Banff 11 Week Snowboard Instructor Course ‘07 – Week 7
by Justin Anderson and Sarah Abbott
Monday 5th
Just a regular day on the hill…stories of sick board slides, 360s, tree rails, grabs and bonks! Oh, and coughing up blood. The XL took its first casualty of the group and has put a hold on Dom’s riding for a couple weeks. Riding with two broken ribs is too painful, even for him.
Tuesday 6th
Conditions at Norquay weren’t the greatest today so a few of the boys went looking for alternative ways of getting down a hill. The ingredients for this little adventure included a plank of wood, a bike frame and some screws. Fun, fun, fun!
Wednesday 7th
Today five of the group achieved another CASI qualification for carving. It had been all about the ‘pencil lines’ for the last 2 weeks and thankfully the hard work paid off. Thanks to Marc for getting us super prepped!
Thursday 8th
Today it was time to test the riding of the group against our closest rivals. Peak Leaders, Base Camp and International Academy riders all met us up at Sunshine for a border cross race. As predicted it was an all Nonstop final, Keith V Leland. But with a $150 bar tab at Trappers – that was all the Scotsman needed to turn on the gas! Again, thanks to our instructors for setting up the gates and organising the event – its official, we have THE best instructors. In Canada some say. It was out to Bumpers for dinner then onto the Paddock for the evenings entertainment. This basically involved a load of English snow bums ransacking the town for random items, getting a little naked and coercing MacDonalds employees, all in the name of a scavenger hunt (other fast food retailers are available).
Friday 9th
Some made it to the hill. Some didn’t.
Saturday 10th
What a beautiful day. Spring is well on the way but lets hope we get another dump before its time to say goodbye.
Sunday 11th
One less hour to dream about throwing down sick moves in the park today as the clocks went forward for daylight saving. Two members of the group (who would prefer to remain anonymous, for fear of repercussions) moved to the dark side for the morning. They donned their all-in-ones and hit the cross-country ski trail behind The Banff Springs.
The group went back to basics for a night, camping in Alberta’s wilderness this evening. When the guides gave us the pep talk about picking suitable ground to pitch our tents, it appears there were a few who forgot to listen. Or maybe they just wanted to get real close to nature and decided camping by a river wasn’t enough – they preferred to pitch their tent in one! Others were guilty of not listening to the part about not getting ‘too drunk’. I think some people would put my name on that list, oops! The fondue, the log fire and the stars were just some of the highlights of the evening! Good times.
Monday 12th
It was an early start for the campers, and a loud one! We were woken by the soothing sound of fireworks as Chad let off a couple of bear flares to wake up the group. We did our best to pack up the tents and our gear in the dark and left the campsite just as the sun was rising. The aim was to get breakfast in Canmore and make it back to Banff in time to catch the last bus up to the hill. Only one person made it out though. So why did we all vote for a 6am wake up?
