Mikel Marketing Newsletter

surfing on snow
By: Mimi Dinh
Photos: Duc & Trang Au

Being a water sign (Aquarius), it was natural for me to love any kind of water activity, such as swimming, snorkeling, jet skiing, kite boarding, kayaking, surfing… I also love the sunshine and outdoor activities such as hiking, horseback riding, biking, and running. Snow sports was something that never seemed to appeal to me before due to the climate involved. During the three years of living in Boston before, the winters there were so brutal that the thought of being outside in the miserably freezing, wet cold to do any kind of activity was as appealing as the thought of getting my teeth pulled. The snow made the sky gloomy, the streets dirty and slippery, and the people unfriendly. It wasn’t until we went skiing one Boston winter that slowly changed my mind about snow. Snow on the slopes is much cleaner, fluffier, and a lot more fun than city snow. Even falling flat on your tush from the slopes was not half as painful as when you slip and fall on the icy streets.

This past Thanksgiving, we decided to reunite with two more couples for a winter sports trip in Whistler, Canada. We were excited at the thought of all of us getting together again. They all used to live in Houston, but our lives took one couple to California and another just moved back from living in Russia for five years. We don’t have as many opportunities to get together as we did in the past, so whenever we vacation together, we always have the most memorable times!

Vancouver
Vancouver is a sophisticated, ethnically diversed coastal city and major seaport in British Columbia, Canada. If I could choose to live anywhere in the world, it would be a toss between Vancouver or Portland, Oregon, for their endless outdoor recreation activities due to their mild climate and close proximity to ocean, mountains, and rivers. The scenery is breathless. How many cities can you see the mountains in your backyard and whales swimming out your front door? No wonder Vancouver is consistently ranked one of the three most livable cities in the world. But that’s not it. Vancouver is also a city of seamless public transit system, award-winning cuisine, incredible architecture, and a plethora of entertainment from the arts to the nightlife. And its music scene is bursting out the seam, known for turning out talented artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Bryan Adams, Diana Krall, Michael Bublé, Avril Lavigne, Nickelback, and Sweatshop Union.

My daughter’ school and my husband’s work kept them from joining me at the beginning of this trip, so I decided to see Vancouver on my own. One of my favorite things about traveling is to meet and get to know different people along the way, as well as to try new things. Traveling with your own group is great too, but I always try to have a little time to myself, get out of my ‘safety bubble’ and explore what’s out there. I chose to stay at a boutique hotel - Moda - located at the epicentre of all Downtown Vancouver and Yaletown as to offer. Built in the early 1900s, Moda blended the best of old world style with modern, contemporary interior design, sitting in one of Vancouver's trendier neighborhoods.

Though not a fan of group tours, I wanted to see the famous suspension bridge and thought a tour would give me more convenient transportation and site education. Due to the rain, that tour was cancelled and replaced by the city tour instead. I found myself reluctantly waiting in the hotel lobby for the tour trolley to pick me up early next morning, while schemes were already forming in my head on how to escape the moment I could no longer stand its dullness. Along with 6 more people, we began the tour by taking the glass-enclosed elevator that lifted off to the Vancouver Lookout for spectacular 360 degree views of the coastal mountains, inner harbor, and city skyline.

Afterwards, the trolley took us all over the city, exploring the unique neighborhoods of historic Gastown, the new urban Yaletown, and other well-known areas along the way. Consisting of 23 stops in all, the trolley visited the Granville Island market, Canada’s largest Chinatown, Stanley Park and Aquarium, and everywhere in between. Just as I suspected, the tour’s pace was too slow for me, but I decided to relax and make the best of it. The tour finished in 4 hours, leaving me enough time to venture on my own back to Yaletown, enjoying the SoHo atmosphere, surrounded with great bars, restaurants, and unique shops. Granville was a delightful surprise with many cool, modern furniture stores. A big fan of architecture, I returned to Downtown the next day to get a better look at the Harbour Center, Robson Square, the Vancouver Library Square, reminiscent of the Coliseum in Rome, and the Art Deco Marine building, inspired by New York’s Chrysler building, a favorite location for movie shoots.

My favorite place to hang was right at my hotel bar UVA, a cozy little place known for its “enticing cocktails, refined wines, and eclectic import beers”. I fell in love with this charming bar for its ambiance, decor, music, inviting staff, and impeccable service. The setting is ǖberchic, with a staff adorned in all mod black, yet not stuffing where you would feel out of place dining solo. I ordered a yummy potato stuffed ravioli with aged parmesan dish and the best cocktail, an Earl Grey Martini, made with infused Earl Grey tea with a touch of ginger. Delish! UVA even played my kind of music; globally sophisticated, very Hotel Costes. The genre was mostly sexy French tunes by Carla Bruni - a former model turned first lady of France, and lovely music by Adele, a 19 years old British sensation. One friendly bartender - a cute gal with a pixie haircut and glasses à la Lisa Loeb - gave me the 411 on local hot spots, while another – a hot, Ricky Martin look-alike Aussie who spoke perfect French – gave me the lowdown on the music scene in France. I even met a very interesting art dealer there who made me promise to keep in touch after we shared dinner at the bar and spent most of the evening talking about art. Originally from Portugal but residing in Vancouver, she happened to just return from Houston after a Brazilian art installation for the Museum of Fine Arts. I have to say, the people of Vancouver are the nicest in the world - genuine and friendly. Everyone I came in contact with, from the beginning ‘til the end of my trip, was super nice.

