Mount Washington Alpine Resort had an explosive season – literally – in a record snow year. The Resort used more explosives for avalanche control than any other year to date, Resort Director of Public Relations Brent Curtain said.
The snow was so deep around Christmas time – nearly four metres fell in about a week – that maintenance crews had to rescue a cat.
No, not the furry, purry four-legged kind; the snow grooming machine. The cat was buried. So were several other Resort vehicles in the maintenance yard.
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Another victim of the snow that also needed a hand digging out was the Marmot Recovery Centre. They needed to ask for help plowing around some of the natural marmot dens and feeders found at the Resort.
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Bear Lodge has a new caretaker. Paul Heggeler, who has had experience at Big White Alpine Resort, is working up there now.
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Henk and Hennie van Doorn put Mount Washington Alpine Resort on their maps in June. The couple, from Amersfoort, Netherlands, was on a one-month holiday to western Canada when they stopped by Mount Washington on June 4.
The van Doorns decided six years ago that they wanted to see the world. They started with Thailand and have since visited Indonesia, China, Tibet, the United States, and now Canada.
Henk said he first read about Mount Washington in a Guide Book. The couple enjoyed seeing all the snow still piled up on the higher elevations of Strathcona Parkway, and in front of the Alpine Lodge.
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Love was in the air for a Victoria couple that got married at the Resort last winter. And a pair of Mount Washington Alpine Resort employees were asked to help them with the ceremony.
Mike and Naomi Mousseau exchanged vows on a snowy day in the forest behind the Bradley Centre. Standing up as witnesses for the joyful couple were Amanda Ridgway and Jeanette Kangas from the Resort marketing team.
The Resort helped the couple celebrate with some free tickets for skiing -and chocolate.
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Andrea Lee of Black Creek won her first bronze medal of the Canada Winter Games in February in the 10-kilometre Classic Mass Start cross-country skiing event. The Strathcona Nordic Ski Club member now trains at the National Development Team Training Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Her coach, Dave Battison, coached the B.C. Nordic team at the national winter games in Halifax, NS.
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Carle Brenneman of Comox reached the podium at the 2011 Canada-Snowboard Nationals and Junior National Championships in Lake Louise, Alberta in April. Brenneman, a BC Team rider, finished in second place behind World Cup champion Dominique Maltais. Provincial team member Jade Critchlow (Kelowna) finished the race in third.