All Blog 2010

The last week of preparation is over......and the time of the final assessment of BASI 2 has arrived! The last week has been busy with Brendon fine tuning everyones skiing and saying goodbye to the Schneewitchen parties for a few days. Theory-lessons instead of apreski and early days on the mountain with the BASI Trainer Ben are now on the agenda for the next two weeks!

Good Luck to everyone!

Kaspar Stettler - Group Leader

This past week has been quite an eventful one. Not only did we help out the ski school as part time employees, but our skiing also came together. Everyone’s carving looked very sharp and fundamentally sound. Kasper continues to make sure that our off-time is well spent.

For anyone serious about their skiing or about pursuing a snow sports career, Peak Leaders in Zermatt is a must.
Lukas

If you look back through the blogs to some of the photos of the guys on the mountain, you'll see Lake Nojiri in the distance. We went fishing yesterday for smelt -tasty little fish, in an attempt to catch dinner. When I think of fishing, I think cold hands and wet feet and tight lines only being something to dream of. Not here. Arriving at the lake shore at 7.30am with visions of a little open fishing boat, we were met with a boat that really just looked like a floating sitting room.

Fishing in slippers, beside a heater. Lush.

Next question...how do you fish from here? The trap doors above are removed to then provide you with a little pool in which to drop your rod. Note the heater to the left of the photo. My kind of fishing. Civilised. Oh, did we mention the cooler full of soft drinks and beer, sushi rolls and coffee that we brought with us to keep our strength for the day ahead?!

Pool revealed and the group tying their lines. Bait? Live maggots.

First rods in. El Capitan on the right showing how it's done. Marty on the left pulling up catch #1 of the day. As soon as you see the tip of the rod wiggle, you have to flick the rod and start reeling in. Easy peasy.

How many of these tiny fish do you need to feed us all? A lot.

The boat was brilliantly designed. Glass sides so that you can take in the magnificant views of the surrounding mountains, all from the comfort of a mini arm chair in the warmth. Sara chilling in the background - she'd already cleared  the lake of fish. A hidden talent for fishing discovered in Japan!

Bill had clearly done this before - zen like concentration gave him a total of 13. Team USA (with the help of Sara, who was a close 2nd) cleaned up!

The lake stunning view. You can see the three ski resorts, Suginohara, Ikenotaira and Akakura Kanko.

The best bit below....We took the fish to be cooked tempura style at a tiny izakaya in Myoko called Sennin. Delicious!

 This week the team have gone back to training. This time it's even more hardcore because Level 2 is only 3 weeks away!!! Training this week has been mostly focused on mileage. Kenji and Juan have been skiing and riding them hard.

On Sunday 14th February it was "Trapper" Jerry's birthday, although he is not part of the Peak Leaders team I thought he deserved a mention. He is a Sunshine Village legend who has been skiing the area since 1962 and has the Trapper Saloon named after him. This year was his 93rd birthday and to celebrate he always skis one of the many double black diamond runs here at Sunshine Village. That wasn't the only birthday this week though. It was Robbie's birthday on Friday and Mal's on Sunday 21st February. There were a few drinks on Friday night but with the avalanche awareness the next day the real celebrations shall be next Friday with a cartoon character themed fancy dress night, check next Sunday for the photos :-P

As I was saying with the weekend rolling round came the avalanche awareness weekend. Saturday was the classroom day which was presented by Abbey from Yamnuska Mountain Adventure, giving the team some great theory on avalanches. Ranging from the most likely degree slopes avalanches are most likely to occur on to all the different types of triggers of avalanches, 30 - 40 degrees is the most likely an avalanche occurs by the way. Sunday was when all the action happened though, as it was the field day. The day was filled with transceiver training and snow pack analysis. Everybody now has a greater knowledge on avalanches and are now a lot safer in the back country, something every keen skier and snowboarder should do.

Here is to another great week in the Canadian Rockies,

Hope all is well back in the UK,

Sam

This week began with shadowing groups in the Swiss Ski School, our first experience of teaching a group. We all found it very useful as we hadn't had much of an idea of what to expect from groups of kids up to that point. We learnt lots of teaching styles and got lots of helpful advice from the insructors we met.

On Thursday we went back to training with Brendon, which we had all missed a lot during the last couple of weeks. Training has got slightly more intensive now that we're doing BASI 2, and we're all having to work much harder during our time on the mountain.

Thursday also saw the biggest night out so far in Zermatt...Super hero night at Schnee Wittchen. Much time was spent carefully selecting costumes, ending up with Superman, Batman, Captain underpants, and for some reason a couple of ipods.. And finally, training resumed on Friday and Saturday where we all made some more improvements to our technique.

Sunday was a day off, used for rest and recuperation :)
 

By Rosie

Its been a  tough and stressfull week of Level 2 exams, and has finished with everyone passsing! Yes, Level 2!! Well done to everyone, we've work hard and the results show.

The  night, no, weekend, was a huge celebration. It was also a chance to rest up a little, and get some more time on the mountain for plenty more fresh snow. The snow keeps on falling, with another 70cm in the last week.

The Olympics and here, and the town is going off! The buzz in town is amazing, and luckily the mountain is nice a quiet too! The snow is lasting and there is sooo much pow pow to track down.

This week is time to keep the party going, and get plenty of ride time too. We're spending some days freeriding, and will be getting some more freestyle coaching. Yes!

Last week on the Peak Leaders BASI Instructor course it was an eventful week for all.....we had just finished the BASI Level 1.

So, the week began with the group chilling and partying, to celebrate being qualified instructors! The group had a nice few days off at the beginning of the week to have relaxed skiing and nights out in Zermatt, enjoying the clubs. we were then shown on Wednesday a back-country and avalanche training day where we learnt about snow conditions, and when to expect the risk of avalanches. We had the chance to practice using some of the avalanche equipment, which meant the group was able to search for buried items under the snow using trackers and the correct techniques of shovelling, which is not to tiring. Our mountain guide demonstrated a compression test in the snow and showed us the layers that form from different snowfalls and showed us how easily sometimes snow can slide away from the underlying layers.

On Thursday the group was down to four people (some people had to go home for a bit)/  We had a freestyle day learning the basics in the park and what can be done on a piste like switch skiing, 180, 360 and air time jumps. In the park we did big kickers....we were able to attempt grab tricks and spins..... with variable degrees of success! Lastly we were shown rails and all of us attempted the rails and had some success in learning and being able to stay on them and landing off at the other end.

Finally on friday Zermatt showed us why it is an amazing resort.......we had about 40-50cm of snow and the whole of Zermatt was covered!Saturday was an amazing powder day and the group got to see the best bits of skiing in Zermatt with amazing knee deep powder skiing and variable lines across the mountain and a perfect day to have but not use the knowledge we had acquired from our back country and freestyle days. In conclusion another great week in Zermatt with lovely skiing, amazing scenery and exciting activities.

From Gus Persson
 

Last week was the most serious week we’ve had so far, we had to say good bye to the comforting skiing compliments of Brenden and start are BASI Level 1 exams! Although, as with any exams, I didn’t find it the most exciting thing in the world, we all grew into the challenge and by Friday the hard work paid off and we had all passed.

The new Ski Instructors!!

Success on the slopes lead to success in the town – a two o’clock start to a two am finish in Zermatt’s diverse bars was a tremendous effort by anyone’s standards!

Our first aid course over the weekend had arrived just in time for some, and was actually much more fun than anyone expected. Flora, who took charge of us was really cool and managed to balance our jokey mood after Friday with some much more important life skills. All in all last week was a great week, and despite it being minus 30 at the top, we are all only warming to Zermatt more and more.

First Aid time

Jamie

With a day off from training and the snow looking sub-par (this covers anything other than a foot of fresh snow or a warm sunny day) a few of us took the chance to make a day trip to Tokyo. Although the idea of a day trip to a city around 4-5 hours away by car sounds ridiculous, the speed, simplicity and smooth operation of the Japanese public transport system makes the trip an easy and pleasurable one. A quick 30 minute ride on a local train, 90 minutes on the lightning quick Shinkansen and voila, we were in the middle of Tokyo. Some took the opportunity for an extra bit of sleep on the train, whilst those of us from Australia and the UK spent the 90 minutes comparing the dire state of public transport in our own countries to the Japanese experience. Trains that run on time? Get out of town!

Our first destination in Tokyo was Kanda, an area famous for its concentration of ski and snowboard shops. A conservative estimate would put it at 50 shops one one street, with almost any product being available. It was all a bit overwhelming to be honest, and how none of us came back with new boards I dont know. We have since made plans for a return shopping trip, with almost everyone set on forking over the yen for new gear. With good prices and a huge range it would be rude not to.

In the afternoon we headed over to Harajuku, an area known for its concentration of fashionable clothing stores and general cool Japanese kids. The designs, fashions and variety on offer were immense, and there were sky high prices to match. Most of us made a few small purchases, but the overall experience was one of window shopping and people watching. Harajuku also has the Tokyo's Burton flagship store, and we all contemplated maxing out our credit cards to look like the Japanese snowboarder kids in their amazing outfits. Like the snowboard shopping though, this can wait for another day.

We rushed back to Tokyo station to make it back in Myoko at a reasonable hour. We grabbed some dinner at the station (a pretty tasty Bento box), and it was back on the Shink. Unfortunately we missed our connection in Nagano, so we were forced to spend 45 minutes drinking at a bar near the station. Other attendees included a drunk gent who as far as we understood was an ex Americas cup sailor. Something may have been lost in translation though.

Back on the train to Myoko and back home at 11pm. A great day trip out of Myoko and one that really highlights the versatility of the place! It was good to get out of Myoko, but with powder forecast all week, it was also a pleasure to come back.

Thanks Dave for your account!

 Monday saw the much anticipated return of Kenji for the skiers as he had been away the week before. The cold weather that had been predicted never really materialised, and instead we had the best weather we’ve had yet with cloudless skies and relatively warm temperatures.

Tuesday was Australia day which happens to be a big event in Banff because as it appears more people in Banff are actually Australian than Canadian. This meant there were many a flag being flown on the slopes and the occasional snowboarder in board shorts.

Wednesday saw the skiers have a couple of runs on a Super G, which was a good experience for all even if some were not completely in control and others getting down the slope in record times to get to the toilet!

Thursday was tense as the boarders were compared against the snow skool group but there was no comparison even with Juan’s helpful parting words to relieve the pressure ‘you guys better not let me down’ and they didn’t disappoint.

Friday night proved to be another entertaining night out, and this week we actually managed to make it into a club which ended in relationships blooming for some in the course (Laurob) while others felt slightly under the weather.

Saturday was a quiet day for some as they nursed hangovers however a few members of the group managed to brave the cold weather and make it out of their rooms to the local thrift shop (second hand shop), this resulted in the purchase of some interesting 80’s ski jackets and Nick joining the Team Alberta ski team.

Sunday was pretty casual with some of the group trekking up to the slopes for freestyle Sunday (now a regular occurrence). But questionable jump making led Robbie going for his second back flip unintentionally, don't worry though Robbie is hard as nails and isn't injured at all.

Peace and love

Nick, Matt and Jamie

P.S. Don't forget to checkout more photos on the facebook group by clicking here!!!

After everyone received their BASI Level 1 debriefs from Rob, it was time for a few well earned celebrations and some food in a local isakaya in Akakura Kanko. Bill (local legend), his wife Masayo and daugher Sena joined us.

