ski and travel blog

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.

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!

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… 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

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.

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.

Skiing Whakappa in New Zealand – it was an epic view. When the crowds showed up and the lineups went from 15 minutes to 55, we decided to hike to the top. We’ll show you the picture from the top in our next post.

Beauty, eh?

That’s what we thought too – until our skis sunk about 4 inches and hit black Volcano rock. Skiing was still epic – but we had to be careful about going anywhere off piste for fear of completely wrecking our skis.  This was taken on the North island of New Zealand

Turoa and Whakappa (to pronounce it correctly, replace the “wh” with “ph”), on opposing sides of Mt. Ruapehu, are the two most popular ski resorts in New Zealand. Turoa ski resort, on the North Island’s Mt Ruapehu currently has 4.65metres of snow surpassing the largest ever snow base at any ski area in New Zealand of 4.55 metres which they had announced on 19th August.

After a week of driving from Auckland last summer, this amazing Volcano rose from the grassy farmlands into the sky. It was an amazing site to see.

The skiing was ok too… but the base was still pretty thin so we managed to trash our edges pretty effectively.