All Blog 2010

Apologies to everyone that has been expecting the blog to be put up on Sundays, but due to some laptop problems it has been delayed. So, for your pleasure below there are 2 blogs to peruse.

Freestyle & Lazy Days (22/02/10 - 28/02/10)

 Monday initiated an intense week of training with The Kenj for the skiers. A blast down Ectasy in the morning where a wild snowboarder appeared, left Law nursing his back all week and glad he was wearing a helmet! With Level 2 drawing ever closer, the skiers were worked hard till the last lift, to maximise training time. Monday Also meant the arrival of Law’s radios...Subsequently code names were needed for all...

Freestyle Tuesday!!! The group had a freestyle session with their instructors, the skiers were with Kyle, and the boarders had Juan as usual. Kyle is awesome in the park, even if he did manage to snap the heel piece of his binding on the first fun! We spent a day hitting kickers, hips and boxes as well as laying down some smooth 180’s, assorted grabs and finishing the day with a Ski ballet session.

Wednesday = Pain. Freestyle Tuesday had certainly taken its toll on some of the group, resulting in a cheeky much needed day off and a sandwich for some to nurse their wounds (much to Kenji’s disappointment – Sorry Kenji!). The others continued to work hard on their coiling in phase 3 up the mountain.

Thursday was back to business as usual, working more on skiing development and teaching – I’m sure the boarders did something useful as well. It marked the end of a tough training week, with everyone looking forward to eating at the Elk and Oarsman that evening (Woooo hooo Turkey Club).

Friday Finally arrived meaning a day off for the majority of the group having not had any time off last weekend with the avalanche training, a long lie in was much appreciated. After everyone had caught up on their beauty sleep, it was off to the pub to watch Canada secure their place in the Olympic final!

Saturday brought about a relaxed day for many with another lie in, followed by a chilled afternoon on the hill. Some hitting the park and some getting a taste for real teaching! Jamie did one run and then went home.

Sunday. Men’s ice hockey final day!! Canada won. Crazy happy riots in the streets of Banff with drunken Canadians filling the streets.

Much Love
Snow Fox and Snow Whale

P.S. Sorry Mrs Poole that this blog entry is late :-)

Lake Louise & A Sad Farewell (01/03/10 - 07/03/10)

This week saw an unusual absence from Kenji, but he had a pretty good excuse as he was doing his Level 4 exam (the top level of CSIA). You'll be happy to know that Kenji is now Level 4 :-) His replacement for the week was James, who the team had had before.

This week was not just a week with a new trainer but we had a new training location as well. On Thursday we took a trip to the self-claimed biggest resort in the Rockies, Lake Louise. The coach ride was about an hour so not too bad but we were welcomed by Mount Hector or if you look closely Snoopy the Dog lying on his back.

We met James and Juan and then hit the slopes. It was great to have a change of scenery, especially the view of the Fairmont Chateau at the edge of the Lake Louise. You can see the lake right next to Juan's, the instructor, pointing hand.

The day was full of exploring the vast expanse of Lake Louise and having plenty of fun :-)

Lunch time was a time for reminiscing as Jamie bought some chicken fingers and we couldn't help but think of Brett, who sadly left the course 5 weeks in. Hope you're doing well mate.

On Saturday we had another farewell to endure. Chris unfortunately left us to go back home and do some farming. Hope you had a safe journey home mate and that your combine harvesters haven't rusted over too badly :-P

Well that's it until Sunday, as long as we don't have any more "laptop problems"

Over and out,

Sam

P.S. Don't forget to click here to checkout more pictures on the Facebook group!!!

February has not only bought a new intake of trainees but the biggest snowfall this season…..50cm in just 48 hours!!

It’s been a couple of weeks since the new trainees arrived and this year arrival day fell on the same day as hoards of British and French families arrived for the dreaded half-term week. Nevertheless, the weather was pretty good and the trainees, who are now quite used to worming their way through a queue of people, all made the most of the great snow and intense training.

The first week, although fairly intense, is seen by the trainers as an opportunity to ‘break the trainees in’ and get them back to match fitness. During this week there isn’t a great deal of feedback or focus on drills and exercises; the focus is more on getting fit and finding your feet. Sandy, Matt and Dave, the ISIA/ISTD trainers that run the course, are all very experienced at generating confidence and enthusiasm throughout the group. They’re also very good at whipping a bit of discipline into the trainees who, as you can imagine, find the temptation of Verbier’s après ski and vast array of expensive nightclubs all too much.

Despite a fairly relaxed first week the majority of trainees spent their first weekend at the mercy of Flora and Richie, our legendary first-aid guru’s who were flown-in especially from the UK to run the two-day course. I really don’t know how they manage to do it but they manage to make 16 hours of first-aid fly past…….well almost anyway. Unfortunately for Flora and Richie some of the guys had partied fairly hard on Friday night and by Saturday morning were feeling a little precious. Much to the amusement of the other trainees resident gangster and London hard man Jake ‘the snake’ Leefield had to leave the room when Flora started showing a few pictures of bloody injuries.

Anyway, after two days of First-Aid the guys were pretty keen to get back on the slopes and focus on their level 1 examination. As the trainers had been pretty lenient during the first week the second week was a bit of a wake-up call for most. Short-turns, carving and central theme were the main focuses and all of the trainees responded well to all of the exercises and feedback given. It’s amazing to witness the amount of improvement and progression that has happened in just one week! I have to say that after the past two weeks all of the trainees look strong enough to pass their level 1, if they can stay focused!

As a reward for all of their hard work the big man upstairs decided to give us 50cm dump of fresh snow over the weekend, and as you can imagine that meant lots of powder for those trainees that didn’t get too involved on Friday and Saturday night. Needless to say there were a lot of frowns on Saturday morning……but a lot of smiling faces that evening!

The trainees begin their BASI level 1 on Monday so make sure you stay tuned!

Tom

The crew have arrived here in Whistler, slap bang in the middle of the Olympics!

We spent a couple of days starting to figure our way around the village, getting our passes, and sorting out our gear. Town is going off at the moment, with music in every square nearly 24 hrs a day, theatre shows, and TV cameras everywhere.

We've had a couple of days on the mountains. ..1 on Whistler, 1 on Blackcomb, trying to make sense of the HUGE amount of terrain. Give it a few weeks and we might start to get to know some of the runs!  The snow just keeps coming too.

The weekend will be a welcome time to rest our legs, have some drinks in the hot tub, and explore a little of this amazing town.