You’d be forgiven for not noticing that the Super Bowl was on last night, American Football is hardly front page news in the U.K (except when Janet Jackson’s nipples are involved) but Sunday’s Super Bowl set a new record for the largest U.S. television audience for a single broadcast – 111 million tuned in! The only time I’ve watched (or took any interst in) an American Football match was in Whistler when I worked as a snowboard instructor. After a morning lesson with my clients we retreated to the G.L.C – voted the #1 Apres bar in North America and commenced drinking jugs of Kokanee and chomping on hot dogs – good times! After the Super Bowl Whistler put on its weekly ‘Fire & Ice’ Show – an awesome visual feast of Whistler’s Ski & Snowboarding instructors throwing down some gnarly tricks through a great big ring of fire…basically a snowy circus! This seasons Nonstop crew on our 11 week instructor course in Whistler were there for the showdown.

Besides skiing, snowboarding, poutine and mounties… Canada is renowned for its obsession with ice hockey. I’d never paid much attention to it, apart from playing some awesome game on the Sega Mega Drive back in 1995, but it’s impossible to avoid in Canada. It seems to be perpetually on in every television in any bar… and it’s difficult not to become fascinated by it! The clear attraction is the fact there’s a fight pretty much every game and I guess it’s refreshing seeing guys take obscene hits and just carry on rather than some Premiership footballer clutching his leg like someone had taken a hammer to him. There’s no denying it… fights in sports are awesome! Everyone knows sport is better when it’s live, and ice hockey is no exception. Luckily in Fernie our own Red Tree Lodge is just across the road from the local ice hockey rink and the crew on our instructor courses and performance camps always become avid fans of the Fernie Ghostriders. Matches tend to be most Fridays and Saturdays and are the ideal way to kick start a night out. A somewhat less violent, but by no means less radical sport is curling. I mentioned in a previous post my surprise at how satisfying this game is. As a Scot I was pretty sure I’d have have some natural ability at this noble sport, but I was pretty far from awesome. That didn’t detract from my enjoyment though; there’s something weirdly satisfying about manically sweeping ice so a big rock can slide along it! Sports aside, Nonstop courses are jam packed with opportunities for extra activities… dog sledding, snowmobiling and winter camping are just a couple that spring to mind. If you want to experience what life in Canada is like check out what’s involved on our courses here.

This week Rupert and I drove from Fernie to Banff via the stunning Kootenay National Park to hang out with the 11 week instructor course that is in full swing there.  I’d heard from Max that this was a great bunch of people and was stoked to arrive and find a tight-knit crew who had settled well into the Banff lifestyle.  I spent Monday with Anna’s skier group at Lake Louise and was really impressed with the level of skiing – I reckon these guys will definitely be ready to go for their level 1 instructor exam next week!  I loved Lake Louise the resort – what a great range of terrain, we even managed to find a big fresh stash of powder on the backside!

Banff the town is really pretty – surrounded by spectacular mountains and a great village atmosphere with amazing restaurants and a well-known party scene.  The first night we were there we ate at Nourish, an awesome little vegetarian restaurant.  The food is amazing (though the menu is a little weird for a first-timer; they put strawberries in everything from curries and burritos to nachos and noodles!), the service is great and the prices are reasonable – definitely a highlight of my time in Banff.  Another great thing about Banff is the hot springs – such a good way to ease the cold day on the hill out of the muscles and to guarantee a solid night’s sleep (or maybe that was the huge comfy beds at Nonstop’s Banff home base Irwin’s Mountain Inn?).

On Tuesday we went to Norquay with the group.  Although smaller than the other areas, Norquay has some excellent groomers and bumps –  perfect for fine-tuning technique, so we spent the day learning how to deconstruct a lesson for a first time skier, and then analysing video footage of each of our future instructors.  There is nothing like seeing yourself on screen for improving your style – I know I benefitted from realigning my mental picture to the real picture of how I make it down the hill…  At Banff the crew is very privileged to have the time of some seriously experienced and super fun instructors – nothing but the best!

