It was quiet, too much so, and there was this strange yet familiar light when peering through the slightly ajar blinds from the comfort of the bed. As if my subconscious was already aware of what was happening and without much thought to it, I rolled over, allowing myself to slip back into a comfortable sleep.
Not much later I awoke from the bonus slumber, forgetting about what had happened in the same way one does when waking from a night of dreams. Unfortunately this was no dream, not even a nightmare 鈥� it was real. Walking from the bedroom into the rest of the house I noticed a different temperature of light filtering in, and the realization that this illumination of our house can only be created by one thing 鈥� snow! A few solid cusses were muttered as I progressed to the kitchen for fuel, where I looked out the back door only to notice that it was actually still snowing.
Many who know me are also aware that I moved to this region for the snow but stayed for the summers. A common but true expression that can be heard from a number of folks that migrated from abroad to the Sea to Sky over the years. Anyone who has read my ramblings will know that I am not against snow, but I鈥檓 just no fan of it in Squamish.
Over the years this sentiment has been found in winter and summer enthusiasts alike. Even the true powder hounds often shy away from snow in our fine town, with there being little they can actually do with it. It seems that even for many of the winter die-hards, we prefer the ability to drive up the highway for 40 minutes and arrive in a winter wonderland, only to leave it at the end of the day coming back to a shovel-less, hassle-free Squamish. Who can blame us? Shovelling snow isn鈥檛 fun, and trying to get around town on unplowed streets is frustrating (even if a little fun for a couple minutes), and forget trying to walk anywhere. There have been more people walking in the middle of traffic the past week than I have ever noticed, me being one of them.
The most frustrating piece of having snow in Squamish, though, is that, as history has taught us, the big brother up the road will often receive less than us, a fact that proved itself again when the white demon finally stopped falling from the sky on Jan. 10. What followed were warmer temperatures from sea level to the roof, turning all the fresh snow to slush, only to freeze overnight. The result was not great skiing, not even good 鈥� unless you prefer your skiing to resemble ice skating 鈥� and no trails to ride in Squamish.
A week after the snowfall and we saw people from up and down the entire corridor seeking out places to ride their bikes. For many, it meant trips down to Vancouver鈥檚 trusty North Shore, which isn鈥檛 a bad thing, but for those that have families and want to get out for a quick rip on our local trails, the snow makes things very difficult.
For many I speak with, the ideal is to have the snow remain above the majority of our trails聽and聽not to be rid of it completely. Understanding there are different strokes for different folks, this is totally reasonable. Thankfully this fantastic part of the world delivers most of the time with great variety all winter long. From time to time we do get the odd snowfall that shuts the riding down in Squamish, although it is rare that we鈥檙e completely shut down if you鈥檙e willing to drive to The Shore, or even further, to Bellingham, which very rarely sees snow. However, when the convenience that we grow so accustomed to is taken by the return of the white demon, we tend to forget how lucky we really are. Still, I and others are crossing fingers and toes that we don鈥檛 have another visit this winter.
