The Yoho Blow Daze was on this weekend, and is a yearly Winter celebration in Field, which is located in the Yoho National Park. It is a real community gathering; they have ice hockey tournaments, pot luck dinner, downhill ski comp, Bocce comp (similar to petanque), human bowling, fun inside games and competitions, and even a band!
The Yoho Blow is the term for a particular storm that can come howling through the valley, with masses of snow, and winds of over 10okm an hour, and very negative temperatures.
We worked Thursday till Sunday, but only Sunday was particularly busy, with people checking out, and a fair bit of cleaning. The other crazy job was scraping the ice off the carpark, which, honestly, I enjoyed for the first half hour, as we made progress, and it was satisfying. All the time after that, though, I didn’t enjoy, as arms were tired, and it was cold. It took two sessions, but we eventually got it clear.
Friday night was nibbles, and “Minute-to-win-it” games, where you had to do a certain task within a minute. The were fun, some were hard, but everyone seemed to have a good time. Ended with a Christmas tree bonfire.
Saturday they had Bocce tournaments, where they have a small ball, and big balls in two colours, and groups of 2 teams of four people. I think the team to get the most balls close to the small one wins. They played this all through the streets of town. They had a scavenger hunt, and sculpture building for kids.
We took part in the relay, which was a trivia question (which Dale already knew the answer to), sawing a log, running and climbing over snowbanks in snowshoes, throwing axes, cooking eggs, and towing a sled, ending with a shot.
It was very fun, and I reckon the hardest bit was sawing the damn log. Saturday night had Willhorse, a local band, playing. Thoroughly enjoyed it; we managed to be in town for one of the social nights in Field!
Sunday was more hockey, downhill skiing, human ten pin bowling, and then a lovely pot luck dinner. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend, and it was cool to see the social side, and everyone in town joining in.
Dale and Becca 