This past weekend was fantastic! I am finally starting to feel like myself again. We went snowboarding at Cypress, saw Alice in Wonderland, did a ton of house cleaning, and booked up all our Greenpoint campsites for the entire year early this morning at 7 AM for surfing in Tofino this summer. I think I pretty much kicked my cold too, FINALLY.

Cypress was amazing. It was turn after turn in deep powder.

It was a little foggy, so we rode trees all day. Felt so good to get back in the snow again.

In other news, the costume design by Colleen Atwood in Alice and Wonderland is absolutely incredible.

I quickly decided that I am going to be sewing a dress from the movie for Halloween this year. The question is… which one?

The dresses are rich, lavish with tons of layering and detail. This “Alice Red Court” dress is stunning.

As much as I love the Red Court dress, I think the one I absolutely have to sew is either this “Blue Scrap” dress…

… or this off the shoulder piece. I can’t decide! They are both beautiful. Can’t wait till they release proper stills for the movie.

Believe it or not, I’m actually no stranger to sewing my own dresses and clothes. It’s true, they aren’t to the level of Colleen Atwood’s designs, but they were still fun projects to work on and wear!

I sewed this layered casual shirt and bow for a New Year’s house party one year.

Here’s a silk draped dress that I made in 10th grade in high school.

Yes, there were some fashion faux-pas that I unfortunately made in university for formals. Haha. But hey, I still sewed it!

But probably the most challenging project I’ve ever done was my graduation dress for the end of high school. We had no money to buy a proper grad dress, so I scrimped and saved and put together the dress of my dreams!

It took several months to sew all the tulle layers underneath the dress and drape all the satin.

It turned out though! And it held together for the event as well, which I was crossing my fingers for.

I still have it, and I am so glad that I did.

So, I’m really looking forward to getting back into sewing and putting together an “Alice” dress for Halloween… the only question is… which one?

It’s all over the news, in many parts of the world, but especially in British Columbia. People are dying in avalanches.

Karl Woll at Outdoor Vancouver has done a fantastic job of summing up all the mishaps from over the ski and snowboard holiday season. I also ran across this article by Ian Haysom at the Times Colonist which is also the quoted title of my post today. It also looks like there is talk about potentially fining or not allowing people to access the backcountry by the government.

I can’t help but feel like my rights and freedoms are on the verge of being threatened. Not just as a citizen of Canada, but as an adventurer… an explorer… a girl who remains in this city she loves because it is an outdoor playground.

I’m glad I took my AST-1 Avalanche Training course recently. This early season has had particularly unstable snowpack conditions leading to a bout of avalanches and casualties both in-bounds and in the backcountry.  This has resulted in a backlash of anger and concern from folks who want backcountry access to be closed, people to be fined for jumping ropes at ski resorts, and for people to pay for their own search and rescue costs.

Here’s where I stand:

I believe that if something happens to me in the backcountry, I can pay for my own search and rescue costs. I am fine with this. There is a great risk to each person involved in rescuing me, and I also don’t want other people having to shoulder costs for my mistakes. Contrary to popular opinion (and grossly mis-reported “facts” in the news), the North Shore Search and Rescue does NOT charge for their services. They are volunteers. They specifically say why they do not charge on their website. Still, I would have no problem paying for my mistakes if that is the way it ends up swinging.

I believe that if I have the appropriate backcountry gear (transceiver, probe, shovel etc) and some training that I should not be fined or banned for going out-of-bounds on ski resort. I also believe that I should lose all rights to be able to sue or mar the name of that resort in the case of an accident.

I believe that if others go out-of-bounds on ski resorts without proper equipment that being fined is an appropriate penalty. I do not believe a lifetime ban is appropriate.

I believe that people should not be stopped from using backcountry access on public land (not private).

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Where do you draw the line?

Should we ban Halloween because of needles in a handful of candy amongst millions? Should we ban surfers and fisherman from using the waters because of the many search and rescue missions that need to happen each year because of them? Should we stop people from hiking because of rockslides? Should we close sidewalks to prevent people from being hit by cars?

This issue stands very close to my heart. I believe in the freedom to access the mountains, the ocean, the world around me… I believe that is a fundamental right.

I believe in being prepared, being educated, and respecting nature before venturing out on an adventure.

I believe in taking risks.

I would much rather die out living my life, exploring the world than in my bed at home.

What do you think?