Bill and his fabulous family

Rob enjoying beef tataki at the Hohedo restaurant

Ben Charnock, who completed our course in Saas Fee this autumn, is teaching here with the local Yodel Ski School - he joined us for a drink. Ben's been teaching local high school kids in Japanese - nice work Ben!

Japanese university students, in town for a week of partying - International drinking games by them too.

Sara and Marty

Jo on the harmonica helping 'Bob Marley' with a rendition of 'No Woman, No Cry'

We don't have pictures to prove it...but one trainee from Manchester, who'll remain nameless, decided on a quick dip in the onsen at 1am, and woke up at 6am on the onsen floor. Very clean and very prune like!!

We've just completed our Avalanche Awareness Day with Bill. Brilliant. Having spent the morning going through the various dangers and how to manage the risk of being caught in an avalanche, we put the info into practise.  We snowshoed up to dig snow pits, evaluate the snow and get a feel for what it's like being caught.

Looking through Bill's essential kit for any back country trip.

Snow depth on the golf course.

Assessing the snow pack and the various layers.

Jo checking the size and shape of the snowflakes to see how stable the layers are.

Up close

Creating a block in order to test how easily the snow will collapse, with Marty being the willing volunteer.

Sara and Marty on their thrones

Sundip, Jo and Dave were buried in order to feel what it was like in the unfortunate event of being caught. Even at just over 30 cm of snow, it's surprising how you cannot hear someone shout. Definitely a good wake up call!

The hike back.

Many Thanks to Bill Ross for an informative, practical and fun day.

An epic day out today with a few of us taking out some sleds in the amazing winter wonderland of the Callaghan Valley. We were treated to deep  snow and clear skies, perfect for snowmobiles!

Check out the photos and a quick video of the day also.

Distinct lack of enthusiasm on Monday morning as everyone felt the strain of missing out on a weekend due to first aid training, although comfort could of course be taken in the knowledge that should one pass out from sheer exhaustion, there would be 12 freshly trained first aiders to put one in the recovery position. Phew.

Olympic fever was rife in Banff this evening as the torch was carried through the town centre by an ex-Olympian who needed to “get a jog on”. We left with lots of teeny tiny Canadian flags, some flashing coke bottles and lots of shocking photos so I count that as some degree of success.

Olympic torch hype was still being felt up at Sunshine this morning where homage had been paid in the form of two huge ice 'flames' Nobody thought Brett was being serious when he said he was going to lick one...
Thursday evening saw the arrival of 'Snowed In Comedy Tour' to Banff, an evening showcasing an eclectic blend of outspoken and, in some cases, disturbing comedians from Canada and beyond, most notably Ireland's own Ed Byrne who had some very perceptive observations on snowboarding.

On Friday our snowboard group was very depleted as Casey and Brett yielded to various injuries, an occurence that Juan met with unexpected enthusiasm; it seemed he was hoping for a day off, alas, the remaining 3 snowboarders soldiered on, at least until 2.25pm when the general consensus of “I'm tired and I want to go home” was reached. Friday evening however, proved to be very exciting, with highlights including failed attempts at sobering up Rob through motivational speech and Jamie picking a fight with the lift door.

The long anticipated lie in that Saturday morning brought was perhaps one of the most welcome lie ins in the history of Peak Leaders. After a debrief of the previous night's events Casey and I went into town and spent far too much money on pretty things that we didn't really need before regrouping to see 'Legion' ; a strong contender for the title of 'worst film ever' with a story line that seemed to be a strange old lady said that some babies were going to die but in the end pretty much everyone apart from the baby dies. Genius.

Following a drunken bet from Friday night; much of Sunday was spent in anticipation of Robbie doing a back flip. (Which, astonishingly, he pulled off! Sort of...) Many considerably more mundane stunts were pulled by other, more sane, members of the group, but we were all put to shame by the effortlessly cool Canadian lads we ran into. Dammit.

Over and out,

Lauren and Hannay

P.S. Don't forget to checkout the facebook group for more photos!!!

We've now ridden all 3 mountains. All are epic, but the one thing that stands out is the quality and quantity of their snowparks. The kickers are perfectly shaped, with good transitions and progressions catering for all standards of rider. In one of the parks I counted over 30 features! And that was not the only park on the mountain. Rob has had the group practising grabs and 50/50s on the boxes.

Wa doko desu ka kooen? (Which way to the park?!!)

1 of 30 features in the park. Absolutely ideal. Below is a local rider showing how it should be done. Check out the view.

Rob below.

Unlike Europe, eating lunch on the mountain is relatively inexpensive, and a bit of an experience in itself. In some places you have to go to a ticket machine (looks like something you'd use to buy a ticket in a car park) put in your money and pick your dish, then take it to the cashier. No one's picked any howlers yet...the favourite has been octopus balls.

We've all been blown away by the Japanese hospitality here in Myoko. Shimosan, one of the hotel owners treated us to a drumming show; she wasn't content until the whole group had a go with her. We discovered a tiny underground bar yesterday serving local beer, sours and delicious home cooked food.

Our friendly barman!

Joe is a happy man with his beer.

The guys (and girl) have already been a bit of a hit in town with their karaoke singing -  Bon Jovi and other 90s rockers...but the Sara stole the scene with her rendition of Maggie May and James Brown. She'll have agents lining up soon!

Marty and Sara discovered a late night snack on the way home. A hot fountain with hardboiled eggs. Fish out your egg, shell it, eat it. There's even a little salt pot. Who need Maccy D's when you have this for 70 yen?

4th day of the course and I'm the lucky one who gets to write the first blog post! Since arriving everyone has settled in and we are all having a great time. Thanks to Kaspar, it was a flawless transition from home. The skiing has been challenging for all of us but everybody has been giving their best and is showing massive improvement in just 4 days. Brendan who works for the Swiss Ski School is a great instructor, not only does he balance work with fun but he also is very encouraging when necessary, plus its nice to ski with such a phenomenal skier.

The training is intensive but he makes it interesting and fun for us all. Off the slopes everybody is happy with the hotels and the village. We all find it so awesome that we get to see and ski the mightiest Alp of all everyday! Looking forward to the weekend and some well earned rest!

Geoff Butterfield

Before you come on a Peak Leaders course you have to get over the idea that you're going on a glorified holiday........if you come with that attitude you'll feel like you're being worked to the bone. Unsurprisingly some of the trainees thought that they'd be given the chance to catch their breath after a busy festive period, but Roddy and his colleagues had a very different idea.

Move over Sammy Carlson because Sammy Antwiss is in da house!

Training has not only been stepped up in the past few weeks to a six day training week, but the trainees have also had their off-piste awareness/avalanche training and freestyle training. This means that not only are they rocking super stylish 360's in the park but they've all got a much stronger idea of how to read snow conditions, how to ski off-piste properly and what to do if an avalanche happens. Some of the groups were even lucky enough to be taken by their guide to some of Verbier's most exciting couloirs deep in the Verbier backcountry. On returning to the chalet I was very envious to hear numerous stories of fresh powder, epic climbs and heart-stopping traverses.. Needless to say; stories of Charlies cowardly yelps when climbing down the infamous 'Stairway to Heaven' definitely made me smile.

Don't look down!

Other than lots and lots of skiing the trainees have also begun completing their ILM assessments. Freestyle coaching sessions, sledge races and Swedish lessons are some of the various events to have taken-place........and we're all looking forward to Anna's Synchro competition on Friday. In other news the three trainees that narrowly missed-out on their BASI level 1 earlier in the season all passed their resit with flying colours, so congratulations to them.

George (aka Westbeach) looking pretty Gangsta

Finally, some of trainees with too much spare time on their hands have built a quarterpipe at the back of the chalet which must have taken some serious time to build and sculpt; both Ash and Andy have been sessioning it in the evenings in-between re-runs of Andy's ski movie 'Refresh' which I'm seriously considering hiding for the remainder of the season!

Only a few days until BASI level 2 begins........I'll keep you all posted on how it's going.......I promise!

Tom

Well its been an interesting couple of weeks of training. Annie has had us ripping around and exploring the mountain, shaking off the slightly stressful task of passing the Level 1 exams!

Today was an avalanche awareness course, and conditions were perfect for getting away from the lifts and into some deep snow.

We learnt how use avalanche tranceivers, and track down a signal under the snow. We checked out the layer of snow in a snow profile, and tested for weaker and stronger layers. All good skills to have for sure.

A hike up to the famous Flute Bowl gave us a chance to shred down a face of 60cm of fresh, untracked pow pow.

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 Since the trainees completed their BASI level 1 a few weeks ago there’s been no hold-up in the training regime…..even Christmas day saw a number of trainees shadowing lessons on the mountain! So, what have the trainees been up to over the past few weeks?

The minute that the level 1 exams had finished, with 94% of the trainees passing, another aspect of their training began……First Aid. A 9am start on Sautrday morning didn’t win me any friends but once the team begun the training with Richie and Flora they seemed to enjoy and excel at what they were doing. I don’t think Richie and Flora had ever met two people quite like Ella and Alex, the self-proclaimed (Jedward) twins. I think at times Flora struggled to get a word in edgeways.

Anyway, with the First Aid training finished the guys and girls resumed training with their ES instructors. Training moved away from being focused heavily on the central theme, the key focus of BASI level 1, to involving more of the five strands and higher-end skiing and snowboarding. Week four was much the same but for some of the trainees there was an opportunity to fit-in some shadowing. Shadowing is a mandatory requirement from BASI and involves following an instructor and their clients around the mountain so that trainees can pick-up different teaching methods and gain more confidence. Special mention must go to Alice Banks (Banksy) who was highly commended by her instructor and 5 year old clients, the ES Penguins. In another group one half of the Jedward, Alex, saw the financial rewards of being an instructor with a 50chf tip from the father of a little terror that she’d made allies with.

Although the majority of trainees followed ES instructors some of the trainees shadowed and helped-out instructors from Les Elfes Activity camp. As the majority of children were in their teens this proved a quick learning experience for the guys, needless to say their experiences didn’t discourage them too much!

On Friday we celebrated Christmas!!!! Together with my lovely assistant Spike I cooked up a Christmas dinner for the 24 trainees that had stayed in resort. Despite having problems fitting 23kg of Turkey into the oven and having never cooked for so many people it all went surprisingly well and the food tasted like it was supposed to…….with the exception of the stuffing. I believe two of the girls even commented that it was the best Turkey they’d ever eaten…….but I won’t reveal their names incase Mum gets too offended and decides not to cook Christmas lunch for them next year.

Dara doing the honours.

Boxing day was a rather more chilled-out affair, for me at least. A few of the trainees shadowed and a few of the trainees took advantage of the good light and dusting of snow, but I think it’s fair to say that the majority spent the day nursing a hangover.

The week that followed Christmas was spent shadowing. A few lucky trainees, namely Callum and Andy M even had the chance to shadow some freestyle, freeski coaching. Well-known British Freestlyer Andy Bennett even made an appearance which was great for Andy M, a member of the GB development squad for Freestyle. Andy M, spurred on by Andy B, was seen spinning 720’s off the kickers and getting all sorts of technical rail tricks on the boxes. For the other trainees the shadowing might not have been quite as exhilarating but they all learnt some valuable lessons and picked-up a few ‘tricks of the trade’.

Oli getting inverted.......and staying inverted!

