It’s SNOWING! Yes. Finally.

I knew it was coming, but I woke up this morning to fresh, thick snowflakes falling from the sky, covering the streets… cars… trees… bushes. Snow! What a beautiful sight for sore eyes.

I snapped a couple pics while running out the door… I apologize for the blurriness and haste but being late for work because of snow (well cars driving in snow) is no fun. The great news, is that this is falling on our local mountains and finally building up the pitiful snowpack we’ve been having to deal with. I think this weekend I’m going to hit up Baker if it opens on Sunday. Otherwise, probably another Whistler trip for the weekend. This is a great opportunity to shoot some additional footage for the snowboarding movie. Maybe some time-lapse snow accumulation footage on Saturday if it is still snowing.

The AST-1 Avalanche Training Course classroom session last night was fantastic! We learned a lot about snow layers… how wind, weather and elevation affect snowpack stability, and where to look for cornices and other signs. We also got some handy mental checklists to go through when snowboarding so we can quickly evaluate conditions, and pick the best, safest route. It was really interesting. I can’t wait for the practical “on-mountain” two-day training sessions next weekend.

Immediately after the course we went home and looked up the cost of snowshoes at MEC. I decided against going for a splitboard because apparently it’s not a great idea for someone who is a photographer since there is a lot you have to fiddle with. Maybe one day, but I think snowshoes are a great place to start. We already started looking at some backcountry day trips that we want to take. It’s going to make for some excellent footage!

In other news, it looks like Electronic Arts isn’t going to open their new Yaletown studio as planned. In fact, is it possible that we’d see EA Black Box move into the Burnaby office as well? Big shifts in the video game industry.

Tonight, is two Christmas parties in one night. And only one dress! We’ll see how it works out. It’s going to be fun tromping around in the snow in high-heeled shoes. Wish me luck