Onward to Venice

We had a great ending to Silverstar with excellent skiing thanks to the recent snow. The day travelling to Venice was long as expected but relaxing, as we had plenty of time for connections and all transport was on time and without drama. Today we went on a water taxi to a glass factory tour on Murano, which was a hoot. Weather was great - as were the sunset colours. Here's some pics.....

View from Milky Way run, with 'The Knoll' estate top right (where our house was)....

Having morning tea at Paradise Camp, on the mountain....

View up and down Sunny Ridge run, my favourite - not too many people to worry about....

Layers of snow at driveway to house (it gets dirty, then it snows again, and again...)....

A different twist to 'overflowing gutters'....

Lunch at Kelowna Airport - Laurie heading to Vancouver and us to Venice....

Canada mountains on route to Calgary....

Arriving in Venice on our first night....

Dessert first night - a bit like the excellent French 'cafe gourmand' (but coffee extra)....

Our hotel for our first night on arrival is on the left, just past the church....

Off on the water taxi to Murano....

Equivalent to retired lycra bike riders - but they only have canals!....

Random palazzo's on the canal - Venice is still amazing....

On open water they have a lot of power - overtaken by a similar taxi to ours....

Guess what he's making (I cut the video - but it only took him 2min total)....

End result....

Murano main canal - great weather....

Murano main canal - view the other way....

The middle (white) building is the former Teatro Italia (theatre) - now a supermarket!....

Inside the supermarket....

Sunset on the lagoon....

Shades of Canaletto....

San Marco and the Camponile....

Out the front of the Doges Palace....

Silverstar (Snowshoeing)

After our skiing today, we went for a 2.5hr snowshoe walk in the woods. They have marked trails and it was awesome in the new snow. At one stage we had to trail-blaze across fresh snow linking the markers on the trees - very Shackleton! Here's some pics and videos....

Wot fun!....

We all had snow shoes courtesy of our hosts who have them in the ski shed. They really do the job - very clever technology....

Noice....

Snowshoeing in the forest, just after Marian and Laurie saw a Snow Hare - but no photographic evidence (video)....

Path marker....

Crossing a path....

Marian in the landscape....

Very picturesque (video)....

Almost sunset....

Hard at work....

Path to right, another part of Silverstar on the left....

Split path just down from our house - the left side leads to the Silver Queen piste, the right side leads to our house and the Silver Queen lift (in the distance)....

Accessing the back of our house from the right hand side pathway above....

A well deserved spa after the walk! Nearby, the day before, we spotted a Short Tailed Weasel (Ermine) next to the ski shed....

Silverstar (Snowing)

The last few days have been fantastic 'Bluebird' skiing. Classic 'spring' skiing with blue skies, good temperatures and not many crowds. But, last night it decided to snow - very picturesque! It continued until mid-afternoon. The trees again have their Xmas tinge of white. Today's skiing was way more challenging, as it had snowed a fair bit (10cm or so) since the grooming machines, so we had to focus on our technique more than usual! But it was great. Here's some pics AND videos (for the first time - hope they work - not sure how the blog service will deal with them)....

This is the skating lake that has just been closed due to the ice being a bit thin, given the spring conditions. It might open again. The tubing is in the distance. Our house is nearby the top of the tubing. Below, there's a video of us tubing (I hope).... 

'Bluebird' days....

On the way up to the tubing....

Having morning tea at Paradise Camp by the fire - hot chocolate and choc chip muffin with poppy seeds (yumbo)....

This morning on the slopes - snowy weather!....

Video of us tubing - not sure if these videos will work?....

Video of skiing on Gypsy Queen run, showing scenery and no people, except Marian being the black spot at the bottom. It was a bit tricky holding the iPhone skiing so my technique is a bit lame - apologies!....

Video of snowing outside our window late yesterday afternoon....

Video of snow at the top this morning....

A dusting of snow makes for a very pleasant view!....

Silverstar (Update 2)

Not much to report as we've had two days off skiing, after our initial 5 day stretch. We've enjoyed going for walks in the forest as the weather has been very good. As it's warmer, there is far less snow on the trees and the snow banks are noticeably getting smaller! There's still plenty of snow around, but it's definitely different to when we first arrived. I've had a pretty heavy cold over the past few days so that's slowed us down a bit too (not Covid). Some pics....

Less snow on the trees but fine weather shows distant Monashee Mountains, beyond which are the Rockies with Banff NP and Glacier NP....

Night skiing - we haven't done it - this is a distant view from near our house.... 

Closer view of Monashee Mountains from higher position with more snow remaining....

Silverstar village Main Street, themed as an 1800's 'Victorian' mining town. The whole place is like it. The effect is very fetching in the snow and there's a reasonable amount of detail in all the buildings, so the effect is actually pretty good (but a bit kitsch!)....

Red arrow shows where our house is. The snow grooves are for tubing (sliding down in a big inner tube) which we plan to do tomorrow afternoon....

Walking path....

Crampons we wear when walking in the snow - they fit over our shoes and make it much easier....

Ramdom collection of signs they use to close slopes at the end of the day....

Now THAT'S a 4WD....

Silverstar (update)

The weather has been great since our arrival (when it snowed). It's staying cold enough to not melt (at the moment) and so it is ideal skiing conditions. The snow is incredible. Here's some pics....

Marian and Laurie having a terrible time....

Marian and I having an even worse time....

Going for a walk yesterday afternoon - there's plenty of walking paths....

On the walk....

Great views today as very clear....

Very picturesque runs!....

Starting to lose some of the snow from the trees (view out the back of the house) as its getting a little warmer since Monday's snow showers....