On Wednesday I enjoyed my last big brekky at El Toro’s (thanks guys!) and before heading back to Fernie I completed the Banff trio and skied with Mike’s group at Sunshine.  I can see why this area is generally acknowledged as the favourite amongst the group, the snow is soft, the views are great, and the range of terrain is too.  Though I suspect that it was the experience of the massive powder day of the week before that tips Sunshine over the other two areas!

Thanks for skiing with me guys and good luck for your exams next week!

Find out more about the Nonstop 11 week instructor courses.

The only dampener for the trip was Tuesday morning. Winds were extremely high and resulted in most of the resort closing down. We spent the morning on a wild goose chase, trying to find a lift that would allow us to at least get a couple of runs in. By lunchtime we were feeling a little disheartened, we really hadn’t had any luck. The most we had managed was a slide down a sketchy windswept green cat-track. But then we got a call from Christian, Nonstop’s course host and instructor in Serre Chevalier, and suddenly we were given a slither of hope.

In search of greater things

Christian was optimistic about our chances of getting some good riding in that afternoon, and in untouched powder no less! To me it sounded crazy, everything seemed closed and the off piste conditions I’d seen looked a little ropey. However, local knowledge goes a long way! Christian drove me, four of my companions and few other ski and snowboard instructor from Ski Connections to the far end of the resort, where there was a string of three adjoining lifts still running.

Christian had warned us all that there would be a fair amount of hiking involved and that those of us on snowboards would have to deal with a difficult traverse, but we were all prepared to take the rough with the smooth when powder was promised!

One of the less wind-swept hikes

As we ascended the final lift, Christian pointed out our first hike up a windswept ridgeline. The wispy white streaks blowing off the ridge was a pre-warning for the challenge that lay ahead!

Christian unclipped his skis and lead the way, with us following in single file behind. I was massively impressed with the sure footing of his ski boots. I followed behind with far grippier snowboard boots but managed to slip on the icy windswept boot-pack several times. Although the fall on each side of the ridge-line was by no means deadly, I really didn’t want to go down there, it would have resulted in a slide to a pretty awkward area to get out of. The wind smashed into the right side of our bodies every 30 seconds or so, and after being unbalanced by its ferocity a couple of times, we all got in the habit of hitting the deck every time it came in full force, apart from our guides of course, they were clearly machines.

After around twenty minutes of hard and tense hiking, we all collapsed near the peak of the ridge. Although our faces were frozen by the wind, we had all built up quite a sweat! Lying to our right was the first of our traverses. Christian led the way and, once at the other side, called our other guide Ben to let him know that it got pretty icey towards the end of the traverse and that it might be a challenge for the snowboarders. From where I was sitting it didn’t look too bad, but “icy traverse” is enough to send shivers down the spine of any snowboarder!

As I headed across the first part of the traverse I managed to hold my heal edge pretty well and followed Christain’s path with relative ease, but inevitably managed to slip below it towards the end. I noticed that I could traverse past the ice a little longer to a powder area that would allow me to hike back up to Christian safely. However as soon as I touched the powder area with my edge, I realised I’d been duped by the mountain. It was actually sheet ice disguised as powder (obviously baked hard by the sun and frozen by the wind). I unclipped one foot, in the hope that I would be able to punch my foot through the icey top-layer, but I instantly realised that I’d made a mistake as my foot slipped as soon as it touched the ice. As I looked around to take in the situation I realised that the only thing stopping me from sliding a long way down the hill was my heal edge… that now only had the strength of one foot to secure it. Looking back to my right I noticed that I was being followed by my partner Becky. I screamed at her to stop, but my voice was lost in the wind. Thankfully Christian had noticed what was going on and managed to reach Becky just as her edge slipped from underneath her. Christian thrust out his pole just in time for her to grab it and he managed to take her whole weight and stop her from slipping away. I sat there very impressed with the way that Christian had handled the situation and impressed that Becky managed to not get freaked out by it, but really wished that I had a ski pole to grab as well! After a bit of flapping, I managed to get my right foot back into my bindings and traverse a little further to a safer place.

