The 2009 "Pontiac G8"

"Pontiac G8", originally uploaded by Tim McDonald.

Does this car look familiar?

Taken at the Vancouver Motor Show at BC Place on Saturday.

Had some nice cars there, and quite a few exotics such as Aston Martins and Lotuses.

The new Nissan GTR (Skyline) was also on show there and looked impressive.

We were there mainly to check out the Jeeps as that's probably what we're going to get.

It also snowed here yesterday, but today is bright and sunny. What crazy weather we're having.

Night Snowboarding on Grouse

Getting Ready, originally uploaded by Tim McDonald.

On Saturday night, we gave night skiing on Grouse Mountain a try. A couple of weeks ago we purchased ski passes to Grouse that give us unlimited skiing though to the end of April 2009.

We got to the gondola at about 7pm and were pleasantly surprised that the usual throng was nowhere to be seen. At a guess, there were probably 15 of us on the gondola on the way up.

Even at 7.30 there is quite a bit of light left (the sun sets at about 8 at this time of the year here). Now, the view from Grouse Mountain at dusk is nice, but it's after dark that it really comes alive. The sensation of belting (or falling) down a hill in the middle of the night is quite spectacular. The runs are very well lit and visibility is very good throughout. Better yet, there are about 20% of the crowds that are normally there. One downside, is that the number of 'nut' skiers increases; lured by the smaller crowds they can roar down the runs much faster than during the day without fear of taking some poor beginner out. On two occasions, a skier came within a metre or so of taking me out.

Finished up (bruised and sore, mind) at about 9.30 and headed to the restaurant for a burger and beer. The runs close at 10pm, but the restaurant stays open til around 11.30.

We got the 11pm gondola down the mountain and due to the joys of public transport, we didn't get home until 1am.

Time to get a car methinks.