Sunshine - Monday, December 29

Today we got an earlier start, catching a 7:55 am shuttle to Sunshine. I started the day skiing with Pat and a fellow named Dave. We did a little tour of the mountain starting on the Angel Express chair and then skiing into B.C. on the Continental Divide before heading over to Standish. Pat and I then took a hot chocolate break to warm our tootsies. We had great timing beating out the lunch crowds.

The two of us then continued on to the Wawa chair - by far my favourite area of the day. It was lower and more treed and thus warmer. The snow there was fantastic! We skiied next to the trees in soft, soft snow. At noon we met up with a couple other High Parkers, Bruce and Craig. They decided to ski with us instead of the snow host they were about to join. After showing them the best runs on Wawa, we made our way to Goat's Eye. Enroute we ran into four other HP'ers who joined us for a couple runs. By then Pat and I were ready for a late lunch, once again managing to evade the crowds. We sat out one run and then rejoined Bruce and Craig to travel back to revisit some of our favourites of the earlier areas we had skiied before doing the ski out to the bottom of the mountain (perhaps better termed the human pinball machine run).

As you have probably already surmised from all the skiing I got in today, my newly adjusted boots felt fantastic! The cuffs have never felt better. My feet felt great all day. The only remaining issue is that my toes are freezing instantly because the toe beds are too tight. So it was back to the boot fitter after skiing today for one (hopefully last!) adjustment.

Tonight there was a group dinner planned for us at the Elk & Oarsmen - another good opportunity to meet people and swap ski stories. Tomorrow it looks like we will be heading back to Lake Louise. Best rest up!

Lake Louise - Sunday, December 28

I knew we were in for a good day today when I opened our hotel door to find fresh snow on the ground and plenty more coming down. A huge group of us boarded the 8:40 am shuttle to Lake Louise. I was the only one who wore regular boots and carried my ski boots and it was a decision that paid off in spades as the latest adjustments made to my boots are not working out at all.
Most of us began the day with a guided tour by a snow host as a way to both familiarize ourselves with the mountain and find others at the same level to ski with. I joined the highest group they had - one they termed Double Blue. There were 6 of us from High Park in the group as well as a woman from Blue Mountain whose daughter lives here. The host took us to a few different areas and showed us some Black runs we could do later in the day.

After lunch the 6 of us headed out for a run that I somehow ended up leading. After that run, two of the group decided to leave us and we were four - Pat, Richard, and Edit (pronounced Ed eat), and me. We got a few good runs in. The best was probably Paradise Bowl. It's too bad that the visibility had gotten poor by that time. I begged off a run earlier than the others as it felt like my right boot was taking a bite out of my leg.

I got on an earlier shuttle than the others and saw a huge (maybe 30?) herd of elk on the way back. After making a quick stop to drop off my skis I continued on to a ski shop to try my luck with a boot fitter there. I chose a shop that advertised guaranteed boot fitting and asked the young guys at the front if they would recommend a "kick-ass boot fitter". Simultaneously they answered "Kev" with thick Aussie surfer accents - more like Keeeeeehhhhhv. I ended up working with Kevin for two and a half hours!!! He moved over a couple buckles, blew out the back (an unusual area to blow out) where the back of my leg below the calf did not have enough room, removed some of the padding that had been added and wasn't doing me any favours, added heal lifts to give my calf more room, and blew out the area around my forefoot which will keep my toes warmer by giving me some more room there. The lesson here: buy boots that most closely resemble the shape of your feet and then have an expert boot fitter make them match your foot shape exactly. I can't wait to try out my re-worked boots tomorrow at Sunshine!

I didn't get back from the ski shop until 7:15 pm. Luckily I had called Pat to let her know I was okay and she invited me to a dinner that a group had set up for a nearby Greek restaurant. I got ready and out the door in 15 minutes (*new record*) and met them there. It was a fun group. Now I am totally ready to hit the hay to save some energy for tomorrow.

Banff - Saturday, December 27

Today was a LONG day. Dad and I woke at 2:00 am for him to drive me to Winnipeg to catch my 7:00 am flight to Calgary. We made good time, arriving at the outskirts of Winnipeg at 5:00 am. I found out later that Dad was back home asleep by 8:30 am. Good job! I cat-napped a bit on the drive in, again on the plane, and a little on the shuttle to Banff. As I got to Banff at 8:30 am I took a 9:30 am shuttle rather than wait for the group to arrive at 12:30. It turned out to be a great decision. I arrived in Banff at 11:15 am, a full five hours before the group.

During my time this afternoon I unpacked, got organized, went for a walk around town, had lunch at a local pub, and spent some time in our hotel's lovely outdoor hot tubs. It was basically a day of apres-ski without the ski.

This evening once the group arrived we met up for appy's and dinner at Wild Bill's. It was good to get to know a few more members of the group. Everyone is nice. What would make the week perfect is to have at least one really good friend with me to know I have someone I can ski with and go to dinner with, and so on. My roommate Pat is nice. We walked down to dinner together and on the way back stopped at Safeway for snacks. Sunkist Mini Bites (100% fruit and veg's) totally rock! Taste like candy. I can't stop drinking water here. It is so much drier than Manitoba. My hair is totally staticky.

OK. I just re-read what I have written so far and the random thoughts I'm now generating tell me that it's time to get some rest. I'll be sure to post after my ski day to Lake Louise tomorrow!

CSCF Update - Dec 13-14

In the xmas rush, I haven't had a chance to post before now. I hope I can do the CSCF Update justice by memory because it was an awesome two days! Every CSIA instructor could benefit from doing this update yet I so seldom see anyone I know from the instructing side there. My friend Michelle who just got her CSIA Level 1 last season came this year and her feedback was that with her limited experience with the CSIA and CSCF, the CSCF sure seemed a lot more fun!

I would guess that there were about 50 people participating in the update. Groups are completely random. You ski with whoever sets off with that instructor. Michelle and I stuck together. We were the only instructor-types in our group. We had the opportunity to ski with four coaches over the two days which is fantastic to get exposed to different coaching styles, information, and ways of presenting it.

The first morning we were with Larry. (Sorry, I don't know last names!) What I took most out of the morning with Larry was skiing the rhythm of the hill. It was a new and fun way of skiing for me. While I was quite familiar with skiing the same speed the length of the hill by shortening the radius on the steeps it was quite another thing to look ahead and play with rolls and dips and go where the hill wants to take you. It made the same run feel completely new and exciting every time depending on the path you took. A great trick to make Ontario hills exciting! Larry also informed me that my 120 cm poles are 5-10 cm too short for me and that as a result I am skiing with my hands too low. This after having just lamented having to buy new boots and two new pairs of skis this year. Looks like I'll be shopping for poles over Christmas. Mmmmm.....new Leki's!

