InternetWideWorld.com

Travel to Brig, Switzerland 8th March 2012

2012-03-08T21:23:00.001Z

I decided a few months ago that I wanted to have more than just a snowboarding holiday. Since I have been getting into kite surfing, why not combine the two? So, a snow kiting holiday it is!

As always I like to do a lot of research into the subject, places and people first. Fortunately I had a world kite surfing guide that had a section on snow kiting, so that was a great start. I looked at each of the options offered and their web sites. A lot of places I ruled out early as they required that you bring your own quiver of kites. I do have a very old 12m2 LEI kite, but frankly taking all that extra baggage is not appealing.

I don't like to go to places that i have already been to if possible, so that also knocked out France (and meeting Shasta again). I was left with three options of Iceland, Norway or Switzerland. Iceland was just way too expensive. Norway was looking like a very long and difficult trip, so it ended up as Switzerland.

I already knew about "The Big Blue Experience" http://www.thebigblueexperience.com/ as I had been following their blog for a number of years. Not exactly sure how or why, as I have been following them since before I was interested in kite surfing. So I decided to give then an email asking for a quote. Very quickly I received a quote and was ready to book.

The only up front costs are the "guiding" costs. The hotel you pay at the end of your stay. The equipment hire costs you pay as you use, especially as the wind is not guaranteed (no wind no pay).

I purchased my insurance making sure that it covered everything that I needed (read the fine print). I also made sure that my BKSA (British Kite Surfing Association) membership was current and covered my insurance also. Next was the travel. I had wanted to travel the whole way by train, as it is much more relaxing and you get to see and experience more, but due to very high costs and engineering works it was tilled out quickly. I also looked at driving all of the way, but that too was going to cost a lot. If there was more than just me going, it might have been cost effective. So, I had to rely on flying. Cheapest flight (it's a very short flight) was via EasyJet to Geneva, and then take the train.

As always I arrived early at the airport, had a mooch around the shops and had a 'dirty' breakfast (Burger King). All too soon however the flight boarding gate was called. As many will testify there is an all mighty scrum to get onto and EasyJet flight as no seats are assigned. This means that idiots, morons and selfish a-holes push up and get on first, then proceed to grab the first seat from the door and block the aisle so no one else can get on. A-holes! Then you get the stupid bhatches that complain because they can't sit together. If you wanted to sit together then don't bloody go via EasyJet or pay for the priority boarding, stupid bhatches.

After what felt like a super quick flight I arrived at Geneva Airport. I know what I am doing at an airport and very quickly picked up my hold luggage, and my board bag from the "over sided" conveyor belt and was out the doors within 10mins, and at the train station.

I tried the automated ticket machines, but I couldn't get the return ticked for the date I needed, so rather than mucking around I headed to the ticket booth. As always I already knew the exact trains I wanted for both parts of my trip, and also a number of earlier and later trains. Ticket bought for 122CHF and straight down to the platform.

I could have got the 15:27 but wanted to let the crowds go, and get the 15:47. Great choice as no one else got on the train until we pulled into The city of Geneva. The trains are really nice, clean and very open. Good view out the window too.

Eventually I arrived at Brig station. Just before arriving I sent Oli of "The Big Blue Experience" a text message to let him know that I was arriving. Sure enough he was already there waiting for me.

We loaded my gear into the van and headed off to a local restaurant for something to eat, drink and have a chat. Oli gave me the full lay of the land whilst we eat a very good pizza and Steiner of beer.

We didn't stay too long, which was good as I was getting tired and I wanted to get a shower. A short drive to the hotel and he gave me the full tour (breakfast room, fish tanks, shared kitchen, sauna room and of course my room). He then went and got the wireless Internet key and I was able to get online straight away. That's good, so I can blog the whole experience (provided I don't get too tired out and lazy).

All unpacked I then got on to making sure that my new Burton Cartel bindings were set up right. After a few tweaks I think they are good to go. All of my gear is laid out for tomorrow. By the sounds of it there is not enough wind tomorrow so a day on one of the local ski slopes will do fine. Need to get my snow legs back.

Dahab, Kite surfing Saturday 24 September 2011

2011-09-25T16:55:00.001Z

The day started off well. Got down to the kite centre nice and early and there was enough wind to go riding. Yipeee

I was hooked up with a 12m Cabrhina and a 148cm board. The centre helps you launch from the pontoon, by landing the kit in the water and handing the bar over to you. So I took it over and did a little body drag to get away from the pontoon.

First turn I was up and away, quite a long way. I was struggling a bit with the new kit and it being the first day on the kite, so didn't make any up wind. Also, my turns were terrible. I think I managed about 1 good turn in about 10 tries!

I was starting to get used to the kite and conditions soon enough. Unfortunately I had drifted down wind quite a bit and was near the landing beach. I did manage however quite a lot of runs, and long ones at that, before I had to land. Again the centre have people on the landing beach to help you land your kite. However the walk back to the pontoon, if you do not have boots, and are westerner soft footed like me, is really not easy and hard on the feet.

