I'm still working on a decent edit of all the material I gathered at the Olympics last month. Looking through the videos I have has brought back new memories already! When a DVD is ready, I will mail it out to anyone who wants a copy.
The CSPS (Canadian Ski Patrol) played a large part in the volunteer system that VanOcc had in place. I can't tell you how many CSPS people I met out there. My estimates are that approximatly 25% of the Alpine Skiing vollies had or have a CSPS connection. My zone supported the 7 members who were fortunate enough to have been given a role in the Olympics. A good 'final perspective' can be seen the Kawartha Zone weekly newsletter.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
New Perspective
The link to Guenter Hujara's blog can be found on the right side. This is a good read to give you the highest perspective on what it was like to put the Alpine races on last month.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Day 24 - Learning to Ski all over again
When I was 4yrs old, my Mom and Dad taught me how to ski. The hill we skied on was part of the bunker on the forth hole at the Eastbourne Golf course on Lake Simcoe. There were a few different 'lines' down this 10ft high hill. I can remember my brother and I 'lapping' this hill endlessly back in 1967. This was when it all started for me. For the next 20 or so years, I skied at the 'Honey Pot' ski hill in Toronto (now Eagles Nest golf course), Snow Valley in Barrie, Caledon Ski club near Orangeville (and more). Still learning to ski the whole time. Then in 1988, almost exaclty 1/2 my life ago, I arrived at Apex (south Okanagan). Until now, I had always said to myself that this is when I learned to ski, for real. I spent 2 years on that hill and probably skied in excess of 150days there. Well, 23 years later, I think I've 'learned' how to ski all over again!
Yesterday (Thurs) was a nice clear day. The air was crisp, so the snow was nice. I met up with 'Richard from Calgary' at the lightboard at the top of Whislter, the fellow I had skied with the afternoon before, when Wommie left the hill. We headed off in search of some good turns. He and I seem to have the same sence of what a good run is: quality over quantity for sure. In the Symphony Amphatheatre, the hike to Flute bowl was littered with skiers and boarders. Not having the right gear with us (read: avy gear), we decided going to the top was not a great idea. We did however hit some nice lines on the lower section. From there, we tested every aspect of the Piccalo bowl for good snow. Then over to Harmony bowl for a few runs. We hit the Peak chair next and found that runs like 'Doom and Gloom' and 'Sneaky Pete's' had the softest snow on the mountain. We spent the next couple of hours tearing up these and other runs off the Peak. You can 'lap' the Peak chair in 12 minutes!
I left the hill at 3pm to shop in the village. Lots and lots of sales on now. After filling up a few bags, I headed back to Pemberton for the 'last supper' with Jeff and Mat. We had a blast last evening, taking pictures and making videos, doing guy stuff (see pics). Mat has become my 'pseudo son' for sure. I just said goodbye to him as he headed off to school this morning. We will stay in touch through Facebook (he's a FB junkie just like my kids).
Today I will pack up all my stuff (see Feb9 photos), go for a Mtn bike tour around the Pemberton trails and head down to Vancouver. Scott Firth (aka Filthy) will pick me up at the Hyatt and we will head of the see Lisa and his kids at their house in Richmond. They have kindly offered me a bed before my 8am flight Saturday back to Toronto.
Though I've been here for 25 days, it feels like a week. I will be leaving 'my heart' here in BC for sure.
Yesterday (Thurs) was a nice clear day. The air was crisp, so the snow was nice. I met up with 'Richard from Calgary' at the lightboard at the top of Whislter, the fellow I had skied with the afternoon before, when Wommie left the hill. We headed off in search of some good turns. He and I seem to have the same sence of what a good run is: quality over quantity for sure. In the Symphony Amphatheatre, the hike to Flute bowl was littered with skiers and boarders. Not having the right gear with us (read: avy gear), we decided going to the top was not a great idea. We did however hit some nice lines on the lower section. From there, we tested every aspect of the Piccalo bowl for good snow. Then over to Harmony bowl for a few runs. We hit the Peak chair next and found that runs like 'Doom and Gloom' and 'Sneaky Pete's' had the softest snow on the mountain. We spent the next couple of hours tearing up these and other runs off the Peak. You can 'lap' the Peak chair in 12 minutes!
I left the hill at 3pm to shop in the village. Lots and lots of sales on now. After filling up a few bags, I headed back to Pemberton for the 'last supper' with Jeff and Mat. We had a blast last evening, taking pictures and making videos, doing guy stuff (see pics). Mat has become my 'pseudo son' for sure. I just said goodbye to him as he headed off to school this morning. We will stay in touch through Facebook (he's a FB junkie just like my kids).
