"DID you bring the house keys?" my husband, Michael, asked as we drove into Mount Washington Alpine Resort.
"Nope, they're at the hotel," was my somewhat smug reply, thinking back to the morning when I swept through our hotel room while bundling the kids off for a day of skiing and, scooping the keys off the dresser, efficiently dropped them into my duffle bag for safe-keeping.
"Oh," was Michael's reply, and after a short pause he explained, "I put the key for the Thule on your key chain." With snow wear on and "Canada's island mountain" beckoning, we stared at the cargo box on our car's roof rack - skis, boots and poles locked neatly inside.
We had taken the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo one day earlier and had enjoyed the hour and a half journey along the Inland Island Highway to Comox Valley. We had viewed the famous elasmosaur fossil and poked through other prehistoric finds at the Courtenay & District Museum and Paleontology Centre, and lunched at popular eatery Atlas Café in downtown Courtenay.
We'd settled into our room at the new Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Courtenay, hitting the indoor waterslide minutes after check-in and sampling the hotel's new pancake machine at the free hot breakfast buffet the next morning. But now - we were ready to ski.
The one-hour round trip to retrieve the key from our hotel room would send our two kids, ages six and eight and itching to hit the slopes, into major meltdown mode so we trudged off to the alpine lodge to pick up our day passes while figuring out our next move.
"Great start to a ski weekend!," said our affable host, Brent Curtain. Mount Washington's promotions manager laughed when I shared our troubles. "No problem. We can set you up with rentals."
With that we sped through the learning centre where the friendly staff sized and outfitted the four of us with gear, and we were sliding on snow minutes later.
Mount Washington boasts some of the deepest snow on the West Coast. The resort gets an average of 11 metres of snow annually, compared to Whistler's 10 and Seymour's four metres, and last year received the biggest pile of powder in resort history, more than 19 metres total.
Peak-to-surf views reward those who ride the Eagle Express to the top of the mountain's black diamond and blue runs. Gentler thrills await newbies at Easy Acres, the mountain's new $3 million learning area. The beginner area terrain was completely regraded and widened last summer and gently slopes for slow, straight-forward runs.
Owen, my six-year-old cruised down Big Easy while his big sister, Olivia, bombed straight for the Hawk highspeed chairlift with her dad, who texted "meet u later!" from his perch on the sixpack, and with that they were whizzing to the top of Sunset, a nice easy green run.
Owen and I hung out on Easy Street, working on pizzas (snowplow) and French fries (parallel skis), riding the magic carpets to the top of Easy Acres and working up an appetite. The four of us met up over a bowl of chili in the Alpine Café and after lunch, I paired up with Olivia for one last run while Owen and his dad returned their skis.
"You gotta see the view from the top of Eagle Express. You can see clear to the North Shore," Curtain told me when he gave us our day passes. This I had to see, and so I convinced my eight-year-old she had graduated from green to blue runs and was ready for Coaster, one of Mount Washington's most popular runs. We rode the quad chair to the summit where we gazed clear across the Strait of Georgia at a panorama of the Sunshine Coast, from Powell River to Sechelt, with the Coast Mountains beyond.
Going up was easy. Getting down was the hard part.
"You can do it," I yelled in encouragement as we pointed our skis downhill and set off on Milky Way. "This is horrifying!" my daughter whimpered as boarders sped by and her skis scratched over steep, icy patches at the top of the run, finding her legs further down on Linton's Loop and gliding effortlessly to base.
"Nice one, Mom," she admonished as she tumbled tiredly into the car for our return drive to the hotel in Courtney. One quick look assured me that my daughter was secretly proud of herself. Just like our ski trip, this trail had a few bumps at the beginning and some rough patches in the middle but will be remembered for its smooth finish.
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Spring specials:
The Mountain Kids Snow School at Mount Washington has three-day and five-day holiday camps during Spring Break, March 12-16 through April 5-9. Camps are designed to help children improve their skiing or snowboarding skills and have fun ripping around the mountain. The ratio is maximum six kids to one instructor. For details, visit www.mountwashington.ca. and click on Snow School.
March 10 and 11, Mount Washington will play host to Gatorade Slopestyle. Skiers compete on Saturday and snowboarders on Sunday in this fun event that gives hotshots a chance to show off their style, technique and flow - and win prizes from sponsors Dakine, 686 and Scott -as they're judged on a number of hits, rails and boxes down the Slopestyle course. Categories for male/female, 13 and under, 14-17, 18 and over sponsors Dakine, 686 and Scott. Registration is $20.
Getting there: BC Ferries recommends that travellers plan their Spring Break trips in advance and consider making a vehicle reservation by visiting www.bcferries.com or calling 1-888-724-5223.
Where to stay: Several hotels in the Comox Valley region offer ski-and-stay deals. Package prices start at $109.95 (per person, per night). Addons include lift passes and hot breakfasts. For more information or to book, visit www.discovercomoxvalley. com.
