Understandably there were huge celebrations following the success of level one exams – I think the town of Banff wondered what had hit them with all of these newly qualified ski and snowboard instructors!
After an exhausting week, many of the seasonaires took a welcome rest before starting to focus on level two. Some enthusiastic skiers did decide to take lessons from the snowboarders – maybe we’ll have a few converts!
Having had a pretty mild season so far, Banff was suddenly hit with a couple of days of -30 temperatures. It was a real test of commitment for everyone to get out on to the ski hills and frequent hot chocolate stops seemed to help.
READ WEEK 7
By Sally Morely
Week 5, and the NONSTOP candidates are bricking themselves as their Level
1 approaches! The focus this week has been on teaching and learning how to spot each others skiing weaknesses and correct them with drills and top tips.
The evening classes are going well with participants wandering the streets speaking dodgy French and randomly offering each other massages.
Wednesday saw about 20 of us head over to Pass Powder Keg for night skiing. We spent the evening attempting synchro skiing and throwing ourselves off jumps in the terrain park. The bad lighting in the park didn’t help the jumpers but it did provide some amusement for the spectators. Afterwards we hit the bar for a little re-hydration and a challenge to drink it dry. I’m not sure if we succeeded but most of us were in a bit of a mess by the time we left. On the bus home, a few encouraging words from Dave saw us duly jumping around in the aisle and seat surfing all the way back to Fernie to a selection of cheesy tunes.
On Friday night we threw all the boys out of one of the houses and had a girly night in. Having discussed them all in detail we then went to the pub to catch up with them all again and let them buy us drinks!
Saturday was the theory part of the Avalanche course. There was a huge amount of information to put across and Dave had his work cut out with a very tired and hung over audience after Friday’s party, but he presented the material excellently and we are all looking forward to the practical part of the course next weekend.
READ WEEK 7
By Sam Cole
With our CASI Level 1 just around the corner we had to fine tune our riding and then basically forget everything and demonstrate beginner turns. Luckily the instructors know what they’re on about and everyone’s improving incredibly quickly eh? Wednesday we went to nearby resort Kimberley, 2 hours on the good old NONSTOP bus. There was an easily accessible terrain park, which inevitably led to a fun day. After a few beers on the bus home it was an early night for myself!
Thursday night we were treated to tobogganing! After a couple of sketchy runs on the unstoppable yellow death sled, I decided maybe sitting in the snow staring at the stars with a cold beer was the way to go!
We arrived in Calgary Friday evening and were treated to beer and pizza at the hostel before heading to the Saddledome for the hockey match. Bit of a different experience from watching Fernie Ghostriders although the chanting never got more creative than “go flames go” and I can’t imagine TV advert breaks catching on in football back home! Calgary Flames won 3-2 after sudden death overtime, GO FLAMES GO!!!!! After the hockey we headed to a rock club and the rest is a bit of a blur but I’m sure it was a good night! The next morning we had a nice greasy Canadian breakfast and hit the shops.
Back in Fernie we’ll soon be level 1 instructors if it all goes to plan, just pray to the Griz!
Right on.
READ WEEK 6
Fairly quiet week this week as everyone seemed to be concentrating on their level 1 training…aghhhhh! All of us passed our skiers level 1 exam so we’re feeling pretty jubilant and also relieved.
The sun has been shining, making everything that little bit easier. Lets hope the cold front doesn’t appear for next week. 14 of us went dog sledding on the weekend and it was simply magical! Well worth the money and the dogs were very cute- although a couple were in need of some grooming!
A small group did find time to travel down to Calgary too and watch a very popular Canadian sport – the ice hockey. The Calgary Flames took on the Mighty Anaheim Ducks…and won. Good fun, great atmosphere but disappointingly, none of the traditional fights!
READ WEEK 6
By Gene Conroy-Jones
What a brilliant week! After 6 weeks of intense training, well as intense as a holiday gets, Friday night was a mixture of excitement and relief. We all waited anxiously, being summoned individually to receive the results, fingers crossed that that none of our buddies had failed. The fantastic news is that everyone passed their Level 1 instructor qualification. We are now proudly strutting our stuff around the resort, wearing our instructor badges with pride.
Tom | February 26th, 2006