Snowboarders hashing up the powder bowl traverse

We took the hikes and traverses that followed a little more cautiously. I made sure of every foot that I put down as I’d had the wind put up me a little. The next traverse was across a powder bowl (real powder this time) which in turn has its own dangers. Although the risk of avalanche was low, it was still the sort of area that you wouldn’t want to spend too much time getting across and we tackled it one at a time. As standard, the snowboarders made bit of a pigs ear of getting across, but it was encouraging to see that the two snowboard instructors that joined us slipped from the skiers line and had to hike out along with the rest of us.

After being rattled on the first climb and traverse, later climbs were taken a little more cautiously... unless you're a guide...

Anyway, enough of the hard stuff. After all of the traversing and hiking we were treated with a beautiful view across the valley that marked the start of the fun bit! Before hitting the tree line the snow was still a little crusty, but before long we rode into a hidden sheltered oasis. We entered a forest with perfectly spaced trees and untouched soft snow. It was hard to believe that such amazing snow could be available with the recent weather, but mother nature is a curious maiden.

We were rewarded with spectacular views of the valley

The run continued for a good 25mins. In a forest it’s always hard keeping a large group together, but Ben, Christian and the other instructors did a fine job of herding us up. At one point I went astray a little and found myself faced with the most mouthwatering section of forest, a little steeper than the rest. I so wanted to draw my solo line through the trees, but I was called back across with a distant shout from Ben on my left. Apparently it lead to a cliff, which shows that you should always listen to your guide!

Dan enjoying a powder turn shortly before smashing himself into a tree

By the time I rejoined the group it appeared that we’d had a casualty. A friend of mine, Dan, had ridden through a gap between trees and hadn’t spotted a smaller tree behind. Christian had a birds-eye view of the incident and, later in the bar, he recounted how horrific the collision looked. His board went on one side of the tree and his body the other, as Dan took the impact full-on in the midsection and was sent spinning away from the tree. Apparently the first thing that flashed into Christian’s mind was how we were going to get a helicopter into the middle of a forest! Thankfully Dan’s pretty rubbery; he just brushed himself off and carried on riding. Although he was a little sore, it really didn’t get in the way of the rest of the trip. Way to man-up Dan!… I don’t think he appreciated my advice to “look at the gap between the trees in future”…

The perfectly spaced tree run

After a great run we suddenly hit civilisation again as we popped out onto a piste, close to the base of Villeneuve. After dumping avo packs we went to exchange stories over a few pints at Mojos. It goes to show, even when you think that all is lost for the day, with a bit of perseverance you can have a blinder. Of course a bit of local knowledge helps a lot!

If you’d like to spend a week with Christian and the crew, check out our 1 week ski holidays in Serre Chevalier or, even better, check out our 18 week ski instructor course!

I’d heard a lot of good things about the area – it’s the third largest resort in Europe, has an expanse of off-piste terrain, amazing tree runs, quiet slopes and lots of sunshine. So it had a lot to live up to!

Europe has had a pretty darn amazing season so far. Apparently the Christmas and New Year period in Serre Chevalier was off-the-hook with tons of pow for shredding. Unfortunately a bout of wind and warmer weather had crusted up the off-piste a little for our arrival, but the pistes were amazing! The variety of trails had the classic European feel with wide open perfectly groomed motorway runs, with a few tree-lined cat-tracks further down towards the valley.

There's a lot of sunshine in Serre Chevalier and clouds are easy to avoid!

What made the whole experience very un-European was the lack of crowds. The mountain was eerily quiet at times, which meant that you could open up the throttle on the wide open pistes, without the fear of collision on every turn.

The variety of terrain suited our mixed ability group well. The blacks were challenging, particularly the “Luc Alphand” downhill run in Chantemerle – definitely worth a spin to tire you out at the end of the day, and the bonus is that the run ends directly outside The Station – one of Serre Chevalier’s hottest après spots. It is definitely one of the more challenging home runs I’ve experiences, but is a hell of a lot of fun when conditions are good! On the other end of the scale, the beginner slopes and intermediate terrain was plentiful, particularly around the Villeneuve area (home of Ski Connections ski school). There are also a few parks to play around in. The Snow Park between Chantemerle and Villeneuve has a great variety of kickers, from easy green through to scary blacks and has some fun and accessible rails, boxes and bonks. Then for the more experienced jibbers there’s a natural feature park called the “Mele Zone” with a big variety of log bassed jibs – it was mostly big and high stuff with icy surroundings – definitely one for when the conditions are a little softer as the area is ungroomed. There are also a couple of boardercross tracks dotted around, which are always good fun!