In the afternoon we skiied with Matt Distefano. I had heard rave reviews about Matt's coaching over the years so I was excited for a chance to ski with him. Matt took us through the five fundamentals stressed in coaching - active balance, mobility, weight over outside ski, pole touch, and separation. God, I hope I got those right! Weigh in if I didn't. Unlike the CSIA where I can refer to the manual I find at CSCF training that I am trying to memorize everything as I don't have as source to go back to and check. The good part is that if I get it right, I hold onto and retain it forever. The bad part is that there is nowhere (that I know of) to check if I remembered it correctly.

I had a new experience in Matt's group. We were working on lateral balance (my favourite!). I was having one of those runs where you are feeling really good, testing out my new Head Speed GS skis, when I was suddenly flying through the air sans skis. As far as falls go, it was a good one. It was spectacular for spectators and I didn't hurt myself a bit. I had no idea whatsoever what had caused it though. When I skiied down to the group Matt made me feel a lot better by telling me that I had "booted out" - gone inside so far that my boots actually grabbed the snow and released themselves from the bindings. Cool! The next run the whole group wanted to watch me to see if I could/would do it again. I figured it was a fluke the time before and tried to hold nothing back. I could tell I was a bit slower and more hesitant this second run but I still managed to boot out with one ski. This time it was video'd so I could see it myself. Now that I have found out how far is too far my next challenge will be to bring it back while not sacrificing performance. Hmmmm....

There was an excellent dryland session after we got of snow led by Pierre Ruel. Then some great apres-ski and hot tubbing for Michelle and I before we met up with friends at Twist Martini Lounge for dinner and drinks. Dinner and the company were fantastic. Luckily noone was up for too crazy a night.

The next day we started off with Keith. Conditions were changed so we were advised to put safety first. With Keith we got a lot of mileage in. He had us doing laps and called us over to stop only if he had something to tell us. After my boot outs the day before,I had forgotten to unlock my hip and move my body up and down the hill to build momentum. It felt much better once I made the change.

In the afternoon we were with Sarah. We did a lot of fun, wacky things with her to shake things up - mixing turn shapes, pole planting differently than we usually do, and follow-the-leader. I want to make sure to introduce some of these tactics in my teaching this year to shake things up with my athletes.

All in all, it was a fabulous couple of days. I learned a ton. I love that the CSIA and CSCF seem to be getting closer every year. Both have been empasizing mixing up turn shape and trying fun techniques to take us out of our box. I can't wait to apply all that I have learned!

Course Conductor Training - December 6-7

One of the things that was exciting about getting my Level 3 before the start of the season is being able to become a Level 1 Course Conductor. This weekend I did my first on-snow course conductor training. About 60 Level 3's were there. I was happy to see quite a few familiar faces - Rory, John, Phil, Sasha, Anik, Pam, Dave, Mark - among the Level 3's. I knew most of the Level 4's from training to get to the Level 3 standard.

The first day I was put into a group of 6 with Ian Kirkpatrick from Horseshoe. I had never skiied with Ian before. What impressed me most about him was his enthusiasm. Even in the cold damp day, it was really infectious. He also had a really nice touch on the snow. My group consisted of John Fortin from Craigleith, Andrew from Alpine, Lianna from Devil's Glen, Sean from Snow Valley, and Larry. I'm not sure where Larry teaches - he was sporting a course conductor suit.

We worked on ski improvement in the morning and then got into teaching fast track to parallel (FTTP) in the afternoon. What I worked on personally was not edging too early in the turn. Edging too early gives me nowhere left to go at the end of the turn. It is also not easy to emulate and does nothing to work on my pivoting skill. I was really getting it by the afternoon and felt a lot smoother by consequence.

For FTTP I led the session introducing the class to mobility. Not having taught many never ever's, the exercises I used are ones I remembered from my own Level 1 course! What really worked well was having a mix of experience levels in the groups. The rookies brought a fresh perspective while the experienced course conductors (CC's) had a lot of great ideas from courses they had taught.

The drive home Saturday night was exhausting. What took me an hour and 15 minutes on the way up took me 3 1/2 hours to get home. There must have been an accident earlier on the 400 or 401 as the 400 to get on the 401 was backed up almost all the way to Major Mac. Sunday morning was especially treachorous getting back up to MSLM through blowing snow and snow-covered roads. Next time I think I'll splurge on a room in Barrie!

We stayed in the same groups for Sunday but changed instructors. This time we had Doug Leeming. Sunday morning was spent on class management, safety, and lift operations. It was a COLD morning for standing still looking at lifts but Doug moves it along as quickly as possible and kept it interesting and interactive.

Sunday afternoon was the most fun. We focused on fun tactics with which we can arm our Level 1's. We did things like Follow the Leader; finding loose snow, jumps, and natural ramps; synchro; skiing backwards; 360's. Wicked fun! I really enjoyed the run Andrew lead us as it was fast, fun, and challenging with little verbage.

All in all, it was a great experience. I learned a lot and got great feedback on my skiing and good feedback on my pedagogical skills. It was fun skiing with a strong group of skiers that had all achieved the Level 3 standard. It reminded me of when I first started training for my Level 3 and found this whole new group of people with similar skills and objectives. I guess at each level you get to, there is always a new group of people there already to welcome you. And what a fun new group to be a part of!

Montreaux

[Photos above: Montreaux lakefront walk; Chateau Chillon; Casey, Gary, Pam & Steve at pub]

I got up early today and took the train as far as Montreaux with one of the groups leaving Zermatt. At the Montreaux station I bid the group adieu and toured this magnificent town. The lakefront path was among the most beautiful I have ever taken. I walked from the train station to the castle. My knee bothered me a bit but the views made it easy to ignore. The castle, Chateau Chillon, was spectacular - one of the largest and most restored castles I have ever seen. I spent a couple of hours going through it. Afterward, I took a city bus back to the main part of town where I ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking Lake Geneva (or Lac Léman as the Swiss call it). I had Rosti Complet - potatoes with ham and an egg. Delicious. It's such a thrill to be able to get by in French when I travel now.

Around 3:00 pm I hopped on a train to Geneva. I had trouble staying awake for the hour-long train ride. In Geneva I went to the old part of the city for the two hours I had before the shops closed and made a major dent in my Christmas shopping - finding something for every member of my family. In the evening I met up with a few members of the group that were in Geneva that night at a pub famous for its beers by the litre. I don't usuall like beer but this one was pretty good.

That's the end of my posting for this trip. I had an amazing tme. I made many new friends and enjoyed reacquainting myself with old ones. The weather and snow conditions were fantastic. I ate a ton of really good food and still managed to lose a few pounds with all the skiing and hiking. I learned a lot and dramatically improved my skiing. I achieved the ultimate goal of my Level 3 certfication. I could not ask for more.

