pesto chicken linguini...
Over the following days I spent most of my time in Heavenly Valley and Keogh's / Orchard trying all of the runs that were bare ground last season. The weather was perfect and late in the afternoons I walked around the village and to some of the more remote non-skiing areas like those pictured in the previous post. Sunsets from the mountains are unforgettable. Below is a camera-phone panorama from the top of Keogh's looking into The Orchard:
My snowboard was feeling weightless after a few days of boarding and I'm very happy with my progression into steeper and more challenging terrain. I tried some black runs although I much prefer the more laid back experience of blues. The Orchard is great for that and the views make it worth the lift-hopping to get to that side of the resort.
My apartment was feeling like a home away from home and the window seat, with its pleasant vantage, was the perfect spot to cocoon and relax the legs after a long day. Coincidentally the window is visible from a live streaming remote-controlled webcam that allowed pseudo "video phone" conversations with those back home.
The following day the wind howled and the weather turned, blue skies replaced by thick fog and snow showers. In an ironic twist this was good timing: that night I woke up at some hazy hour, nauseous and head swimming from what quickly made itself known as food poisoning. The next three days were not fun; I'm never eating a pesto chicken linguini ever again.