Today I will pack up all my stuff (see Feb9 photos), go for a Mtn bike tour around the Pemberton trails and head down to Vancouver. Scott Firth (aka Filthy) will pick me up at the Hyatt and we will head of the see Lisa and his kids at their house in Richmond. They have kindly offered me a bed before my 8am flight Saturday back to Toronto.
Though I've been here for 25 days, it feels like a week. I will be leaving 'my heart' here in BC for sure.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 23 - Great Powder Day on Whistler
After a great breakfast, Wommie and I headed off to Whistler for the day. We headed straight to the Peak chair (9:10am load) and did a warmup run on Whistler Glacier. There was about 10cm of new snow and the sun was shinning. Our next run was a trip over the 'back side' of the Peak. You would only want to do this with someone who knows the way out. We had about 25 turns down some of the nicest powder fields I can remember. When you ski this aspect of the hill, you must hike back out, about a 10 minute boot walk out back into Bagel Bowl. From there, we hit the 'Cristmas Tree' run down the north face of the West Bowl. After a scoot down around Harmony Bowl, we headed back up to the Peak again. Really great skiing. Unforntunatly, Murphy's law struck around 11:30am when Mat's (Wommie's son) school called to inform Wom that Mat was sick and needed to be picked. Jeff had to leave the hill, so I grabbed my bag from the truck (parking on hill now open again) and stored it in a locker under the Longhorn bar and headed back up.
On my first ride up the Peak, I met up with a fellow (Richard) from Calgary who owns a 1/4 share time share at Whistler. He knew the mountain well. We skied Christmas Tree again (sweet all day long), West Bowl and a bunch of late day runs down the face of the Peak (Shale Face etc). You can 'lap' the Peak in about 12 minutes, so we piled on the runs right up to the last ride up at 3:10pm. We parted ways and I did a Peak to Village run. This had to be over 12km long for sure: down through Burnt Stew, back into Harmony and down the Olympic run into the village. My legs are working well now as I really didn't need to stop for a rest the whole way down!
Tom Redford (Bell guy) was off work at 5pm, so I enjoyed the sun in the village before meeting up with him. The plan was that I would stay over in Whistler with him tonight. We headed off to his condo on Painted Cliff. The hotel here is full of Bell employees from all over Canada. There is a bbq outside next to the pool and hot tub, so Tom bbq'ed us some chicken while I prepared the rest of the diner. After that, it was into the outdoor hot tub, right beside the ski run. After soaking, we headed off to bed.
I'm writting this blog on Tursday morning from Tom's room after a nice continental breakfast. From here, you can ski right onto the run (ski in, ski out). The skies are clear, but there is no new snow. This could be my last day on the hill and I may meet up with Richard from Calgary later on.
One day left at Whistler. My bus leaves here for Vancouver tomorrow (Friday) at 4pm, but I still have shopping and packing to do before that, so skiing tomorrow could be dicey.
On my first ride up the Peak, I met up with a fellow (Richard) from Calgary who owns a 1/4 share time share at Whistler. He knew the mountain well. We skied Christmas Tree again (sweet all day long), West Bowl and a bunch of late day runs down the face of the Peak (Shale Face etc). You can 'lap' the Peak in about 12 minutes, so we piled on the runs right up to the last ride up at 3:10pm. We parted ways and I did a Peak to Village run. This had to be over 12km long for sure: down through Burnt Stew, back into Harmony and down the Olympic run into the village. My legs are working well now as I really didn't need to stop for a rest the whole way down!
Tom Redford (Bell guy) was off work at 5pm, so I enjoyed the sun in the village before meeting up with him. The plan was that I would stay over in Whistler with him tonight. We headed off to his condo on Painted Cliff. The hotel here is full of Bell employees from all over Canada. There is a bbq outside next to the pool and hot tub, so Tom bbq'ed us some chicken while I prepared the rest of the diner. After that, it was into the outdoor hot tub, right beside the ski run. After soaking, we headed off to bed.
I'm writting this blog on Tursday morning from Tom's room after a nice continental breakfast. From here, you can ski right onto the run (ski in, ski out). The skies are clear, but there is no new snow. This could be my last day on the hill and I may meet up with Richard from Calgary later on.
One day left at Whistler. My bus leaves here for Vancouver tomorrow (Friday) at 4pm, but I still have shopping and packing to do before that, so skiing tomorrow could be dicey.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Ski Week Pictures
I managed to get the photos from the last two days up. There is a new link on the right called 'Ski Week Pictures' for this.
Off to hill with Woimmie for a day of skiing.
Off to hill with Woimmie for a day of skiing.
