Red Mountain 11 Week Ski Instructor Course ‘06 – Week 4
By Abigail Wright (Warning: This is very long but a great read!)
Mon Jan 30th WET MONDAY
Eurgh, like skiing through slush puppy. Everyone is soaked to the knickers by mid-morning but hey, a little rain can’t hurt us – we’re British (mostly). Group members are dropping like flies though as wringing wet gloves are not conducive to fun. Ski pants are’nt supposed to squelch on chair lifts are they? The snow boarders pack up and leave at lunch time (they’re a bunch of light weights) which makes our group the champions as we stick it out until the last chair of the day. My new mittens come storming through, warm as toast!
Evening technical session at the frat house about learning styles although it somehow
turns into us learning how to moon walk by numbers followed by watching a DVD of people throwing themselves into the snow and a bloke who looks like a yeti tearing through fresh powder with spray up to his considerable eyebrows. Followed by ‘the trailer park boys’ A popular Canadian TV show.
Tue Jan 31st : FROZEN TUESDAY
Oh yes, the temp dropped last night and all that slush froze into corrugated iron. Luckily, as Motherlode chair was closed yesterday, the top of the mountain was in usual top form – deep, soft white powder. My skis are beginning to behave themselves at last, I’ve sort of got steering sorted. Another odd afternoon of people leaving early so Bob and I had Jason to ourselves, lucky man! This afternoon the first of the ‘first tracks’ groups go up the summit hut for a night of beer, flame grilled steak, digging a loo out of snow and ultimately being the first on the mountain in the morning. The rest of us head to Trail for the ice hockey extravaganza that is Trail Smoke Eaters V Vernon Vipers, Smokies lose 2-3, perhaps they miss Gene’s encouragement. The 50/50 is won by the game sponsors, a fix? It’s really snowing – those boys in the hut are in for a treat.
Wed Feb 1st VROOOM.
A belated start of a trailer related nature at the snowmobile shed allows us plenty of time to sign our credit cards away and take photo’s of Sarah and me in our smashing crash helmets looking unnervingly like Wallace (not Grommit). The boys all have fancy full
face affairs with go faster stripes. Oooh, get them! Thirty minute drive north? of Red to where we start our adventure. We’re shown how to start and stop our skidoos which are massive, and how to turn on the hand warmers (hurray) except I get the beast without hand, or seat warmers – still, fancy new mits! (Snow mobile matches red duffer helmet
though so bonus marks for accessorizing). Useful Al makes himself useful by driving the machines on and off the trailers and cleaning snow from the steps of the cabin, obviously doesn’t have enough to do. A slightly nervy start, you have to really rev the things, but soon we’re hammering along. I manage to avoid the sneaky tree, Hairy Dave decides
that the field of hip deep powder is more interesting than following Jason the guide’s tracks (a real Canadian, says ‘aboot’ and everything), Shane is determined to roll his and poor Good Hair Al gets stuck bringing up the rear, breathing in everybody’s exhaust fumes. Iron Mike is taking the first day of his retirement very seriously and now gets a
strange glint in his eye at the mere sound of a two stroke engine. Everyone has fun digging snow mobiles out of snow deep enough to get lost in. Scenery is beautiful – what a day – sunshine. We all stink of petrol when we finally get back for tea.
Thurs Feb 2nd
Lessons again, we’re all concentrating on our own focus and demonstrating to each other in preparation for the level 1 in a week and some time. Jason has the video camera so we get to watch our progress, as does everybody else in paradise lodge, at lunch time. Pilates in the evening run by Kirsty Exner (a quite good freeskier…). She is mad keen on sit ups this evening, and press ups – think I might die. I look about to see a dozen shaking bodies and Adrian flat out on his mat, not just me then! I manage to join the secret boy boarder club and get a lift up to the Rock Cut Bar for ‘wing nite’. The hot wings are vicious.
I think the whole house is glad that Dave chose not to go for the ring o fire flavor. Early to bed, Cat skiing in the morning.
Fri Feb 3rd
Meet Useful Al at stupid o’clock for Cat ski adventure. Scary briefing and waver signing then practice using transceivers – we’ve all done the avalanche course though and are proper experts. A 40 min drive in a great steel box strapped to the back of a piste groomer going up, and up, the trees are at the wrong angle! I begin to feel as though I’m going up the tracks of a roller coaster, I feel quite sick by the time we get out. Sunshine again. Lots of snow, loads of very dense trees and not a single track from anybody else. Cool. By far the most difficult skiing I’ve ever done but I manage, mostly. Adrian is a star and skis very slowly to make sure I’m OK. Only a couple of hairy moments…20 foot drop with nothing to save me from certain death but my skis, crossed on either side of a tree trunk, whilst lying down in an attempt to reach dropped pole. Borrowed fat skis for the powder, they’re ace.
Sat Feb 4th
Lazy, lazy day. Breakfast with Shane and Good hair Al then very expensive shopping (new thermals, ooh, sexy). Trip to Trail for dinner at the Colander ‘Spaghetti and more… a Trail tradition’. Trail needs a new tradition! Then off to the Rossland Canadian Legion for darts, pool and shuffle board. Saturday nights here are crazy. I walk past Rossland’s wild and out of control youth on my way home, they all say hello.
Sun Feb 5th\par Up to the mountain to practice and play. New thermals work a treat but not able to ski for long as my legs have not yet recovered from Friday’s exertions. Home to water proof my walking boots and watch the adverts on during the super bowl. Hurray, Bob is back from his ski holiday(?) in Utah. Just waiting for Gene and Peter and we’re back to a full team.