The end of the week climaxed with New Years Eve 2010. After a hearty meal of Chille Con Carne those that could walk out of the front door headed down to Place Central where thousands of people gathered with Champagne and Fireworks……possibly not the safest combination. If you’ve never been to Verbier on NYE you won’t understand how busy the place gets; picture thousands of inebriated Brits, Dutch and Swiss dancing to cheesy music, climbing lamp posts, dancing on balconies,  launching snowballs and fireworks at anything that moves. For this one night Verbier is more like London during the Blitz than a classy Swiss Ski resort. Anyway, after the countdown all the trainees went their separate ways; some of the ‘high-rollers’ made their way to the Farm Club where they rather regretted paying the extortionate entrance fee and drinks prices to hang with Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice. The rest of us slummed-it in the Casbar and Wonderbar….where we didn’t have to take-out a bank loan to have a good time or worry about spilling drinks over members of the Royal Family……. Did we Charlie! Surprisingly a fair few of the keener trainees turned-up to shadowing on New Years Day; I’d like to say they’d been to bed and were well-rested but the reality was that they’d probably worn their ski clothing out that night and made a quick detour via the ski lockers after leaving a nightclub at 8.45am.

Place Central at Midnight.

The rest of the weekend was far more laid-back; Saturday night involved finally getting the opportunity to open our Secret Santa presents! Presents ranged from Alcohol to cuddly toys to handcuffs and everything in-between. There were a few teary eyes in the crowd including George Magill who wasn’t overjoyed by the Barbie Doll he unwrapped and Andy Moss who couldn’t even crack a smile for the Swiss Flag come tea-towel he begrudgingly turned into a bandana. On Sunday full training resumed as the festive period was well and truly over……if only the Apres Ski Bar wasn’t so much fun!!

Merry Christmas!

This week has been chock full of deep pow and good times. We've had some big dumps of snow, and its been an epic time here.

The weather has cleared up nicely now too, giving us some bluebird days and more ahead.

Have a great Christmas, from everyone here in Whistler.

The Level 1 is done and dusted! Everyone has been working really hard all week. We had a suitably big night after the end of the exams, and sore heads the next day to boot.
The weekend has been a good chance to chill out, and has also brought another 50cm of snow, with more on the way! This week is shaping up to be amazing snow, and a great way to take us into Christmas.

 Well this week has seen lots of different activities and the coldest day to date. On Monday morning, refreshed and ready to go after our weekend off, we arrived at the gondola base station at Sunshine Village to find it closed due to the temperature, -31°C!!

The gondola doesn’t run below -30°C so we had to wait until it warmed up enough for the gondola to move us all up the mountain. They definitely look after you in Canada as we got free coffee and hot chocolate the whole time we waited. We made it up to the skiing area a little late to meet Kyle for our ‘introduction to freestyle day’. It was totally different from our usual day of lessons – lots of time in the park, some jumps and attempts at 180s. We had varying degrees of success in the park and at jumps and everyone really enjoyed the day, despite the bruises it brought.

Tuesday was warmer (only very slightly but enough that the gondola took us straight up the hill). We really started to focus on teaching practice today in preparation for the Level 1 exam next week. There is a real emphasis on how to make it fun for your students and making sure that your demonstrations are precise enough to be copied. We had to take lots of breaks indoors to stave off the cold, 50 minutes on the hill and 10 minutes inside seemed to work well. And dinner in the Elk and Oarsman was, as ever, excellent tonight. Chicken lime tortilla soup – delicious.

Lots more skiing on Wednesday and the temperature seemed to be slightly warmer (or maybe we were just getting used to it!). Our demonstrations of snow plough turns and intermediate parallel are starting to look more consistent and we all have phrases chanting in our heads from turn the leg and wider stance to bend at the waist. We finish skiing early on Wednesday as headed off to get a coach to Calgary to watch the Calgary Flames playing the Atlanta Thrashers. The home side won 3-1 and scored an exciting, last minute, third goal. To everyone’s delight we saw quite a few fights (it wouldn’t really be an ice-hockey match without one). The game was really fast paced and after a good introduction from Larry, our host on the coach, we understood at least some of the rules. The stadium is huge, holding 19,000 people at capacity and we were reliably informed it is the 4th largest in the NHL. So if you’re heading to Banff or Calgary, we can thoroughly recommend a night out to watch the Flames – Go Flames Go!

We all felt a little tired and jaded on Thursday morning after our late trip back to Banff from the ice-hockey but Kenji’s enthusiasm soon woke us up and after a few warm-up runs we were back to practising our demonstrations – with mixed success! A few afternoon runs around Mt Standish soon had our blood pumping again and we all had to think of one thing we wanted to practise on Friday – our last day of training before our level one. Due to different Christmas functions being held in the various restaurants we eat in, we had a second evening eating at the Elk and Oarsman. On Thursday night you get to collect ‘Elk dollars’ if you picking the winning ice-hockey team. But you have to pick the one that scores the goals!

Friday, our last official day with Kenji, was a day of lots of skiing. We tackled our first double-black diamond at Sunshine and really hared around the mountain all morning. We mostly skied at Goat’s Eye in the morning where a few fresh centimetres of snow had really made a difference. We tackled Hell’s Kitchen running onto the bottom half of Supermodel – so called as it is a narrow mogul run that follows the line of the Goat’s Eye lift. You are on full display to the ascending skiers the whole time. The early afternoon saw us move over to Mt Standish where we tackled some of the many chutes that lead off the top of the hill. We fitted in some last minute practice of our snow plough demonstration between runs down the chutes and a few ‘Eureka’ moments were had as it seemed our demos finally came up to scratch. Just to really test us we finished the afternoon with 2, non-stop, top to bottom runs from Goat’s Eye. Thighs were definitely burning after that.

No rest on Saturday as we were back to the village for our Avalanche training day. It was an excellent introduction starting with a video session to introduce the subject. We quickly moved on to familiarise ourselves with the kit and move outside to search for buried transceivers and understanding a bit about the back country. After lunch we saw slides and learned about slab and wet snow avalanches, the different size of avalanches and just how much of an art surrounds the subject called ‘snow science.’ In the afternoon we looked at some run off areas and saw real life examples of the pictures we’d looked at earlier. Then on to digging……Mercifully there was only a little bit of digging involved – to isolate a 30 cm by 30 cm block of snow so we could test its failure point. We discovered that our digging wasn’t at quite the exact standard of accuracy to give the best results but with a little more practice…..
We finish the day a little cold and tired but had all thoroughly enjoyed the day. Sarah, the snow safety expert who ran the day, was a font of knowledge and had a real enthusiasm for and fantastic knowledge of the subject.

A lovely Thai meal, a few beers and a big sleep finish off our Saturday. And Sunday? Rest, for everyone in preparation for CSIA level 1 starting Monday……..results to follow.

All the best,

Louise

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

So it's been almost two weeks since the trainees arrived in Verbier and in that time they've just about made the giant leap from recreational skiers and snowboarders to professional instructors. Tomorrow is the day of reckoning!!!!!!

Anyway, I guess you're all wondering what the guys have been up to since they left home and arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in Verbier. Well, despite learning about the extortionate drinks prices the hard way, they've been very busy training. Not only have they all shown a great deal of determination and focus but they've all been great people to spend time with......despite the chat at dinner from Tim, Drew and Charlie.

In the first week the trainees teamed up with their coaches (Rob, Roddy, Sandy and Matt) who helped them get their skiing/boarding legs back and introduced them to the core BASI syllabus. The trainees also had the opportunity to do some circuit training and Pilates in the evenings which not only made grown men cry but caused a few discreet giggles in the process. After a week spent enjoying Verbier's comparatively empty slopes and a couple of fresh snowfalls it was time for the trainees to begin their level 1 examination.........but not until they'd sampled Verbier's vibrant night life. I can still picture the utter discontent on Tim, Harry and Ashley's faces as they left Coco penniless after parting with the GNP of a small European country for three beers.....I can assure you the beer doesn't taste any better up here!

After a Sunday spent counting their finances and licking their wounds the trainees began their level 1. Gavin, Simon, Kerr and Steph were flown in from around Europe to run the week long course which introduces skiers/boarders to teaching the very basics of the sport. So far all of the trainees have taken the course very seriously......except for Harry who thought  that playing lift chicken in the middle of an examination would be a good idea and who's positioning of slalom gates for beginners needs some serious rethinking! The snow out here has been great on the pistes and despite a few cloudy days we've enjoyed beautiful sunshine.........which is amazing considering there was only a dusting of snow on the tops of the peaks less than two weeks ago.

I'll let you know how the results go tomorrow evening.....................................................

 Fully motivated by the World Cup races last weekend, everyone was eager to get back to the powder on Monday morning. The temperature dropped quite a bit this week, but the skies have been blue and sunny, providing amazing views in every direction.

Kenji continued his focus on our ski improvement and provided lots of individual coaching. The results really paid off as we tackled the steeper runs and worked on skiing narrow shoots and bumps with confidence. We also had great fun following Kenji on 'adventures' through the trees, skiing backwards, and progressing our 180's.

In addition, we stepped up our focus on teaching skills this week. We each took turns demonstrating different techniques and leading the class in exercises. It was cool to see how much we've already learned, and that we were able to help each other improve.

Time off-piste has been good fun as well. We've kept on the lookout for wildlife, and so far we've spotted a black wolf, a huge herd of elk, a beautiful caribou, and a possible moose (it was big whatever it was!)

I'm not sure they meet the technical definition of 'local wildlife', but we also met up with two of last year's Peak Leaders who are working as instructors this season in Banff. They gave us great pointers on getting the most out of the course, and even showed us a few dance moves at one of the local clubs. Dinners have been great as well. My personal favourite was an 'awesome' elk burger with sweet potato fries at the Elk and Oarsman (where we had an extra guest at our table - a lifesize black bear sculpture).

On Saturday, we walked along the river to the famous Banff Springs Hotel to enjoy the lovely views and a festive Tiny Tim Toffee Nut Latte. That evening, we joined the crowds lining Banff's main street for Santa's Christmas Light Parade and a big dose of local holiday cheer.

A few of us met Sam on Sunday for a 6k hike up Sulphur Mountain. The snowy path was challenging at times, but our work was well rewarded by the outstanding views from the top. After a scenic lunch, we took the gondola back down and headed for a well-deserved soak in the Hot Springs.

As they say in Canada, it's been 'AWESOME, eh?'!

Melissa

P.S. Don't forget to checkout the facebook group for more photos :-)

The course has begun here in Whistler!

We've had a few days awesome days on the hill now, getting our legs back and starting to find our way around the enormous Whistler and Blackcomb.

As well as finding our way around the mountain, on the first day we spent looking around the village, getting to know the town, getting our passes sorted, and checking out the shops. We're all now officially Whistler Blackcomb season pass holders!

After the 3 days we've had, a bbq and beers and some chill out time in the hot tub was in order.

Looking forward to a awesome course, with the base already well over 2 metres, and loads of good Canadian times ahead! Bring it on!

Weeks 8 and 9 have of course been the BASI level 2. Therefore everyone’s heads have been down and their legs have been flexing and extending like never before. Our allocated trainers were Stef and Rob for the boarders and for the skiers, Ben and Roy. They have all commented on how dedicated and knowledgeable the group are. This is credit to themselves and also to the coaches who have done the training throughout the course. There was still plenty to work on though!

At the end of the 1st 5 days everyone was told roughly where there were at and everyone made an action plan of things to work on over the weekend. Many obviously managed to fit the usual weekend nights out into their action plan.

Week 2 of BASI commenced and with pretty high winds on the mountain most days there were limited runs to use. There was still plenty of space to practice what was needed though and the groups could be seen working away on their central theme, short turns, long turns, variables and teaching sessions. Max had the best one having to teach a pretend hen party, although it looked like some of the lads enjoyed acting the part a bit too much!