Zermatt - Day 13

It's sad this morning as some of the group are leaving. Among others, Josh and Rory have both left. I am going to ski one last day. My lessons ceased once I got the Level 3 so it will be my opportunity to free ski and have some fun. I did a little of that yesterday morning but had to be a "student" for the three men taking the Level 3 teaching exam yesterday afternoon as well as the afternoon before. My current plan is to have an early day on the hill and come back to pack so I can leave early tomorrow morning and spend a few hours in Montreaux on the way to Geneva. I will have to look into train connections too.

This may be my last post for a bit as I'm not sure of wireless availability from here on in. I hope you have enjoyed sharing my journey. No regrets. :)

Zermatt - Day 12

[Photos above: celebrating my Level 3 at Papperla Pub, solo and with Sandy. Note the shiny pin on my top.]

Sandy surprised us yesterday with an announcement to the group that Rory and I passed the Level 3. It came as a complete shock as we thought we were still going to be evaluated today. I was in a daze afterward accepting everyone's congratulations.

Needless to say curfew was lifted. A huge group of us adjourned to the Papperla Pub to celebrate. Rory spent a fortune buying rounds. Courtesy of Josh we were introduced to a Big White tradition - three rounds of three shots, all red, to celebrate. Our achievement was toasted all night. It was a lot of fun.

Zermatt - Day 11

I GOT IT!!!

Zermatt - Day 10 Part 2

[Photos above all taken at the Papperla Pub yesterday evening- Steve & Jason, Sandy & Doug, Josh & Casey]

Okay, I don't know who is going to love this more - my friends or family. I have a curfew. Sandy has instructed Rory and I that we are not to drink any alcohol tonight or tomorrow night. We are also not allowed to leave the hotel after dinner. He says if we are serious about getting our Level 3 we will follow these instructions. Or in his words, "two days or two years". An easy compromise to make as far as I'm concerned. After another full day skiing I am ready for an early night.

We had a good day. Sandy was tough on us but better now than after it's too late. I started the morning with some good runs for all of intermediate parallel, dynamic parallel, and short radus. Sandy congratulated me on becoming a "whole new skier" since I arrived. In the afternoon we did a lot of skiing the ridge. Fog had greatly reduced visibitliy by then. I had one particularly bad run on the ridge as I didn't realize a groomer had just gone by leaving a double ridge and I went down to far and hit the second one. My balance has been really good this year. Despite a few near misses, I have yet to fall in 8 days of skiing. Must be those new skis keeping me on my feet!

After skiing today I went back to the physiotherapy clinic and had the physiotherapist work on my leg with the bad knee again. She worked on the one leg for a full half hour. I wish she had another half hour free as I would've gotten her to work on the other leg as it is starting to get tight as I rest my bad leg whenever I can. My knee has been holding up well while skiing. It was starting to twinge at the end of the day today so I'm glad I had the physio work on it so I'll be fresh for tomorrow.

Sandy is going to work with us again tomorrow. He wrapped the day with telling us that we are both skiing runs at the Level 3 standard but that he wants to see our consistency increase. Today's ski tips are the things I need to keep in mind over the next two days to make sure I do just that:

Intermediate Parallel

1. Make sure feet are toe to toe in the fall line (i.e., no lead change)
2. Show a lot of mobiliy
3. Keep moves progressive
4. Cross over low in phase 1

Dynamic Parallel

1. Do not hold on too long at the end of the turn. Start the new turn before you feel you are done the last turn.
2. Start each turn feeling as though you are doing an inside ski turn

Short Radius

1. Begin each turn with a strong pivoting effort
2. Shoot feet forward at the end of the turn so they don't get left behind

Terrain Adaptation (Ridge)

1. Keep really small/compact bending even further at all joints (legs and waist) when cresting ridge
2. Ski with feet close together like you do with bumps. Keeps both feet hitting the same terrain at the same time and helps eliminate lead change.

I'll be heading to my room shortly and will be in bed by 10:00. I hope I can sleep through the night as I am sure we are going to have another big day tomorrow. I'll write again soon.

Zermatt - Day 10 Part 1

The pressure starts today. Sandy was on us last night about how hard he was going to work us over the next two days - no breaks, skiing top to bottom without stopping, and a lot of work on the ridge. It's do or die time. I had a fairly good sleep last night - with the exception of my roomie's phone ringing at 2:30 am - someone who obviously did not know she was in Europe. My knee is a bit stiff but I'll take some Ibuprofen and manage. It felt the best it had in a long time during the hike-out yesterday so hopefully it is already on the mend.

I best go as we are leaving at 8:15 today to make sure we are not late. TTYS.

Zermatt - Day 9

[First photo: the scene at the bottom of the T-bars with all the backpacks - see if you can find the racers. Second photo: Josh, Rory, and I doing our "classroom session".

I will be relatively quick today as a few of us are leaving shortly to go to the Papperla Pub for a drink. It is not going to be a late night as Sandy tells us it's another big day tomorrow, that we'll be doing a lot of skiing the ridge. We just figured we could have an evening out away from the hotel bar. My new roommate Maria goes to sleep so early every night that I am sleeping too much and am unable to sleep through the night. I figure if I go out until 11:00 pm or so I can still get a good eight hours in.

We had another perfect day in paradise today. The weather was once again bright, sunny, and warm. I've skied with just a shell and spring gloves almost every day this trip. I'm sporting a great ski tan on my face. We worked on more dynamic skiing with Josh. I felt I was really getting it and laid some really good runs in. We called it quits a little early today as we wanted to end the day on a good note. We then adjourned to a pub patio with various members of the group dropping in periodically.

What I learned today:

1. Drill for pivoting: rather than push outside ski out into a snowplow position,start with a wide stance and move tip of outside ski in. Changing the focus from pushing the ankle out prevents unnecessary hip rotation.
2. Begin all turns (and particularly short radius) with a strong pivoting action/turning of the feet.
3. Think of lifting inside ski up at the angle it would be on the snow to put more pressure on the outside ski without adversely affecting angulation.
4. When pole planting aim fist downhill. This keeps body from rotating too much.
5. For increased performance/angulation ski trying to get the inside hip to touch the snow. (Marc if you are reading this: you will know this is my forte from my training with you!)
6. Feel the heels touching the bottom of the boots at the end of the turn. Note that this is not counter-intuitive to feeling pressure on the front of the boots. Doing both will ensure a balanced position.
7. Be sure to bend from leg joints not waist (personal feedback)

Time to get ready for the late shift at the pub. Talk to you again soon.

