ski and travel blog

Wordle is an online toy for generating “word clouds” from text (or URL) that you provide.

The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

We love playing with Wordle – so much so we’ve created three below from our week as ski testers for ski press magazine.

What follows is a unique and creative way of getting the essence of our week in our own words… but remixed thanks to Wordle.

The first wordle cloud below was created using all the words we used in writing blog summary reports for 5 days starting last Sunday when we arrived in Ste-Anne. You can read all of them here if you haven’t already.

Click on each word cloud to see full size!

The next wordle cloud below was created using all the words Sasha used in writing her comments and impressions of the 30+ skis she tested over 4 days. All the comments were captured into our laptop (independent of ski or manufacturer) before handing in the booklet at the end of day 4.

The next wordle cloud below was created using all the words Phil used in writing his comments and impressions of the 30+ skis he tested over 4 days.  All the comments were captured into our laptop (independent of ski or manufacturer) before handing in the booklet at the end of day 4.

Wouldn’t it be cool to see a consolidated Wordle cloud from all testers published in Ski Press Magazine next fall as part of their profile of the testers?

We sure think so… and have emailed the suggestion to Sophie at Ski Press for consideration.

We came. We skied. We tested.

About 35 skis later and we’re drinking a glass of wine looking over Baie-St-Paul.

Today wasn’t the epic day we were expecting. The weather was predicted to be 9 degrees and sunny, instead it was about 4 degrees and cloudy but that didn’t take away from the experience.

These skis were meant for cruising

Today I had short-turn carving skis and Phil had more of a cruising type ski. As the day warmed and the snow really softened my skis didn’t like the conditions but that didn’t stop me from testing their limits. Because I’m so light and because most of those short-carving skis have such fat tips I can use them to plow through the crud.

But Phil was on cruisers that just allowed him to really go through it all. I spent my day just trying to keep up while my skis just wanted to make all these little turns.

As we handed in our booklets with our notes about all the skis we had tested I couldn’t help but smile. What an amazing four days – amazing skis, the great people I had met, and skiing with Phil for the most consecutive days all season. I can’t wait to go back again next year (well at least I hope so)

Every great beginning should have a great ending

As we were finishing our day the sun came out to shine. Phil and I finished the day with one of those epic bump runs – huge, but super soft, bumps with blazing sunshine as I chased Phil down to the bottom. We said good-bye to the great friends we met and headed our ways. No matter where we all came from, we all had a common value; we all loved to ski.

We’re going to ski Le Massif for a couple of days together; apparently Saturday is their Reggae Festival. And then we’re off to Old Quebec city for a night of luxury before we head back to reality.

After two days of mostly cloudy, foggy and what could be described as Ontario hard pack conditions, we finally saw blue skies on day three – although you’d never know it by the picture above which was taken in the morning.

Unlike day two, I had a full schedule with 9 skis to test while Sasha had 7 skis to test. We were both testing carving categories and although I was told most of my product would be geared towards intermediates, I ended up riding several top end skis that were well suited for experts.

With an average of 40,000 feet of skiing vertical a day, my body was reminding me that I was not in peak condition. My lower back tightened up as the day went on and my T bands were so tight that i was getting knee soreness.

Our legs were both feeling a bit rubbery by the end of the day – but we were also skiing hard and tracking at least 3 runs per ski…. while many others cruised in a lower gear and averaged 2 runs per ski.

Our reward for a long hard day on the hill was a scheduled massage at 5pm. Unfortunately there was some confusion over scheduling and a french tester ended up taking Sasha’s spot! Knowing I was in worse shape, Sasha insisted that I take my scheduled massage which I gladly did

Wednesday night was also our last night together as a group, so we decided to do a group stir fry dinner at our neighbors condo. Sasha volunteered (well maybe volun-told since i suggested it) to cook while our new friends both bought the food and prepared it for her.

Needless to say, dinner was a big hit with the 12 assembled – even the french tester who had stolen Sasha’s massage slot who ironically showed up for dinner was appreciative.

After finishing up on Day 4, Sasha & I are heading to Baie St-Paul where we are staying at a lovely chalet just outside Le Massif. We had planned on booking something last minute and as it turns out, one of our friends from Collingwood happened to own a rental property and offered it up at a great rate.