With the course nearing the end everyone was thinking about what they will do next. There are some great plans and job offers in the group, including teaching in Switzerland, Canada and Japan, ski patrolling in Canada and even talk for one of driving husky dogs in Alaska! With time running out a few of the lads were also putting some last minute efforts into wooing some girls from another group.
The final day arrived and with perfect but cold conditions the trainees had one last opportunity to prove their skills to the trainers. Results were given and 16 out of 18 skiers passed and 10 out of 14 boarders.

So, one last night remains and a big celebration by all, before everyone goes their separate ways, taking with them great memories and stories of their time in Saas Fee.
Well done and thanks to all and good luck for the season ahead!
 

So its only a third of the way through November, and we have already broken the all time record for November snowfall!  Over 16 feet and counting! The crew on our November course will be here in just a few days now. the season is shaping up to be absolutely amazing, with an incredible base setting up.

By Alexandra, Domi and Shonagh (well contributions weren’t exactly equal)

Winter finally started to hit Saas Fee over the weekend, leaving us somewhat snowed in on Monday as we had our first full day of minimal visibility. The mountain closed early and the snow continued to fall overnight closing the mountain on Tuesday and Wednesday. Undaunted the boys decided to build a mini park next to the Felskin lift (the fashionably late girls directed) – a Mini-Shred session began and lasted for 48 hours. Skiers and boarders alike attacked the rail (made of sticks) a box, a quarter pipe (again made of sticks) and a couple of kickers. Aided by Gluwein the day became night and we have photos to prove our skills…surely the FIS World Cup competitors felt threatened.

Bri (eezy)’s ILM could have caused an avalanche on its own…picture the scene, eight boys ‘booty dropping’ to Single Ladies by Beyonce…I don’t think JLS have much to worry about. Needless to say, more of this later.

Finally there was a break in the weather on Thursday and we were back up the mountain to train for our BASI 2 which seems to be approaching all too rapidly. Just in case the excitement of a full day’s riding wasn’t enough, Thursday afternoon saw thirty two of us scavenging around Saas Fee for Shonagh’s ILM. She set us three pages of tasks which included general knowledge questions (thank you to Tourist Information, without whom most of us would still be searching for answers), a scavenger list (who knew there were so many cocktail umbrellas to be had up a mountain) and lastly the photos….the photos. Oh my God…the Policeman was tame, the photos of a girl surrounded by 45 men less so, and the piggy back ride from a stranger, the weirdest request of them all. Alex’s team won showing speed and knowledge hitherto unknown to snowsports instructors.

Frietag (we are taking German lessons, after a fashion) and the weekend beckoned. Not before of course another gruelling day up the mountain, we were reminded that we only had another five days of training to go. Even this knowledge could not quell our excitement as we hit the powder (or as Henry would insist on calling it the ‘awesome variables’). Most of us spent the day upside down, digging ourselves out of self-created snow holes…no injuries though as it was like landing on a duvet.

We promised there would be more Beyonce..and yes there was. James had taken on board Bri’s tuition and was determined (ably supported by Ed and Max) to introduce Saas Fee to not only Beyonce but slightly randomly Cotton Eyed Joe (an early 90’s hit) and Soldier Boy. Poison and its fascinated regulars are still recovering.

We had missed two days of training so the hangovers made their way up the mountain for weekend training. More powder, sun, more face planting, more fun. Saturday night was dinner out…or in for those of us lucky enough to be invited to our Italian masterchef’s dinner…yum. Once more we hit the town..not without its casualties. Eyebrows went missing (still MIA), a pair of tights was grievously injured and Ben donated his supper to Nesti’s (the only donation we have heard of which involves more than cash).

By Sunday, the wheels had come off and most of us spent it wondering where we had left them. The snow was still falling and Alex organised a SnowMan competition…many of the artefacts are X rated and we believe still in evidence, providing no end of entertainment for the Korean teams as they run round the sports pitches. Ed, Jordan and Matt are the Artistic Snow Kings of Saas Fee for this week.

All that remains to be said of Week Six…is ‘You’ve Gotta Have Faith’…….
 

By Tom....

On Monday during week 3 we started our day with BASI training. The skiers had a new ski instructor called Loz who replaced Larry, since he had recovered from a recent ankle injury. The skiers were using progressive exercises so that they could perform aggressive and perfect carved turns by the end of the week. Whilst the snowboarders were continuing to perfect their basic turns and expand on the central theme. That evening we ate at an Italian restaurant around the corner from the Park Hotel, since Patrick the head-chef was away on holiday. The portions were very large and the staff were very welcoming.

On Tuesday, we continued our week with BASI training and progressing from what we had learnt the day before. The weather was perfect and a few of the skiers had a chance to take photographs of themselves with Bode Miller, a top US skier. That afternoon, the majority of the Peak Leaders group took part in additional German lessons. They learnt quite a few basic expressions and parts of the German grammer for their first lesson from a local Swiss teacher.

On Wednesday, the skiers had a chance to try out freestyle skiing thanks to coaching from top British freestyle professionals. They had the chance to learn backwards carving and how to land kickers and control their speed in the freestyle park. That evening German lessons followed.

On Thursday the weather wasn't ideal for skiing and boarding because of a heavy fog over the Saas Fee mountains. However, BASI training still followed. We practiced skiing slowly with our eyes' closed in order to improve our accuracy which was very efficient. On the other hand, we weren't able to continue practicing our carving turns since the visibility was very poor.
 

That evening, as part of our ILM course (International, leadership and management course,) we were to take part in a transceiver hunt throughout the village. Avalanche transceivers were placed around the town in shops and bars and we had to search for these transceivers with a transmitter. The task was a lot of fun and all in all successful.

On Friday and saturday the snowboarders began their First-Aid training with established trainers. The course lasted both Friday and Saturday since it was a 16-hour course. The whole group managed to pass their First-Aid assessment even though it was very challenging. Whilst the snowboarders were First-Aid training, the skiers had two days of free skiing. The weather was perfect, however since it was the weekend the slopes were quite busy because of the amount of week-end skiers. On Saturday evening, we had a Pub Quiz hosted by an ILM student. It was very well organised and lasted the best part of two hours.

Finally, on Sunday the skiers began their First-Aid training while the snowboarders had a day of free ski. In the evening Patrick the head chef and hotel manager of the Park Hotel came back from holiday and everything returned to normal.
 

This week we had BASI exam throughout the whole week, however because of the weather the first two days were cancelled on the mountain. Instead we undertook theory lessons to aid our comprehension of the central theme and fundamental elements.

On Wednesday we were on the mountain and we practiced our previously learned skills and had video analysis. We did the video analysis on the mountain at lunch so then we were able to practice our faults in the afternoon.
 

The next two days were pretty similar to the Wednesday. We improved on our core skills and slight problems that Helen saw in our skiing. Overall I found it a very challenging but rewarding experience. All of my group passed their BASI 1 exam.
 

Friday night…we got on down…
 

Saturday was quite hazy for everyone especially Ed who’s birthday we were celebrating the night before. Some guys went for a swim and not many people managed it to dinner. Saturday night was pretty quiet for everyone but a few of the true soldiers went popcorn..some stories to be told there…
 

So this is the last blog entry for the Peak Leaders 09 Argentina course…….sad times. The unfortunate truth is that I’m now sat at home in my parents living room, trying to ignore the carriage clock ticking in my ear, and reminiscing about the last week we spent in Argentina. Although the aforementioned week involved a lot of travelling it’s a week that I will never forget as it opened our eyes to another side of Argentina, one that didn’t involve steak houses, ski slopes and Jagerbombs!

After an epic night in Esquel, Eskeletor as it’s affectionately known by the locals, many of us hadn’t caught much sleep so it was a relief to know we were about to embark on a 10 hour bus journey. The journey, which the majority of us slept through, took everybody across the Patagonian desert, the biggest desert in South America, to Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast. Without visiting Argentina you can’t really understand how empty the middle of Patagonia actually is; we’d literally drive for two hours without seeing a single settlement or car. The road we took was very straight, in ill-repair and surprisingly narrow, just about wide enough to fit two cars side by side…..which was surprising considering it was the main road that ran from the east to the west of Patagonia. It seems that the Patagonian’s don’t really have much need or desire to travel around their country, as a people they stay fairly fixed and get on with whatever they do in their local area. Anyway, I’d love to tell you all about the scenery but for the majority of time I was sound asleep; nevertheless you’ll hear all about it when we travel back to Bariloche, later in the blog.

Before arriving at Puerto Madryn we made a quick stop at a famous Welsh Tea House ‘Ty Te Caerdydd’ for afternoon tea. The place was a little surreal with a giant tea pot in the garden, little old ladies running around serving tea from pots with pink tea cosies and pictures of Princess Diana literally everywhere. It seems Diana had visited the Tea House in the mid nineties because it was one of the most revered in the whole of Patagonia……she obviously hadn’t tried the Plum jam, minging. Anyway, none of us had the heart to tell the owner, a tall dark Welsh looking fellow, that Princess Di was no longer with us, so we ate a vast array of cakes and sandwiches in relative silence in the comfort his living room then left. Once we arrived at Puerto Madryn, around 9pm, the majority of trainees either went to bed or tried to grab a table at one of Puerto Madryn’s famous fish restaurants.

The next day was a very relaxed affair, for most anyway! I believe the only trainee to wake-up before midday was Sophie Ward who took a brisk run along the beachfront to view the crimson flocks of Flamingo’s. The remainder of us met in the hotel lobby at 1pm to jump on a bus to view a colony of Sea Lions. At this point a few foolhardy trainees, led by Hamish ‘Armstrong’ Carmichael, thought it would a good idea to cycle the 12km to the nature reserve. Needless to say an hour later we passed this foolhardy gang 7 or 8km into our journey, at the back were James and Tim who couldn’t wait to tell us their harrowing tales of cycling on sand and other such tales of desperation and woe. At the front, a mile or further on, were Kathrine ‘the machine’ Liver and Petty who didn’t really understand what all the fuss was about. On arrival at the nature reserve the smell of fish was overwhelming, which isn’t the most pleasant smell. A short walk to a viewing platform overlooking the Atlantic and down below us lay a colony of over one hundred Sea Lions, a weaving mass of grey and brown that occasionally parted when the males began getting rowdy with one another. During this time David and Sophie made us all feel completely inadequate with the size of their camera lenses…..I’m not ashamed to say I had lense envy. After a while we’d seen enough of the Sea Lions and in honesty the smell had got too much for most of us, so some of us boarded the bus and a few trainees cycled back. That night, whilst at dinner, a bomb was dropped; apparently the only road between Puerto Pyramids, where we planned on watching the Whales, would be closed from 7am in the morning which meant a very very early start.

