Friday, December 30, 2011

Salmo Ski Instructors


A very successful CSIA Level One Course for Salmo Ski Hill.  Top Photo is Linsey Grey in fine form.  Group photo Newly certified Ski Pros: L-R Kelly Humphreys, Levi Smith, Steve Ramsbottom, Levi Huser, Mark Impey, Linsey Grey, Kimberley Pegg, and Darya Huser.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Situational Teaching

The conditions at Ski Salmo today were probably the most challenging I have ever had to deal with on a CSIA course.  The new snow we had on Day One melted slightly yesterday and then froze solid last night.  Because it was so warm the groomer could not get out, so today we had snow that was once wet and tracked up freeze solid, tracks and all.

We made the most of it, and worked out how we would teach in a situation like this.  There were quite a few actual beginers skiing, we got in there and offered our instructional help.  It is a new concept I have come up with: "Reality CSIA Course Conducting".

The good news is that it is dumping snow right now, heavily.  I am guessing there is 20 cm on the ground, it started about three hours ago and it is still going strong.  It should be a great Red Mountain and Salmo ski day tomorrow.



Wednesday, December 28, 2011

CSIA Level 1 at Salmo Ski Hill


Today was Day two of the level one course I am running at Salmo Ski Hill. We had quite a bit of new snow, unfortunately most of it fell at a temperature of about plus 2 C.  The snow was very heavy, conditions were challenging.  However my group made the most of it, I heard a lot of comments but not a single complaint.

At least it is setting us up with a good base.
Photos are of Steve Ramsbottom from Nelson, and Gayle Bourke-Shepherd from Australia embracing the Level One challenge.


 


Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Salmo Ski Hill

I am running a Level One Instructors course at Salmo Ski Hill this week.  Salmo is a one Tbar hill, it has a small day-lodge, about 10 runs and it is such a peaceful place to ski.  The place always surprises people in a positive way, the runs are long, staff are great, and the snow today was superb.  It was the first day I used my new 2012 Fischer RC4's (not a scratch on them).  The sense of pride of a club having its own hill is something that corporate mountains can not replicate (not in my experience anyway).

Friday, December 23, 2011

Girls Day at Red Mountain

I skied today with my daughter Isabelle and her friend Charlotte.

The snow that we have is good, we just need more of it. We skied Paradise most of the day. Ruby Tuesday is turning into a bump run, good bumps. The girls ripped it up.



Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Red Mountain Crowd Control




Red Mountain is back to its normal crowd problems, there are none!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Red Mountain Day 2

Beer Belly was open today, and great. Day two of operation and conditions were better than day 1. It seems the runs are improving as they are being skied. Still early conditions though, I could have used my new skis today as I did not hit anything, but we still need another dump or two for me to be at full confidence.

This video clip is Jay Maloney showing that he can spin off pretty much anything.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Red Mountain Opening Day


A great start to the Red Mountain 2012 season. Conditions were quite a bit better than I expected them to be. Still definitely early season but I had a great day with the Freeski Academy athletes and with Isabelle and Simon in the afternoon.

Isabelle and Simon had a big day, skiing Silverlode all morning on their own and then with me on Paradise all afternoon.

Top photo is of the Hillis family once again securing first chair of the season. Bottom photo is of two satisfied Red Mountain customers.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Red Mountain promo

Click the link below for Red Mountains latest promo video.


http://youtu.be/WozPQcSVSPI

Saturday, November 26, 2011

49 North Ski Resort


I am at 49 North this weekend for a training camp with the Red Mountain Academy. They are off to such a good start down here. This area gets the same weather systems as Red Mountain but they always seem to be open earlier as they don't need as much snow as us to open. This place is like a bigger version of the Paradise side of Granite Mountain. Long runs, it is a nice place to let your skis run.

As you can see from the photos the snow conditions are excellent. I skied all day today and didn't even see a rock much less hit one.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

CSIA Course Conductor Training

Early season conditions at Lake Louise were outstanding. Skiing mid week is better, no crowds as you can see in the photos.

I skied with Sun Peaks Ski School Director Vincent Lafontaine (red pants) and Canadian Ski Quest instructor Mike Manara (in black).

