Skiing In The Summer!

We woke up this morning and after putting on our ski and snowboard clothes, we headed off in the van to Whistler to shred some knar for our second day of skiing and snowboarding! The snow was better than yesterday with a small powder coat. We went to the rental store to pick up our skis, snowboards, and helmets. Then came the journey up the mountain. Three chair rides landed us at the top of Blackcomb.  We started out on the beginner runs and moved our way up to the more advanced runs after we got our ski legs under us. We did a few runs and then rode the scenic peak-to-peak gondola where we witnessed incredible views at extreme heights. The trip is off to a great start!

Learning a New Skill

Today we woke up early to start our whitewater kayaking on Alta Lake in Whistler. We met Captain Holiday who was hilarious. After getting our gear on we headed out to the lake. We learned wet exits and many turning strokes; then we had a delicious lunch. Afterwards, we went off a natural feature in our kayaks that was awesome. We then learned how to do a 360-degree turn under water, in kayak speak they call it a "roll". We finished our day with hot cocoa and apple cider around our campfire and headed off to bed excited for an action packed next day where we are going to use the skills we learned today but on the river instead of a lake. 

Climbing in Smoke Bluffs

Today was awesome. After we woke and had muffins we talked about how excited we were for a fun day of rock climbing. We headed out and went to the Squamish Adventure Center, where we met our climbing guides. They taught us basic skills, such as tying figure 8 follow-throughs and clove hitches. After the sun came out, we went to the Smoke Bluffs, a park in Squamish dedicated to climbing. We put on our harnesses and helmets and started climbing different routes. At the end of the day we were all experts. We drove back to camp, had pork teriyaki for dinner, and headed off to bed, excited for the next day. 

Whitewater Rapids: Take Two

Today we went white water rafting on the Sauk River, after a great night at our campsite. We got lots of gear; first came the wetsuits, then splash jackets, life jackets and helmets. Our guides were awesome. We were in three boats and could see each other going through the class III rapids. It was so much different then going through the rapids in the kayaks. I'm not sure which one I like better, they are both awesome! After an AMAZING lunch we played some games on the river and then went down even more exhilarating rapids to cap off the day!

Sea Kayaking the San Juan Islands

Today we woke up bright and early to get an early start on our first day of sea kayaking. We drove to the beach where our guide, Richmond, taught us about sea kayaking and all the gear we were to use. After various preparations we finally took off into the water. The paddle to Turn Island led us to see harbor seals, purple starfish, jellyfish, and more. When we got to the island we had lunch and rested for our coming night paddle. After our burrito dinner (which was so yummy!), we prepared our sea kayaks for our relaxing evening paddle. We paddled all the way to see the lights turn on in Friday Harbor and back. At the end of our journey it was just getting dark enough that we were able to see organisms giving off bioluminescence in the water. We returned to our campsite and fell asleep getting ready for the next day of kayaking. We all have our fingers crossed that we will see a whale!