Zermatt - Day 8

[Photo above: walking to the first gondola station at 8:30 am]

Today was the first day of my second week. I started the day determined not to complain about any aches and pains and to really give'er. Rory and I are now the only two people in our group as Sandy does his best to give us the maximum amount of opportunity to improve in time to get to Level 3 standard. Yesterday Sandy asked me who we wanted to ski with and I asked for Josh Foster from Big White and Pontiac World of Skiing. I had Josh for a couple of days last year and was impressed with keen eye for detail and his relentlessness in his desire to improve us. So Josh it is.

It was a challenging day. While Sandy recognized how far Rory and I have come, with Josh we are a blank slate. Therefore he was a lot harder on us. I think Rory felt quite discouraged. I personally would rather have Josh find things to improve in our skiing now than during the exam. I think Rory is getting nervous as we near the exam date. He has started asking for feedback constantly and seems to be getting worked up. I'm still relaxed. I figure all I can do is try to do everything asked of me. It helps that I have been getting consistently good feedback through the week.

Josh did a great job of picking up where Sandy left off. We started the day working on eliminating unnecessary lead change. Today was the first day I was called out as having too large of a lead change on one side. Wonder if it is my knee? It was bugging me again this morning, making it easier to turn to the right than the left. Thankfully my knee felt better by afternoon. Not sure if it was loosening it up or the Ibuprofen.

The tactics Josh used to improve our skiing were:

1. Begin the day by doing "shmedium" (small to medium) radius turns where your feet are parallel in the fall line. Don't concern yourself with carving, just alignment. Your ability to increase edge will be improved as you improve alignment.
2. Think of the beginning/end of the turn as being in the fall line (phase 2) rather than across the fall line. This will move the impulse further up the turn. A simple way of working this is to try to direct snow off your skis to the side instead of down the hill.
3. Most skiers begin each turn with a shuffle step forward. Their turns are not rounded but rather more in the fall line. The key again is minimizing lead change. An easier way to elminate lead change is to drop the inside ski back rather than my bring the outside ski forward (which is hard to do as it is under a lot of pressure) . I almost felt like I was telemarking today!
4. Once you have mastered foot alignment, make sure your pole plant is done with elbows down rather than elbows up. This ensures you get pinching or angulation rather than rotation.
5. To lighten the ski at the beginning of the turn, use inside ski turns (lifting the outside ski) for the first half of the turn, then put down your outside ski in the fall line and continue to bend through the turn. Once you have done a couple of runs of this, do a run simulating the feeling of lifting the outside ski at the beginning of the turn without actually doing it. This worked really well for me. I had my best run of the day after doing it.

Pontiac World of Skiing was here filming today. They are doing a four minute segment on My Swiss Trip as their two ski tip presenters (Josh and Steve) are here teaching. Steve is actually hosting several episodes of the TV show this year so they will be filming more of Zermatt tomorrow. Maybe I will get a chance to be an extra. ;) On that note I am going to sign off and have an early night. It was a big day today! Still getting a lot of compliments on my skiing which is nice. I followed Josh down one run right by the T-bar today totally ripping it up that got lots of admiring glances. :)Wheeee!

Zermatt - Day 7

I can't believe a week has gone by already! I am so glad I am here for two weeks this year. I can't imagine having to leave already. It took me until Day 3 to get to a good place in my skiing. It would have sucked to leave just as I was beginning to make positive changes. In the last couple days I have had at least 4-6 different people tell me that they heard that I was skiing very well. I don't know who they are hearing it from but keep it coming!

Today was our day off as some groups left and others are arriving. We took full advantage of our ability to sleep in today. Last night a huge group of us from My Swiss Trip as well as a couple of Ontario coaches, Storey and Cam, headed to the Papperla Pub to start the night at 9:00 pm. At around midnight we went to "the cave", a bar in the basement of the Post Hotel. I'll have to look up the real name as we just named it the cave due to its cavern-like appearance. I got home at 4:00 am and the disco was still going strong when I left! TThe Flying Hirscht/Jager Bombs kept me going. The last two at the bar last night were Josh Foster and Steve Young which is funnyas they are the only two people to have to work today. Pontiac World of Skiing is filming here this week and they are both on-screen talent.

I got up early today to send my roommate Leslie off, then went back to bed. It was a lazy, slow morning getting organized and dropping off my laundry. I then walked downtown, stopping to take some photos. I had a "hangover breakfast" of sausage, scrambled eggs, and cheese fries at a local pub. A couple of people from our group dropped by to join me. Then I checked out a few shops before returning to the hotel.

My new roommate has already arrived. her name is Maria and she is from Toronto. She remembers doing the Level 3 prep course with me at Mount St. Louis last year. She is doing her Level 3 course this week. She was on this trip a couple of years ago.

There had been talk that Rory and I were going to be the only two taking the Level 3 exam next week which would have been great as we both have the teaching and would only have to do the ski off. Unfortunately for us there are now at least two others taking the whole exam so we will likely have to be their students (victims?). These guys are in the hotel bar where I write this right now. They are total ski nerds, studying every night. This may be cruel but I hope I ski so well in their lessons that they have trouble finding anything for me to improve. :)

Back on snow tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!

Zermatt - Day 6

[Photos above: the clouds below us in the valley, me and my British friends – Caroline, Liam, and Leslie]

Yay! My lovely roommate Leslie passed her Development Level Coach today! She is justifiably thrilled. The Brits leave tomorrow so there will be a big celebration tonight. We have already had a lot of new arrivals with more arriving tomorrow but it doesn’t feel like it will be the same without Meredith who left early this morning, and Liam, Caroline, and Leslie who are leaving tomorrow morning.

Today was spectacular on the glacier. We emerged from the clouds in the valley to ski in the bright sun. There was snow overnight so we were able to ski into Italy on a run that was able to open today. I finally took my skis to be waxed today. Conditions have been so fabulous that the wax and edges have been lasting much longer than usual, even with the rides up the T-bars.

My knee held up well on snow. The hike out was the hardest part of the day on my knee. I felt well rested and skied well. The day off yesterday to allow my knee to recuperate was a good call.

Tomorrow is another day off – no coaching. I could have skied but want to be fresh for the six days of coaching next week. I am not sure yet what I am going to spend the day doing. My knee will limit my choices to something not too physical.

Today’s tips:

With softer snow, keep the weight between both legs more equal and make sure skis are aligned tip to tip.
Start the new turn earlier than feels right. Too many of us hold on for too long.
Watch so body does not get ahead of feet in fast, short turns. Shoot feet out in front at end of turn to prevent this.
When skiing a ridge, treat it like moguls and bend knees as you go up it.

I best get off to join the night’s festivities. I’ll write again soon. Happy Birthday to Mom and Jillian! I’m thinking about you.

