We need snow again

Yep, we are in need of snow again. Well, we still have a 155cm base but we lost about 40cm of snow during the warm spell we had during the past 2 weeks. Yeah...when you were having the -30°C weather we were having sunny and +7°C.... It made a fantastic base, nice and solid, but the snow is pretty beat up now and the groomers are doing all they can to make it smooth. Some new snow would be very beneficial. That system that was pushing all the snow away from us is finally leaving so I'm very confident we'll have big dumps of snow by next week....lots for when everyone comes in February!!

I took more lessons and I've learned that I have to improve my "angulation". It's hard to explain over....blog...and easy to explain in person but it involves the proper use of your edges. It's actually a challenge but when I get it right it makes the turns so easy and enjoyable.

We're getting new roommates since our old ones moved out to their own condo with friends. Agata and I are now doing the same and have a few good places to look at. One is right above the Silver Woods lift and is quite nice. We're just waiting to hear back on availability and price. It will be nice to have our own space, have it a bit quieter, and have the ability to have friends sleep over.

I have a lot of great pictures to post, but I have to get them off my camera and onto this blog. I'll also be making a "my drive to work" video since the view on my ski-doo ride down is fantastic with the mountains, sunrise, and inversions.

Oh ya, I got employee of the month for December (lift operations). Yay!

Maciek, we hope you feel better soon!

Mike and Agata

A couple of things

Firstly, we FINALLY have rented our house! A couple of young professionals have rented the whole house (top part and bottom) starting....tomorrow the 15th. This is great news considering for the last two months we've been paying mortgage on a house we aren't even using. We have it rented for $2100/month, utilities included. That will cover our mortgage and half of the insurance but the utilities will be on us. Yeah, I'm not that happy with it either but considering the market it's actually not that bad. It's also better than paying $2000+ a month for absolutely nothing. While we're away from the house Agata's family will be the "landlords" if anything goes wrong. That is very much appreciated and helps us out a lot. I'll owe a few people a couple bottles of nice Polish Vodka when I get back...

I've been taking lessons during my time here. As staff, we get FREE (yep... the kind that costs us nothing) group lessons. So I've been taking Level 6 (expert level) lessons and there has always been a max of 4 people in the group so it's pretty well a semi-private lesson. I've learned a LOT and my technique has already improved.

• My weight has been back, the weight needs to be centered on my feet (not forward). Being in the backseat of your skis is dangerous as your skis can run away from you. Being to far forward can result in you flipping over the front of your skis (done that before...Jen, Aaron, and Mark were there for that).
  
• I need to tighten my core. Basically tighten your stomach muscles and curve your back. It will help control and maintain your posture and keep you from flopping around.
• Finish my turns. Me, I like speed so I don't complete my turn (forget the last 3rd) and end up perpetually gaining speed. That's fun.....but not necessarily a good thing as if I encounter anything unexpected I may not be in control.
• My posture was too tall. I needed to bend more at the knees, which really helped me get my weight centered on my feet so the skis can do their job. If your weight is being transferred to the front of your skis they won't flex properly and your turn will be more difficult.
  
• Keep your weight and body in a neutral position. That means all your energy should be transferred down to the middle of your feet so you have to read the terrain (be it bumps or groomed) and make sure your weight is perpendicular to the ground. This way you can properly absorb bumps and any other unexpected terrain/issues.
  

Now I'm much more stable on my skis, I can absorb bumps and the uneven terrain much better and it just feels so much better. I'll keep taking lessons to refine my technique, of course, and I really want to take a lesson on skiing bumps properly as it's certainly one of my weaknesses.

We had our friend Jason from Ontario visit for the weekend and it was great. We spend Saturday catching up and sampling the local beers and drinks. Sunday was purely skiing and Jason improved a LOT. By the end he was going down difficult blues and he looked much better; I was quite impressed. It was a short visit but we really had fun.

My next visitors are my family! I can't wait for everyone to get here! I'm making a list of runs to show everyone. If anyone else wants to come and visit, you are very welcome. Unfortunately, we can't have people stay at our place. It's annoying really, considering how much room we have. We're thinking of finding our own place somewhere on the mountain where it's REALLY our place instead of staff accommodation. We'll keep you up to date on that.

Well, that's it for now. Talk to everyone soon!!

Mike

Anyone want some Guitars?

