Snowshoeing and eating my weight in cheese have now been struck off my bucket list. It was actually so fun, that once the cheese hangover lifted the next morning, I added it right back on again! Yes, I live on the base of a ski hill and no I have never been snowshoeing before (I HAVE eaten cheese before however).  But this week the hubster and I got the wonderful opportunity to do a snowshoeing and fondue tour up on Cypress with some other local bloggers care of Cypress Mountain and Healthy Family’s Expo. And what an experience it was!

 

It was so much fun!

So, even though initially I might have heard something along the lines of

‘CHEESE AND FONDUE DINNER AT THE LODGE, but you must get there with these on your feet clumsy lady….

and thought to myself,

‘yeah, it won’t be pretty, but I can do that for melted cheese.’

It turned out that snowshoeing is great in it’s own rite (I may have flailed a couple times, but I never fell once) and even cooler at night with headlamps (first time with one of those bad boys on too)! So this won’t be the last time I will be going snowshoeing (or eating cheese, but no one was probably wondering about that). 

 

Here’s some of the fun we got up to:

 

After being shown how to attach our snowshoes and a quick group pic, we were off (there was warm cheese waiting for us after all)! I can only assume this pic, that my husband snapped of me, is blurry because of how fast and adept I immediately became in snowshoes and that all my clumsy ways are now behind me forever more (alas, that’s not true – however it was super fun and sometimes I delightfully felt like a penguin … and I stayed upright the entire time – so there’s that)!

 

Learning About Trees Enroute to Cheese:

 

Enroute to the Hollyburn Lodge our guide lead us through the forest trails, in the dark, pausing to explain and show us interesting facts about all our incredible, local trees. I loved how dark it was. Also in my insatiable search to know about EVERYTHING I found all the tree facts made me happy. Like how boiling a tea out of Silver Pine Tree’s needles could starve off scurvy because of the high vitamin C content (and that it would taste terrible). I am sure we can all agree that is knowledge that will be super helpful at some point, possibly. But I wholeheartedly feel I am better for knowing it!

Travelling in The Dark:

It was fun winding through the trails and up and around little creeks and ultimately arriving at our dinner destination.

 

Then there was cheese.

 

Well actually first there was hot drinks. A hot apple cider hit the spot  perfectly for me, but there was hot chocolate as well. Then was salad AND then there was cheese, with bread and meatballs and veggies and potatoes to stuff your face with. It was so good. And also just really fun to laugh and meet new people, while fighting over fondue space and loooong strings of cheese.

Meeting new Friends:

Carolyn and Mathieu of Moments in Mommyland

More Cheese Fondue Shenanigans:

Learning about the coveted ‘cheese leather,’ having friendly cheese wars over fondue pot real estate and other silliness.

Chocolate Fondue for Dessert:

And the only thing that could possibly be needed after a pot of cheese fondue is a warm pot of chocolate fondue with a generous assortment of sweet and salty items to encase in chocolate.

 

Your New Found Need to Add Snowshoeing and Fondue to Your Winter Activity List:

Sorry, not sorry.

Eating fondue, in a ski lodge is a winter activity right?! I mean of course it is, how could it not be?! Notice I said activity and not sport, I thought ‘sport’ might be pushing it…though there is some effort required in getting the cheese/chocolate to your mouth. I’ll leave it up to you to decide when you go take your fondue and snowshoeing tour. Because you must, it truly is so fun! And the snowshoeing is definitely a nice, light workout  – there is no argument there so it appeals to the athletic and cheese motivated alike. Like perhaps your husband does the tough mudder (and keeps telling you, you should write about it) and you go out of your way to dip things in chocolate – this would make for a terrific date night that appeals to both!!!

I like to call this look date night, head lamp chic:

So in conclusion there was snowshoeing, headlamps, chocolate, cheese and lots of laughs!

Beyond being a great date night idea, it would work wonders for a group of friends too (there’s actually a girl’s night out option) or even a fun team building exercise. Check out Cypress Mountain’s Snowshoeing Tours and try a new, or revisit an old, winter activity. Whether that activity is snowshoeing or eating fondue.

Also be sure to check out Cypress Mountain’s Booth at Healthy Family’s Expo this year and don’t forget to get your tickets for the March 18 event.

You can read about last year’s snowshoeing or ski and snowboard lessons up at Cypress over on Healthy Family’s Expo Blog