ski and travel blog

One of the advantages of being a Ski Pro free agent is that you can book mini-ski trips between contract work.

Having just finished my third Level 1 course at Earl Bales ski park I had a free weekend before starting my fourth course at Mount Saint Louis Moonstone (MSLM).

With Sasha busy running the Nancy Greene program at Alpine, I recruited my ski friend Harry Burke and did a road trip to Whiteface in Lake Placid – the site of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics.

After nearly 7 hours on the road (including 40 minutes to get through the border), we arrived at the Olympic Village of Lake Placid.  Lake Placid has great charm and feels like a ski town from the 1970s. Lots of great restaurants (we enjoyed the Steak & Seafood restaurant) and the mountain was only a few minutes away.

Why Whiteface?

Boasting the longest vertical skiing drop in the east at 3,430 feet and peak elevation at 4,867 feet, the lure of long vertical runs was too overwhelming for us to ignore!

We skied our brains out on the first day – from the first gondola at 8:30am until the last one up the mountain around 3:30pm. We stopped only once for lunch – despite temperatures hovering around -30 at the top.

We skied until our legs went to complete rubber on day two – which was around lunch time and a good sign that we had sufficiently satisfied out thirst for vertical for the weekend.

Although Whiteface boasts more vertical than anybody else in the East, we found that a lot of the vertical is in the run-out down the middle.

Skiing the run-out is like skiing on the 401 – but with more ice. That’s great for intermediates, but not so great for advanced or expert skiers looking for long & steep terrain – like what we can find at Ste-Anne.

Having said that, their newly opened terrain on top of Lookout peak offers some of the best vertical consistency top to bottom. You won’t find anything that steep – but the pitch is consistent and winding so you can get about 2,000 vertical feet of high flying dynamic turns and feel some satisfying thigh burning by the end of it.

The resort is in the process of clearing out a few more trails off that same chair that promise steeper and more gnarly pitches.  The park received permission to clear those trails only because they used to be real trails – even though nobody has been able to ski them since the 1950s.

Looking around Whiteface you can’t help but think there is massive untapped potential to make this an even bigger destination. It could easily be the Whistler of the East if the State had the will and the $$$ to make it happen.

Two other things really surprised us about the mountain:

1. Snow coverage wasn’t that great compared to Quebec or even Southern Ontario. Although they have some snow making (and the snow guns weren’t protected by padding!), there was lots of exposed blue ice on many of the runs. The most interesting looking runs weren’t even open yet. They’re called the Slides and locals were telling us they likely won’t open until March. In fact we were surprised that at this point in the season only 85% of the mountain was open.
2. Grooming was inconsistent. I like long cruisers as much as the next guy – but first tracks on groomed runs were bumpy and dodgy – so we could never really let our skis just go down the fall line without fear of hitting a rut, big ice patch or uneven grooves.  It was big mountain skiing – which we really enjoyed, but we forget how spoiled we are in places where there is more emphasis on getting that right.

Are you a ski pro? We were really impressed by how they treated us. All we had to do was flash our CSIA membership card and we received 50% off the lift ticket prices… which allowed us to increase our budget for apres-ski.

Would we go back?

Yes – in fact I’m hoping to go back in late March (with Sasha) when all the terrain is open. Its close proximity to Toronto, small town charm and big mountain terrain makes Whiteface a good choice for those who don’t want to travel 10+ hours to go deep into Vermont or Quebec City.

Time flies even faster when you spend your non-waking hours chasing Phil down the hill.

Since December 14^th I’ve spent more time on the hills than in the office. Two trips to Ste Anne later, one successful Christmas camp, I have to say I’m worried the season is going to fly by (oh wait doesn’t that happen every year?)