Day 22 - New respect and admiration for Blackcomb Mountain
When ever I've been here, I've mostly skied on Whistler. Most peope who ski here kinda have their 'favorite' hill. For me it's always been Whister. And once you are familiar with one hill, it can be hard to make the switch, Well, today I gave Blackcomb a full test (IMO). I loaded the gondola at 8:30am and after a cruiser under the Jersey Cream chair and one more on the (slow) Crystal chair, I headed up to find the Blackcomb Glacier.
This involves a small hike from the top of the Glacier t-bar, just off the Glacier chair. There were a bunch of people heading back there, so I wasn't worried that I was by myself and that this was my first time up there. Skiing the glacier itself offers you about 1200 vertical feet of great fall-line skiing, leading you down to the Garabaldi Watershed valley. On the 4 mile run out to the Excalibur chair, you can get a good view of the other Blackcomb 'bowls'. Back up the Glacier chair, I then headed to Spanky's Ladder. This is the access point to get into the bowls. The climb is easy, but once you reach the traverse, things can get a bit 'sketchy'. Being that it was my first time up there, and the access to Ruby Bowl is by no means obvious, and the fact that I was alone, I waited until others arrived. 3 young guys taking some ski photos lead me through the access. Once in, the skiing was awesome. Again, great fall-line skiing, down about 1000 vertical feet, on relativly soft snow (due to the elevation).
After the long ski out and a quick rip on the 'self' timed GS race course, it was off to lunch. From there, I proceded to the terrain park to take some videos for Justin (my son). The park is best viewed from the Catskinner chair that services the park, so I made a video of all the large jumps. Unfortunatly no one was riding at the time, but the jumps are very impressive. The other park features seemed few and far between as compared to other parks I know in the East.
For the remaining part of the afternoon, I skied all the lines possible from the Glacier chair (my favorite chair at Blackcomb) and the t-bars, right up to 3:30pm. A good bit of new snow had accumulated, so the skiing was excellent. I finished the day with a rip down the Couger Chutes. Tomorrow Jeff and I are off to ski together. This will be our last opportunity to ski together before I leave for Vancouver on Friday.
PS. I cannot get the pictures to upload due to some kind of technical error that I cannot fix right now. I will try again tomorrow.
This involves a small hike from the top of the Glacier t-bar, just off the Glacier chair. There were a bunch of people heading back there, so I wasn't worried that I was by myself and that this was my first time up there. Skiing the glacier itself offers you about 1200 vertical feet of great fall-line skiing, leading you down to the Garabaldi Watershed valley. On the 4 mile run out to the Excalibur chair, you can get a good view of the other Blackcomb 'bowls'. Back up the Glacier chair, I then headed to Spanky's Ladder. This is the access point to get into the bowls. The climb is easy, but once you reach the traverse, things can get a bit 'sketchy'. Being that it was my first time up there, and the access to Ruby Bowl is by no means obvious, and the fact that I was alone, I waited until others arrived. 3 young guys taking some ski photos lead me through the access. Once in, the skiing was awesome. Again, great fall-line skiing, down about 1000 vertical feet, on relativly soft snow (due to the elevation).
After the long ski out and a quick rip on the 'self' timed GS race course, it was off to lunch. From there, I proceded to the terrain park to take some videos for Justin (my son). The park is best viewed from the Catskinner chair that services the park, so I made a video of all the large jumps. Unfortunatly no one was riding at the time, but the jumps are very impressive. The other park features seemed few and far between as compared to other parks I know in the East.
For the remaining part of the afternoon, I skied all the lines possible from the Glacier chair (my favorite chair at Blackcomb) and the t-bars, right up to 3:30pm. A good bit of new snow had accumulated, so the skiing was excellent. I finished the day with a rip down the Couger Chutes. Tomorrow Jeff and I are off to ski together. This will be our last opportunity to ski together before I leave for Vancouver on Friday.
PS. I cannot get the pictures to upload due to some kind of technical error that I cannot fix right now. I will try again tomorrow.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Day 21 - Time to rip, Games are gone
It's a good thing that I essentially had to wait 3 weeks to start skiing here. My legs are perfectly conditioned now, after spending 20 of the last 21 days on my skiis on the hill. Though I haven't been actually 'skiing' thoses days (except 2 of them), the course work that I have been performing has my legs and body in a great postion to ski the whole mountain.
I caught the 7:10am bus from Pemberton and met a fellow named Norm from Collingwood Ontario. He is here visiting family and was alone heading to the hill. We decided to ski together and we both were at the top of the Wistler Village gondola this morning by 8:20am. Yes, from my door in Pemberton to the top of Whistler only took 1hr 10 minutes. A sure sign the the Olympics has left Whistler. After taking 3 cruisers down the softest, untracked cordory I've ever skied under the Emerald chair, we had a quick pit stop and headed for Harmony chair. I've completely fallen in love with this chair. The terrain it serves and the quickness of the ride up is truly awesome. Norm never did tell me his age, but he did tell me his wife was born in 1932, so I'm thinking he is around 80. This is not a problem when skiing Harmony chair. We would ride the lift together and then meet up at one of the various places the cruiser runs crossed the fall-line. Sometimes this was all the way back at the lift, since I was more interested in following the fall-line today!