Half dead the trainees descended upon breakfast at 5am, it wasn’t a pleasant site. Back on the bus for 6am and we were off along the coastal rode to Puerto Piramide as the sun rose over the Atlantic. Puerto Madryn is a strange place, strangely enough it has all the charm of a run-down Kent/Sussex sea-side resort. It would be very easy to forget you’re in South America were in not for the half built tower blocks, mass of Ford and Chevrolet trucks grunting up and down the gridded roads and the endless mix mash of randomly designed housing…no building in Puerto Madryn bares a single resemblance to any other building in Puerto Madryn. Anyway, after a two hour drive through the dawn we arrived at Puerto Piramide, a small fishing/tourist port that sat on a beautiful beach surrounded by sandy hills. Puerto Piramide sits on the Valdes Peninsula looking back across a giant bay to Puerto Madryn, which is so far away you can’t even see it when you’re stood on the top of the cliffs. Unlike Puerto Madryn, Puerto Piramide has a sleepy feel to it, wooden shacks line the beach with hastily nailed together wooden signs….unsurprisingly the old clichés like Moby Dick’s Whale tours and Captain Hooks Restaurant shamelessly made an appearance. As we’d arrived so early we all piled into a beachfront restaurant, much to the dismay of the barman who clearly thought he’d been given the graveyard shift, to have coffee administered intravenously. After a quick shot of the good stuff myself, Charlie Baddeley and Alex Willan decided to scale the highest hill in the area to view the port and the surrounding landscape and fifteen minutes later we’d succeeded….without Oxygen!

After a couple hours spent hanging around and enjoying the sea breeze we all grabbed a lifejacket and boarded the giant Zodiac that was perched on the beach. Apparently the locals aren’t allowed to build a peer within the national park area so the boat operators have to use giant tractors to pull the boats in and out of the water on big metal trailers. Once on our way the captain, a stereotypically bearded and heavily weathered gentleman, navigated away from the beach and out to the depths. The purpose of this trip was to see the Southern Right Whale which comes to the Valdez Peninsula to breed. Southern Right Whales are pretty big; fully grown females can grow as long as 18.5 metres and can weigh up to 130 tonnes, which is roughly twice as much as a Challenger II tank. Less than five minutes into our tour we could see in the distance a young calf jumping out of the water so the captain carefully made his way through the choppy water to the where the calf had last been spotted. Once we got close to the calf and its mother the captain skilfully manoeuvred the boat alongside and all the trainees’ lept to the side of the boat that the Whales were on. Even Lara, who’s arm was in a serious cast, wasn’t shy about muscling in on the action. As the calf lept continuously into the air, in an attempt to hit the pestering seagull that hovered above, the mother popped her head out occasionally for a breath of air, leaving behind a stinking cloud of water vapour. After an hour spent following Whales back and forth across the bay everybody seemed to have taken photos that David Bailey would have been proud of so we headed back to shore passing other wildlife on the shore, including a gulp of White-Bellied Shag Cormorants (thank you Wikipedia) and a lone male Sea Lion bathing on the rocks. Once on land the trainees went for lunch at one of the many shack restaurants that lined the sandy streets of Puerto Piramide. Once everybody had eaten we took a short drive to the nature reserve’s museum and on to a beach to view yet more whales. On this occasion they were no more then 30 metres from the beach, frantically paddling against the incoming swell and onshore winds in an effort not to be beached. That night a few of the trainees hit the town but I think it can be safely concluded that Puerto Madryn is severely lacking in any South American flair when it comes to nightlife.

The next day was an epic bus journey that started at Puerto Madryn and finished 800km away at El Boson where the final party was being held. There’s not much point in describing the whole journey to you as it’ll bore you to tears but I’ll briefly describe the scenery as it was so epic. The Patagonian desert is a vast sandy landscape with wide rivers running calmly through it and large sandy hills that have been blown into all manner of shapes by the wind. Occasionally in the low sheltered valleys you’ll see a ranch; visible only by the tall, narrow willow-like trees that shelter it from the wind and afternoon sun. As the majority of the landscape is formed from sandstone and other sedimentary rocks there are lots of canyons and rock faces with very little in the way of vegetation except for bushes and tufts of grass. The roads are narrow and very straight; it seems as though they only bend if there is a sizeable geographical feature in the way. Anyway, as we drove closer to the Andes and gained a bit of height large pools of salt water appeared along the side of the road and to my amazement a lone Flamingo sat in the middle of one minding his own business. Natasha, who was sat next to me, clearly thought I’d been toking on the old Crack pipe when I stood up and shouted that I’d just seen a lone Flamingo in the middle of the desert. Fortunately Ivan (the everlasting-know-it-all) explained that it was quite common to see Flamingo’s in this part of the desert and my credibility was restored. As we neared the Andes the sun set over the snow capped peaks and cries of ‘are we there yet’ reverberated around the bus.

We arrived at the party venue at around 11pm and in fairness the vast majority of trainees were tired and not in the mood for partying. The venue was Nico’s parents restaurant, a homely little restaurant in the middle of nowhere that resembled a Hobit’s house. After a feast of Lamb and pumpkin stew and a few Stella’s, premium beer in Argentina, it was time for the prize giving. As I’d been living with everyone for the past 9 weeks it was difficult to choose prize winners, as everybody had improved so dramatically, but there were some skiers and snowboarders that had really excelled and caught the eye of their BASI trainers and Argie instructors. Prizes this year were handed out to the following people:

Friendliest and most enthusiastic trainees – Milla Ralph and Rosie Leach

Course joker – Will Murphy

Most promising instructor – Dan Hunt

Best freestyle snowboarder – Neil Patterson

Best freestyle skiers – Alex Morgan, Adam Coombs, Harry Lloyd, Jon Wade, Ed Pycraft and Charlotte Vantreen

Most improved snowboarders – Claire Craig and Andrew Lomax

Most improved skiers – Michael Davies and Ed Barry

After the prizes had been given out Colo and Ivan handed out certificates to everybody and the DJ, Nico’s brother, began pumping out Techno beats from behind the bar. As it had been a long day of travelling a large proportion of the trainees took the early bus home to make the most of their last day in Bariloche…..and a fair amount of us stayed behind to watch Colo and Ed’s dancing, play drinking games and fall asleep in the corner of the restaurant.

The next day was a very chilled-out affair as most trainees did absolutely nothing except pack their belongings and prepare for a final big night in Bariloche. Most of us woke with a bit of a hangover and after a big concerted effort by all the hotel staff and trainees we managed to get Harry, Ed and Adam on the bus to the Airport. Once at the airport we managed to delay the plane for a good 20 minutes due to baggage issues then said our goodbyes to Ronnie, Ivan and Colo. After a two hour journey we arrived in Buenos Aires which was definitely a change of scenery. A short bus ride took us to our hotel in the centre of town and less than a couple of hours later everybody was sampling the restaurants and bars of BA. Needless to say the nightlife and beautiful women in Buenos are second to none, the place is a buzzing cosmopolitan that feels more like a European city than a lot of cities in Europe. After a few minutes searching through the pages of his Lonely Planet Nezza P, Neil’s alter ego, selected a top notch restaurant and despite having a few difficulties hailing a taxi we were soon sat in a beautiful restaurant called Cluny being served delicious food and cocktails by a gang of very helpful waiters. The service, food and drink were first-class and the whole experience cost us less than £25 each; back in London you’d be hard pressed to find the same for less than £100. After a highly entertaining meal we jumped in a taxi and made our way to a giant club overlooking the sea called Mint to watch the sun rise…..for your information clubs in BA don’t get going until 3am. The rest of the trainees found themselves in the VIP section of a Techno club called Crowbar, a night organised by Charlie and Alex. Anyway, we all spent the night break dancing and throwing shapes on the floor and before I’d even had a chance to look at my watch it had got to 7am in the morning and I was stood outside a club in the middle of nowhere, with no money, a gang of local women following me (honest!), a certain Caribbean Sunset haired trainee hanging upside-down in a tree and in less than an hour I had to ensure that 40 trainees got on the bus to the airport……..the rest is history!

Argentina; what an epic way to spend a summer.

The FINAL Week!!!! This was quite a strange feeling as the time had passed so quickly as we had all had such a great time but it was not over yet by a long shot as this was not only the final week but also exam week so preparation was everything as none of us wanted to spend 6 weeks in the alps having the time of our lives only to miss out of the main qualification at the end. Our nights on this week were mainly spent collating all the trails and maps we had used in order to build the a log book which was required for the exam. This was to be used as proof that we had actually completed the desired amount of trail rides. As if 6 weeks in the alps was not enough LOL. Well Exam day was upon us and by this time we were ready for anything and, and........Wait for it!!! We all PASSED with flying colours which felt amazing! The perfect end to what can only described as a life changing experience!!!

PHOTO MARK ABRAHAM

We continued exploring the almost endless network of trails to be found in the Verbier area, Downhill! :-) and Uphill! :-( By this point everbodies riding was becoming better by the minute and our physical and mental fitness were improving everyday due to spending time riding in the beutiful scenery and training at an altitude of often in excess of 2000mtrs above sea level (Roughly twice as high as the highest peak in the UK). This was very handy as we were beginning our First Aid course which was run by Flora from Elements First Aid. She was an excellent teacher and helped Mark, Rob and Myself pass with flying colours which set us up perfectly to deal with most emergency scenarios in an Outdoor environment.

PHOTO MARK ABRAHAM

Things were starting heat up and we were all begining to feel more comfortable on the Big Mountain Terrain. After a week and half of constant nagging Mark was on his big bike and had been persuaded into using Flat pedals instead of clipped pedals that only seemed to be causing a problem on the steep terrain common in the Verbier area (Love it!) After he was converted he instantly felt more comfortable and his riding improved 10 fold, "Rob the Wreckage" was in full swing and I was fast becoming the in house bike mechanic in the Chalet / Bike Emporium.

PHOTO MARK ABRAHAM

Day 1!

We arrived in Saas Fee on Saturday to great weather, we all met on the terrace of the park hotel and the introductions began. We then met Patrick the owner of the hotel before dinner and also the instructors and Kasper the Peak Leaders Group Leader.

Day 2

Kasper took us on a group tour of the town the get to know the surroundings and where everything is located, including the large array of facilities from swimming to golf! In the afternoon we all just chilled out on the hotel terrace in the sunshine, had a few drinks and got to know each other a bit better.

Day 3

First day on the slopes amazing weather up on the glacier perfect conditions for skiing/boarding. Our ski instructor Roddy who will be training us for the BASI Level 1 and BASI Level 2 exams showed us around the mountain and we had some free ski time to get back into the swing of things. Then back down to the village for some table tennis and a bit of poker!

Rob the Snowboard trainer with his group of trainee snowboard instructors!

Roddy and his group!

Day 4

Back on the slopes at 9am for our second day, feet a bit sore but loving the summer skiing not a cloud in the sky! Roddy our ski instructor went through some of the basic fundamentals of skiing and then showed us some interesting techniques.

Later in the afternoon we donned our shorts and t-shirts and Kasper took a group of us on a hike up into the surrounding forest to where there is a glacier mountain spa, we all a had a dip, its amazing for your feet and legs!! We then were shown a glacier lake and other side of the town some great views.

Then back to hotel for a well rewarded dinner!
Sam.

With exams over it was time to chill and have some serious fun! Most of us took a trip over to Snow Park NZ, one of the worlds best terrain park only resorts. The skiers were taught in the morning by some of the Snow Parks pros. Whilst the snowboarders were taught by Karl Dunham, their normal trainer who happens to be a pro too ;-)

Everyone tried out new tricks whether it was their first or hundreth time in the super-pipe, on the boxes or going off of the kickers.

We were even treated to some serious pros like Simon Dumont struting their stuff on the big line.