When I was growing up all I ever wanted to do was to go on a pre-christmas camp, whether it be to Europe, BC, or Quebec. This year I got to live my childhood dream and headed off to Mt. Ste Anne with Alpine Ski Club. With over 40 athletes at the camp we had a typical Eastern Townships early season ski week; we saw rain, then a flash freeze, followed by a little snow and then the typical bitter coldness of Ste Anne.

A New Year, a New Role

Shortly after that Christmas Camp started at Alpine Ski Club. This year I’ve taken on a new role. Where previously I preferred to coach and instruct the older children, I’m now in charge of the Nancy Greene Racing program; the racers between the ages of 7 and 10. I’m following the Canadian Ski Coaching Federation’s mandate and promoting my kids to learn basic ski skills, to spend less time in gates and to spend more time free skiing. Even though it’s early in the season I think I can say with some certainty that already there is a positive change in the athletes skiing.

Recognize when you need to make a change

But my season hasn’t been all ‘ups.’ This season has started off slowly with respect to my own progress. With all new equipment I’ve been struggling to be comfortable on snow. Phil has been extremely patient with me, listening to my whining, whinging and flat-out complaining. Alas I have found equipment that works and I have rediscovered my love for the sport. From learning the lesson the hard way, I have to say that if your equipment doesn’t feel like it is working than do something about it, change it and trust me you will be happier.

Looking forward I am excited for the trips to Ste Anne, to continue working every weekend with my Athletes and Coaches, and to spending as much time as I can skiing with my favourite person.

Time flies… when you spend all your non-working awake time on the slopes

It’s hard to believe that 2 months have passed since my last post – and so much has changed. For starters, my shoulder is healing nicely and I’m now pain free all the time. I still can’t sleep on my left shoulder, but i’m able to ski without restrictions – although it’s not strong enough to carry gates.

According to my surgeon, I’ll go back under the knife around April – or when I’m sure the ski season is done. Apparently the second surgery is pretty simple. They slice open my scar and uncork the 4 screws then slide out the hook plate.

The healing process should be fast – and apparently i’ll be swinging a golf club within a month.

I’ve already worked two level 1 courses this season and will be starting a third tonight at the North York Ski Centre. It’s a night course – so I’ll be traveling back and forth three nights this week and next. I’ve really enjoyed teaching the courses and had the opportunity to run the whole show (as a master course conductor) over the holidays at Mansfield.

I was given the opportunity to shadow part of a level 2 course over the holidays as well and hope to do more of these this season.

I knew my original season plan would change after my accident, but I’m surprised by the fact that despite everything, I’ve already been on snow about 25 days.

The other change in my season plan is that I’m no longer working at Alpine Ski Club.  I’m unable to coach and I was told they had plenty of instructors already.  I was hoping to fill in occasionally and do bell and run some sessions, but unfortunately it hasn’t worked out and I’ve become a free agent.

For the first time in years, I’m free to ski and go wherever I want.

Sasha & I just came back from a level 4 camp in Ste-Anne and I’m booking a weekend trip to Whiteface in two weeks. I’m loving this new freedom and plan on doing 2 more camps at Ste-Anne and at least one more weekend road trip.

Apparently some traveling ski clubs do upwards of 5 trips a year to Quebec, Vermont, and out West. This will definitely be something to consider for next year.

I’ve also decided not to go on the level 4 exams this year.  I’m realistic with where my abilities are at, and although I’m skiing better than I ever have right now, there are obvious gaps I need to overcome first.

I’m focused on the big prize – but I’m patient enough to wait my turn

This weekend is the start of the speed events for the men are in Lake Louise, AB for a downhill, the women they are over in Aspen for a GS and Slalom downhill

Who to watch for?

The obvious choice is Bode Miller; the American is thirsty for a win. But the Canadian’s are at home. Last year Jan Hudec took top spot but others to look out for are Eric Guay, John Kucera, and Manuel Osborne-Paradis. Being the host country our younger, development athletes may have the chance to either fore-run or even get a chance to race!