Zermatt - Day 5

I began my day with an 8:00 am visit to a local physiotherapist, Lucy. Luckily she spoke beautiful English. Her mother, who she shares the practice with, comes from England and married a Swiss man. I was relieved to find out my knee problems are simply a result of strained muscles around the knee causing it to track out of alignment. She massaged it and instructed me to apply some heat to it and take it easy. So my plan to take the day off skiing maintained intact.

I spent the next couple of hours shopping in downtown Zermatt. I picked up some new Uvex goggles (my first new pair in 10 years!) as well as a Swiss military pen and chocolate for colleagues, friends, and family. If you are reading this, there may be some chocolate coming your way!

I then headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit. I ended up writing a letter to a guest for our hotel proprietress as she wanted to get the English writing just right. I then had a blissful two hour nap.

When I woke I went back to the main street for lunch. It had started to rain but I still sat on a patio with an awning to stay out of the smoky indoors. I notice Europe isn’t as smoky as it used to be but people still do smoke indoors at restaurants and pubs. I had a typical Swiss lunch of bratwurst and rosti. Easily the best rosti I’ve ever had! My server is a former member of the Masedonia freestyle team and now teaches skiing in the winter. While we were talking several other World Cup athletes wandered by that knew him.

On my way back to the hotel I heard a loud rap on the window from the inside of a pub and looked up to see Josh Foster. I knew he was going to be here next week but didn’t expect to see him so soon. I joined him and his travel-mate Jennifer for drinks. Before we knew it we had a huge crowd including some other arrivals from the Ontario ski scene that I know. Soon Meredith and my British friends will be leaving and a whole new crowd will arrive.

Time to head back to the group. I just wanted to let you know that my knee is okay and that I will be back on snow tomorrow. Take care and talk to you soon.

Zermatt - Day 4

[Today's photos: Caroline, Casey, and Steve taking a break from their Entry Level Coach course and me icing my knee]

I’m posting later than usual today as I spent my après-ski time searching for a physiotherapist. Zermatt is a small village but as I found out today, ski and climbing injuries manage to support at least a couple “phisiotherapie” practices. Unfortunately I was not able to get an appointment at either today so will be visiting one or two tomorrow as I have been advised to take the day off skiing. Let me go back to the beginning…

The ski day started fantastic. Helga Cuddy from Oakville/Blue Mountain joined Rory, Paul, and I in Sandy’s group. Helga is a great lady who got her Level 3 last year. The group continued our work on short radius turns while once in a while mixing in some longer turns. I was doing great. The pain in my calves and quads was way down from the days previous. Even riding the T-bar was more comfortable. Sandy told me he couldn’t believe how much I had improved over the last couple of years. He also told me that I was skiing at Level 3 standard and that if I keep it up over the next week and a half I would have no problem getting my pin.

Then everything changed. After doing a fun, fast run where I demonstrated for the group, I was standing at the bottom of the T-bar. When everyone got there I pushed off to join them in the line and my right knee just gave out. I experienced searing pain and couldn’t put any weight on it. I figured it had to be just a cramp or something and tried again, still pain and no weight. A second later it was fine, and then again pain and no weight. I didn’t know whether I should get on the T-bar but it felt better at that point and I did. I rode all the way up with no problems. I did the run cautiously as I was scared to put too much weight on that leg not knowing whether it would hold up.

At the bottom Sandy told me to sit out a run and rest. I sat in the snow with Casey’s group and waited. They took a while as Rory had a crash and hurt his ankle. What a pair we were! We both managed to ski out to the tram. Really there were no other options from where we were.

I felt fine walking back to the hotel but still thought I should see if I could get professional treatment; hence my search for the physiotherapist. While walking through town my knee swung from being completely pain-free to being so debilitating that I couldn’t walk for a few minutes. This was obviously upsetting. I came back to the hotel and went to see Sandy. He set me up with ice from the bar. Casey gave me an herbal remedy. I had already bought some Ibuprofen as the Ibuprofen I brought from home spilled in my luggage on the way over and ground itself into a fine powder.

Sandy was great. He convinced me it was in my best interest to take a day off tomorrow – to seek treatment and to rest. He assured me that I was doing great and am well on track to get my Level 3 next week and that not to consider this a set-back. I’m trying to stay positive. :(

Zermatt - Day 3

Finally the fog in my head has lifted. Today I felt alert and wide awake. Even though my calves were screaming and my quads were complaining, I felt so much better. Our group was told to meet at the bottom of the glacier at 10:00 which meant I didn’t have to leave until 8:30. We totally missed the huge lift lines so the day was off to a great start.

I was with Sandy again. The other members of my group were Paul from Mansfield and Rory from High Park. The three of us have our Level 3 teaching and are all hoping to go for our Level 3 skiing while we are here. Paul is under more of a deadline as it is his second week here. We worked on short radius again today. I skied much better today than yesterday. It was easier to apply myself as I was feeling better.

As today’s class was an extension of yesterday’s, our group goal was to extend more gradually into the fall-line, to make sure that we carve short radius turns from the top of the arc. For Rory and Paul that meant moving more gradually in the top part of the arc and getting rid of any upward motion. What helped them with that was getting rid of any lead change. For me, my range of motion and timing was good when we slowed it down. I was softening my outside/downhill leg to allow it to become my inside leg without rising. My challenge will now be to keep the same skills and timing intact as we speed it up and decrease the width of the corridor. That will be tomorrow’s task. Key tactics we used today included:

Start with larger turns and ski “sloppy” – arc the top part of the turn and skid the bottom part. Skidding the bottom actually forces you to be in balance and allows you to soften your new inside leg.
Novice-style turns. Gradually extend into a wedge at the top part of the turn and finish parallel. Slows down the top part of the turn and simulates the feeling of arcing the top part of the turn.

As with last year’s trip, the food has been amazing. The company is also excellent. Though everyone is great, I have been spending most of my socializing time with three English people who teach in Andorra. One is my roommate Leslie and the other two are a couple Liam and Caroline. It is actually Caroline’s birthday today so I am not sure what we are going to have in store for her. They are all rural English – Caroline used to be married to a sheep farmer and Leslie is a competitive horse rider – dressage, jumping, and cross-country jumping. She has already invited me to stay with her and her husband in Andorra one winter! Not this winter though as she is actually coming to Canada to instruct at Whistler for a year. Definitely something to consider for the future!

Well, time to soak my sore legs. They felt better on the walk out than they did yesterday so hopefully I’ve now gone through the worst of it. Working on the power chord situation. Hopefully I’ll post again soon.