Our first day started out as an adventure. We got to the top of the mountain fairly early and decided to take a run down the south side. Since we’ve arrived there has been some rain and it’s been warm.

We scooted over to the top of one of our favourite runs, the super s, and we found un-groomed ice bumps with a trace amount of dense powder in some of the troughs. It made for a tough warm-up run.

Our first test run was one of the epic runs – perfectly groomed and firm

After our ‘warm-up,’ or survival ski, we headed over to the tents for some more testing. Our day was to follow the theme of yesterday and test some more big mountain skis. Phil had a few ‘holes’ in his day, so he threw on his world cup slaloms and I chased him down the hill.

With all the test runs we’re doing we’re doing over 40,000 in vertical per day

The wind had died down so all the manufacturers had their tents lining the ‘catwalk.’ It was a great site, all the big ski names, some smaller ones too, and a whole bunch of people lining up to get their next skis to try.

On our way down the mountain after our day on snow we skied by the Super S and noticed that they had closed it off! We sped down the mountain and into the apres-ski where I won a long sleave shirt from Icebreaker. Most of the testers ended up at Laventure for dinner, but unfortunately they couldn’t handle the group and we spent 3.5 hrs waiting for dinner. All we could do is sip decent wine… so needless to say we were pretty much ready for bed after dinner.

Next we are trying the carving skis. It should be an epic day with the promise of warm weather and blue bird skies.

Our first day started at 8:15am at the bottom of the Gondola where we met our groups and were given intructions for the day.

Because of the varied conditions up top, we were going to spend the day testing all mountain skis in the performance category. Both Sasha & I had 9 pairs of skis to test – giving us about 30 minutes per manufacturer to test & write our evaluation.

That translated into about 3 runs per ski – or about 27 runs on the day.

We carried around blue evaluation books that were two pages for each ski. We had to test things such as stability, edge grip, energy, ease of initiation, forgiveness and performance characteristics around short and long turns.

There was also a spot for written comments – so we tried our best to summarize the ski in short & wity comments that may make their way into the magazine.

At the top of the Gondola we had what looked like a 75m fashion catwalk. This allowed the testers to slide to the assigned manufacturer and have the skis quickly adjusted for the next test. Some manufacturers had flags setup while others were more low key.

In all 17 manufacturers were setup including some I hadn’t heard of before like Vist – who are better known for developing bindings and binding plates.

Although we were restricted to the North site of Ste-Anne, the day flew by as every 30 minutes you were trying something new.

Even though Sasha & I were in separate testing groups, we were able to ski together the entire day.

Writing your comments in pencil with gloves on proved to be a bit challenging, but over the course of the day we found that writing our comments and evaluation at the bottom of the chair was more relaxing (and warm) then doing it on the chair.

In addition to testing skis, we are also evaluating under-garmets and socks from Icebreaker (made from Merino wool), next generation Leki poles, and next year’s Alpina goggles. First impressions of each were very positive – although the Icebreaker socks were too tight on my massive calf muscles

We both really enjoyed our first day as ski testers and we were both surprised at how different skis could feel and perform in the same category.

We were also pleasantly surprised that the forecasted rain became snow and that today’s weather is promising 4 degrees and sunny.

Day two has a similar schedule – although we won’t know what category we are testing until we arrive at the top of the Gondola. We also have a scheduled apres-ski today where we’ll get a chance to order Icebreaker gear with pro discounts. Apparently we’ll also be getting Swany gloves this afternoon to test for Wednesday and Thursday.

Look for Sasha’s day two summary next.

With car trouble adding stress to what was already going to be a stressful 8.5 hour drive in the rain to Mont Ste-Anne on Sunday, Sasha & I cashed in some travel points and took a much more civilized route to Quebec yesterday.

We were able to book flights on Porter airlines for $69 (plus fees & taxes) each way the night before and flew out of the Toronto airport.  Besides being my favorite Airline for total experience and civility, the added advantage of flying out of the Toronto Island Airport was that we left our house just after 11am for a 12pm flight.

We were checked into our condo at the foot of Mont Ste-Anne by 2:30pm.