On the women’s side look out for Lindsey Vonn. She’s in her home country, she’s recovering from an injury and she loves to ski fast. Canadian’s to watch, Shona Reubens, Emily Brydon and Gen Simard.

Levi, Finland: November 15^th and 16^th

Two weeks ago there were slalom events over in Finland. Lindsey Vonn took top spot on the women’s side, winning both runs. On the men’s side the top spot  was taken by Jean-Baptiste Grange followed by American Bode Miller.

For Canadians it was an exciting race. Our most decorated technical skier, Thomas Grandi, came out of retirement and raced for the first time in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Disappointed by his result Grandi looks forward to progressing and improving throughout the season.

I’m looking forward to this weekend, technical and speed, can’t ask for much more!

After three days of indoor ski training I can’t wait to get on the snow.

This passed weekend Phil and I were fortunate to participate in two events, the Canadian Ski Instructors (CSIA) Technical Update for the Ontario Region and the CSIA Ontario Development Day; on Friday I was on my own at the Alpine Ontario Coaching update.

Here are the highlights of the three days:

Alpine Ontario’s Coaching Update:

• Safety is priority No. 1: Bruce Hamstead, Alpine Canada’s Race Quality Coordinator gave an update on the netting for races. Unfortunately there have been many horrific crashes in recent years resulting in devastating injury, including Matthias Lanzinger who wants to sue FIS. More locally, Hamstead asked that together we be more aware where we set courses and ski, allowing ample room for falls
• Back to Basics: Benoit Lalonde, Alpine Canada’s National Director Tim Gfeller, Head coach of the Development Canadian Women’s Ski Team, and Pierre Ruel, Canadian Ski Coaching Federation’s (CSCF) Technical Director asked all of us in the room as coaches to teach our athletes to ski. Unfortunately as coaches we typically teach our kids to go fast and not how to be good skiers
• Hard First vs. Building Confidence: Two very different coaching tactics were presented. Tim presented about building confidence with the development team and Pierre presented the training program of Britt Janyk , where they put her on difficult terrain and increased the difficulty. But which one is better? Neither, the point is to recognize what stage your athletes are at. Tim has a new set of racers coming to the NorAm, Europa Cup and World Cup circuit and he needs to build their confidence. Britt has been a World Cup champion and needs to be challenged to continue to excel

It was a two-day update but unfortunately I could only make it to the first day. However, after talking to my colleagues I was told that Dr. Steven Norris’ mental training presentation was fantastic. I’m hoping to get into contact with Dr. Norris for a brief on his presentation.

The CSIA Technical Update
This day was really for the Level 4’s but a few of us were invited to listen to what John Gillies, the Eastern Program Director for the CSIA and Martin Jean CSIA Program Director had to say.

• Our Mission: after 8 years the CSIA has decided to update our mission statement. The president of the Canadian CSIA board of directors presented that the CSIA is an organization that is in the business of “setting the standard for the profession of ski teaching.” Supported by a vision and value system (which should be up on their website soon) is the root in the change of how the CSIA will teach new instructors
• Consistency: Last year the CSIA introduced a new evaluation scheme. Based on the CSCF marking scheme, the CSIA adapted the IACrCV Model
• Moving Forward: No longer is the CSIA perceived to be overly conservative or boring. It is time to meet the needs of our skiing public, to work in conjunction with the CSCF and CASI (our snowboarding partners). Along with that the CSIA has remodeled the Level 3 and 4 exams to better suit the needs of the candidates.