Zermatt - Day 2

[Photos above: walking the "ski out"]

Today’s meet-up time moved up to 8:00 am but after my second good night’s sleep I felt much better. No nauseous feeling on the glacier today. My calves continue to feel like tight steel balls and my quads started to feel it a bit today. Even with the pain, I had way more energy skiing, which was good as we spent the day doing short radius turns, including spending the afternoon doing them up and down off the sides of a ridge. That same ridge may actually be what we are tested on for moguls for the Level 3 exam as the only moguls here are the ones the World Cup ski teams are training on.

I got good news regarding the exam – the CSIA has removed wedge turns from the ski off. Yay! They are now only being tested during the teaching of Fast Track to Parallel. Because I have my teaching, I do not have to ski off the wedge turns. The other four runs remain – Intermediate Parallel, Dynamic Parallel, Short Radius, and Moguls. Both Intermediate Parallel and Moguls are now must passes. You can fail one of Dynamic Parallel or Short Radius.

The Swiss Ladies Alpine team is here training this week. The guys are enjoying seeing them in their tight downhill suits. There are also a number of international development teams including the U.S.. For once the Americans are not the obnoxious ones. They are some of the most civil in lift lines as do not subscribe to the European push and shove method. There are also several World Cup freestyle teams training on the moguls. Today I watched some of them do aerials off the bump run as I rode the T-bar up.

While the snow on the glacier is fantastic – much better than last year - because it is much warmer, the ski-out is not yet fully open. Thus we can’t ski out all the way to the second tram. Instead, we ski most of the way and then hike about 1 km over mud and rocks carrying our skis to get to the tram. That’s what the photos above are depicting. It’s not so bad though once I get there I check my skis for 2 Swiss Francs rather than having to carry them all the way back to the hotel. I am very much done with carrying them at that point so feel it is a worthwhile investment!

Hopefully I will be able to keep blogging. My computer power cord is three pronged and my adapter is only for two prongs so I’ll have to see if someone has either a chord or adapter I can borrow. We shall see.

Our focus on short radius turns today was to promote carving from the top of the turn rather than jumping or pivoting from turn to turn, particularly in steeper terrain. In order to do this we did the following:

“Soften” the outside leg at the end of the turn as it becomes the new inside leg. This allows you to begin your new turn without rising or losing contact with the snow.
Keep both tips even through the turn (ie, no lead change). A lead change prevents you from moving inside fully with ankles and knees at the end of the turn.
Stay low (compact body) through the transition between turns.

Heading to the grocery store to buy some fruit now. Not a key food group in Europe! I may have to get a treat at one of the chocolate boutiques as well. :) I'll post again soon! Thanks to those who emailed. It was great to hear from you.

Zermatt - Day 1

Something like 20 hours after I set out from Toronto I finally arrived in Zermatt. This year I was on a different flight than any of the other Toronto participants so I made my own way via two planes, two trains, and two taxis. All I could think about as I arrived in Zermatt was having a shower to wash the travel off me. As soon as I arrived at the hotel I ran into a bunch of people I knew. After that needed shower, I joined a group for dinner. I met three really great people from England. My roommate is also English. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her much as she was already in bed when I went back to the room after dinner. Considering I hadn’t slept in days I was wired after dinner and stayed up to midnight unpacking. Luckily my roommate is a good sleeper.

Today everyone met up at 8:30 am and walked to the lifts together. As it is the weekend, the gondola at the bottom was open so we did it and two trams rather than three trams. The gondola is so much nicer – less busy and you can sit. I started the week in the same group as last year – one racer kid who already has his 3/2 and an older gent who has his Level 3 Teaching and is going for his skiing. We had Sandy, the trip organizer, as our coach today.

The weather was fantastic. Warm and sunny. After my first few runs I had to drop a layer and just ski in a shell. If it keeps up I am going to have one heck of a ski tan!

Unfortunately I didn’t feel the best on the glacier today. We were advised to put on our ski boots after the second tram, rather than the top like I did last year. By the time I got to the top my feet were already killing me. I then got a stomach ache likely related to the elevation. I was also just overwhelmingly tired. Hopefully it will be better after a good night’s sleep. I already feel like a new person since coming down off the mountain…although my calves ACHE big-time and I’m kind of hobbling around my room.

On a positive note, I LOVE my new skis. They have WAY more performance in them than my last ones did. I could really feel the snap when I put things together right. Today was just about getting in balance and acclimatized. What I learned:

Ø Ski in contact with the front of the boot at all times. If you feel yourself lift off it, you are either making the move too quickly (popping) or getting too far back.
Ø For me personally I am working on not moving inside too quickly so that I have a move left to make at the end of the turn. When I did this right, it felt amazing – I could really feel the rebound from the skis at the end of the turn.
Ø Move progressively and continuously through the turn. When you have nowhere left to move start the next turn. Basic, I know. But important to remember at the beginning of the season. The way I was able to get it right is to shorten the width of my turn corridor.

More tomorrow…

Zermatt - on my way!

I am leaving for Zermatt, Switzerland in a few hours. I can't wait!!! I'll be there for two weeks this year. I can't remember the last time I was on a two week holiday. I have never skiied 12 (almost) consecutive days. But I figured if I went for the full two weeks I could do ski improvement the first nine days, take my Level 3 exam on days 10-11, and celebrate on day 12. I'll keep you updated on how it goes. Wish me luck!

Peterborough Sprint - July 6, 2008

I missed the early season races this season due to a bad combination of a longer ski season than usual, back problems, and an increased workload keeping me from training as much as I'd like. Despite this lack of training I decided I would still do Peterborough as it is one of my usual races. Michelle and I drove up Saturday to pick up our race kits and visit the race expo before the race. I was definitely out of practice as I forgot both my inhaler and race belt. After a quick trip to Shopper's Drug Mart and the race expo both were taken care of.

Standing at the start on Sunday morning, I felt pretty good. I knew I didn't have the training under my belt to be challenging my personal bests (PB's) but felt I could at least put in a decent result. I felt really good throughout the swim. I kept my cool and, while I did not feel particularly speedy, felt strong and consistent. Michelle, who was in the wave behind me, overtook me around the halfway point and smacked me on the butt as she went past. At least I think that was Michelle? I was disappointed when I got out of the swim and discovered I was a full 4 minutes slower than the previous year. :( Swim: 25:17. T1: 2:38

The bike exit had changed from the previous year. Due to the narrow start, you were prohibited from passing in the first 100 m. I hurried out ahead of one athlete but got stuck behind another slow starter. The bike course consists of a series of short, sharp hills. I felt okay throughout but did not push myself as hard as I could have. Lack of training rides coupled with my demotivation from my swim result was not a pretty combination. Bike 52:28. T2: 2:38.

The day had become HOT and sunny by the time I started the run. A duathlete came out behind me and pronounced she was going to walk most of the course. The thought was enticing. My choice to wear my older shoes because they had the quick laces was not good. I felt seering pain shooting up my calves with every foot fall. I ended up walking as much as running, my only goal to finish. Run: 44:07. Final: 2:07.