We skied this lift all morning and headed of to meet Mel, Norm's friend from Pemberton for lunch. Mel spends alot of his time para-gliding all over the world. He told us about his trip to Nepal where you can soar in the updrafts all over the mountains. He and some of his friends do this kind of thing for kicks. He once had to land his kite in a remote area where he traded a Canadian t-shirt for a lift to the bus to get back to his group, somewhere high up above Nepal. Facinating adventures this guy has had. After lunch, we rode the Peak chair, but it was so windy at the top, we decided that it would be best just to head back to the Harmony chair, which you an do from the Peak via a 4-5 mile long run. We spent the entire afternoon at Harmony before departing in our separate ways.
Here is a list, in no particular order of the run's I skied today: Burnt Stew Trail/Bowl, Sun Bowl, Harmony Ridge, Kaleidoscope, Low Roll, Gun Barrels, Little Whistler, Camel Back, Boomer Bowl, Back Bowl, G.S. , Krummholz and McConkey's. This lift sweeps you back up so fast you can cover the whole Harmony area in one day.
I plan to spend tomorrow at Blackcomb. I've never really had a good look at some of the stuff up around Blackcomb and Horstman Glaciers and think it's about time that I did. I may even venture up 'Spanky's Ladder' for some of the Blackcomb bowls like: Ruby, Garnet, Diamond and Sapphire. Becuase it requires riding 2 or more lifts to get back up to this area, my runs will be more limited than they were today. If that doesn't work out, maybe Symphony chair on Whislter will be open and I can Peak to Peak it over there. Wommie says he might ski this Wednesday, which will be nice since he knows these mountains as well as anyone out here. I'm trying hard not to think about packing up a leaving in a few days, since the fun is just starting.
I caught the 7:10am bus from Pemberton and met a fellow named Norm from Collingwood Ontario. He is here visiting family and was alone heading to the hill. We decided to ski together and we both were at the top of the Wistler Village gondola this morning by 8:20am. Yes, from my door in Pemberton to the top of Whistler only took 1hr 10 minutes. A sure sign the the Olympics has left Whistler. After taking 3 cruisers down the softest, untracked cordory I've ever skied under the Emerald chair, we had a quick pit stop and headed for Harmony chair. I've completely fallen in love with this chair. The terrain it serves and the quickness of the ride up is truly awesome. Norm never did tell me his age, but he did tell me his wife was born in 1932, so I'm thinking he is around 80. This is not a problem when skiing Harmony chair. We would ride the lift together and then meet up at one of the various places the cruiser runs crossed the fall-line. Sometimes this was all the way back at the lift, since I was more interested in following the fall-line today!
We skied this lift all morning and headed of to meet Mel, Norm's friend from Pemberton for lunch. Mel spends alot of his time para-gliding all over the world. He told us about his trip to Nepal where you can soar in the updrafts all over the mountains. He and some of his friends do this kind of thing for kicks. He once had to land his kite in a remote area where he traded a Canadian t-shirt for a lift to the bus to get back to his group, somewhere high up above Nepal. Facinating adventures this guy has had. After lunch, we rode the Peak chair, but it was so windy at the top, we decided that it would be best just to head back to the Harmony chair, which you an do from the Peak via a 4-5 mile long run. We spent the entire afternoon at Harmony before departing in our separate ways.
Here is a list, in no particular order of the run's I skied today: Burnt Stew Trail/Bowl, Sun Bowl, Harmony Ridge, Kaleidoscope, Low Roll, Gun Barrels, Little Whistler, Camel Back, Boomer Bowl, Back Bowl, G.S. , Krummholz and McConkey's. This lift sweeps you back up so fast you can cover the whole Harmony area in one day.
I plan to spend tomorrow at Blackcomb. I've never really had a good look at some of the stuff up around Blackcomb and Horstman Glaciers and think it's about time that I did. I may even venture up 'Spanky's Ladder' for some of the Blackcomb bowls like: Ruby, Garnet, Diamond and Sapphire. Becuase it requires riding 2 or more lifts to get back up to this area, my runs will be more limited than they were today. If that doesn't work out, maybe Symphony chair on Whislter will be open and I can Peak to Peak it over there. Wommie says he might ski this Wednesday, which will be nice since he knows these mountains as well as anyone out here. I'm trying hard not to think about packing up a leaving in a few days, since the fun is just starting.
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