SUNDAY November
22 2015
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Ski hills dreaming of a white winter
Cypress, Grouse open early for skiers, Seymour waits JUSTIN BEDDALL AND JANE SEYD jseyd@nsnews.com
After a few runs on the fresh snow on Cypress Mountain Friday morning snowboarder Mark Halliday declared: “Opening run (today was) better than any day last year.” Halliday, who’s had a pass at Cypress for the past two decades, and most other local skiers and snowboarders were all smiles on Friday as Cypress and Grouse mountains opened up under sunny skies and memories of last year’s paltry snow conditions quickly melted away. “I never stopped believing,” said Halliday, about snow conditions at local ski hill operations. The veteran snowboarder described conditions on Friday’s ski runs as, “Wellmanicured, great grooming. It’s epic.” Matthew Taylor of North Vancouver was also enjoying the fresh snow at Cypress on Friday. “First day of the season,” he said, grinning. “(The local snow conditions were) dreadful last year,” said Taylor, a pass holder who only got in about a dozen days last winter. He’s planning for many more ski days this season and was planning a trip up Grouse Mountain on Saturday. “So my wife and I can go for a few turns.” Cypress reported Friday the ski hill had already accumulated more snow at its base area – around 45 centimetres – than at any
Skiers and riders on Cypress Mountain’s upper Maëlle Ricker’s Run are reflected in the goggles of skier Robert McMillan Friday morning. The mountain resort’s downhill area opened to snow enthusiasts with more snow at its base area than at any point last season. PHOTO MIKE WAKEFIELD point last season. While skiing opened around the same date last year, the snow on the hill then was mostly manmade. “(Last year) it was a challenging season for sure. We relied heavily on snowmaking to get some days … the natural snow never came,” said Joffrey Koeman, See more page 7
Storm silences Blueridge phone lines BRENT RICHTER brichter@nsnews.com
Residents in North Vancouver’s Blueridge neighbourhood have been sitting by the phone but it just won’t ring. More than 500 Telus
landline customers lost service during heavy rains on Monday and they may be waiting for up to a week to get a dial tone. “It’s been since Monday night. All the phone lines are down. Just dead,” said Bonnie Richter, a
Derbyshire Way resident. “Wednesday, it was going to be back on. Thursday it was going to be back on. Now they’re saying they don’t know when the service is going to be back on.” While those with cellphones have been able to
deal with the loss of service, Richter said she’s concerned for people who have homebased businesses and, particularly, seniors who are incommunicado. “If they’re in their homes See Rainwater page 5
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