

Things we do in life to fulfil our desires- Part 1

You know those things you do in life that to anyone else but you, just doesn’t make a single iota of sense? You know those avocations; when the driving passion to play lawn bowls is just too much to bear, you simply had to convert your backyard into that beautifully manicured pitch of grass & cancel your job at Krispy Creme Donuts post haste so you had the time to roll your balls around it. Maybe the husband or wife was the only thing standing between you and your workout regiment to finally capture that gold medal from the Extreme Ironing World Championships. At the end of the day, the only person it needs to make sense with, is guess who… YOU! For my girlfriend and myself, that thing is snowboarding.

Before getting into about how my very first season at Big White is shaping up- (believe me, this mountain is sick, and the snow is comparable to Japanese powder… Numero Uno for anyone which that statement doesn’t make any sense)- I feel like spinning a multiple-part spell to how my girl and I ended up choosing Kelowna as our new home. If you don’t wanna hear about it, then you don’t have to read it. If you do, well read on...

After finishing up a successful Winter in Fernie BC, we had long decided we would follow up with the following southern hemisphere Winter in South America, Argentina particularly. After driving to Winnipeg, we traded our ‘car’ which by this stage, after driving it off a cliff on the first day of our brand new job earlier in the year in the Rockies, resembled some mangled instrument that had gone 12 full rounds with Truck-o-saurus, with Jessica Simpson standing in as coach. We thought with all our gear, snowboards, tenting, portable hotplate, djembe drum and everything else we thought indispensable, a van would suit us nicely. The plan is as such: Get out of BC, head east, out to Toronto, through the States over to New York, all the way down the coast to Savannah, then over to meet up with my bro who was, for some reason that still isn’t really a reason, lived in Atlanta. Then we would fly out to Peru, hop on another plane to Buenos Aires, load onto a bus to drive us the 28 hours in coach to our destination in Argentina, which because of the Cheapest season pass in Argentina price tag, led us to La Hoya ski resort, in Patagonia-Argentina.

The long and short of our break out east from BC is as follows: Cross the Canada-US border, get searched by border control with a story that went something like, “yes I am an Australian, she is a Canadian, we met in Japan, we are driving a van that the sniffer dog hinted at allegedly has trace elements of weed, we both don’t intend of working for the next 8 months, and we have enough gear to supply a successful militia group in the heart of “Ameeerica” for the rest of our days. I mean seriously, what in any of that sounds shady???

After a lot of screaming I am not a terrorist with my t-shirt pulled over my head running around in circles like an aeroplane, they let us on our merry way. Not in the country more than 12 hours, highway patrol cops see a red flag, which happens to be our Canadian plates, and must have been feeling short changed that Donut King had closed for the day. They pull us over and proceed to berate us and treat us each like criminals for the following hour. Our first foray ‘short cut’ through the northern states was meant to save us 8 hours to get to Toronto. In short, it didn’t. After sharing our increasingly illegitimate-sounding storyline, they got the dog over our newly acquired van once more after ‘reordering’ our mobile-house, and finally set us free. Getting out of the US that evening felt liberating, and we had only taken a detour into their prized real estate for 20 hours. Our crossing back onto the Canadian roadways could not have been more black and white, with the border agent barely batting an eyelid to our presence. Very refreshing. We were now not convinced if an extended road trip through 11 of the continental 48 would bear all the tasty fruits we had previously anticipated.

Next instalment takes us deep into the States, smack bang in the height of Summer, with no air conditioning in our Van (henceforth dubbed The Vanborhini) and eventually we get down to the Andes mountains in Argentina. Tune in, or don’t. I won’t know either way. Until then, thanks for stumbling, and inadvertently reading this post.

Break out the brews and boards, Big white is open for business!

Due to the below season average temperature and all the white stuff that has come early this year, Big White has opened a small part of its ski hill until more snow finds its way to the ground! Everyone hopes this is a sign of things to come. Well who wouldn’t? I will just say now, I am excited, and down like brown town! Unfortunately I missed opening weekend, on the count of being stuck 4,029 Km away in Toronto for the next couple of weeks, until I make my way back to the mountains of BC.

Kelowna will soon be our brand new home, as my girlfriend and I have been travelling around the world for the past 2 years, and both had postitive past experiences with Kelowna and the Okanagan. This area is great for the outdoors type (and wine drinker!). This means my perspective of the Okanagan will be virgin impressions, as a new local of the area, and more similar to how many tourists will be vibing when rolling into the area for the first time. I think this will only be a positive, as instead of focusing on comparisons with previous seasons and how the area has changed over the years- for better or worse- I will instead provide my perspective of how the ski hill and city is treating us, what the resort is like discovering it with new eyes, where the saweat hidden jib nooks are, and also dropping just how the snow performs compared to other ski resorts and powder destinations in Canada and around the world. Keep it locked on Whiterooms Blogspot for more over the coming 10-11 winter.

Welcome to Big Whites blog spot! Its on like a prawn that yawns at dawn!!!

Welcome to Whiteroom Tours, your one stop junkie shop for that 'never-satiated' Powder Hunt! These guys are serious about what they do, so if you don’t want to a holiday to some of the lightest, driest, fluffiest powder on earth, then surf as far away from this site as quickly as your spindly fingers will click you. First and foremost, Whiteroom Tours is by riders and skiers and FOR riders and skiers. You won’t get any cheesy marketing snow jobs (very appropriate) from anyone associated with Whiteroom, and that also goes for the blog writers!

On this particular blog over the Winter 2010-11 season, I will be covering the fantastic winter playground, Big White Ski Resort, in the Okanagan region- British Columbia- in Canada’s stunning Rocky Mountain range. I have been honoured with the privilege of bringing fanatical riders ‘real' insiders info on what is happening from week to week at Big White. I will be providing current photography on a weekly basis, and a ‘no codshit' coverage of the conditions, and doing my best of representing the truck loads of snow related fun & 'good times' (henceforth know as GT’s) this resort provides to skii’ers and boarders from Canada and around the globe.

The purpose of my blogspot, is to give you accurate feedback, actual conditions on the ground, and if it is simply worth the effort or not. Hopefully, the blogs you will find within these pages will better shape and simplify your informed decision making, as to which mountain is right for you, and if you should be getting out here on a tour for tomorrow mornings ‘freshies', or if you should be waiting for the next epic dump to fall. When it does fall though, Big White provides famously dry champagne powder, with the backdrop of the gorgeous Rocky mountains.

Remember we are here for you, the snow blazers, so get that holiday booked, or make your own journey with a car full of boards, buddies & beer (not necessarily in that order) to Big White ski resort for a snow hound adventure, you won’t soon forget.

Prospecting Idaho – Episode 2

Wow...we might have to do a recon mission for a tour to Idaho!

Prospecting Idaho Episode # 2 from smith optics on Vimeo.

Hello

Hi and welcome to the Whiteroom Tours blog. 

We aim to provide you with a interesting collection of comments, stories, images and video from our guides and friends embedded in snowy areas around the world.

Stay tuned over this coming season for reports from Japan, Canada and the USA....