Enjoying a bit of boardercross

Après and nightlife is a lot of fun. As mentioned before, the Station Bar at the base of Chantmerle is a popular après spot and has very affordable drinks during the two hour happy period (3€ for pints and 1€ 50 wines). On the downside you have to tolerate a rather irritating house band. Villeneuve equivalent The Grotte has a great vibe and is lively right from après until 2 in the morning. Also, we spent a couple of evenings in Mojo bar in the village of Villeneuve where Adam, one of our trainee instructors, works. It’s a really nice little French bar for a more chilled out drink and two-for-one cocktails on Wednesday nights!

Seemingly the wind and sun had made this a predominantly piste week. However, all is not lost when you know somebody in the know. On Tuesday afternoon we were lucky enough to hook up with Christian, our course host in Serre Chevalier, and a bunch of his instructor buddies. He had word of a secret powder stash that was sheltered from the wind and sun. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to hunt it down, even though it involved a fair hike and brutal traverse (for a regular snowboarder). Those experiences are a story for another day. Stay tuned…

How to earn your turns... stay tuned!

Link straight to the blog of our day in the backcountry here.

If you’d like to spend a week skiing the very best of Serre Chevalier with Christian, check out our 1 week ski holidays.

After a long eventful journey we were delighted to be staying in the same ski in ski out condo complex as our clients; super spacious luxury apartments with a hot tub on the deck… it doesn’t come much better than this! Speaking to the clients, they told me they had to keep reminding themselves this was not the real world – usually it would take a lottery jackpot for this sort of living! As Red Mountain isn’t well known outside of Canada, accommodation is far more affordable than some of her more famous neighbours.

Ski in and Ski Out to Your Own Hot Tub in Red!

Another bonus of Red’s ‘underground’ status is empty slopes and no lift lines. The whole time I was there I didn’t have to wait once – we simply went straight up the lift. Even on our last day after some heavy snowfall we never had to compete with any crowds – I was expertly led around the mountain by our lead snowboard instructor Matt and treated to fresh lines every time. Knowing where to go is definitely helpful here, and having a legend like Matt as my guide I felt pretty lucky – the Nonstop participants seemed to share my appreciation as Matt gave them individual feedback and advice. The crew were already a bunch of really strong riders so I look forward to hearing of their feats by the end of the season.

The main thing that struck me about Red Mountain was how accessible super challenging terrain was – the options seemed pretty much limitless. Every skier or snowboarder’s aspirations can be met here; steep open terrain, tight tress, spaced out trees, cliffs of every conceivable size, gulleys, chutes, bumps and fun groomers; it has it all except maybe beginner runs! It’s no wonder that the Canadian Big Mountain Freeride Open was being held here. The really unique thing about Red is that it is ski-able 360 degrees around  – once you’re at the top you can pick any line down… it just helps to know where the cliffs are; just as my boss Rupert found out!

Pictureesque Rossland

On our last evening in town we went for dinner in Rossland followed by a few beers. Chilled might be an understatement when describing the vibe here; you’d be forgiven to assume that this part of the world has become somewhat of a hippy haven! Having said that, one of the Nonstop crew was bringing the party to the mountain and secured himself a weekly D.J spot at Rafters, the apres destination on the mountain! Speaking to a local journalist on a chairlift, he told me it wasn’t uncommon to see riders wearing wool outfits on the slopes here… awesome. Whistler can keep its neon park rats… Red Mountain is the home of true mountain men and women! If you want to really take your skiing or riding to the next level then check out the details on our ski instructor courses in Red Mountain here and are snowboard instructor courses here.

Our guide for the day, Andre, has arguably got one of the best jobs in the world. This is his fourteenth season working at this Cat operation and I’m not surprised he doesn’t want to leave. I’ve spent six seasons in various mountains renowned for epic snow but never in my life have I experienced fresh tracks every single run! And this was on the back of a slow start to the season.

