Mt. Washington

Mt. Washington is a year-round Resort located a short drive north of Courtenay on Vancouver Island. In the winter it's a center for Alpine and downhill skiing and in the summer the lifts carry downhill cyclists bound for a wild ride and tourists taking in the spectacular view. There are hiking trails of different lengths and difficulties and a beautiful alpine meadow with a boardwalk.
During the 2010/11 ski season Mt Washington received a record amount of snow:19.20 meters or 63 feet. So much snow in fact that the resort opened for skiing on the Father's day weekend in June and again for the July 1st weekend. Alpine skiing in July...in Canada? On July 27th we made the trip up to the mountain to see what remained of the snow. The pictures below tell the story:



We rode the chair to the top to take in the spectacular view:






Lots of snow still on the mountain tops and ice on distant lakes. Once back down the chair to the base lodge we decided to take a stroll on the boardwalk through Paradise Meadow.



Not your usual stroll down a boardwalk in Canada at the end of July . In some places the snow was still 3 feet deep and with the sun shining down it sparkled like diamonds. "Melt" water flowed everywhere so it was a little tricky trying to keep the "sneakers" dry, but a perfect day with good friends, a nice picnic lunch and beautiful scenery.