Sun 29th Dec - Dom was staying and we planned to drive straight down to Vancouver to do some shopping before I picked Jen up from the airport in the evening. Then the phone rang. It was Andy calling from the mountain to tell us that Jon had nearly killed himself by flying into some huge rocks on 7th Heaven. Dom and I drove straight to Blackcomb base and waited for him and Andy to download escorted by mountain patrol. Jon was in a bad way, he''d been knocked unconscious for over a minute and could hardly breath from the impact of the rocks on his chest. He went straight to the health centre and waited to be x-rayed. Dom and I got our stuff together at the palace and took some things to the health centre for Jon. We stayed with him for a bit and then headed to the city. Got to Dom''s and worked on the car for a bit, caught up with Mark quickly and then went out for dinner to Wild Rice with Dom and his girlfriend. After a nice meal, I went over to Mack''s house and watched a wicked snowboarding video filmed in Whistler with him, Amrit, Patrick, Shannon and Alex. Met Jen just after midnight and drove back in a blizzard using the force to see the road. Ended up following a snow plough at 40kph and got back at 3:30am.

Mon 30th Dec - I had a lesson in the afternoon and joined an intermediate group of 4 people (including me and instructor). We rode down to Emerald lift, then went up the Peak and over to Bagel bowl for some fresh turns. We were then taught how to butter which I won''t explain here, but will get on video when Jon is a bit better. Last thing was a wicked line down to the village hitting loads of little jumps on the way. It was reassuring that I could keep up with the instructor quite comfortably and nice to see that fell over a few times and got stuck in a tree well, glad its not just me!

Tue 31st Dec - Went to the mountain early with Jen and she spent the morning practicing her turns and I tried to help out where I could. We had hot dogs for lunch at BeaverTails and then we tried to go a bit higher up the mountain. This was a bad idea, Jen got hurt falling on the first bit of path and couldn''t carry on boarding. We had to walk and then sledge down to Emerald chair so we could upload as the lift was closing. Jen got the gondola down on her own and I rode down to the village base to warm up a bit. Jon had been shopping for our New Year''s Eve dinner and had prepared a Lasagne. Matt and Paul came round and we all went into the village for First Night which was just about the worst thing I have ever been to. Everyone had told us that it was not worth going into the village on New Year''s Eve but we had to see it for our own eyes. It was like a children''s party but without the fun with lots of really crappy tents. We only found 1 stall in the entire village and that was selling hot chocolate, popcorn and toffee apples. All the bars were ticket only and they were not letting anyone in without them. We did manage to get some free advertising by writing our web address on a big tent. There were signs all around the village saying "0% Alcohol 100% Fun", we thought that it may be better to have "100% Alcohol = 100% Fun". We decided to cut our losses and head home for some serious drinking. We had an amazing night, some friends we''ve met over here called Stan and Kinga came round with their 1 year old boy Josh and we started on the Champagne and smoked salmon. Played Jenga for shots for a while, then ate a huge meal at the table which was lovely. Just before midnight I was asked to download lots stuff from the net like Auld Lang Syne and a countdown with everyone badgering me to hurry up. I managed to get the countdown started and cue up the song just in time. After the midnight celebrations, we played a really funny game of pictionary and got even more drunk. At one point, I was convinced that Paul''s drawing of a fox was in fact a fire donkey and announced it to the group as if you could go and buy one at your local pet shop. We laughed very hard at that point, I think Paul may have actually pissed himself a bit. Then we decided that we had not drunk enough because there was a bottle and a half of vodka left. About an hour later, Matt, Paul, Stan and myself had seen it all off and could hardly see. We had been playing fuzzy duck for most of the last half an hour and were in fits of laughter the whole time. Finally joined Jen in bed at around 5:30am.

Wed 1st Jan - Managed to crawl out of bed at around midday and Jen and I got ready for snowboarding. We went up and had a couple of runs although after a few nasty tumbles, Jen decided she''d had enough. We downloaded, went to the shops to buy some fresh fish for a fish pie and watched Ice age on DVD.

