We're Canadian. Let's talk about the weather. And maybe a little about skiing.

It has been one heck of a rollercoaster over the last few months, weather-wise. Extreme heat and nasty forest-fire smoke persisted through August and into the month of September. Many people in town, including me and my family, adopted a siege mentality—windows closed, blinds drawn. That has made the turn in the weather all the more pleasant. I mean, what other scenario would make peeking out your window in uphill and seeing this, below, pleasant? Nice, thick and precip-laden clouds hunkering down on Elephant Mountain. Remembering that Elephant's peak is at about the same elevation as Whitewater's base is a happy fact. It gives we Nelsonites a good gauge. Snow on Elephant = snow at Whitewater.

I am sure everyone has taken a look at the webcam and noted the snow slowly, but surely, accumulating. Many many new things are happening up at the hill—right now. New lodge, new lift. Wow. The Wh2O Crew has done a better job documenting these these changes than I ever could. Make sure to check out their latest blog post, here. 

If you have yet to make a trip up to the parking lot or haven't yet heard of the developments, let  me share a couple spy-style photos to give you an idea.Note the new structure, looker's left. It seems to be at least as big as the original lodge.

OK, one more to whet your appetite.Sneaking a little closer to get a better view of the new hang-out spots. 

Speaking again of weather, this coming week is supposed to be big in terms of snowfall at elevation. That's really good news for precipitation-starved locals. The bonus is three-fold: 1) it'll help us forget the ashtray-that-was-August, 2) it'll build a base and 3) it'll stoke our stoke for another outstanding season. Yeehaw!