100% exam pass rate, record snow, in the Dive & Wild West and the 80′s
Posted on March 25, 2012 at 5:49 pm

This week, was exam week for the Banff Peak Leaders skiers and riders, a great experience …….. if a little bit stressful!

100% PASS RATE 100% PASS RATE 100% PASS RATE 100% PASS RATE ……. EVERYONE PASSED.

Congratulations to all, the effort everyone has put into the 11 weeks of training has paid off ……. you are now CSIA & CASI Level 2 qualified instructors.

Some of the guys pre level 2 exam results…… nervous smiles?

Natasha – the smile says it all.

We  passed!!!

Kenji “the legend” ski trainer opening his thank you present.

Time to celebrate.

During the week Sunshine Village smashed its record for seasonal snowfall, the resort has had over 9 metres of snow with still 7 weeks of the season to go.

Delirium Dive and Wild West are Sunshine Villages famous off piste, big mountain, double diamond black runs.  David Sharples a former Peak Leaders Banff trainee who is now in his 4th season as a Sunshine Village ski instructor went skiing & riding with Tony from Peak Leaders in the steeps and deeps to experience some of the record snow…….

David picking his line

Dropping in.

Powder face shots

After the stress of exam week time to relax…… Noquay Ski Area had an 80′s theme day with 80′s classic music playing all over the hill and bright & tight onesie ski suits out in force. Cameron, Emily, Grace & Andrea crew joined in the retro look…

For those of us old enough to remember these outfits were the height of fashion back in the day!

We have one week left on the course, time for everyone to hit the park, steeps, powder, apres, Sunshine Village, Norquay & Lake Louise and maybe Kicking Horse.

It is going to be hard giving up our office for the past 11 weeks -

DID I MENTION EVERYONE PASSED THEIR LEVEL 2 EXAMS?????????

Powder, Sunshine and Helicopters
Posted on March 13, 2012 at 3:02 am

As the Peak Leaders Banff group left their hotel to find Banff Avenue covered in fresh snow the question was asked  “if it has snowed this much down here what will it be like up the hill?”

Andy soon found out….. waist deep in powder on Standish

Billy’s smile says it all…… fresh perfect Rockies POWDER

Fresh tracks for all……

Life on a Ski & Snowboard instructor training course is often a Roller Coaster…… in this case it was!

After all the powder we had the warmest day of the season at Norquay Ski Area – Scott in shirt sleeve order….. unheard of in Banff.

Every Banff ski area has a Bra Tree…… the female members of the course admiring others handy work of throwing bras onto the tree from the chair lift above

Cameron grabbing a bit of air on an early morning ride

He followed this by going heli boarding at the weekend…… he is living the dream!

The skiers and riders are into the last week of their training before their Level 2 exams next week.

Time to put it all together.

Big couple of weeks!

4 weeks and counting……
Posted on March 5, 2012 at 3:51 am

The Peak Leaders Banff 2012 course is at the 8 weeks point and only 4 weeks to go.

The ski & snowboard groups are deep in training for the level 2 instructor exams and we have had continues dumps of fresh snow which has made the conditions go from good to amazing at Sunshine Village.

Ski trainer Kenji watching Andy’s bump skiing …………

As part of the training the group skied the GS gates for the morning to work on edge and pressure control

Grace carving it up.

In the last 48 hours Sunshine has had 64cm of fresh snow

Billy J floating through the powder.

Tony chest deep.

The forecast is for more snow over the next few days.

On the apres ski front Natasha was the star of the mechanical bull riding evening (many years of pony club paid off) ……..

until the operator had decided she had been on long enough…….

with everyone working hard on their skiing, snowboarding and bull riding the food at the hotel restaurant is just what the group needs……..

Where did those 8 weeks go? Powder days, training, partying, more training, ice hockey, level 1 exams (100% pass rate) noodles for lunch, umm ribs & steak for dinner and even more training.

4 week left……. training, powder, delirium drive double black diamond?, LEVEL 2 EXAMS and much more. Excellent.

Steeps, bumps and Park
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:27 pm

Post CASI/CSIA level 1 success for all of the Peak Leaders Banff group has been about steeps, deeps and park.

The riders have been hitting the park daily.

Billy J hitting the boxes and big kickers…..

The skiers used their big 3 lift passes for a day of steeps and bumps at Lake Louise Ski Area with their bump slaying trainer Kenji.

.