We even had time for a quick 30 minute run before grabbing some groceries for the week. The rain that was hammering Ontario (and some of our friends on the Level 3 exams at Devil’s Glen) finally found it’s way to Quebec around 7pm – the time we would have arrived had we driven from Toronto.

Last night was orientation for the Ski Test for Ski Press magazine which included a 45 minute product demonstration from Icebreaker and take home samples of next year’s Leki poles and Alpina goggles.

Stay tuned this week as we blog each day on our experience!

Sustainability. Regeration. ‘Going Green.’ These are all ‘buzz’ words we here so often, but maybe less often in the ski world. But that might be on the brink of changing.

Jiminy Peak in Hancock, Massachusetts are leaders in ‘green’ technology for skiing. In August of 2007 they began powering the massive wind turbine atop their hill.

The 378 foot/115 meter windmill (that’s taller than the statue of Liberty) sits back from the resort so visitors can see it, but far enough away that the resort visitors are safe.

Here are some of the facts (thanks to Elaine Meinel Supkis of EZ Reading Money Matters for all the stats)

• The turbine will generate approximately 4,600,000 kWh and Jiminy Peak consumes approximately 7,500,000 kWh a year.
• A 1.5MW wind turbine will provide approximately 33% of the electrical demands of Jiminy Peak annually. During the winter months when the wind resource is the strongest it may provide as much as half of our electrical demand.
• It is a 1.5MW wind turbine capable of producing up to 2,000 H.P. for our snowmaking plant.
• The wind turbine will sit atop a 253 ft tower.
• The nacelle that sits on top of the structure and houses the shaft for the blades, the gearbox and the generator is approximately 13 ft wide and 13 ft tall and 26 ft long.
• Each of the 3 blades is approximately 123ft, therefore to the tip of the blade the entire structure is 386 feet tall.
• The blades will turn a maximum of 22 RPM even in high wind conditions.

 Can this be the future for Southern Ontario resorts?

Alternative energy is the future as the price of traditional energy (coal-fired plants, nuclear, and gas) become more expensive. Wind can be a future for these resorts, it always seems to be quite windy at the top of the hill! It is time for someone to look at doing an Environmental Assessment for Wind-turbines at the top of our resorts to help offset the carbon footprint.

When I started skiing and racing, at Mansfield Ski Club (a little club in Southern Ontario), I had the privilege of having some of the best coaches. From Greg and Sean in Nancy Greene and then Wade, Jason, and finally Brad. There were others around me that influenced me but even as a young racer I knew that one day I wanted to be like them.

I wanted to be a great coach and I would do whatever it takes to get there

As I grew up I learned that the best coaches had their Level 3 CSCF (Canadian Coaching Federation).  When I started out coaching that was my goal was to become one day a Level 3 Coach – yesterday that became I reality, I am now a Level 3 Coach.

The path to get there …

I took the course 4 years ago now and then I took the exams two years after that. The course was a 5 day course where we coached each other and race gates all day – it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had on course; I was surrounded by ex-provincial and national team racers. The exams are a two day event that some what mirror the course, except the course conductors aren’t there to give you feedback they are there to just examine you.

There are 6 components to the level 3 coach – setting, coaching, GS free ski, GS Gates, Slalom free ski and Slalom Gates. On my first attempt I was successful in 5 of the 6 components, I did not pass the slalom gate ski.

With the changes happening at the CSCF and it going from the Level 1, 2 and 3, to the entry, development and performance Levels, it made it almost impossible to finish my Level 3 (now the performance level) last year.

This year Pierre Ruel, CSCF coordinator announced that this would be the last year they would grandfather the old system and made it accessible for all of us to reattempt our exams. Yesterday was my retest.

My first set of exams was -30, blowing snow, you couldn’t see three gates in front of you. But yesterday was sunny with great snow.

I woke up feeling a little nervous but as I headed out the door, I thought to myself, ‘I love skiing slalom, I’m going to have fun.’

After the first session it was over, I had been successful. The CSCF are not gatekeepers of the Level 3 – so when they see something they like they reward it. They are enablers, mentors, supporters.

I look forward to my future with the coaching federation. Much like the instructors federation (CSIA) I would like to start teaching level 1 coach courses and being more involved.