I know I can represent much better than I did today. This is my wake-up call that if I want to continue with this sport I need to train more consistently and eat better. During the race I wanted to quit triathlon. Now I think I can instead rise to the occasion and work harder. I know I can do better than this. In three weeks I am doing a longer race at Bala and I am determined to feel better about it than I do this one. Stay tuned...

Sporting Life 10K - May 4/08

Two months ago, I developed a running schedule to prepare me for the triathlon season while simultaneously training me for the Scotiabank Half Marathon this fall. I was finally going to have a spring where I was prepped to do the Sporting Life 10K. Little did I know that I would still be skiing well into April and would only get a chance to do a handful of short runs in April. At that point I decided that I would have to forgo the Sporting Life10K race yet once again.

Fast forward to two days before the race. I was out for a run, and not even a particularly good or long run when I figured why not do the race anyway? What did it matter that my longest race to date this season was a 6K and that all the others had been 3K’s? The race was predominantly downhill. I could do it with 10+1’s. There were race walkers I could blend in with if things didn’t go well. Plus I had already paid for it. I decided to go for it.

Race day arrives. Michelle drives in from Georgetown and parks at my place. We take a taxi to the start as she has heard on the radio that Yonge Street was already closed. Where does the taxi take us? Up Yonge Street. I guess the radio announcers were premature. We try to stay warm waiting for the race start by various means – walking, standing on the sunny side of the street, hanging out in a transit shelter, and my favourite, waiting in line for the bathrooms at Starbucks. It is sunny but the air is brisk. Ironically it is much colder than my last ski day this year.

Finally it is time. We start out together but I quickly realize that Michelle’s pace is going to be too much for me. I don’t want to hold her back or start out too fast for me so I send her on. It is cool to see thousands of runners spread across Yonge Street. The best view is near the beginning of the race when you can see the runners ahead going up the St. Clair hill – it was a moving sea of colour.

I feel really good. My breathing is good. I don’t hurt anywhere. Even the couple of hills don’t slow me down. I pass people walking up the hills. I keep to my 10 + 1’s even when I feel like I could skip a walk. I know I am going faster during the 10 knowing the 1 is coming. I am glad I brought my fuel belt as the water stations are too few and far between for my liking. The km’s are flying by. I alternate between watching for my 10 + 1’s and watching for the next km marker. I quickly determine that I’m on a 7:30/km pace which is exactly where I would like to be. I finish the first 5K in 37 minutes putting me right on track. I have a major runner’s high losing track of where exactly I am at Yonge Street. At times I make note of new stores or window displays that make me want to go back and check the store out at a later time.

In the second half something strange starts happening. I begin passing people. Not just a few people like I did in the first half but a lot of people. People have ceased to pass me. I check my pace wondering if I have sped up too much and am going to blow up. No. It’s just that my pacing was exactly the right pace for me and others went out too hard. This is an awesome feeling. I finish my last walk break one km away from the finish and lift the pace a little. I don’t know exactly where the finish line is but as soon as I see it I go out even faster and pass another 10 people on the way into the finish chute. What an incredible feeling! I can’t wait to do more races!

Time: 1:13

Level 3 Exams - The Bittersweet End

I woke up raring to go on Sunday. My mantra: I love the bumps. I love Waterfall. I am going to love the bumps on Waterfall. Also, the two bump runs could possibly be my last runs of the season so let ‘er rip and hold nothing back. No regrets.

Tom, a member of my cell, and I both volunteered to go first for teaching today but I let him go as he was teaching Fast Track to Parallel and there were two FTTP lessons in our group that day. Plus I had gone first the day before. I wasn’t as worried about my lesson on Day 2 as I at least knew everyone’s names. When my time came I was a bit nervous when I first explained to the group what I was looking for but as the lesson progressed I was able to forget the examiner was there and focus on teaching a lesson as I would ordinarily. I started the lesson on Waterfall thinking that by putting them on the steepest run I would set myself up well to detect things I could work on in their skiing. It was a suggestion by Ben Prudhomme, an instructor I had on Level 3 prep. Doug Leeming, the examiner I had on today suggested later that I shouldn’t have started them on such a hard run. You can’t win! My group did not make it easy on me as they were all skiing very well. Luckily I was still able to find things for each to work on and the lesson progressed smoothly.

The morning passed by quickly and soon we were through our lessons. As we had a long break before the bumps ski-off I headed back out after lunch and did a half dozen or so practice runs down both sides of Waterfall, not knowing which side the exams would be on. Imagine my surprise when the first ski-off run was actually on the relatively flat top section where I had yet to ski! I wasn’t sure how I felt about this decision as this year I had been finding the steeper bumps easier to navigate than the flatter, closer bumps that require fast feet. But the flatter terrain did give me confidence to go faster. My practice runs in the bumps were not great. I picked a bad line on the top section that didn’t have great rhythm. On the bottom section my legs were screaming and I actually skied out of the bumps rather than finishing the whole run. I was beginning to question my decision to do as many bump runs as I had.

As we waited for our chance to do the ski-off in the top section I asked the others if anyone had found a good line. Allison, from North Toronto, volunteered that the line just to the skier’s left of the lift towers was a good one. Man, am I glad I asked. I had a fantastic run. I was able to look ahead and pick a line that was smooth and rhythmical. I felt like I was taking a leisurely ski down a green run. Our order was reversed for the next run and I went from being one of the last to ski to one of the first. Not much rest for us! As I felt pretty good about my top run I decided to really go for it on the second run as well. I let out a “whoo hoo” to start and tackled the MUCH bigger, MUCH steeper terrain. I actually felt better on the steeper top section than when it got less steep as the line I chose wanted to take me out of the bumps. I worked my way back in and stayed with it. What a relief to have those two runs over! It could have been the adrenaline but I almost felt like doing them again!

With the exams complete, the examiners convened inside and most people went in to get changed. I figured it would take a while to get results and elected to do a couple more runs while I waited. I was joined by Michele Jacques from MSLM who is a great skier. I think those were two of my best runs all season because I could finally RELAX. I’m looking forward to getting more skiing in over the next few weeks where I can seek that feeling.

Perhaps the hardest part of the weekend was waiting for results. I felt pretty good about how I had skied. It wasn’t my best skiing but felt pretty solid. My lessons had seemed to go well. I felt it was within my grasp to get the whole thing but didn’t want to get my hopes set too high. Results for getting half of it are announced first. Then those who got the whole thing were announced. So you want to hear your name but not too early. Alas, I was the second person announced for Teaching. So I passed the teaching but not the skiing. It was bittersweet. While I was thrilled that I would never again have to take the teaching I was really hoping I had done enough to get the whole thing. My marks indicated that I was close. For each run there had been two or three of the five examiners that had passed me. Of all things I actually passed the moguls! The examiners were all great. Brian and Sandy especially sought me out and told me how well I had skied. It is hard to take though, knowing that you skied well, but not well enough.