Skiing the steep back chutes at Lake Louise

The early morning crew of Tony, Billy B and Andy got the first lift up and fresh tracks in the Sunshine Village powder.

Banff is in the middle of one of the most beautiful national parks in the world. And some times it is not only the humans who use the pedestrian crossings to get across Banff Avenue!

Thursday was freestyle training day for the skiers……. after a bumpy start the guys were loving it!

Moral of the story is …….. don’t lean back when sliding on a box!

Once you find the “Gorilla centred stance” all is good…..

Rob “rocking” it

Anna riding the rainbow box

Emily laid down the most stylish 180′s of the day. Here she is half way round on the ‘star trek’ kicker

Level 2 training is being cranked up and everyone on the course are showing what 6 weeks of training can do to their skiing and riding.

Week 7 here we come…..

Banff F.T.T.P & Q.R.S & AST1 !!
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 4:11 am

This week the Peak Leaders Banff trainees have been honing their technique & teaching skills.  For the skiers it has been F.T.T.P (fast track to parallel) and for the snowboarders it has been  Q.R.S (quick ride system).

Working on posture – “Am I in centred on my skis?”

Snowploughs as far as the eye can see…..
With both the Level 1 ski and snowboard exams starting next Tuesday everyone is on top of their game and all the hours of training are about to pay off!

Kenji using Andrea to demonstrate on the need to have a strong body position

On Saturday and Sunday the guys on the Big Banff programme had AST1 (avalanche safety training) after a day of theory the Sunday was all about transceiver and probe training and how to dig a snow pit and test the snow structure for stability.

Transceiver search
We have had new snow almost every day and to ski and ride fresh powder has been amazing.

Cameron riding in the powder

Billy J “twinkle in his eyes”  and Andy “anyone coming for a drink” have been this weeks leaders on the Banff apres ski tour. Come to think of it Andy is always the leader of the apres ski tour!
Not only known for their nocturnal habits Andy and Billy J can also ski and ride with style and nothing phases them….. as you can see from them dropping in on the Eagles Gully trail.

Bring on the Level 1!!

Banff week 2 – the big chill
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 3:57 am

After the warm weather on week 1 of the course. Mother nature came back with vengeance……. with day time temps of -31 for 3 days running.

In fact for 2 days Sunshine Village could not run the lifts for 2 of the days as it was just toooooo cold.

Most of the team stayed indoors. However, Tony, Natasha and Andrea braved the cold and went to Lake Louise and enjoyed some awesome snow. With wind chill the temp was -47 at the top of the gondola!

Look into my eyes….. it’s cold out there.

With Sunshine Village shivering in the big chill several of the group went to Norquay and had a deserted hill all to themselves

Thursday was 1st Aid training and after a day of learning everything from dealing with a heart attack to someone who has had a stroke the guys all successfully passed the exam.

Billy Bob about to begin CPR practice

Banffs top ski shop- Soul, Ski & Bike ran a ski and board tuning clinic on Thursday night and the guys learnt how to p-tex, edge and wax skis and boards….. no blaming equipment when falling over from now on!

wax on wax off

Friday morning was SNOWPLOUGHING with Kenji for the skiers….. amazing how difficult it is to do a snowplough with the correct technique and make it look natural (Kenji has no problems with either).

snowplough, snowplough, snowplough

Its the weekend……. late breakfast, perfect snow, time to catch some air …….

Cam grabbing it

Emily going loooong

Old skool trick but Andy is going big

Banff 2012 week 1
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 5:13 am

The Peak Leaders Banff 2012 group arrived to find Banff and Alberta having a mini heat wave…… day time temperatures in Banff were above freezing….unheard of for January.

Banff 2012 crew

This seasons base is the Rundlestone Lodge Hotel with its huge rooms, swimming pool and hot tub and breakfasts and dinners of Canadian size portions. No slumming it for the Peak Leaders trainees!

The group is made up of people from all over the UK and Andrea our USA import (she is getting to grips with the Glaswegian and West Country accents!)

The legend that is Sunshine Village Ski Trainer Kenji is training the Peak Leaders ski instructor trainees again this season and has been working his magic, already transforming some ‘interesting’ skiing styles.

Kenji wearing his new Zaini beanie

Rob was having some equipment issues on the 1st day….(Kenji thought it was down to ‘operator error’) but Rob has now mastered the art of skiing with a ski attached to each boot.

Grace has fallen in love with moguls….. not!

The snowboard trainees are in rotating each week for the first 4 weeks with different trainers. Each trainer will be working on different aspects of riding.

