WELCOME TO CAMP TIMMY'S

At the very least, there are 4 perspectives of this story. Either version will attest to the same thing: we were extremely lucky (or extremely "watched over"). But, some context is required. What a blessing it is for me to spend my first Christmas away from family being able to host some close friends visiting from Toronto. Of course, part of their stay was to visit some nearby mountains to do some serious snowboarding. First stop, Golden, B.C. to Kicking Horse Resort. Perhaps it is more traditional for people to sleep in on Christmas day, waking up and giddily opening presents around the tree, still donning their PJ's. Not us; we were up and out of Camp Timmy's by 6 a.m., making our way westward in pre-dawn darkness. Three hours later, we arrived in the near-empty parking lot and quickly put on our gear to make our way up via the gondola. Wow. I've never been riding this high before and I don't think I can ever go back to Blue "Mountain" again without feeling a little gypped! Imagine the deep, powder-ous snow found only within the trees which cannot be groomed, inaccessible by the machines. Well, everywhere I rode in this place was like that, an endless sea of powder! You did not want to stop for risk of finding yourself sinking in waist high snow! Well, I was riding pretty hard, making my best attempts at carving when I noticed that one of my straps broke. After fixing my strap and taking a quick lunch (which consisted of warming up by a fireplace and wolfing down an Hawaiian pizza), we made our way back up the mountain. At the gondola, we were told that the mountain was closed! The recent warm weather that the whole continental west coast has been experiencing was making conditions ripe for avalanche. A little disappointed, we decided to ride the gondola up one more time without our boards to take some pictures. Part of the "shoot" included simulating a miniature avalanche, a humorous homage to mother nature's domination over our quest for recreation which resulted in a shortened day. In one instance, one of us decided to roll down a gentle slope, somersaulting in the fluffy powder to create an avalanche visual for the camera. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT. Well, not all was lost as the early end to the day meant that we could stop off in Banff while en route back to Calgary. Banff National Park, with the posh little town adorned with overdressed dollar stores. Where some of this country's most breath-taking sights are found. Where Sunshine Village is located...

And so, another early start to yet another snowboarding destination. This time, as we arrive back in Banff, it is obvious that people don't stay at home for Boxing Day. In Calgary, it seems that most people go to the slopes! But, having gone through the gear-up routine the day before, we made record time from the car to the gondola. What an amazing place Sunshine is! From the multi-stop gondola ride, to the unending chair lift circuits, to the sick-ly wide runs, this is truly snowboarding heaven! In fact, there was one lift that kept going up and up, disappearing into the clouds, and we couldn't help but start humming that familiar Led Zeppelin tune. Interestingly, once one starts playing in such an amazing playground and having such an amazing time, one's sense of boundaries and danger seem to relax. And so, after just having finished a relatively "easy" Black Diamond run, we got off the chairlift leading to heaven, ready to conquer the next slope that Sunshine could throw at us.