We started the day with an avalanche safety briefing then jumped aboard out cosy Cat – our personal lift for the day. As we climbed our way up the mountain the sun was also rising and it soon became clear we were in for a bluebird day. We buddied up and our first run was nice and cruisey through the trees; now the legs were warmed up we went up higher and took on some steeper terrain…  powder slashing turns and face shots were the call of the day, not to mention a few cheeky (small) cliff drops!

No stopping for lunch but the Cat was packed with goodies so we could refuel on our ascents back up the mountain. My personal favourite run of the day was a long gulley forming a natural halfpipe with endless hits along the way followed by a weaving run through the trees… nothing but the random Yeeews from my fellow snow enthusiasts! At the end of the day we were taken back to Fernie Wilderness lodge for some hot soup and well earned beers. This was the finale of the guys 3 week stay in Fernie – everyone had either been on Nonstop’s 3 week instructor courses or our improvement camps – what better way to end a holiday?

We thought we’d share a few of the best pics and videos from the powder-hungry population of Fernie!

Back on Tuesday the excitement was getting to fever-pitch in town

Stopping your car for more than 2 mins isn't wise!

Karen Pepper Snorkelling!

Robin Siggers capturing Fernie's steep and deep

Find out more about our upcoming performance and development camps in Fernie.

On our first day in Banff we went on a tour around town, making note of the stores offering Nonstop crew hefty discounts and checking out the various bars we were likely to see lots of. We attended a tech session at SoulFit at the Ski Stop where resident boot fitting expert Junior shared his expertise and sorted out skiers and snowboarders alike. It’s incredible what he can do to prevent the aches and pains in our feet that are so common in our sports. By the end of the day those that needed to had boots fitted, bought new gear or organised demo’s to test before they committed…if only all relationships worked like this!

Getting ready for the first run of the season!

Our first day riding was at Lake Louise; there’d been 25cms of fresh pow a few days earlier, but it was fairly hard packed by now. All good though, we had an awesome day easing our legs back into it, cruising around and letting the instructors get an idea of the standard of the crew, which was super impressive.

A cheeky 5cms overnight and we headed up the local Mt Norquay for day 2 on the hill. The least famous of the Big 3, Norquay is the local’s favourite with some absolutely epic terrain. This was the official start of the instructor training, so the crew were divided into groups of 8 and Brian and Mark set to work on our technique. The biggest theme of the lesson I shadowed was the importance of keeping shoulders square, and it was awesome to see everybody’s style and stance improve so quickly.

Everyone was stoked and fairly worn out after the first day of proper instruction but the crew found energy to get psyched for the course kick off party! Good times were had by all and any nerves about being away with a bunch of strangers were shook off by some serious moves on the dance floor! The next morning Emily (the course director) and I forgot about our hangovers and went shredding at Sunshine Village on a stunning bluebird day. Had some serious fun on the groomers with hardly any tourists in site; it felt as though the whole mountain was ours.

I was absolutely gutted to leave Banff and would do anything to be back there. Having all 3 resorts to ride and a party town to live in make Banff a truly unique choice for the season.  Check out the details on our instructor courses here.

Have fun out there!

December was extremely kind to the Alps, with heavy snowfall setting up an amazing base in the first couple of weeks of the month. In most resorts, frequent top-ups continued throughout the month and made for one of the best Christmas conditions for a long while!

Temperatures have fluctuated at times and some lower slopes were hit with some rain over New Year. This hasn’t dented the substantial base too badly and conditions are set to improve massively with the storm that is now thundering through the Alps. Some resorts have seen “crazy” amounts of snow over the last 24 hours, which has brought many of them to a standstill. Check out this article about violent overnight storms from The Ski Club.

Warm weather and rain followed by heavy snowfall is a recipe for major avalanche danger. So, as you’d expect, a lot of resorts are closed until they can be made safe. So, if you’re out in the Alps at the moment, take it easy off piste until the new snow settles in and, of course, heed any warnings from the resort.

Photo courtesy of @leetownend

It’s certainly looking to be a great year to visit Europe, and is much needed after the disappointment of last season. If you’ve still got holidays to plan, check out our chalets in Meribel Mottaret and our 1 week ski improvement camps in Serre Chevalier. You’ll have an amazing time!