So, where do I go from here? Well, first off I need a new pair of skis. Mine are DONE. They have no energy left. And I’m going to have a few days of spring skiing for the FUN of it. I’ll refocus over the off-season and decide how to tackle getting the skiing. Thanks everyone for your support on my journey.

Level 3 Exams - Saturday

One exam day down and one to go! And what a full day! We spent the morning teaching and did 4/5 ski-off runs in the afternoon. Only bumps remain.

The weather today was fantastic! It was sunny and right below freezing. The conditions started really firm and were soft after lunch. The atmosphere was much better than expected. The examiners did their best to put people at ease. Most people were pretty relaxed. I quickly distanced myself from anyone who was stressed.

There are 26 people on exams. The majority have been on exams before. Some have already passed either the skiing or the teaching and are back trying to get the second half. There are five examiners - Sandy, Brian, Doug, Jason, and James. All five are judging the ski-off runs with their marks averaged. We are in smaller groups of 5-6 for the teaching. For the teaching I had Sandy today and have Doug tomorrow.

I drew Intermediate Parallel and Short Radius for my two lessons. I couldn't be happier with the draw. As IP and SR are two of my best runs I knew I would be able to demo them well.
I had about an hour this morning to warm up before we started so I sought out appropriate terrain for my lesson, finding safe areas to stop, checking out sight lines, practicing my demo, and thinking about what I was going to say. When Sandy asked for a volunteer to go first, I jumped at the chance.
I think the lesson went well. Sandy asked me privately if I was nervous because my voice sounded tight but the people in my group who didn't know me thought I sounded confident. Sandy also told me that I did well at picking out what each needed to work on but could have had them ski faster. My guess is that it is still a pass.

I could then relax and take part in the remaining classes my cell had to teach - Advanced Parallel, Short Radius, and Bumps. My AP runs were really strong in the class where my SR was not as good as usual. It's usually the reverse for me. My Bumps were not good but then everyone was struggling in them as they were HUGE and none too soft in the morning.

I did a couple of runs after we were "released" for lunch. Then after the soup I brought from the condo I headed back out for a couple of runs before we re-adjourned for the ski-off. For the ski-off we had a practice run for each run. We started with Intermediate Parallel down Waterfall - a double black diamond, Devil's Glen's steepest run. Not exactly what I pictured for an Intermediate run!!! A good one for me to start on as it's usually one of my best runs. We went alphabetically so I was 4th from the end. I did my best to avoid watching anyone else come down so I could leave the vision of the instructor's demos in my head. It seemed to work as I think I did well on that run.

Next up: Dynamic Parallel. We did this one on Inferno, a single Black Diamond. I was feeling pretty good on it - getting so lateral that I felt I could scoop up snow with my hand. Then I had a stumble right in front of the examiners. Oops! I didn't fall or anything but got majorly out of balance. We'll see how they account for that.

The third run was short radius. We did it on Stairway - double black but not as steep as Waterfall. My run felt good. Not stellar but solid. One little stumble in the soft snow but recovered quickly. A few of the other candidates did go out of their way to compliment me on it, one going so far as to say that it was the best of all the runs. So maybe it looked better than it felt. One poor guy fell which must have been embarassing.

The final ski-off run was the dreaded wedge turn. Every examiner demonstrated it differently. The 5 of them stood close and seemed to compare marks as though they needed agreement. The run felt pretty good so hopefully I did well.

So, to summarize my day I think I passed my first lesson teaching. I skiied well today - not as well as I can but possibly well enough to pass today's skiing. To pass the skiing I need to pass 3 out of 4 of today's runs. A passing mark is 6 out of 10 as an average of the 5 judges' marks.

Tomorrow morning I teach short radius which I'm not too worried about. The real test will be the Bumps. They are a must pass and they are intimidating - large with big gullies on a steep pitch. We are doing the lessons in the morning followed by the Bumps after lunch so I can get some warm-up runs in over lunch. I'm just going to have to suck it up and really go for it. Wish me luck!

Level 3 Exams - Friday morning

I have been skiing for four hours and not wanted to stop as I'm having so much fun! I've decided it's time to finally take a break so I'm in my condo for a lunch break before heading back out. I've run into a TON of people I know today. Doug Leeming is training a group of 9 people - most of whom are going on exams tomorrow. I skied with a couple of of his group- Helga and Rory - before their session this morning. I watched the group come down a couple of times and some already looked stiff and nervous. I think I made the better decision going it alone.

I didn't end up alone though. I met up with Melody, a L3 coach with the HAD team who coaches out of Mansfield. Melody and I recognized each other from a training day with Sandy. She's a fantastic skier and has her L3 teaching. Don't know how she doesn't have her skiing! She has been helping me with my wedge turns while I have been helping her with Intermediate Parallel. We gave each other tips in short radius and the bumps. Her Dynamic Parallel is awesome. I'll have to synchro it this afternoon.

The day started off with HARD packed snow but has now softened up. Perfect for more bumps in the afternoon! I'll have to put on more sunscreen, sunglasses, and a shell. This is the closest I've gotten to spring skiing all year. Should be great for CSIA Fun Day, Mansfield, and oh yeah, the L3 exams tomorrow.

Melody heard from Steve Young, who she rents a room from, that it is Sandy and Jason Scott examining tomorrow. But I ran into Meredith today and she says there is 28 people signed up. Given the number of people I know taking it, I would think that is more realistic. Steve and Sandy are probably just two of the examiners.

Well, better head back out. TTYS.

Level 3 Exams - Thursday night

On the way up to Collingwood last night I decided to blog my (final?) journey towards my Level 3. When I get back to the city I'll transfer these emails into my blog with hopefully a photo of a shiny L3 pin. :)

Earlier this week I was experiencing periods of nervousness where I could literally feel my heart race. I kept myself busy at work and at home so as not to focus too much on my exams. That being said, any "free" time was used preparing for the exams - visualizing my ski-off runs and preparing what I will say and do in the various lessons I may be assigned.

But on the drive up last night a new feeling as related to this quest washed over me. Happiness?!? I actually found myself smiling when thinking about the exams. I'm totally relaxed and actually looking forward to showing the examiners what I can do! This is a feeling I want to hold on to over the next few days.

I am going to spend the day ripping it up at Blue Mountain. One last opportunity to use my 5x7. As mine was the only car in the parking lot last night I will have lots of space and no lift lines with which to contend. I love it here during the week!