It was a great day but that wasn't the end of it. That evening was the course awards ceremony. The catergories and winners were:

Most Questionable Quoute - George Howell

Most Silly Scenario - Sarah Ellis

Best Goggle Marks - Alex Charman

Funniest Laugh - Charlotte Simister

Joker of the Course - Nick Kempster

Most Improved Skier - George Howell

Most Improved Boarder - Simon Moore

Awesome Award - Chris Thorpe

After all the awards and prizes were handed out it was time for karaoke. There was some interesting choices of songs. The best performance of the night for me was by Karl Dunham, the snowboard trainer, who did "A total eclipse of the heart" by Bonnie Tyler. I just wish I had a video of it to show everyone :-P

Well it has got to that time when we have to wrap things up. It has been an amazing 10 weeks and I'd like to thank everyone involved from the hotel staff to the trainers but most importantly I'd like to thank the team. You were all fantastic throughout the course, giving myself plenty of support and each other. I hope we have all taken away some great memories and have made some lifelong friends.

See you all in London on 7th November for the "Queenstown Super Instructor Reunion"

Safe journeys,

Your course leader,

Sam Feltham :-D

P.S. Don't forget to checkout all the photos from the course on the facebook group!!!

So we’re already into week five and all of the trainees have completed their level 1instructor qualification, meaning they’ll be teaching on an indoor slope near you very soon. Almost three weeks have passed since I last updated the blog and a lot has happened since then, including a week of powder, a week of rain and a week of beautiful sunshine.

Before I update you on this week’s antics I better tell you all about the last couple of weeks and BASI 1.

The weekend after I last posted the last blog we’d had a small dump of snow so the conditions on Monday were pretty good, unfortunately visibility was still a little poor as a grey, murky line of cloud sat at 1800m. Similarly to the previous week the wind was blowing but it was nothing that the guys couldn’t handle. As the majority of the students had taken Sunday very easy the Argentine instructors unleashed their wrath and made the most of the early morning powder. Ita, a former protégée of Ivan, wasn’t shy in taking her trainees on a few detours through the bamboo fields and into the trees; I’m not lying when I say that the screams and laughter of Daniella and Sophie could be heard across the resort.

The next day will forever be known as ‘Tuesday Bloody Tuesday’ due to the amount of carnage that occurred on the slopes! As the snow on the hill was still in great condition and the trainees had all had an action-packed day on the slopes on Monday confidence was high…….possibly a little too high. Special mention has to go to Fred Alliot and Addie Freyne who both had nasty injuries but were soon back on the horse. In total I believe we had a total of 9 injured parties that day, poor Colo spent most of the day in the medical centre.  The rest of the week was spent getting the trainees up to speed and sessioning the great snow and amazing off-piste in-between the trees and bamboo. The local Argentine instructors really put the guys and girls through their paces and a lot of the trainees who had never really skied in deep snow were all pretty confident gunning it through the trees at Mach 10 in waste deep snow by the end of the week. Tommy, Jago, Ita, Ivan, Peti, Marky, Teti and Jorge all did a really good job at helping the trainees get to the standard they all needed to be at for their level 1, despite not a single piste seeing a basher for the entire week.

Thursday night of the aforementioned week was the exam results party. After a swift drink at the hotel bar we all headed the micro-brewery in Bariloche where the trainees sampled the various locally brewed Ales and Lagers; the general consensus was that 60% of the beers we tasted were close to undrinkable. Fortunately the 12% Barley wine was one such unpalatable beverage; this factor probably saved a few hangovers…..unlike the enormous shots of Tequila which were being conjured up by the sadistic barmen. After our appetites for exotic local ale were quenched, which didn’t take particularly long, we all headed to La Cantina for a night of trusty Quilmes, Vodka Speed (a local version of Red Bull, not the amphetamine) and DJ Liv B in the mix. 

The weekend was epic, Friday night began with the usual weekly assault by Peak Leaders on Bariloche’s steak restaurants in an effort to find the coveted ‘best Steak in town’ title; Taquina and Alberto’s were amongst the restaurants that were descended upon by the Ganit’s…...no Steer is safe in Argentina while we’re here. So on to Saturday; I’ve honestly never seen so much snow fall in 24 hours. So much snow fell that the roads up to the resort kept closing, only 2 lifts were open to the public and the Airport closed. This last point was very unfortunate for the BASI trainers who were due to land at Bariloche Airport on Saturday morning but were left circling the runway for an hour before heading back to Buenos Aires via a small airport further south. Unfortunately I can only really talk for the small number of trainees that I took up the mountain on Saturday but I’m sure they’ll agree that Saturday was one of the best days of the trip. The snow was so deep, all the way to the base of the resort, that if you fell over and lost a ski the likelihood was that you wouldn’t find it without an hour search…...as one of the crew discovered. After catching the first bus up the mountain; myself, Charlie ‘Bad Boy’ Baddeley, Will ‘Honeyboy’ Murphy, Dan ‘Bling Bling’ Hunt and Michael ‘Kenya’ Davies ditched the girls and beat a large gang of young American Snowboarders to the untouched powder in-between the trees….you’ll have to look at the photos to get a clearer understanding of how much fun we had. After a couple of runs through the trees to the base of the resort we decided to build a jump onto a snow-covered tree stump so the guys could get some decent photos for the album. During this kicker session Michael managed to bury one of his ski’s a meter and a half under the snow and Charlie survived a human cannonball attempt, despite this it was a lot of fun. We even managed to persuade Will ‘I honestly can’t do it’ Murphy to try the jump, Will probably won’t thank me for saying he was being a bit of a wimp that day….but hey, you win some and loose some.

Sunday was another epic day but Saturday nights antics meant that a few too many trainees didn’t make it up the hill early enough to make the most of the blue sky’s and ridiculously deep powder. True to form the Snowboarders, particularly David and Gavan, were probably camping outside the lift station in an effort to get the first, freshest lines down the mountain. Later that afternoon the BASI trainers arrived, tired but surprisingly upbeat. At the end of the day we all gathered for Sunday night’s general meeting where the trainers (Roy, Les, Ben, Blair, Rob, Andy and Julian) were introduced and chatted through the following weeks schedule and course content.

Monday was a big day for everybody…..it was everybody’s introduction to BASI and all the trainees were keen to impress. Unfortunately the weather that week had other plans; I’m not exaggerating when I say that it rained solidly for the entire week, washing all the snow at the base of the resort away, turning all that beautiful powder to a crusty and sometimes slushy mess. In fact so much rain fell and snow melted that the water level in Lago Gutierrez raised a meter in just four days. Nevertheless, if there was a week when the BASI trainers could get away with poor weather and snow conditions it was this week as the trainees would be getting to grips with the central theme; this comprises of the building blocks that all BASI instructors use to teach their students to control speed, direction and line. The week generally consisted of time spent on the nursery slopes working on the trainees’ central theme, a couple of assessed teaching sessions, a small bit of work on Piste performance and theory and video feedback in the evenings. As I stated at the beginning of the blog all of the trainees managed to pass their BASI level 1 despite the challenging conditions; which means I’m now looking after 63 official BASI instructors! Friday night was spent in Alberto’s sampling fine Argentine wine and Steak, yet again, then on to South Bar and finally Cantena. Unfortunately Saturday was a bit of a wash-out but above 1400m the snow fell fairly heavily which meant that Sunday, although a bit windy, was another beautiful day with great snow. The majority of trainees made it up the hill and those that didn’t really missed out. After a great day on the hill Ivan organised a party at the hotel; we had a huge BBQ (Argentine style) and Bariloche’s best Tango band and Tango instructors showing the trainees some moves. Claire and David made it look sickeningly easily, Aine and Michael really struggled to get to grips with the steps and Flavio stunned the female population of the course with his extreme dance moves…..I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on Brazil’s version of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ once the course finishes.

Finally on to this week’s antics; perhaps the most noticeable change is that the weather has been absolutely amazing. Blue skies, pisted runs, grippy snow and warm afternoons; the best conditions possible for the trainees to progress. All of the trainees have improved dramatically over the past few days and are now skiing/riding like instructors, fingers crossed they can keep improving throughout the weekend ready for Monday. During the evenings all the trainees have had the opportunity to chill in the sunshine besides the lake or in the water, which Rosie discovered isn’t the best of ideas, they’ve also had the opportunity to attend extracurricular lectures from the BASI trainers concerning ‘finding a job’ and ‘the route through BASI after level 2 success’. The next two weeks are really important for everybody……but I’m sure they’re ready for it!

Tom

The poker tournament on Tuesday was a thoroughly good night all round, when the majority of the group took part in all their glory. This turned out to become a dress up affair including a TellyTubby and a Pimp care of Ryan and Max. This went on through the night and beyond, culminating in Joe being the winner followed by Bob in second and Simon in third. Further games then carried on until the hotel was about to start serving the next morning’s breakfast.

Wednesday saw Gavin’s group up Coronet with another day of training with, yet again, copious stupid comments from Karl. For those not at school an adventure took place including Robin, Little Chris, James G, Posh Alex and Simon... Little Chris decided that he was too insane for the gondola so walked up the hill going the wrong way up the extreme downhill mountain bike track under the threat of possum traps, construction sites and the odd orcses.

Friday saw the infamous synchro skiing competition with everyone, including our rivals that cannot be named. However, in the morning there were a few individuals a little worse for wear as their A-Level results were released the night before, *cough Mark cough!*

Toddy’s group decided that it was a fancy dress affair, and thus scored bonus points for originality to make up for the lack of any synchronisation in the actual skiing. Robin also managed to score a one in a million photo of the Tellytubby and Noel Baxter on the T-Bar in the background. This followed an amazing spread of food for lunch at Heidi’s Hut where everyone easily had their fill. The day ended with the following result: 1st – Robynne’s Dirty Rotten Rotators, 2nd – Wah United and 3rd – Toddy’s Tellytubbies.

Saturday loomed with another run for Robin, Tim, The Cannon, and George with some excellent finishes from Robin coming 2nd in the 5k and The Cannon coming 5th in the 10km, improving on his time from the last race with a pained look on his face suggesting he may actually be part human rather than all machine that we suspected. The rest of the group followed in the footsteps of those that went up the gondola on Wednesday to have an awesome day luging.

The week has ended with a few minor injuries from luging and general aches and pains from many of the group from the large amount of training. So the weekend has been a relatively sombre affair compared to previous weeks in preparation for exams starting, for some with Level 1, on Thursday – eek! 

Hope all is well back home,

M :-)

P.S. Don't forget to checkout the copious amount of other photos on the facebook group!!!

Tom ‘The Bomb’ Peak Leaders/Ewbank has had a bout of laziness since last week, so he has decided to pay me, Will ‘Honeyboy’ Murphy and Matt ‘Power’ Brauer two pesos each (that’s around forty pence) to write this blog. Of Course, I jest; the truth is that we felt that Tom’s role in a flat structure organization such as Peak Leaders didn’t constitute the level of responsibility that writing such an extensive body of text entails, and so we decided that it needed to be more of a ‘group effort’ (Tom – ‘well done for listening in the ILM lectures boys……but I lied, it was a hypothetical flat structure……Bariloche 09 is a hierarchical structure with me at the top and you two clowns at the very bottom’).

