Posts from — March 2009

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.