Apparently there were drunks playing guitars and screaming and banging on random bedroom doors in the middle of the night. Typical dorm room living I suppose. Our roommate got fed up and went out to "talk" to the party animals at 3 am. Roomie had to work the next morning, and wanted to sleep.

They wouldn't shut up.

So he confiscated their acoustic guitars.

Both of them.

Unfortunately I'm a sound sleeper and I slept throughout the whole fiascle. I don't know how roomie convinced the drunk people to give up BOTH of the guitars, but it happened.

And then there was silence.

This was three nights ago. The guitars are now in the main lobby with management. No one knows who they belong to. No one has turned up to claim them.

Surprising? I think so. Those things look expensive.
If no one claims them they'll be sent off to Goodwill at the end of the year.

-Agata

First YouTube try

Ok, here's my first video I've posted to YouTube. It's from my helmet camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ6wz616gEM

It's a short video taken from a bigger one when I went down a double-black diamond run with a few friends. I then have the great idea of heading into the trees and end up bailing.

It's not much of a video, but it is my first one. I'll edit and refine the next few better. I think I need a better place for my helmet camera... Suggestions?

Who needs brakes when you have 60cm of powder

I had so many ideas for the title of this post....
- The snorkel won't attach to my helmet
- I never thought I'd actually like snow in the face
- Your pole-plants are useless here....

But I like the one I've used. We got a massive dump Sunday night, 50cm in 12 hours...just overnight, and I had to work the next day. I did get to enjoy it though.

The ski patrol had to do avalanche checks before they could open my side of the mountain so I had to open my lift really early. I got there for 6:45am and it was a heck of a trip by snowmobile.
The runs were not groomed because the groomers simply couldn't keep up with the snow so I was riding through 50cm of powder.

So there I was with snow piling over the cab of the sled (the snowmobile was a plow at this point), covering the headlight, making it pretty well useless. On top of that it was still dark out so I couldn't wear my goggles, since they made the very very dim light coming from my headlight even worse. Then the spray coming over the windshield made it worse. SO.....there I was in the dark, standing on the seat, driving by memory on how the trail goes, because I could barely see where I was going, in deep powder. It was still fun though and everyone was impressed that I made it there with no problems, even the maintenance guys. Although I apparently took a while to get there. Normally a 20min ride took me 35min. Well forgive me for not wanting to get stuck or roll the sled. My sled has a 4-stroke engine, and for anyone who doesn't know the annoying trait of a 4-stroke engine is that if you roll the sled you CAN NOT just re-start it. If you do, the engine will destroy itself since. So I'd have to get someone to come get me and maintenance would have to do a lot of work on the sled to get it running again.

For anyone curious, the sled I drive is an Arctic Cat Panther 660cc.... It's not the best. It is very heavy, turns horribly, is tippy, and doesn't have guts. The best part? The Arctic Cat Panther has LEOPARD PRINT seats......yep........stylin'...

But I've grown to like the beast.....we get along.

Today though (Tuesday) is my day off and we are getting another storm. I got to ride in more fantastically deep powder today and tomorrow is going to be insane (getting another 30cm). I'm getting up really really early to catch first rides. Apparently no one else is getting the snow we are. On the satellite pictures there is a yellow blob of a snow storm over Silverstar and that's it.......fine by me!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.........

Love Mike

Yay, happy feet!

I made a big leap and bought new ski boots. My old ones were about 7 years old and were really packed out. I couldn't properly tighten them without cutting off circulation to my feet and they just generally hurt. Also, I had very little control over my skis. If I hit a bump or mound of snow I wasn't prepared for, I would easily lose control over my skis. It was frustrating.......

So, I bought a new pair of Nordica's. They have the best name ever.......
They are the Nordica SPORTMACHINE. That's right......sportmachine

http://www.nordica.com/site/skiboot.php?site=2&lang=1&id=65

They are so very very comfortable and I have so much control over my skis. One big reason is the flex. Either my old ones lost all flex or were extremely stiff. When I hit an unexpected bump or some form of resistance my boot doesn't absorb much and it ends up going to my knees or my body, throwing me around. The Sportmachines (I love the name...) are much more flexible and absorb a lot of the impacts.

I'm so happy with them.

So we're having our first visitor! Our longtime friend Jason is coming to visit next weekend. He's in Vancouver for business reasons and on his way back he's coming here to see us. It's going to be great!

Also, my great friend Graham is looking to get a job here for the rest of the season! I hope he gets one....

Talk to everyone soon!

Love Mike