Young love, Matt & Will having an intimate moment

Monday was crap. Pure and simple. We spent the entire day hiking up the mountain and then snowploughing down. Whilst everyone showed certain amount of disdain for this malicious and tedious exercise, we were all constantly reminded of how this was ‘essential’ to the learning process, which it probably is, but it wasn’t much fun to say the least. It’s safe to say that the beginning of this week marked the beginning of ‘learning how to be ski instructors’. (Tom – ‘As you all know stopping and controlling speed is a fairly important part of learning to Ski, unfortunately both Will and Matt were a little rusty’)

Colo and some of the instructors

More good news – for those of you that have spent copious amounts of cash on your sons and daughters to ‘learn how to be good leaders’ the ILM course is now well underway. With great thanks to The Bomb’s late night efforts, we’re all now experts in the differences between teams and groups and the advantages and disadvantages of negative, positive AND constructive feedback. Imagine that! We just feel sorry for the poor people that aren’t learning such important life lessons as these. (Tom – ‘cheque is in the post Will’)

Tuesday was much the same as Monday, in that the snow was not only very finite, but also more akin to water than actual snow. There was one chairlift open, one poma, and just the one run, of which we took full profit, along with the other 600 holiday makers to whom Bariloche is currently home. To add insult to injury Will had the pleasure of skiing directly over a tree root, a mere two yards from the restaurant, which unbeknownst to us at the time, would be the last place we stopped that day.

Wednesday, the whole resort was closed (Tom – ‘On this day some trainees went swimming in the morning and everybody went for a meal in Bariloche for lunch’)

Whilst it may appear that we are being decidedly nihilistic, in all seriousness, the first part of the last week was somewhat disappointing. But later that evening, lady luck started to play into everyone’s favour (well ours, at least; after a night out on the town a small squadron of elite drinkers decided it would be a great idea to wake up half the hotel on time of arrival… at 3 in the morning. Resulting in a small cut on Rod’s right hand, a fat lip for Kit, an embarrassed Rosie, a screaming Milla, a petrified Sophie, an unimpressed Ben and a very angry Judith). (Tom – ‘Very lucky that I’m a heavy sleeper and that Rod (aka Big Dog) went easy on you’)

The winning streak continued into Thursday, which promised copious amounts of snowfall and some quite magnificent powder skiing through tree lines and other more challenging endeavors than Monday’s snowploughing had provided. Rod ended the day face-first in a shrub, which was the cherry on top of a cake of a day. Lara would like us to mention that she did a grab of some sort (Snowboard trick), she assures us that the ‘photo is on its way’. (Lara - 'Hi Mum').

We were even lucky enough to witness this trend continue into Friday, which brought about yet more good snow, with the small price to pay of fingers so cold they felt as though they may just drop off. The lack of time spent on the hill during the early part of the week was made up for to some extent by an uncharacteristic early start on Saturday for a little more instructed skiing.

Saturday night was messy. Barnaby Fry finally turned 18, and what could be more appropriate to celebrate than an ‘I love the 90’s’ themed night. He was born in the 90’s, so it works…..Sort of. Anyway, people made their best efforts to dress as if brit-pop was still rife, but to be honest, it tended just to involve people wearing the least ordinary clothes they had brought with them from the U.K. – an underlying dress code that will most likely dominate future themed nights. Nevertheless, the birthday boy definitely had a good time. As did most people, which was indicated by the subsequent lack of bodies at breakfast the next morning. (Tom – ‘I’d like to mention that a small group of the more mature and culturally experienced trainees, pictured below, went to the ‘Fiesta de las Colectividades Europeo Argentinas’ where they proceeded to drink every drink in the European backcatalogue and represent the UK, who hadn't been invited to take-part in the celebrations. Unsuprisingly Will and Matt found themselves in a cheesy/sleezy nightclub as usual’)

Until next time…

Lots of love Matt and Will....................(and Tom)
xxxxxx

Congratulations to everyone! We all passed the tough Level 2 course.... Yeeeah! Everyone is super stoked, and the last couple of days have been a good celebration.

We now have the next week to enjoy the epic event that is Crankworx. A week and a half long meet of the best bikers in the world, with 50 000 spectators squaming Whistler. We've also got a couple more days of coaching and some big freerides to come, so stay tuned for more photos and video!

So it’s been a week since I last submitted a blog and I’m sure you’re all itching to here what everybody has been up to.....

Last week I finished the blog telling you that it had been raining down at the hotel and was hoping that this rain would be falling as snow in the resort. Well, that night it snowed up at the top of the resort so our first day was spent dipping in and out of the pockets of powder on Cerro Cathedral’s wide open slopes. The first thing that really strikes you about Cerro Cathedral is that the resort is surprisingly big; on the piste map 1000 vertical meters of skiable mountain doesn’t seem much when compare to an Alpine resort but you can find yourself skiing/riding for quite a while before you have to jump back on a lift. Also, during the week the slopes and lifts are practically empty so you can end up covering a fair distance during a day.

After a morning spent navigating the resort with our guides and looking specifically at the rules and regulations imposed by the FIS (Federation International de Ski) we headed to the mountain restaurant for a hearty meal and a welcome glass of Champagne. Once we’d all topped-up our energy levels we headed out for another few runs before taking the chairlift down the mountain as the poor snow-cover meant that 2/3 of the resort was closed. That night the team had their first mountain safety lecture delivered by one of Bariloche’s mountain guiding legends and all-round nice guy Nico. Although there were a few heavy eyes the lecture was incredibly interesting and hopefully gave the guys a much stronger understanding of how and why avalanches occur; I know that I walked away with a much better understanding. After dinner the majority of trainees hit the hay in preparation for another busy day.

When I woke on Tuesday morning I knew by looking at the sky that there was about to be a big dump of snow; if I’d been in the UK I’d of run outside and bough my washing in…..which is surprising coming from somebody who almost always gets it wrong and ends –up with wet clothes. In Patagonia the locals can tell that it’s about to snow if the Condor’s are circling the resort at the bottom of the mountain and sure enough, before catching the first lift up the mountain, we could see these elegant 9ft wide birds gliding majestically above our heads. Anyway, Tuesday was to be spent navigating Cerro Cathedral’s slopes and getting to grips with using avalanche rescue equipment. During the morning the trainees were introduced to using an avalanche transceiver, probing the snow for body’s and shovelling effectively; you’d be surprised to what extent the trainees struggled with the shovelling part! At the end of the day I descended the hill safe in the knowledge that if there was any chance I’d be avalanched in Argentina I had a team of guys that would be able to find me quickly and effectively…..although in the time they’d take to dig me out of the snow the likelihood is that I’d be frozen solid! That night, after another mountain safety lecture and dinner, a large group of trainees descended upon Bariloche for what turned out to be quite an eventful night for a few of the trainees. I almost forgot to mention that throughout Tuesday day and night the snow fell very heavily; so much so that snow had fallen as low as the hotel and 40cm of snow had fallen at the base of the resort.

At Wednesday morning’s breakfast a few of the trainees looked like they’d been tortured the night before…so much for the ‘few social drinks’ that had been promised at Tuesday’s dinner. Needless to say the programme ‘stops for no man…..or woman’ so after a few pints of Coffee and a long and slightly confused stare at their cereal the trainees made their way to the meeting room, (aka; Peaks Club, Club House, Hall of Love, Room of Doom, etc etc), for the first of the First-Aid lectures. Throughout the day I was surprised at how enthusiastic and involved the trainees were in the many drills and exercises. As an instructor you are always taught that the safety of the group is paramount and that ultimately a client’s life is your responsibility so I was pleased to see that the younger trainees were taking their responsibilities very seriously.

As Wednesday had been spent nursing hangovers and learning the basics of First-Aid in a classroom environment the trainees were very happy to be heading up the mountain on Thursday morning. At the base of the resort we were greeted by a snow-line that now continued all the way down to the resort, it had previously stopped 400m from the base meaning that skiers had to get a chairlift or Gondola back down the hill. Coincidentally Thursday was the first day that the sun was out and we could see the true beauty and splendour of Patagonia; I’m not exaggerating when I say that every view, from literally anywhere on the mountain, could have been a postcard. Throughout the day the mountain guides carried-out a number of exercises that gave the trainees a strong understanding of what to do if a medical emergency happened in a mountain environment…..they did a great job of holding the trainees attention, especially as there was so much powder around. Unfortunately, as group leader, I had the misfortune of having to ride between groups all day and therefore didn’t have a chance to shred the powder!!! Again lunch was fairly substantial and after food and a chat the trainees were soon bombing around the slopes trying to find the few remaining pockets of powder that I’d left them.

Friday……what a great day!! For the trainees this was the culmination of all the weeks exercises and lectures; a chance to take everything that they had learnt in the classroom and on the Piste to the backcountry. After picking-up our packed lunches from the crazy German bar/restaurant in resort and completing a few warm-up runs we unstrapped our ski’s and boards and began our hike through the deep unpisted snow to Cerro Cathedral’s hidden powder-filled slopes. About half way through the hike the trainees were split into their groups and were lectured on the different ways to monitor the profile of the snow; this is how resort staff and guides measure the stability of the snow…..you’ll all be pleased to know that on this particular day the snow was very very stable. With Nico, Jimmy, Craig, Colo and Lucas’s knowledge imparted we all climbed higher up the mountain where we took a break to eat our packed lunch. After lunch some of the trainees descended the backcountry to the frozen lake where they dug their own snow profiles and some of the other trainees, including me, followed Nico to the top of the mountain through a labyrinth of Rock’s and steep slopes. After a twenty minute hike we reached the summit where we had an unbelievable view of the resort and a great opportunity to take photo’s….not that anybody remembered to bring their camera! The ride back down the mountain was great fun and it was many of the trainees first attempt at riding a relatively steep and exposed section of off-piste; despite this they all skied/boarded very well and there were only a few tumbles which all ended in smiles and laughter……shortly followed by mockery and banter from the group. A special mention must go to Lara who ended upside-down on more than one occasion and who, whilst riding through the trees, managed to fall over a tree stump and down a hole only to be suspended by her board being caught on the aforementioned stump….in typical Lara fashion I found her giggling and completely unfazed by her ordeal!

On Friday night we all headed-out to a restaurant in Barlioche to celebrate Michael, Claire and Colo’s birthdays. A few drinks later the restaurant descended into chaos and the star attraction was no longer the steak but the vast array of previously undiscovered Argentine shooters. After the candles were blown out on the cakes everybody left the restaurant, to the owners relief, and made their way via a number of bars to Pacha where they mingled with Bariloche aristocracy, threw drinks on one another, fell asleep and danced with resident ballroom dancer and Peak Leaders trainee Rodhri. A good night was had by all which could be confirmed by the three people that managed to make it to breakfast on Saturday morning. Saturday was a very relaxed affair where some trainees made it to the mountain and went to the local swimming pool but the majority stayed in bed. Today promises to be the same as the training really goes up a couple of gears next week; as I write this blog I can hear a number of trainees planning a swim in the lake…..I better go and keep an eye on them!

Adios for now,

Tom (Group Leader)

As this is the first of many blogs I'm not entirely sure what tone of voice I should take and what exactly you want to hear, but bear with me!
Firstly you'll be happy to hear that everybody has arrived safely in Bariloche and despite the concern about Swine Flu everybody appears healthy, if a little hung-over and tired from last nights antics. So where do I start! As you know the majority of the team departed from the new and very smart looking Terminal Five; which despite being full of expensive shops selling an endless array of expensive handbags, fragrances and electronic goods the trainees resisted and quickly descended upon the bar to indulge in a cold beverage. After a minor scare and a quick call to a worried, but not entirely surprised Mum, everybody boarded the Plane and we were off.

You leave them to their own devices for 5 minutes and this is what happens....