Whistler

After a couple days exploring Vancouver, I joined my friends and family as we all piled in two rented vehicles to take us from Vancouver to Whistler Mountain. We booked three suites at the a first-class resort Whistler Hilton, each completed with a full size kitchen so we can all take turns cooking, determined to make our stay a home-away-from-home experience. With an outdoor heated swimming pool, an indoor and outdoor Jacuzzis, a sauna, a 24-hour fitness centre, a business centre, a full service spa, divine restaurants, even art galleries; we were impressed with its accommodations.

Besides the facilities inside the hotel, a whole community, consisted of shops, pubs, bars, eateries, and movie theaters, is situated around it. Our sports equipment rental is a few steps away from our hotel, and the gondola ride to the slopes was a few minutes walk. Not wasting any time, we all woke up at six every morning, had a hearty breakfast and hit the slopes.

Our group was divided into two, split between team ski and team snowboard. Always willing to accept a challenge, my husband, daughter, and I decided to give snow boarding a try, taught by our friend and snow board fanatic, Duke. In less than two hours, all three of us were shrieking in delight as we found ourselves surfing across the snow. But let me tell you, it wasn’t easy getting to this point. The bunny slope were closed that day due to lack of snow; so we were learning at the base of the green slope which made things even more difficult, as we had to lug our boards going back uphill after each time we practiced downhill. I can’t count how many times I had to do this without seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Each time my board felt heavier as I dragged it uphill, time and again, feeling exhausted and defeated. Sports have taught me many valuable lessons, such as you don’t always succeed at what you want to do right away, even when you try really hard. I also learned the importance of safety and having the right gears. I am certain that our wrist-guard gloves prevented us from breaking our wrists, and our helmets saved us from having concussions, due to the many nasty falls we endured. With snowboarding, there’s the physical aspect of the sport, which takes skill, focus, coordination – and being in shape definitely helps. Then there’s the psychological side, which requires patience, pushes you to the limit and forces you to confront your fears. But the moment when I first “got it”, the sense of accomplishment was well worth all the hard work and humiliation from my repeated falls while little kids were zipping pass me laughing (I would like to think from them having fun, but at times I could have sworn they were laughing at me).

This is like surfing on snow, except safer, easier to learn, and more fun than surfing in the ocean. When I was surfing in Costa Rica, I was out there in the water all day long only to ride on the board for less than half a dozen times, each time only a few seconds. Although those were some of the best seconds of my life, I spent most of the day waiting for the perfect waves while getting abused by the force of board and drank a lot of water from my falls. With snowboarding, all you need is the snow and board, and off you go. Once you are on the board, you can surf on snow for a long time. And if you fall, you just get up, dust yourself off and go again. No need to wait for the right wave to come like water surf.

What I also love about this sport is its “freedom of expression”. An individual approach is the key so you can have your own style without worrying about doing it by the book. I enjoyed watching dudes showing off their moves - flipping their boards in the air, twisting and jumping - as much as being on the board myself. I beamed with pride seeing my eleven-year old daughter on that board, looking cool and confident doing her own thing, having the time of her life. We knuckle-touched as we passed each other and bonded as we shared the lift back to the slope, giggling the whole time as we were telling our own funny “slope” stories.

Our group was such sports junkies that we stuffed our pockets with power bars to avoid wasting time going to the cafeteria for lunch. Everyday by closing time, we were always the last to leave. While folks were getting in line for the gondolas to take them back to their resorts, our group was at the base trying to get our last fix of snowboarding or skiing until the patrol guys had to flag us to get out of there.

When we returned to our hotel after a full day of fun, while most folks went to the local pubs for an après ski drink, our group had better ways to spend our après ski – by soaking our achy and bruised bodies in the outdoor Jacuzzi, followed by a dip in the heated pool, and finally sweating together in the sauna, exchanging stories of our first day on the slopes. We followed our noses to one of our suites to find a hot, delicious home-cooked dinner waiting for us, thanks to one of our friends. She was not as into snowboarding as her husband, so everyday by lunch time she would take the gondola back to the hotel and cooked us all kinds of yummy dishes: beef stew, coq au vin, chopped steaks, and hamburger. When you vacation with friends, a certain intimacy forms that you might not be able to replicate in other ways. It gives you opportunities to open up, let your hair down, dig deeper. We got to know our friends in different layers because of the intimacy we shared from these trips. Each evening as we took turns hosting dinner in each other’s hotel suite - the kids were all in one room eating while watching a movie or playing some games, and we adults were gathering in the kitchen enjoying our home- cooked meal over a glass of wine - the same thought was running through our heads: “It doesn’t get any better than this!” Not a bad way to spend Thanksgiving indeed.

As our trip to Whistler came to an end, I found myself not wanting to leave. So many great memories in such a short time, but all good things have to come to an end. While we were sad to leave, we were excited to have found a new recreation that our family could enjoy together. Wasting no time, we have already changed our New Years plans from going to New York after a family reunion in DC, to hitting the slopes once again, this time in Liberty Mountain, a two-hour drive from D.C. But first, no more rentals! We’ll need to shop for our own snowboarding equipment because looks like this cool sport is here to stay in our household.