"OK gang. Choose your own line and we'll all meet at the bottom near the chairlift".
They all nodded in agreement as their eyes scanned the slope before them, their jaws dropping at the beautiful backdrop of tall snowcapped firs. This was another Black Diamond and looked no more intimidating than the one they had just finished. THEY WERE WRONG. The first clue was when one of them was found sitting near what appeared to be a ledge: A LEDGE OF A CLIFF! There was about a 10 foot drop from this edge to a steep slope that fed into a bowl-like valley! Frozen with fear, this rider refused to move, as she felt herself slipping ever so closely to the edge. The thought of easing herself over the ledge and then riding the slope down was way out of the question. The second rider, sensing the seriousness of the situation, made his way towards her, also edging ever so closely to this edge. Slowly, the second rider helped the first rider un-strap from her board, thinking that this would make it easier to climb back up. In doing so, he also had to un-strap from his own board. The moment he got her board off, he started sliding. Even though he dug hard with his heels, he couldn't stop the rapidly increasing descent, until he found that HE was falling over the ledge! Preparing for the worse, he went prone and prayed that there was enough snow to cover any sharp rocks that might be protruding on the slope. Thankfully, there was and he was about 3/4 of the way down the slope when he digging his heels successfully grabbed hold into the soft snow. Relief momentarily set in, but then he remembered his snowboard. He couldn't remember if this wooden plank with a blade-like sharpened edge was properly secured or if it, too, was propelling down the slope towards him. After what felt like eternity, he realized that the board did not follow his fall. He turned and saw just how far he had slid down from the cliff. However, the other rider was still stuck. So, he slowly made his way back up, laboriously climbing the slope face in knee high snow. The original rider was still there, but was now joined by a third rider, who just happened to ride by at the right time. Apparently, he was so taken by the view that he was snapping pictures while the rest of the group made their way down, otherwise this seasoned rider would have already rocketed down the mountain. He was now trying to coach the first rider on how to "make it" down the ledge, by finding a slight clearing and sliding down, bum first, similar to how the first rider unintentionally went down. After some coaxing (she wouldn't stop insisting on getting the attention of ski patrol), she agreed to try inching over to the edge. First, there was the issue of what to do with her board, now that it was no longer attached to her feet. So, the board was handed over the ledge to the first rider who finally climbed his way back up. Without really thinking, the first rider let the board slide down the mountain. BIG MISTAKE! The board frighteningly picked up speed going down the slope of the mountain; fortunately, there was noone skiing or riding at the bottom of this face. Even more fortunately, the board stopped once it reached the bottom of this bowl. Next, the stuck rider slid just past the ledge. This is the same person who pretended to be an avalanche the day before; now, here she was doing the real thing! She ended up sliding all the way down to the bottom, in a safe, controlled rate. Whew. But, the story doesn't end there, because there is still one rider at the edge of the cliff, an unmanned snowboard, and a fatigued boardless rider who just climbed up the side of a mountain! The plan was to pass the board to the boardless rider, but this time to keep it securely strapped, lest there be another runaway board. As this was happening, the two riders at the top couldn't help but notice that the originally discarded snowboard, the one that stopped at the bottom of the bowl, was on the run again! This time, it was followed by its owner, who appeared to have been trying to strap it on but somehow let the board get away from her. Now she was fruitlessly chasing after her board which was quickly gathering speed down the run. Down the run towards a group of children who were learning how to ski! Yikes. Quickly, the rider on top of the ledge spoke (with the calmest sense of seriousness in his voice) into his radio: "At all costs, stop that runaway board!" Standing a little further down was the fourth rider of the group. She somehow avoided the cliff that the rest of us found ourselves caught in and safely made her way down the slope. She was waiting for us and looked up to see what was happening. "At all costs, stop that runaway board!" She now found herself between that group of unsuspecting ski students and this ferocious blade that was now hurling itself towards them. So, with true heroic instinct, she slid slightly to her left, bent down and did her best attempt at being a road block. The board hit her right on her hand and she quickly keeled over. The rider at the top of the cliff radioed to her but there was no response, not even a slight movement. The owner of the runaway board now caught up and bent down to see how her friend was doing. Thoughts of a broken hand or arm or worse raced in all minds as the two looked on helplessly from the ledge. The other rider, the concerned husband of this fallen hero, was radioing again in his calm yet urgent voice. No response, no movement. He quickly leapt into action. In true superhero fashion, he transformed into a blur, hurling himself off the ledge, taking in about 10 feet and 5 seconds of air. He landed gracefully and soared straight down the mountain face, racing to his wounded mate. Sitting with his back against the cliff face, held up only by a mound of snow, the remaining rider quickly strapped on and was about to make his way down when he heard some rustling from above. Another adventurous snowboarder, for some unknown reason, stopped just before he was about to jump off the cliff. Only then did he see the other rider below him. A moment later, and he would have found himself landing right on top of final rider. They exchanged glances of surprise and bewilderment as the final rider started his descent.

Needless to say, I am thankful for a few things.
I am thankful for enough snow on the cliff's face to make my unintended sliding down on my bum safe and even fun. I am thankful that our photosnapping rider stopped to take pictures, thereby delaying his ride down which meant that he was able to see the stranded riders. I am thankful that the runaway board stopping the first time that it was tossed over the mountain, not killing any skiiers or boarders riding by. I am thankful that we were carrying radios so that we were able to radio ahead to the fourth rider to, "at all costs", stop the runaway board. I am thankful that the fourth rider had stopped right at the exact position where she was able to stop the runaway board the second time it escaped down the mountain. I am thankful that this runaway board did not succeed in reaching the group of novice skiiers. I am thankful that the fourth rider did not sustain any serious injuries and reaching out to stop the board (just a bruised hand and an unforgettable experience) I am thankful that I was not decapitated by that other rider as I prepared for my descent Snowboarding is really not as dangerous as this story may suggest. It was a series of little complications that amounted to one big problem, but that was resolved by an even more miraculous set of circumstances.