One nice thing about Mount Seymore is that you can drive almost right at the chair lift. After the usual mayhem getting out of some clothes and into others, slipping into impossibly tight boots and all that, it's time for the main event.

But first we have to get on the lift to the top end of the slopes. On a day like this, it's quite pleasant sitting there, dangling your legs and watching the world around us.

The main lift takes us right over a wide portion of the mountain where two different runs converge.

Off to the side in the cut on the left, there is now a run mostly taken over by snowboarders with jumps and rails. Can't make out the details from this far away, though.

We got to say hello to our shadow, too. Caught just the right angle of sun going across here.

Finally at the top, we had a great view looking out over Vancouver to English Bay. The city showed itself off in the fine weather.

Swinging around, we could see the rest of the mountain chain. Very pretty. Made us happy that we got out of the house.

Then we were off down the slopes for the first run of the day. The sun was shining through the branches on this side of the mountain. Made for a very scenic and picturesque run. Everybody were enjoying themselves. And the hill wasn't terribly crowded either. Which was a nice surprise.

We stayed mostly on the easier runs, needed to get our ski legs before trying anything too fancy. Not that we're particularly demanding. We're there mainly to have a good time, get some fresh air and some exercise.

The thing about alpine skiing is we have to keep going back up on the chair lifts on a pretty regular basis. For us, that's sometimes a good thing because we get to rest our legs.

Mount Seymore doesn't have particularly long runs. No problem most of the time, but on crowded days, we may spend a little more time in the lineups than we care for. We usually made it up to there early enough to avoid most of the throngs.

If you go all the way up the top chair lift, you get a good view of the back country. The snowboarders and off-piste enthusiasts hike in there and have a ball. Many years ago, when I was fooling around with Telemarking, I hiked in there once, too. It's pretty country, that's for sure.

The old'uns ski and the young'uns snowboard. Gina pretty much stayed with her own crowd. Once in a while we'd see each other, but teenagers don't usually think it cool to be recognized by their parents in public. Like being called from a chair lift overhead.

I stopped by a couple of times to see what was going on at the snowboarders' jumps and rails. Here's a shot of Gina trying her jumps. I wished I had a better camera along that day, because the action looked a lot more exciting than the picture let's on.

The jumps evidently felt good that day, and Gina was getting into it. Here I caught her in a great board-grabbing moment. Some of her friends were pushing the envelop big time. To the point where one of them had to be taken off the hill by the ski patrol after a wicked landing.

I was glad Gina was wearing her helmet and not trying anything too wild. At least she didn't while I was watching. There's a difference, I know - I remember when, as they say...

This is what it's all about for me. A fun slope matched to my skill level, bright sun and sparkling snow. I like skiing through trees. On a day like this, with uncongested slopes, I can just take my time and carve what patterns I like and just play around without having to worry too much about what's coming down hill behind me.

One time many years ago on this same mountain, I was Telemarking and cutting tracks down the beginners' run when a couple of teenagers, a boy and a girl, overtook me. They were racing. The girl couldn't match my pattern, lost control and ran me over.

I had brand new Telemarking skis and she cut a big strip off the top of one of them which I didn't notice until later. One of her ski poles smacked me over the lips which stung a bit, but didn't seem to do any damage. The cold weather cooled things down, literally, so the pain quickly went away. Nothing much to do about it all, I thought at that time, so I just let them on their way with a promise to slow down. Fat chance. They both made beelines straight down the hill.

When I got in the car later, I was pulling frost out of my beard and my hand came away red. The collision with the ski pole had punched one of my incisors right through my lip. The blood had simply frozen in my beard and I never noticed noticed. Until then. No big deal, only a little superficial bleeding and everything healed up fine. I have yet to experience anything quite so dramatically eventful on any subsequent ski trip. And I'm not complaining.

It's fun watching other skiers and their style. Sometimes I see something I'd like to try. I stop by the black diamond runs for a breather now and again. That's where the more experienced skiers tend to be. At the end of last season, I felt ready for a challenge and did the black diamond run a Mount Seymore a few times. I can't say I felt entirely comfortable with it, but I managed to stay in control all the way.

I have noticed that a black diamond designation is not an exact designation. I have looked at other black diamond runs in the Rockies and many of them were a lot more challenging than the one I did then. So, look before you leap.

Mount Seymore has night skiing, but when we come up in the morning, we don't have it in us to ski for quite that long. When the sun starts edging towards the horizon and the light fades, that's the signal for us. If the muscles weren't enough!

Still, it's a special feeling sitting there on the chair lift going through light and shade like that. Signals the end of a great day. Makes me want to come back for more.

Every trip is different, everyone has its own special charm. I always take away something as my own special treasure to call forth on later occasions. On a hill like Mount Seymore, one of the treats is the scenery and wonderful views of the surrounding mountains.

Usually I see the mountains from below. Being on a ski hill, I see them from a totally different angle. More like on an equal footing. Nice thought, isn't it?

And then there are the moments on the slope, going down a nice run when everything seems just perfect. When I look at this picture I can help myself from wondering why it is I can't seem to make it out there more often. What do you think?