Category Archives: friends

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).

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.

around home, Canada, friends, snow

Winter sports variety

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After a getting a couple of concerned emails worrying that I had dropped off the radar (thanks Mother), maybe I should update this.  Looking back, it seems that I’ve been busier than it feels like.  There was the weekly session at the local bouldering gym last Thursday – it would be nice if I was progressing.  Alas, as I have no technique & no “measurable upper-body strength” there are a few problems in the numerical progression that I’m finding fiendishly difficult to get past the second-to-last hold.

Joel, Kristy & I hiked off to Calgary last Friday evening to watch a hockey game (that’s ice hockey for those down in the bottom of the world that don’t realise that hockey here is played on ice & quite the big deal as far as sports go).  After searching too many grocery stores for corned silverside (I still maintain that all the Safeways around here must share the same supply chain) with no luck (who would have thought that would be so hard to find in this part of the world – I thought they loved beef in Alberta) we picked up Karin (a friend of Kristy & Joel) before heading to the Saddledome.  For my first hockey game attendance, it was the Calgary Hitmen against the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL (Western Hockey League – the highest level of junior competition around these parts).  Some of the hits & fights were pretty good, but the game as a sporting spectacle couldn’t really hold my interest – but the skating ability was quite amazing.  I hope my disappointment was mainly due to the Hitmen getting spanked by five goals to one & not with the sport itself.  Apparently the Hitmen are defending champions, but you would have hard time trying to convince me of that on Friday night.  Nonetheless, it was good night out of the valley.

After quite the sleep in on Saturday for most of us, the four of us headed out for a short day of skiing at Sunshine.  We got to Banff before some muppet realised that he’d forgotten his pass & we wasted forty minutes going back to Canmore to get it.  Eventually we were skiing by one o’clock – I don’t think any of us were too fussed with our lazy schedule (I tell myself that so I don’t feel guilty about wasted skiing time) as all afternoon it stuck around -15ºC.  Pleasantly, there was no wind & that temperature wasn’t quite as bad as I would have thought.  The good thing about it being pretty chilly was that the lift lines were really short & we could fit a lot of runs in to our short time (there was a little more snow than a fortnight ago, but it’s still pretty bare in parts).  The last few runs of the day were off the Divide chair & these were the best – but also the coldest as it seemed to be the most exposed.  Getting home, it wasn’t long before we all assembled again for a nice little dinner party with yet another Australian added to the group – there were quite a few very strong accents assaulting my ears!  Good food, good wine & great company – all in all an excellent day.  [Sunday was a write-off with a lazy morning sleeping in & then the afternoon on the couch attacking the thousand-page book & watching movies.]

Since the weekend I’ve been for my first skate & XC ski of the season – finally.  Perhaps inspired by the hockey, it was time to drag the skates out & have a go.  As it takes me ages to relearn how to skate every few years, I was pleased that I wasn’t quite as bad as I remembered – but by no means was I any good.  I’m just home from a quick lap at the Nordic Center under lights – my waxing of the XC skis seems to have been adequate; perhaps a little more grip wax is in order for next time, but that could just be lack of skill.  I may be a lot fitter than January, but it was nowhere near as exhausting as I remember; being alone may have reduced the pace a bit.  Either way, it was hell boring (as I correctly remember) – but it serves the purpose of getting me out of the house after work exercising & will keep me semi-fit for the next riding season & it was a beautiful evening to be staring at the surrounding mountains.