For me skiing with guys like Mike and Vincent is the best way to start the season. It is so inspiring to be skiing with guys of this caliber for my first runs of the year.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sharp Skis are Good Skis


I had my skis tuned by Mike at Mike Lindsey Ski Services. Mike is a former Canadian National Team Ski Technician. He made my day yesterday. What a difference a professional tune makes.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

CSIA Course Conductor Training

This is Norman Kreutz From Silver Star getting back in tune with his skis.

Today was day 1 of CSIA Course Conductor training at Lake Louise. Conditions on piste were perfect. The snow was firm but very easy to find grip on.

It was so nice to let the skis run and to feels my skis work. I am very happy with my knee, I really didn't think about it and did not feel it either. Great start to the season.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Winter in Banff

It is nice to see winter in a town that make it look so good. I am really looking forward to skiing at Lake Louise tomorrow.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

First Turns are Powder Turns



I am in Banff now, I am here for the CSIA Pre Season Training. On the way here I stopped at the Kootenay Pass and had a quick tour. It was fantastic, just like Red Mountain in mid winter. My first turns were powder turns, what a great start to the season.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

First Run of the Year


I just got back from Blackjack cross country area. My first run of the 2012 season (X Country run anyway).

It is one of those days that would have been epic had it been mid winter. It snowed all night and cleared just before the sun came up. I was the first one out but not the only one judging by how many cars I passed on my way home. I imagine Blackjack will be grooming the trails, we definitely have enough snow.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Rossland Weather


Photo of the day:

The weather is great here but it just keeps snowing!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Old Glory Hike


Mike Flood, Chris Sutherland and I took a hike up Old Glory last week with the kids from the Red Mountain Academy. Old Glory is the glorious big peak that you can see as you ski from the top of the Motherlode Chair towards Rino's Run. I am sure that once the clouds clear we will see snow on it. It was cold and rainy in Rossland yesterday.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Pre Season Training

Weekend training with athletes from The Red Mountain Academy. This was after running up the sandhill several times.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Golf Champion


You know winter is approaching when a bunch of Ski Instructors get together for a seriously fun golf tournament. The CSIA NDC "Closed Open" was held at the Quail Golf Course in Kelowna. I was teamed up with Eamon Doerty (in red shirt) and brothers Grant and Don Brown.

Thanks to Eamon's spectacular drives, the Brown brothers precision and confidence building abilities, and my ultra high handicap-WE WON!

Presenting the trophy is CSIA past president Norm Crerar. Photo by Marie-Cat Bruno.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

New Office for Canadian Ski Quest


Big News...

Canadian Ski Quest has moved Downtown. We are now located at 1936 Queen Street. It is the house behind Ross Vegas.

This is a nice move for our business and also a great improvement to our house. As in we suddenly have room to play in our place and I am not constantly worried about the kids making paper airplanes out of someones arrival details.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Red Deer Water Ramp

We are in Red Deer for a family reunion. I took some time to check out the Red Deer Water Ramp. It could be a good training opportunity for the Red Mountain Academy. I did not get to do it myself....

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Red Mountain in Summer


I ran up to the top of Red this morning, my goal was to do it without stopping, which I did, phew.
There was an abundance of huckle berrys near the trail, according to some Rossland old timers, this is a sure sign of a big snow year to come.
It was pretty lonely up there, I waited around the sign for a free ski tip but the service was just not there.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Manager Search

Canadian Ski Quest is hiring a General Manager. The deadline for Applications is this Friday. I am looking forward to going through the process, so far I am very happy with the quality of applicant. There should be an announcement within two weeks.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Raid the North Team Wild Rose


While hiking up Old Glory on Friday we met Team Wild Rose who finished in second place the the Raid the North wilderness endurance event. These guys are close to the finish line here, and are on day SIX of the event. Talk about inspirational, they stopped to chat, were relaxed and looked totally fresh. I did not notice the numbers on their chest's at first and I assumed they were just another group of riders taking on the Seven Summits Trail. They really looked like the had just started. Definitely a standard of fitness to aspire to.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Latest Old Glory Run Ever





Kieren Gaul, from Big Red Cats, and I got the job done today. Nine hours worth. I am exhaysted now and really happy. Unfortunately I had some trouble with my Helmet Cam and did not catch any video, but I had a very memorable top to bottom nonstop run.

View up the North Chute from the bottom, it took an hour to hike up again.






Kieren, still skiing strong near the bottom.








This is me at the start of the day, I think I looked a little different 9 hours later.























This is me on turn two, real steep.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Old Glory is Skiable


I finally got a view of Old Glory today.

