After Thursday and Friday's big dump of snow, Fern Thibault has all the snow he needs.
So he's leaving it up to school-aged kids to discover ways to turn that white stuff into fun.
Spring break starts today and combined with the Easter break that means 17 days off school. That's plenty of time for them to clamp on skis and snowboards to explore a winter wonderland that's been accumulating since late October at Tabor Mountain Ski Resort.
"The snow is amazing and we have lots of kids from the school programs here," said Thibault, the resort owner, who measured 15 centimetres of new snow on his mountain on Thursday alone.
"Spring break is coming and we have a whole whack of things planned. It's been an excellent season, there's been a lot of activity on the hill and conditions in the last month have been phenomenal. Hopefully this gets people excited about coming out over spring break. The conditions can't be any better."
During the break, kids 17-and-younger can buy five-day lift passes for the price of four lift tickets. Live bands and ski shop equipment demonstrations will add to the holiday atmosphere.
Tabor's terrain park for slopestyle skiing and snowboarding is attracting some major attention. On Monday, Snowboard Canada magazine is coming to feature Tabor in one of its upcoming issues. On Thursday, 2010 Olympic ski-cross gold medalist Ashleigh McIvor will come to test the Tabor slopes. Tabor is gearing up for the 2015 Canada Winter Games as host of the slopestyle (ski and snowboard), ski halfpipe, boarder halfpipe, snowboard cross, boarder cross, freestyle moguls and aerials events.
There's also great downhill skiing in store at Purden Ski Village, Powder King and in the city at Hart Highlands ski hill. For cross-country skiing enthusiasts, Otway Nordic Centre and Tabor Mountain trails will be a magnet for school kids over the next two weeks. There should be plenty of snow for tobogganing on the hills at Carney Hill, Rainbow Park and College Heights secondary school. Skaters can head to the Coliseum for public skating Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week and Monday and Wednesday the following week from noon-2 p.m. If you prefer to skate on wheels, the Roll-A-Dome is open daily from 2-4 p.m. during the break.
The Prince George Aquatic Centre is hosting Mission: Impossible, a team obstacle course race for fun and prizes that runs on weekdays from 1:30-4 p.m. during the break starting on Monday.
Two Rivers Gallery offers full-day Creativity Camps on weekdays from 9:15 a.m. - 4 p.m. Kids aged 6-12 will be getting their hands dirty as they experiment with the artful aspects of sculpture, watercolour painting, glass tile mosaics, printmaking on canvas and drawing. The camps are similar to the popular summer programs offered by the gallery. One of the projects for the kids will be to paint wooden butterfly garden ornaments cut out by inmates at the Prince George Correctional Centre.
The three Sundays ahead in March are Family Fun Days at the gallery from 1-4 p.m., which will offer hands-on activities for people of all ages. Mosaics will be the featured activity this Sunday, the March 24 theme will be water colours based on the Jennifer Wanner exhibit, and on March 31 participants will get to try out automated drawing machines.
The Exploration Place offers day camps for intermediate and primary age kids that cover both weeks of spring break and as of Thursday afternoon all but three of the 90 spots were full.
The museum is hatching chickens in the main gallery and the new chicks are due to arrive starting on March 27. This is the last month of the Illegal Kill or Trade exhibit, which focuses on poached animals or animal products. Animal feeding will be ongoing every day at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Exploration Place has a collection of frilled and bearded dragons, tarantulas, snakes and a new arrival, a "Pacman" frog who eats crickets with teeth. Bones the dinosaur mascot celebrates his birthday on Easter Sunday (March 31) with free cake and Ukranian-style egg dyeing.
A family pass for The Exploration Place costs $85 for a full year and that pass is also good for admission to any science centre in the world.
"If people are traveling out of town for spring break and are planning on going to a science centre anywhere else they should come here first," said The Exploration Place CEO Tracy Calogheros.
"It can be cheaper to buy a membership here than to pay a one-day admission [out of town] for a family of four."
The YMCA of Northern BC offers day care during the break and has two themed day camps -- It's a Bug's Life and Y Kids Are Spy Kids. There a host of day activities for the 13-and-under crowd, including soccer, Y Olympians, building challenges and cultural games and crafts.
Aspiring detectives aged 6-12 are encouraged to drop in to the Prince George Public Library's Bob Harkins branch for I Spy, where kids will learn how to break the code and become secret agents next Thursday from 1-2:30 p.m.