CSIA Ontario Professional Development Day
Although the CSIA is a national wide organization, certain aspects are managed and designated to the regions. The annual CSIA Ontario PD day was held again at Georgian College. Here are some highlights:

• Movement and Motion: “…all terrain, any condition, free to choose lines with economy of effort…” is a new technical slogan being socialized by John Gilles. Inspired by Pierre Ruel and the CSCF who coined their slogan as “… to get from the start to finish as fast as possible, without falling and without supervision.” What they both mean is that as skiers we need to constantly be moving through the turn and ready to adapt to anything
• Visualization: whether it be on course, on exams, or in a race course, visualize yourself being successful. Steve Young interviewed Britt Janyk and asked her how she visualized success? She said to learn to visualize start by thinking about an orange, from the smell, to the spray, to the texture
• New Website and Fan Page: Our Ontario Board has done a great job at creating a much more intuitive and interactive website as well as a Facebook fan page. Phil has taken on the marketing portfolio this summer for the Ontario board and was heavily involved in launching both

Overall I have to say the CSIA and CSCF are becoming more aligned. Both John Gillies and Pierre Ruel have been working closely together so that the two alliances are more symmetric.

The Level 1 Course Conductor Training is November 16th, it will be interesting to see who is teaching again this year and what our regional goals are.

It’s the middle of summer and already I’m ‘itching’ to get back on the snow. For some of us this is the year that we are going to do a course and exams. Whether it is the Level 2, 3, or 4 and even though we love what we do, the exams are always stressful.

Last year I decided to go and try the Level 4 exams. I had a great week out at Mt Ste Anne with fresh snow most days and great ski companions. I learned a lot about myself, how I coped with the stress of exams and what you need to surround yourself with to be successful.

My fellow examinees.

I was surrounded by people who were coping with the stress differently. For some people this was their first time on exams for others they had been there before, but everyone was working towards the same goal.

There were the internal people; you would see them off on the side of the hill, some with music, some muttering to themselves, and some just looking off into the distance. There were also more outgoing people who wanted to chat, to dance and to sing at the top of the hill. Others seemed very tense standing in the group but really found there element once teaching or sliding. And there were individuals who just seemed like they were out for a casual ski with friends.

How did I get through my set of exams?

Off snow is when your head really starts to play games with you. You think about your last run, the advice you gave a friend or the tip you provided in your lesson. You can guess and you can second guess yourself, but it is more about looking forward.

To manage it all I surrounded myself with good friends and thought about the support network back home. I roomed with a fellow ski coach from Alpine and together we drew strength from each other. We had breakfast together each morning, met for lunch, and then regrouped at the end of the day. We were a little team.

Checking my email, text messages and voice mail was also encouraging. So many people had sent me inspiring messages reminding me why I loved teaching and skiing.

I also blogged about my adventures on the snow each day. It allowed me to really express what happened each day and reflect. There were always many positive elements; good snow here, good run there and great friends both new and old.

My advice.

Whether you are preparing for a CSIA or CSCF course there are key elements to having successful exams. Practice the skiing skills. Practice the teaching. Organize your thoughts. Organize your equipment. Remember to tell yourself that at the end of the day you are doing this because you love to ski. And remember to measure success not necessarily on the final results but upon what you learned, who you met, and how much fun you really had.

About a month ago I was taking a leisurely bike ride through the Toronto trails and decided to head north to the DVP trail to extend my ride on what was shaping up to be a rare and beautiful Sunday afternoon.

I was first surprised by how narrow the path became in several sections and had to slow down & adjust my approach several times to avoid dangerous situations.

Unfortunately, I made one too few adjustments.

Approaching a downhill near pottery road on the DVP bike path, I noticed two mountain bikers coming in the opposite direction and taking up the entire path. They seemed distracted and oblivious to their surroundings.

I shouted ahead and applied my brakes 

Both bikers saw me and moved to the other side of the path allowing me to release my brakes and pass them on the downhill. What happened next was unexplainable – at the last second one of the mountain bikers drifted right into my path – forcing me off the bike path to avoid a head-on collision. 

Unfortunately I couldn’t regain control of my bike as I almost immediately caught a tree-branch with my right arm which sent me over my handle bars. Fortunately both my feet unclipped automatically from my pedals, but unfortunately I landed shoulder first on a boulder. 

Laying sprawled out on the pavement all I could do was curse.

