What's a Duffey?

"What's a Duffey?" one of my friends asked me when I told him I was planning on heading to the Duffey for the weekend. Well the "Duffey" is short for the Duffey Lake Road, a 100km mountain pass, linking Pemberton to Lillooet. It takes about 1.5 hrs to get to the start of the pass from Squamish. The Duffey offers spectacular sights of the surrounding lakes and dramatic mountains. It also offers some fabulous ski touring, with numerous backcountry huts to stay overnight at. Some friends and I headed up the other weekend and got two great days of skiing in.

Looking down at the Duffey Lake Road (above)

Earning our turns:

We got cozy at the Cayoosh Hut with 5 strangers for two nights (8 of us in total) with just enough room for us to all sleep comfortably. This tiny A-frame hut is fully stocked up with all sorts of amenities including a spice rack!

Check out the coolest bench ever! (above)

I have also added a video from another Duffey day back in January:

Quest at Whistler

We seriously live in the best place in the world! The recreational opportunities in Squamish are limitless. If you're a skier, you've most likely heard of Whistler, a ski town located just 45 minutes north of Squamish. Whistler has two unbelievable mountains you can ski at - Whistler and Blackcomb. The mountains are located side by side and together offer so much amazing terrain. Being located in the coast mountain range (i.e. wet), there is no shortage of powder days. Whistler Blackcomb is also the official Alpine Skiing Venue for the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games.

Quest students get an amazing deal on a Whistler season's pass. Student passes are offered at $399 - how could you not get one! The students have been having an awesome time sking on weekends and block breaks. We also offer regular shuttles for students heading up to Whistler for the day.

Here are a few photos from the mountain this past weekend. It was extremely busy, because of the American President's week, but the crowds couldn't keep me away!

Quest also got involved in the Fire & Ice show this past weekend, which is a welcome show that takes place every Sunday evening in the skier's plaza. A couple thousand people gathered for this past Sunday's show which included skiers and snowboarders jumping through a burning ring of fire, fire twirlers and a fireworks show to top it all off. It was a great opportunity for us to meet people from all over the world and tell them about our wonderful new university! Here are two of our admission counsellors, Sarah and Emily, freezing in the cold... we're definitely dressing warmer next time, and bringing lots of hot chocolate!!

Moonlight Skiing in Quest’s backyard

We took full advantage of the clear skies and full moon this past week, and headed up into Garibaldi Provincial Park, just up the road from Quest, for a moonlight ski. What an absolutely gorgeous night! The moon was so bright, we only used our headlamps when shadowed by the trees. Once we got into the alpine, the trees opened up and we were in a magical moonlit land! The snow sparkled in the moonlight, as we continued up into the alpine. We headed up the ridge, and found a perfect little ledge for our picnic dinner with a glorious view of the peak of Diamond head, the lights of Squamish, and the surrounding snow-capped mountain ranges.

After a scrumptious falafel wrap (from the Quest dining hall of course) and tasty hot chocolate, we then snapped into our skis and headed down. The snow conditions were fantastic! We got some great powder turns in, and then continued on down the trail back to the parking lot. What a perfect way to experience a full moon! As we drove down the road, we drove past Quest, lit up in all its glory. How amazing to experience something like this in, literally, the backyard of a university!!!

Catskiing on the Hurley Pass

The other weekend, I was fortunate enough to be invited on a 2-night catskiing trip with Backcountry Snowcats on the Hurley Pass. The Hurley Pass is just north of the Pemberton Meadows and is only accessible by 4x4 in the summer and via snowmobile in the winter. It was my first time catskiing, and I highly suggest it for those looking for fresh powder turns. We almost had too much snow (if that's even possible...)! Unfortunately, avalanche activity was considerable, so we stuck to the trees. But no complaints - we experienced an entire weekend of deep, blissful powder and untracked turns. One especially cool spot was 'the Badlands', a burned down forest, where we skied amongst black tree skeletons.

Be sure to check out our video too: