Aug 2017 – Feb 2019

After so many years of living in Las Vegas I had almost forgotten what a lot of snow feels like.

And then Pokin got herself invited to some sort of Strategic ‘Board’ Meeting at Snowbird, Utah.  It was a group of VCs and founders gathering in Snowbird resort for a few days of snowboarding and networking.

There were only 3 rules to the group.

• Be a telemark skiier

• Be a SASS business

• Be great at a bar

I’m king of the monoski and I’m always great company so I felt those were good enough qualifications to go.  I have no idea how my bud Nicholas and Pokin were still invited.

Nonetheless we got into a car and made our way to Utah.

Growing up in the Whistler mountains I was used to snow.  I don’t think I realized just how much more snow Snowbird gets.  This was an epic snow season so there was something like 690" of total snowfall and the snow base got to 180".  I think in metric so I have no idea what that means.  But it sounds like a lot.  I just looked up the Whistler snow season and it got 373"  Because of all the snow, the valley is really susceptible to avalanches.  In fact the Wasatch Mountains where Snowbird is located is ranked top 5 for chances of avalanches, right up there with Annapurna and Everest.  To combat that, ski patrol manually triggered avalanches all day long.

What’s a bear to do when it’s avalanching outside in some remote part of the mountain range away from skiiers?

Have some hot cocoa of course.

I did manage to get out a bit.  While Pokin was at the Chickadee slope, my bud and I got on the chairlift and went down a few hills.  It was fun.  Except the parts where my bud wiped out.  When we were tired of that we went snowshoeing.

And then it was back inside for more hot cocoa.

I miss this kind of life.  We should do it more often.

You may remember that Nicholas and I have spent quite some time gaming in VR. So naturally when Magic Leap was showing off it’s futuristic new AR devices, we had to get in on it. Since we pre-ordered the ridiculously expensive, silly looking, and mostly useless device, we got invited to their over-the-top party in LA, hosted in the hangar where they store the US Endeavor space shuttle. Count this bear IN.

Little did we know that the party would actually be UNDERNEATH the space shuttle! This is the best possible waste of company money. I approve. Even if it bankrupts the company, which it almost certainly will.

Today we are hiking Joffre Lakes, another of my mountain haunts. Pokin’s been wanting to come here since she went to SFU, so she was pleased to finally make it.

What she remembered was the hike was rated strenuous, so she never felt like she was ready to tackle. Turned out quite acceptable, but she was not prepared for the crowds. The trails were definitely very busy. Too busy, some might say.

We’re in town for our friend Mike’s wedding up near Whistler, and I’m taking the time to show my bud the mountains I grew up flying around.

Since no one had wings like me, they had no choice but to take the Gondola up.

My bud, myself, and our friend Linda - we are all Harry Potter fans.

So we decided to go to University Studios to check out Harry Potter world.

We somehow decided to pick a wet and dreary day. Sounds on brand.

We’d been listening to an audiobook - Blood, Sweat and Pixels.  One of the chapters was dedicated to one of my favourite gaming companies – Blizzard.

So naturally when we were in town for a conference already we decided to pay a business visit to our friend who works there.

And here’s the campus.

I mean, you only had to get through chain linked fences and a security guard to get to this point of the premise.

Rounding the corner brings you to the famous orc statue.  You can read about the making of this orc statue on the Blizzard web site.

Naturally I posed in front of it.

Normally the Orc isn’t covered by knitting – it’s only there for Christmas but they’re a little slow.  So it’s like we got to see the special spawn!

And here’s the lobby.

After that, we got a tour of Blizzard – including a glimpse of their special operations command room where they can see server stats around the world!

UNfortunately most of the areas were blocked off and closed - even for a VIB like me.

Another time.  One day I shall OWN MULTIPLE game companies.  Till then I’ll just selfie in front of this one.

Another year, another cruise. This time it was a work cruise. My bud took Michael, who brought a friend with him. The idea was to work on the newest bingo game, Abradoodle. We also took my bud’s dad and his step mom Jane. Because we stopped in Belize, there were many a Belize pun. Probably too many. Despite the fact we technically stopped at Belize, we didn’t see much of it. Nick’s dad on the other hand, went on a whole visit with some nuns so they had a real sense of the city.

The whole thing was a blur. All I remember is Peep DIDN’T make it on this cruise, and we also stopped in the very touristy stop in Tulum.

Today, we just decided to fly to San Francisco for a day trip.  Mostly because it was basically free thanks to a Jetsmarter free trial.

We pulled up to the Atlantic Private Aviation terminal, where I chilled out in the lounge.

Shortly after, our pilot came into the lounge and it was time to board our plane, a Bombardier Challenger 300.  This is a 8 seat, $17.4M jet, and our flight was operated by XOJets.

The flight wasn’t too crowded.  There was our group, plus two other passengers.  I got comfortable right away.

Today I met Puppy for the first time.  Puppy’s Linda’s dog bud.  It might have been his first time flying private.

Given that it *wasn’t *MY first time around the block, I gave him some pointers.  I even sat with him, you know, being a helpful bear and all.

This is the way I should always roll.  You got that, Nicholas?

I’m a fan of hockey.  As a Canadian bear, it’s sort of required.  So obviously I was happy that we were finally getting a hockey team in Las Vegas.  And when the opportunity came up to watch our Las Vegas Golden Knights team train before the seasoning opening, of course I dragged my bud there.

GO KNIGHTS GO!

Training is held at the City National Arena, a brand new ice hockey rink built for the team to practice.  That’s the right attitude.  There needs to be a gaming facility built for bear gaming practice.

I enjoyed myself.  Now take me to a real game bud!  I got my practice cheering ready.

This weekend my bud and I decided to sponsor our first game jam event.  This fellow that we knew was organizing it, and we all know I’m in full support of more gaming activity in Las Vegas.  It was held at the Reflint experience centre.

Here’s us getting set up.  Donuts?  Check.

Game developers? Check.

Giant banner giving us full credit?  Almost check.  My name wasn’t on it.

Well still, it’s nice to see this type of activity happening in Las Vegas.  I might do it again.