On arrival at Eze Airport we were greeted by Colo, my right-hand man, where we boarded the buses and made our way to the Hotel Zentra in downtown Buenos Aires. Argentina was uncharacteristically cold; everybody wore jackets, scarf’s, gloves and wooly hats which wasn’t what I’d envisaged. Like the majority of trainees I’d expected humidity, palm trees, maracas and Mojito’s. Nevertheless Buenos Aires really is a massive cultural melting pot of European and South American cultures; it definitely had a metropolitan buzz about it which some South/Central American cities don’t have. Nevertheless, you can’t help but notice the South American stereotypes which appear around every corner; the large French/Spanish colonial architecture and tall, clean-lined glass office blocks mixed with rickety favella-type buildings; the fleets of brand-new Audi’s and VW’s sharing the lawless roads with large petrol-hungry trucks painted with Juan or Jorge in large letters across the windscreen, it’s not uncommon to see gangs of men pushing sketchy looking trailers down the cities 8 lane carriage-ways.

Look interested guys!

The Chica's at Puerto Madero

On Saturday we woke early to board another flight which in just a couple of hours would fly us to Bariloche. The views throughout this flight were magnificent; from the gridded streets of Buenos Aires through the vast empty expanse of the Patagonian Desert (where I didn’t see a road or house for at least 90 minutes) to the snow capped volcanic peaks of the Andes, which literally appeared from nowhere. At Bariloche airport we were met by Ivan who proceeded to load his poor little pick-up truck with over 70 pairs of skis; once this was done we boarded the buses and followed Ivan’s buckled vehicle through the town of Bariloche to our beautiful lake-side hotel. Words really can’t describe how beautiful the setting for the hotel is; a deep blue lake surrounded by thick wooded mountains and snowy peaks. Once we’d thrown our belongings into our rooms we gathered for a quick welcome from Ivan and his band of merry Argentine’s then enjoyed an Argentine BBQ with all the trimmings, including Dan’s toffee Birthday Cake….delicious. As a number of the trainees had forgone the previous nights entertainment a large group headed in Bariloche town centre to see what all the hype was about…..they weren’t disappointed, until the following morning!

Today has been a little overcast but we’ve managed to make the most of it. The majority of the day was spent walking up the muddy back-route to Cerro Cathedral where the trainees were fed with Beef goulash and other German delicacies; it was strange to see such strong Germanic culture in a small mountain resort in South America. This evening a number of local mountain safety experts lectured to the group about the causes and dangers of Avalanches; it was enjoyed by all trainees despite their mass exodus when it was announced that food was about to be served. At present it’s raining very heavily outside the hotel lobby and despite the fact I’m not looking forward to getting soaking wet on route to bed I’m reassured that Cerro Cathedrals slopes are getting a healthy dusting of snow.
 

I'll be posting the next blog within the next couple of days so stay tuned!

Tom

Happy Birthday Dom!......

Sunday began with the usual hangovers but we made it to the slopes to cross over to the dark side for a day with the boarders practising their teaching on some of the girls. I think we can all say the day was a success, apart from all the girls falling off the chairlift! The rest prepared for the final week of lessons before exams begin… little did they know how the weather would turn

After a long day of skiing, the team had their weekly bowling session where everyone stepped up their game from last week. Fancy dress theme for next week.. P, E, A, K and L. The rest is up to the imaginations of the teams.

The weather took a turn for the worse during the week, allowing the team their first sight of real snowfall on Coronet Peak! Despite the cold and wet, the skiers all trooped on until 4 o’clock, while the boarders called it a day at 11 after only doing two runs. The usual Tuesday night crew diminished due to the cold weather, however those who braved were glad for a day off the next day.

Wednesday… day of rest turned into a daytime pub crawl for those who didn’t venture out the previous night. Lets just say dinner was interesting… James celebrated his birthday by doing his first bungee of the trilogy while others had a film day. 

Thursday brought some ‘sweet as’ snow and it was most peoples first experience of powder skiing, the snow fell for the morning allowing Peak Leaders to leave the first tracks in the powder…amazing!! 

On Friday we yet again took advantage of the new snow. Many groups ventured to the back bowls where Scottish Ben bailed losing one of his skis down the bottom of the slope involving over an hours trek to find it!

Positive reassurance day went down well with all the crew, as it was our last day until the exam! The highlight for instructor Robyn’s birthday was when two strapping young instructor trainees got their kit off down the beginners slope…!

 Hope all is well back home :-)

The Girls (Charlotte, Jenny and Claire)

P.S. Don't forget to check out more pics of all the goings on in NZ via the facebook group!!!
 

 Another week of lessons, drills and extra-curricular madness!

Our level 1 exams are just around the corner (starting Monday 27th), so everyone has been working away hard on the slopes - we've been teaching each other within our groups as practice for the real thing, and a lot of time has also been spent in the beginner areas perfecting our demonstration technique. This week the first set of ILM lectures began so the restaurant turned classroom as Sam presented some useful material to those that had opted in.

It's not all work and no play though - On Tuesday night almost the whole course hit the town to Celebrate Ollie's birthday.. It was late, it was messy - most of all it was a great laugh! We hit the usual haunts (Buffalo Club, Winnies, World Bar) and were all grateful Wednesday is a rest day!

A couple of us braved the mountain the next day but kicked back and worked on getting some action shots... I think i need a little more work on my positioning, but I guess I'm in the right place for that ;)

Thursday was our weekly bowling session - the teams were mixed up this week (we used lesson groups before) but competition was still high... Tim stepped up with the course record so far - 167.

I think for many though, the highlight of the week came on Saturday when skydives were planned. We headed down to NZone with mixed feelings - some of us were totally stoked, some terrified! Conditions were perfect and jumps began.

Unfortunately for some of us (myself included) the weather turned and the last couple of groups were unable to jump - glass half-full though, the clouds had snow in them so it's not all bad! .. plus we just re-arranged for a different day, no biggie :)

(stone was swinging)

Back to the books for me tonight (ok, ok... accompanied by a few handles of Speights), my group are presenting lessons tomorrow but with a twist - kids lessons!

Here's to another mental week...

Chris Scone

P.S. Don't forget to check out the facebook group for more pics :-)

Still filled with a certain amount of anxiety from the video analysis of our technique on Monday, Tuesday's lessons continued to work us thoroughly. Getting really down to basics, most of the groups spent not only that Tuesday but the Thursday and Friday working on the fundamentals such as stance and the four planes of movement.

The piste's at Coronet peak are fantastic, not only catering for our training but also for pushing our limits. The sunrise we experienced on Thursday morning was truly awesome and some of the photo's can give you a pretty good idea.

Outside of the lessons some of the team headed into town on Tuesday night and we were by and large absent at breakfast the following morning. On the Thursday evening however a much more gentle paced few games of bowling brought the whole team together, the boarder's unfortunately picking up last place.

Over the week-end Saturday was a day of rest during which skis and boards were serviced and a number of Fergburger's were devoured. On Sunday some of us explored the Remarkables ski area, which truly was remarkable and allowed for many of the team to let their hair down and have some good fun in the terrain park. Although there were a few minor injuries, most of us are still looking forward to the 7am breakfast on Monday morning...

All the best,

Chris Thorpe

P.S. Don't forget to check out extra pics on the facebook group

 Well, it's been a great first few days with most of the team arriving and we are just waiting on a couple more to complete the Peak Leaders New Zealand '09 team.

The first couple of days was all about getting some well earned rest after the rather lengthy flights from the UK. We also got an equipment and tuning clinic at one of the local shops, which filled our heads with plenty of useful information.

Today was the first training day with everyone being introduced to their trainers and getting their skiing and riding legs back. The skiers are with Gavin, Robynne, Ashlee and Todd whilst the snowboarders are with Karl.

Overall, everyone is very excited to be here in Queenstown and is eager to get their snowsports skills improved. I'm sure that this course is going to be “sweet as” :-)

Your course leader,

Sam Feltham :-D

P.S. If you want to check out more photos click here to go to the facebook group.

We've had an awesome time over the last 4 weeks. The spring time has brought us lots of sun, lot of fun, and even some big snow falls.
Here a just a few of the photos from around Whistler over the last month.

A spontaneous retro day made for some interesting outfits, and even Natalie popped into her office at lunch and came back with a great gold spandex number.

The telus festival was in full swing while we were here, and there was plenty of live music and apres in the sun, as well as some obscenely big jumps and competions too.

Well done Everyone managed for passing the Level 1, and thanks Natalie for getting us there!

Cheers for an awesome spring!

Dahj

By Freddie Vereker

Shalom,

Firstly I have to mention that Hugo Boardman is a Schweffy loser, ultimate subtraction of LAD points. MAN UP! You are whipped. Also Laura has been very very ill this week and has stayed at home. MAN UP! We only have one week left.

So this week was the first week of BASI 2 and everybody was very nervous, especially Fergus. We are lucky though because our trainers are awesome. Nothing particularly interesting happened during training as we were all on our finest behaviour.

After a subdued beginning of the week some of us ventured to the Pub Mont Fort on Wednesday night for the end of season beach party...which was nice. Look on Facebook for photographs, I think they might be a bit explicit for this website. The second half of the week saw more hard work and everyone seemed focused, except Fergus. I think the general positive attitude is rubbing off on the trainers as we are all becoming pals. Also IT SNOWED QUITE A LOT. We were all very happy as things were looking pretty green before. Unfortunately though the snow had gone within 2 days.

On Friday it was Izzy’s birthday and that night we celebrated in style dressed up in pairs chosen for us by Izzy. Best costume award I think has to go to Jack and Felix as Batman and a pretty camp looking Robin. It was a flipping awesome night and a great start to the weekend. Saturday was a duvet day all round.

Saturday night was equally as awesome. Harry and I are now good mates with Lawrence Dallaglio, raving it up in Casbah good and proper. Hugo though had an early night and thought that even though we only have one week of the season left it was probably a better idea to lie in bed with Elz and read Charlotte Bronte’s Withering Heights, a very famous novel, accompanied by a glass of vintage Italian Piedmont, a very famous wine.

On Sunday we made a video which made Alex Mal cry. We are all getting a bit sad that we are all going home soon.

Godspeed.

Fred

P.S. Don't forget to check out the facebook group for more pics and vids!!!

This week was another week of shadowing, and with last weeks experience the team were able to be a lot more hands on. Especially Charlie and Felix who got the chance to put on some ES jackets when they helped out with Help for Heros, which is a charity that funds activities for injured soldiers and in Verbier that means helping them to learn to adaptive ski.

It wasn't all about shadowing though this week, the team were able to blow off some steam with a snowball fight that lasted around 40 minutes :-P

We also had man night, which was organised by Sandy one of the trainers. The idea was that we had to wear a sleeveless top and only talk about manly things otherwise we were in violation of the rules and had to do a shot. The night was full of merriment and plenty of banter and I expect it to happen again :-)

Finally on Saturday, it was the Carlsberg High Five. The event has four disciplines Giant Slalom, Slalom, Skier Cross and Snowboard Cross. The competitors range from world class skiers and snowboarders to people who are just on holiday. Some of the team and I sat off piste to get a full view of the races.

Well it's been an action packed week and with only one week of training before the BASI Level 2 exam it's time for everyone to get their heads down and do some serious skiing.

'till next week then,

Sam

P.S. Don't forget to check out the facebook group for more pics and vids.

Well the course has sadly come to an end! The last week was epic, with bbqs, more freestyle coaching, loads of cliff drops, and powder.

Here's just a few of the photos....

The last day was spent on the famous "Fraggle Rock" for a picnic and a couple of drinks.

Its been 12 weeks we'll never forget. Congrats to all the Peak Leaders on charging throughout the whole course, and progressing so much in the time we had.

Cheers to Annie, Jaron, Danny, Lukas and Donnie for putting their heart and soul into our training. You guys rock.

Good luck to everyone and keep in touch.