My helmet was scratched, my knuckles were bleeding and I became suddenly aware that my shoulder didn’t feel quite right. 

As it turns out, I had separated my shoulder which l later found out is very different from a shoulder dislocation.

Although it doesn’t usually require surgery, i had a 19.2mm separation and the likelihood of regaining full mobility and strength would be small without surgery.

Here’s what it looked like before surgery: 

I opted for surgery and had a hook plate with 4 screws inserted into my shoulder to bring the bones back into alignment.

It’s been a few weeks since the surgery and although I’m still relatively uncomfortable and can’t yet sleep a full night, I’m seeing steady progress and have been cleared to start rehab so that I can be on Skis by early December.  

It will be a good six months before I mostly recover and at least one year before I go back under the knife to have the plate removed. 

Although the accident was completely avoidable, things could have been a lot worse and I’m thankful that I can return to a regular & active lifestyle soon. 

When I do get back on my bike and ride the roads again, you can bet that I’ll be avoiding the dual-purpose paths around the city. I’ve had too many close calls with people who walk without looking and in my specific incident, people who bike without awareness.

I’m thankful to have Sasha who has been unbelievably supportive.  She even took a week off work right after the accident to help me manage and even now after three weeks of restless nights she’s continues to be there for me. I was half expecting her to ship me out to my mother’s place after the first week of sleeping in 15 minute increments  

On the up side of the situation, I’ve been off the hook to mow the lawn, do the dishes, clean the house and take out the garbage. Maybe this recovery thing isn’t so bad after all…

How many times have you had ‘too much’ sun on the slopes while having fun? Remembering sunscreen in the winter is not easy; most of us associate sunscreen with the beach and summer. But that’s not to say that leaving our faces exposed is a good thing.

Between the sun and the reflection of the sun off of the snow we subject our faces to an extreme amount of UV rays everyday we are out on the hill. And it is not just the sunny days, the cloudy days have UV rays flowing through too; between 70% and 80% of the harmful UV-A & UV-B rays pass through the clouds.

To complicate it even more the UV ray intensity actually increases as you increase in elevation, and some of the best skiing is at higher elevations. For every 1000ft (333m) you climb you increase the UV ray intensity by 4%.

What can you do to protect your skin?

Recently I started using Bethesda Sunscreen Soap.  Loaded with vitamins and minerals that your skin needs it also protects your skin with a layer of SPF 10. Using a unique vitamin formula, called ALL ONE Vitamins, the soap has many vitamins including the essentials, Vitamin A, C, and E, as well as minerals such as selenium and zinc. The four basic ingredients are Aloe Vera as an immunity booster, chlorophyll as a natural cleanser and deodorizer, Balm of Gilead to soothe and disinfect and glycerin as a hydroscopic moisturizer.

I have very sensitive skin and was careful in beginning to use the soap. I started with my hands and then tested a patch near my ears. No reactions and my skin looks and feels so much better. Unlike some other soaps that I have used on my face it doesn’t strip it of moisture and it doesn’t leave an oily feeling either.

I’ll try to remember to throw a bottle of sunscreen in my day ski this year. But at least by using the soap daily I have provided my skin healthy nutrients and a layer of defense.

It’s that time of year again, the days are getting shorter, the sun doesn’t seem as warm and there is a certain chill in the air. It is that time of year here in Southern Ontario where the artic ari currents seem to drop down again. 

While out running, biking and hiking I can picture the trees wrapped in a blanked of white, fluffy snow. I think of my first tracks and what they might feel like.

That arctic chill in the air is my reminder that winter and skiing are just around corner.

After a 90 minute hike in our ski boots with our skis over our shoulders, we arrived at near the top of the Whakappa Volcano in New Zealand

We had the option of continuing our hike, but with massive clouds moving in and visibility going from super awesome to super sketchy, we decided to take this picture and drop into a chute that would lead us back safely to the main lodge.