All posts by bpheasant

around home, Canada, friends

If 1-1-11 is anything to go by

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This year is going to be a cracker – a sentiment that has been echoed quite a few times today already.  I couldn’t believe how many people (a couple of thousand at least) were out skating on the pond at around -20ºC, but the ice was chocker for New Year’s Eve.  The fires around the side were pretty popular & my skating is slowly getting better – even if I did take my first, & due to the date – last, fall of the year.  After the rather cute fireworks & suitable oohs & aahs, it was time to retire for a nice big sleep before the first ski of 2011.  Here’s a picture shamelessly stolen from Alex, that goes a little way to showing how crowded the ice was – avoiding all those people had its moments.

I was pleased to see the weather forecast was predicting slightly warmer temperatures & even more pleased to have a ski buddy in town who wasn’t working.  Alex (got to love the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend connection when you are travelling; another Aussie too, have I met a single Kiwi since I’ve been living here?) [& yes, that is another Alex, just to confuse things] is over here putting in a few months of intense boarder-cross training & competition.  The twenty centimetres of snow over the last week had the hill in a much improved condition than previously this season.  Skiing a whole day with only one other person & that person being much more experienced than me was great for my skiing.  I went on a whole heap of runs I haven’t been on before & was regularly challenged by some of the terrain I found myself on.  Not really related to that, I somehow took my biggest dive yet – I hit one of the few sections of crusted powder left untouched a little too fast & somehow lost my skis & went flying a couple of metres forward.  Thankfully Alex didn’t see that & could only watch as I, rather bemused, turned & recovered my skis & poles.  Goat’s Eye was also perhaps the most improved part of the resort & there were quite a few runs to be had down there in relative peace & quiet.  Other/original-Canmore-Alex (to me anyway) also joined us for a couple of runs.

Back in town we headed to the Hotel (more of a pub really) for (new)Alex’s first poutine & some beers.  I believe I have already declared my love of poutine here before a number of times – this particular incarnation didn’t disappoint either.  Now after a little relaxing, dinner cooked & eaten it’s off to bed to rest up so I can do it all again tomorrow.  Well, not quite the same – Alex (original, I’m getting confused already) & I are going backcountry off the back of Sunshine to Citadel Pass.  I’m not sure I really know what that means either – but then I am slightly tired.

around home, friends, snow

A little more skiing & snow

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One last post for the year – Christmas was nice & quiet as I imagined it would be up at Sunshine.  It was calm & warm & clear (it got a little overcast in the afternoon) – I left my down jacket in the car & didn’t even regret it.  Early(ish) morning the parking lot was relatively empty & all the lifties were in good spirits wishing people a Merry Christmas & some even were dancing as you came to the top of Strawberry.  There were a few costumes on the slopes as well – Santa, of course; a Yeti; and some guy that looked like he had a lynx skin on his head.  There still wasn’t a lot of snow, but I had a good time & got a lot of runs in; Alex joined me briefly between some of his jobs.

It was still pretty warm on Sunday, but I was exhausted from all the skiing the previous day (I don’t think I’ve ever had a Christmas that was so active, for once the Energy In to Energy Out ratio must have been above unity).  So a good day for lazing around ploughing (damn this continent – I don’t know how to spell anymore; I thought it should be plough, but the spellchecker says plow & now I am confused) through my book – I’ve almost finished the epic.  It’s been an interesting walk through England’s (more particularly, Salisbury’s) notable events from prehistory onwards – & it’s always nice to finish a 1000+ page book, there’s been a few this year.  I digress, we (Steve, Alex & I) did make it out to the Nordic Center that night for a quick lap around under the lights – once again it wasn’t really cold.

We finally got some decent snow yesterday & the mercury has dropped a good twenty degrees Celsius – so hopefully the skiing will be better in the New Year.  Another good sign that it’s a little nippy is when you go to unplug your car, you can’t coil up the extension lead as it has lost all of its pliability – despite having had a standard current running through it all day.  Have a great 2011 – I hope you’re as excited about it as I am (on that note, I’m trying to work out what to buy first for the roadtrip – a GPS for riding, a SPOT personal tracker or a GoPro helmet cam – the SPOT is the cheapest & available locally, so it might be that).

family

Merry Christmas!

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Shortly after posting my last update I suddenly realised I hadn’t wished that rare breed of people (those who read these musings) a great holiday season.  So, Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year; I hope you get to spend it with loved family or friends or both.

My first Christmas cards turned up yesterday (now that I have others, I’m not counting the one from the Plant Manager here).  Along with a very sweet one from my grandfather in Sydney mentioning how much he misses my grandmother (she has had dementia for a few years now & is in residential care), Mum had slipped in a DVD of home movies from our 1987 trip around England & Scotland in with her card.  Once I started watching it last night, I had to go all the way to the end, little realising that it was almost two hours long.  It’s precious viewing – with many occurrences that have since entered Pheasant family legend.  The first half in particular is quite amusing as it has much of the family that I spent time with last year in England looking twenty-three years younger & thinner (& in some cases, alive).  [Megan, there is even some short footage of your grandparents.]

Unfortunately, the episode of almost-rolling the rental car isn’t quite on there, but you can see the narrow flooded, un-paved lanes we were traveling down.  Only once do you hear me launch in to my catch-cry of “P for Parking!”.  Every time we are near a farm (we seemed to stay on quite a few while touring) there is a brief summary (usually from Dad) of stock levels, farm size, wintering arrangement & so on – that’s to be expected really.  There are many shots of Dad leading Adele & I (we were 2 & 4 years old at the time, strangely I was still blond at this time) off in to the distance while Mum gets the shots she wanted.  I could go on, but while it may be compulsory Pheasant-family viewing it doesn’t really fit in to the compulsory family viewing category that is so popular at this time of year.

Have a good one.

around home, bikes, Canada, Europe, family, friends, MTB, snow, travel, UK

Twenty-ten summary

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I’ve spent a lot of time this week sending out a rather brief attempt at a Christmas letter (about my only concession so far that Christmas is quite soon; actually, I did send some gifts home but they may be a bit late, oops).  It really is just my take on my year & trying to remind people back home I still exist & if I’m lucky I might get some NZ (or whereever) news back.  Without further ado & my being distracted by many classic Brit comedy moments, here it is.

This Christmas finds me well away from any family (immediate or extended) for the first time – I’m still not sure exactly how I came to be living in Canada.  Never mind, it was a great rushed decision – I thoroughly enjoyed a summer chocked full of mountain-biking (& a little hiking).  Now winter is slowly rolling around – well, it’s cold but there’s not all that much snow yet; so the next few months of skiing promise to be almost as good.  For those that haven’t been keeping up with my ramblings here are a few of the many highlights of 2010 for me.

  • Ten days in Madrid & further south exploring & conversing with Spaniards trying to overcome their Spanglish.
  • Many many days spent exploring London & spending time with friends & family.

Here in Canmore I supported myself for a few months with all manner of temporary jobs before starting at a cement plant (pretty much the only industry around here) – where I still am enjoying it & I hope to be there until my visa expires in May.  I’m trying to contain my excitement with respect to next summer’s three-month mountain-bike oriented road-trip around the western USA & British Columbia.  I’ll be back in London in August next year – after that, I don’t know.

Still being distracted, damn it.