Umm….. what was that the trainer wanted us to do?   Cameron loved riding black diamonds switch all afternoon.

Billy J dropping in

The snow has been either been powder or groomed light & grippy snow…. perfect to get the body back into either skiing or riding mode.

On the apres ski front Andy has been leading the charge to the Dancing Sasquath. Throwing down some very bizarre moves on the dance floor (please see below)

“Look at my guns”

This season the guys who signed up for Peak Leaders Big Banff get the Big 3 lift pass which includes Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Norquay ski areas.

Sunshine Village living up to its name

So this week we had a tour around…. Thursday Sunshine, Friday Lake Louise and Saturday Norquay….. variety is the spice of life!

Perfect snow

The temperature is dropping and more snow is forecast, bring on week 2.

St Anton 2011 Anwarter Ski Instructor Exam Day…
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 4:29 pm

The St Anton 2011 crew in a minibus and a car (cheers Glyn) rolled out of St Anton in the dark yesterday for the exam day of the Anwarter Ski Instructor  Course. It was a 07.45 start in Fiss for the theory exam followed by 3 different practical ski exams.

The guys were all numbered up with “Aussie” Craig the first to go of the Peak Leaders  entries in the total of 130 taking the exams. Last of the Peak Leaders crew to go was “where is” Rob who drew number 13 vest (numbers went down in the running order) it was lucky 13 for him!

Once all the 3 exams were completed it was a long wait until the results were announced.
100% PASS RATE on the 3 practical exams for the Peak Leaders Trainees.

Then followed the usual celebratory Austrian Apres scene….. disco dancing  in ski boots at  4 pm in the afternoon …… along with trampolining (once the guys had cleared the fresh powder off).

Today, those who were wishing to work as Instructors in St Anton took their newly gained Instructor Certificate to the Arlberg Ski Schule where they successfully gained Instructor jobs.

For the next 3 days the group are skiing with mountain guides and fresh snow is forecast…. excellent!

Carl in the funnel exam

Arnout styling it

Johannes working those skis

Oli trying to impress the watching examinors

Jes going up or down?

Party party party

“put your hand up in the air”

Well done guys.

Tony

Peak Leaders St Anton 2011
Posted on December 7, 2011 at 8:56 pm

The Peak Leaders St Anton 2011 Group are half way through their Austrian Anwarter Ski Instructor Exam. Having had pre exam German Language lessons with Eva and then five days of ski training with the legendary Fossi (mountain guide, world cup snowboarder and ski and snowboard trainer). The group are putting the training to good use during the Anwarter having to be able to teach ski lessons in German and demonstrate their skiing technique to the watching trainers.

With hardly any snow in Europe we were lucky as the nearby resort of Ischgl had great snow for the ski training. The Anwarter is taking place in the resort of Fiss. Which means early starts and silence (due to everyone sleeping) in the minibus both on the way to and on the way back from Fiss!

The last 48 hours the snow has not stopped falling……  today we had thigh deep powder off piste and ankle deep on piste.

Thanks to Oli and Craig room 103 in the hotel has become the central social place. The door is always open for a beer, a movie or even some German revision.

Everyone enjoyed Krampus Festival with the exemption of Amy who we used as a shield /  sacrificial lamb against the whipping devils!

It is still snowing in St Anton and Fiss and it is looking good for the rest of the course.

Tony

Snowboarders working hard!
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 4:17 am

On  an ashy late september day on Cerro Catedral, the Peak Leaders’ Snowboarding groups hit the terrain park. The adrenaline inducing rush to hit the kickers was a welcome diversion from the communal stress they feel on this, the second to last day before BASI level II results.

Cheers, war cries and oooooooh snaps could be heard from the lift as the board brothers egged each other on. With each successful salvo of jumps, a visible progression in the level of jumps, grabs and tricks was evident among the group. Despite the jovial atmosphere, there was still an underlying level of tension. The trainers were watching. As always. Some of boys still needed to make the grade. As each boarder hiked up the slope after their jump, board in hand, they would tepidly probe their trainer for some feedback, a glimmer of approval. They took what they got and headed out for more. Upon reaching the kickoff line, puffing and out of breath from there climb, the riders spouted off their intended approach for the next hurdle through the air. “Mute grab, this time,” or “I think I’m gonna do a 180 on this next one,” “yeah, son.”

Two more days. Two….more….days….

(And they said snowboarders couldn’t write)
–