Thu 2nd Jan - New guests (2 Bens) arrive at the PORJ when Andy gets back from partying through the new year in Vancouver. We all got ready and went up the mountain after a quick stand outside. I went with Ben Hardy to get his snowboarding gear and then we managed to get some free lift tickets from riders going home after a half-day. We got to the roundhouse and Andy shot off down to the bottom of Emerald. I stayed with the Bens while they found their boarding legs and led them down to the bottom of the lift where Andy was waiting. Andy and I then left them to it and went up the lift. At the top, Andy was standing in the download area as I pulled off to the right. Next thing we know, this little kid came out of nowhere and took out Andy''s standing leg. As he fell, he twisted his knee and had to come down using the gondola. I rode down, took an extra lift so that I could get a bit more riding in and met Andy at the Longhorn pub for some beers. Andy had a massage from Michelle, the official masseuse of justice. The 2 Bens met us after they got off the mountain and Jen & Jon came down for a drink. Jon decided to get the bus back and the rest of us took our snowboard gear in the car. On the way to the car I purchased my back pack of justice, a North Face Reservoir with water bag and room for the shovel I got from Andy & Jon for Christmas. Spent the evening at home, Ben & Ben cook a nice meal and Mike Maclean came round to hang out for a bit.

Fri 3rd Jan - Andy was still feeling his knee injury in the morning so I dropped him off at the docs and then went back to the palace. It was raining really hard but Ben, Ben and Jen decided to risk the mountain nonetheless. I got ready for riding and packed my new bag with everything imaginable, including my CD Discman. On the way up I did a few runs listening to a house mix by Rob Monty which was great fun. I then went to meet up with Mack, Amrit, Jeremy, Patrick and Shannon at the Crystal Hut. Rode a few lines with the gang and walked up to some sweet powder runs through the trees. It was nice that we managed to stay together all afternoon. After the lifts closed, we all headed for some nachos in Merlin''s pub at Blackcomb base. Jen and the Bens had enjoyed some runs on the beginners slope, came off the mountain early, and were quite drunk in Merlin''s by the time we met them. We stayed for a while and listened to Guitar Doug who was singing some really good songs. We decided to head back to the palace, get changed, have a little rest and come back for more Guitar Doug later on. I headed to the gym for a workout and ended up spending 2 hours there. The others had gone back to the pub, but it was too busy so they went to Black''s to eat and I headed to the village to meet them. I had a couple of pints of Guinness and then went home.

Sat 4th Jan - The day started well, I got up early and busied myself with household chores, Chelsea were beating Middlesborough and all seemed well-ish. I had no plans to go up the mountain because it was raining really hard. I gave Jen and the Bens a lift to Blackcomb in the car. I got back to the palace and cleared the drive of snow for an hour or so in the rain which was quite a good workout and then did some household chores, recycling and shopping. After lunch, Jen and the Bens came back looking a little wet, but had a reasonable day on the hill. Andy decided it was a good idea to take Ben Hogg out for a drink as they had not spent much time together. Ben Hardy and Jon were chatting in the lounge and finally, Jen and I had a chance to talk in our room about what was (or wasn''t) going on between us. It didn''t go very well. Our discussion got steadily louder and ended by Jen telling me that our relationship had no future anymore. I took it really badly and went quite mad for a while before going out in the car for a cry and a think. When I got back, Jen decided to catch the first available flight home, this seemed best given the circumstances. Jen moved her stuff out of our room into the bunk room to share with Andy and the Bens. After a while, things (I) started to calm down and when Andy and Ben got back, everyone decided to go out and give me some space. I started sorting out all of the things in the house that I knew would remind me of Jen and wrote her a letter about how I felt. I had stupidly managed to convince myself that there was still a chance for us until Jen got back from the pub with Jon and we had a good chat about the way she felt. And that was that, it was over for good. I started drinking Gin, lots of it and got completely rat arsed. I had a really good chat with Jon, even though I was pretty inconsolable and could hardly stop myself falling apart every 2 minutes. Andy got back in a very lively mood and tried to cheer me up with little success, he was on a different level so I couldn''t really deal with him. Ended up passing away into a blissful sleep after nearly finishing the bottle of gin.