This week Sasha & I were notified that we have been selected to join the high performance demo team at Mont Ste-Anne in Quebec City next month to test next year’s lineup of skis for Ski Press Magazine.

This will be our first time as ski testers and we can hardly wait to spend a few days ripping the top runs in the east on next year’s gear. Our feedback and ratings will be part of Ski Press’ annual buying guide for gear. We’ll post more details as we receive them… and will be blogging about our experience as we go through it at the end of March.

The timing works out perfectly for us as the annual super camp for active level 3 and 4 course conductors begins right after, making for a week of high performance fun!

I’m often asked why I still teach/coach skiing. I have an engineering job that I do midweek, I am in school part-time and I’m trying to maintain my running fitness, but every weekend there is no where I’d rather be than teaching skiing. So why do I teach skiing?

The simple answer is that I love it. But that doesn’t really tell you much.

This year I moved to coaching Nancy Greene Racers and I think this has been my most rewarding season, and the season is only at the midway point. I am not one of those coaches that teaches just racing skills, racing to me is about ski skills and life skills. To date this year I have not spent one morning or afternoon session standing on the hill, either watching athletes in a course or free-skiing, every run I go ski with my kids and do the same drills I ask them to do.

Why do I love it so much?

I guess if I break it down I love teaching because I get to teach others about something I love so much in life and often they share the same feeling. I also think that having an active lifestyle is also an important part of life and every time I teach a lesson I get to pass that on. I love teaching for the personal satisfaction of knowing you have taught someone something new; whether that is just the skiing basics, how to go from snow-plow to parallel, how to run a faster line in a course, etc.

Stories From the Hill

I thought I would share some of the stories from my season so far and why it has been the most rewarding season I’ve ever had.

It’s Never to Cold for a Friend

This year has been one of the coldest ski seasons I can remember. At one of our racers one of my little athletes missed her second run because she had to go to the bathroom. After a long-slow ride up the chairlift she arrived at the top in tears. We shook the tears off and convinced the start official to let her race out of order. I started watching her run from the middle of the course and then realized that if I didn’t get to the bottom fast enough that there may not be anyone cheering for her since I thought most of the team had gone inside since it was so cold. I missed her finishing but it was ok. Her best friend on the team waited in the cold and was only from the team left at the bottom. She cheered as loud as she could for her friend and was there to give her a hug at the end of the run. It had gone from tears at the top to a grin from ear to ear at the bottom.

There Will Always Be A Helping Hand

This weekend we had some wacky weather. A warm day followed by below freezing temperatures making for some very icy conditions. I had been given space to set a course on hill that is very steep at the top and flattens out part way down. I didn’t set on the top, steep, icy section but started the course closer to the flats.

Some of the younger kids on the other team were very afraid of the top, steep, icy section and panicked and sat down on the snow trying to get to the top of the course. Their coaches were already at the top of the course and were not making much of an effort to help the struggling kids. Knowing that my team was strong I started to help some of the struggling kids on the hill. But it wasn’t just me helping. The next thing I knew my little athletes were helping some of the younger kids down the hill. One would stand above and one below and they were ‘talking’ them down the icy section. I was so proud of how my team worked in unison to help another team get over their fear.

It’s All About Relating it to a Skill

You never really know how much someone remembers when you’re teaching and if they can take away what you are doing with them and apply it to their skiing all the time. I have been working with various drills and tactics this year with my team trying to get them to have a centred and mobile stance, to turn with their legs and to be balanced on their edges (the three core competencies of skiing). Every time I do a drill or tactic with my team I explain to them the competency or skill that I am trying to relate it too, although I never expect them to remember. Most of the athletes in the Nancy Greene Racing Program tend to be back and inside from the centre of their ski. Over the year we have been working on trying to correct this. I had an athlete ask me, “so when I touch my downhill boot you are trying to get me to be more on the downhill ski, right?” Kids want to have fun, to ski fast, to jump high and to get lots of runs in. I didn’t really expect them to remember what competencies I was trying to relate to but was completely impressed when asked this.

And these are only a few stories; I have so many of these from the year. When I eventually do retire from coaching and teaching it won’t be the little things I remember but it will be stories like this that will remind me why I loved teaching skiing. Hopefully I can inspire more people to teach and love skiing and teaching as much as I do.