I rode up to Strawberry pass on my motorcycle, the weather looked perfect. And I got soaked! What a miserable ride back to Rossland.

So I am going to ski it, I just need actual summer weather and a partner.

Old Glory Failed Reconnaissance

My plan is to hike and ski the North Face of Old Glory this week. Problem is the weather is terrible, more like October rather than July. Yesterday Simon and I drove up to take a look at Old Glory from the highway. We could not see a thing, so instead had a father/son hike to Cookie Jar Cabin.

Another problem I am having is finding a friend to commit to the adventure. Everyone seems a little intimidated by it.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Summer Training Inspiration

I was in my hometown of Vernon this past weekend. I had a chance to Mountain Bike with Canadian Ski Quest Pro Darcy Tevelyan. This photo was taken on the first climb, from here we went down to the lake and then back up to the same elevation. Darcy was being nice to me, I felt like I could keep up, but he certainly had an easier time chatting on the climbs than I did. Thanks for doing most of the talking Darcy.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Summer Skiing at Mt. Hood

I am at Mt. Hood with some athletes from the Red Mountain Academy. Not coaching them, they are all in the terrain park. I have been skiing with Isabella and Simon. It is a proud Dad time as they are just stoked to be skiing and both are turning really well.

The summer skiing here is really good, it seems to be bigger than it was in 1994, the last time I was here. There are two high speed quad chairs and one main run. The run is long. There are also a lot of training camps on, racers, freeskiers and snowboarders from all over North America. These camps seem to shut down at about 11:00, which is nice because then their reserved lanes open up, leaving smooth snow behind.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

30/30 Peace

I had a slow hike up Red today, skiing seemed out of place on a day like today. It was almost like a summer day in Rossland. It was 17C at the mountain but everything was still fully covered. The torrents of water that were under the snow are now on top of the snow, I had to weave my way around them on the way up, seasons are changing fast. It was a very peaceful feeling at the top, I guess knowing that this is day 30 had something to do with it. This challenge was a good thing for me to do, it definitely expanded my horizons, happy to have done it. I am still looking at doing the Seven Summits trail next week. For tomorrow, I will be on my bike.

Friday, May 13, 2011

29/30 Think I am Going to Make It

Day 29: This daily skiing has become part of my routine. Tomorrow is the official last day, but I plan to continue because I want to finish with something big, like the Seven Summits Trail. I can not do this until Monday as I expect it will take about eight hours. The cross country at Black Jack is still good but many trails like the one below are starting to develop dead ends.

28/30 Going Fast

I took a short hike up Red yesterday, blogger seemed to be down so I am just getting it up now.

There is still full coverage on Red, but it is going fast. I could hear raging torrents of water under the snow pack.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

27/30 Surprise Cabin

I went for the cardio workout today up at Strawberry Pass, I was one of two skiers out today. The cross country is really good at the right time of the day, which I hit. I had about 1 cm of soft snow over a firm base. This is about 15 minutes out of Rossland and it is a different world right now. Just about all of the snow has gone in town, grass is growing.

I went to the surprise cabin. It is called that because someone has installed a Grizzly bear head in the wood shed which is not noticable until you are in there.
The bear that left the tracks behind yesterday would have looked just like this one only with a worse attitude.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

26/30 Grizzly Tracks



A bit of excitement for me today: on my hike up Mt. Kirkup I came across some grizzly bear tracks that must have been very recent. I assumed they were grizzly tracks due to the elevation I was at and because of the size of them. When I first saw them from about 20 meters away I assumed they were snowshoe tracks because of the size of them, and thought "cool someone else is up here". They must have been less than 10 hours old because they were still detailed and the snow was melting fast yesterday afternoon ( I was out quite early this morning). I confirmed that they were grizzly, not black bear, tracks from a tracking guide book that I have.

I had hiked up Mt. Kirkup for about 45 minutes when I came across them, I was right on the treeline. I took these photos, ripped the skins off my skis and got out of there. Thankfully, no sighting.

Monday, May 9, 2011

25/30 Mt. Crowe

I had a very pleasant and exhilarating afternoon ski on Mt. Crowe from Strawberry Pass. The snow was heavy but consistent and quite easy to ski. I was pretty happy with the tracks, unfortunately I could not get an angle with my camera to show them from the top. It was a good long run that I would have loved to have done a second and third time. Too bad Big Red Cats are not still operating.