Blue Monday - Blue Mountain

I was otherwise occupied last week and didn't have a chance to get back to leave a message. The photo I have used today is a shot of the upper part of the Flat Iron building on Front Street. I would just love to have a flat just below that turret where the windows are curved and the view is spectacular.

This past weekend I had my son with me so I was busy being Dad. Being Dad is one of the best things in my life by the way.

We had a chance finally to get up to Blue Mountain for a day of skiing. We had been trying to get a weekend to get up there since the winter started but we haven't had much snow fall this year. Snow had fallen on Friday night but by the time we made our way north the weather had cleared and the roads were in good shape. It seems though that half of Toronto had made the trip because the whole area was very busy.

Neither my son or I are very experienced skiers, both of us have only been skiing for three years and this was the first time out for this year. We also have not been to Blue Mountain before so we did not know the area or what the facilities were all about and the area is not well marked.

The first problem we encountered was that we parked in an area which turned out to be a private club. I had to take my boots off again after I had already struggled to get them on and drive a further kilometre down the road. This time we were given the wrong information by a less than helpful parking attendant and parked a second time in the wrong place. We needed to rent equipment for my son but found out that the location which provides equipment was in a different location again so we ended having to find and take a shuttle bus to get to the rental area.

By the time we actually got on a lift and up the mountain it was two o'clock and the slopes had been used a lot by then and the snow conditions weren't great. I understand that snow boarders create piles of snow when they board but when you haven't been on skis for a year these can become obstacles. Rather like skiing moguls when you don't really want to ski moguls. We did survive though and had a pretty good time moguls and all. My son did ask at the end of the day if we could just go somewhere else next time so I guess he wasn't too impressed.

Personally I am going over to Ellicottville NY with the fellows from work in a couple of weeks and I am really looking forward to that. It is a great resort and a really friendly party town. The slopes have always been in great shape when I've been there. Good skiing, good food, plenty of beer and lots of pretty girls which suits this old fellow just fine. The girls aren't all girls too which means I can actually meet some women closer to my own age, someone who likes to get out ski and party too. Woo Woo.

I took my son last year and I will try to take him back again this year but he can't join the guys from work, he's still way too young. It will give me an excuse to go twice and that's okay with me. I do have to look into the border situation though, I have been told that he may require a passport this year but we'll see.