You can't escape it, it's in every chairlift ride, in every café, in every corner and it’s on people's minds.

The Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Winter Olympics are the biggest thing in town. People talk about athletes skills, their favourites and about snow conditions at the venues. Excitement is definitely in the air and I'm sure there wouldn't be a better time to be a Snow Bum here in BC than this winter.

My fourth week has been so diverse! On Monday a group from the Canadian Tourism Commission and TV Record from Brazil arrived in Sun Peaks and invited me to join them in several winter activities, some of which I still hadn't yet experienced here. To see the full story they aired about Sun Peaks in conjunction with their 2010 Olympic coverage, click on this link - TV Record Sun Peaks Story.

If you think winter is the season in which inevitably you have to be inactive and gaining weight, then you should give snowshoeing a chance.

It is a great cardio exercise! And as they say: If you can walk, you can snowshoe. We did a 3km tour, got to do some bird watching, saw a lynx track and had a nice cup of hot chocolate and cookies at the end. Like skiing, the deeper the snow the more fun you have!

Tuesday I discovered a new way to slide on the snow: Snow Biking. After 5 minutes of instruction we were cruising down Sundance and on our second run we were riding the glade area aside Grannie Greene's. It's really easy to learn and super fun!

Snow biking is probably the only snow sport that allows you to go to the top and explore almost the whole mountain in your very first day! I was so thrilled with the speed that after the lifts closed I joined some Aussies for a few tubing runs, and since it was Australia day, of course we were sliding carrying a huge Australian flag.

When you mix locals night and Australia day in the same party, the only way to ski early the next morning is by having a double espresso. So Wednesday morning I went to Bolacco Café where I had the opportunity to meet two real local ski bums.

Dave and Danny have been bumming around these mountains for the last 35 years. They have a kind of worship for the Burfield Chairlift and the 3k vertical feet that it provides you. More than passionate local skiers, the two made skiing their lifestyle! On every chair ride they told me a different story about this area, and as you can imagine, both have their secret stashes, but they wouldn't let me reveal it on this blog... hehe. 

After lunch it was time to go to Kamloops, after all it's not everyday that you have the opportunity to be part of the Olympic torch relay.

It was a huge party, there were about 15,000 people ignoring the cold evening and celebrating that special moment. Everyone had smile on their face and a Canadian flag in their hand, and the crowd got totally crazy when Nancy Greene passed the flame to Mark Recchi.

Thanks Ron and Lora for inviting me to spend the night and join the torch party, I have no doubts that if the five member Brazilian Olympic team doesn’t succeed in the games, I already have another team to cheer for.

Thiago,
The Snow Bum

Nothing beats ski-in ski-out accommodation when you think about lodging during a ski trip. And I know that first hand because during most of my budget ski trips I have had to sacrifice this great facility in order to save some money and stay a few more days on the slopes.

But doing the math, maybe these extra days were spent on shuttles, parking lots or even locker lines, and what was supposed to be the ultimate ski vacation sometimes became a stressful rush.

They couldn't have picked a better place to be my first home here in Sun Peaks than Nancy Greene's Cahilty Lodge.

My first feeling when I walked into the lobby was that I was in a lodge run by skiers! There are dozens of ski trophies won by Olympic Champion, Nancy Greene, in a huge trophy case, pictures of ski races from different decades and a whole corridor with posters on the walls, making you travel back in time and learn a little about all the winter Olympic games that have taken place. Maybe that's why so many ski teams choose to stay at the Cahilty Lodge - they can probably feel the energy of gold medals in the air.

As I learned from John Douglas, Nancy Greene's Cahilty Lodge General Manager, this was the very first hotel that opened its doors to the public at Sun Peaks in the early 90s. This was when Tod Mountain started expanding and the local ski area started evolving into a world class ski resort. And most of the staff is still the same, probably the reason everything here has a kind of personal touch.

Staying in a ski-oriented place is a totally different experience. Even Memories, Cahilty Lodge's restaurant, is ski-in ski-out, and during your last run of the day you have a tough decision to make: the indoor or the outdoor hot tub, or the infra-red sauna.

I'm having a busy Snow Bum life up here, but of course I had enough time to check out all the facilities. The one thing you can't miss while staying at the Cahilty Lodge are the exclusive mountain orientation ski tours with Nancy Greene and her husband Al Raine. In fact, I’ll be joining Nancy on the slopes this Monday!

So far so good, I feel at home – I’m in a champion's home! Who could ask for more?

Thiago,
the Snow Bum