I got back to the pontoon and they launched me again. This time I was ready for it all and was riding up wind really quite well and managing to keep my station. I rode out really quite far, about 1pm and back all the way in again. Slightly better turns but still not as good as I was doing in Fuertaventura.

Then it all started to go wrong. The wind very quickly dropped and my kite fell out of the sky. I de-powered but simply could not get it to launch again. I made the mistake of when I was getting nowhere (but being dragged down wind) and closer to the beach, I let my board go. I now know that I should have used it on my feet to provide extra resistance. Oh well. However, as I was riding quite far out, I was being dragged to an area outside the landing beach. Subsequently the kite washed up over rocks and onto the beach. I managed to recur it and get it secured however. I did manage to cut my feel and shin on the coral! Doh!

The walk back to the pontoon felt like a walk of shame. However the school had no problems with it. Agee a short rest I headed out again. The guy launching me said that it probably wasn't going to work as the wind had dropped. Unfortunately he was right. I got up on the board once and sank, I then could not launch the kite again for love nor money. So it was basically a swim to the landing beach.

Kiting day over.

Dahab, Friday 22nd September 2011

2011-09-23T16:23:00.001Z

After arriving last night I called it an early night in order to get some sleep. I didn't set my alarm so work up 45 minutes later than I wanted. No problem really.

The breakfast was your typical help-your-self affair, but the fruit and salad were great. So after that I got my rucksack ready and headed to the Harry Nass centre 4 to see about my kite surfing rental. I already knew that there was no wind so I wasn't going to get riding in, but wanted to get my name/face recognised and to know the layout of the land. I was shown the ropes by one of the main guys there. I did find out that kite insurance is extra, and also harness hire is extra. They don't tell you that when you book! Not much money but still a pain (30eur for insurance and 15eur per day for harness hire).

There was no point in hanging about the centre if there wasn't going to be any kite surfing so I headed back up to my room and got together my beach and snorkelling gear. I am just SO glad I bought some snorkelling gear before coming here, because as it turned out the coral is bloody brilliant here. It's literally just off the beach and is a shelf that just drops off and goes along the coast, and on, and on...

The coral is a bit on the dark side (not great colour) and I have seen more tropical fish, but they are in abundance and within such easy reach. Well worth it.

After my second snorkel, I met up with Dave and Cat who were on the flight and transfer, and are my neighbours here at the Mercure Bay View. So we got chatting and drinking the G&T. Needless to say I needed no encouragement. A few G&T later we headed up for lunch.

The lunch again is the buffet style and was actually really good. I had the liver, rice, vegetables, and other stuff. I did enjoy it.

So after lunch, we all headed down to the ocean front and started the G&T again. Myself and Dave did then go and do some snorkelling. This time I ventured much farther and did deeper dives.

After a short rest (=G&T stop), we returned to the water. I promptly lost Dave and headed up the reef towards Dahab. It was a much better coral and had better sea life. Including quite a number of Lion Fish (spines=v poisonous). I followed out an outcrop of reef quite far and dove down about 5m and sat on the ocean floor and had a little look round and up. The water is just so clear. I also touched and very quickly held a sea cucumber ( no idea what it's real name is). Very soft and spongey.

I returned to the beach after a thoroughly good day (without wind). Back to the room, shower, and ready to hit the bar :-)

Whistler, Canada - 23/03/2011

2011-03-04T05:06:00.001Z

New Snow: 6cm
Piste Condition: Soft and powder, but with some wind crust in places
Visibility: Occasional sunny periods in the morning, closing into poor in the afternoon
Wind: Calm increasing to moderate in places
Temperature: -7 to -14
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

It's been a while since I've been riding, all due to injury (ankles). It was great to be back!

I decided to head on over to Whistler, as i know that mountain very well. I decided to start off on the slopes that I knew best, and that I knew wouldn't pose too much trouble for my ankles. So I headed on down "Orange Peel", onto "Bear Cub" and past 'Big Red Chair', and down onto 'Garbonzo chair'.

I headed on up Garbonzo and down to the right. This was the first real challenge for the ankles, as it was really quite choppy and difficult riding here. My ankles did hurt a few times, but not so much as to stop me riding. This was to be the same throught the day, and unfortunatley on many occasions.#

I got onto 'Emerald Chair' and headed on over to the 'Peak Chair' and I headed on over to the "Symphony Ampitheatre". I knew the 'Symphony Express' wasn't running, but it was my intention to head to the 'Harmony Express'. The snow lookead and felt really great, so I decided to cut the normal line into "Burnt Stew Trail", and this was a mistake. It was here that I found a few hard lumps of snow that really jarred my ankles. I thought that I might have to call it after that, but they calmed down shortly after. To the right of the "Burnt Stew Trail" the snow was practically completley untouched. I was a little surprised at that. It made for a really good ride. I couldn't make the trail all the way around, but I was again surprised that there was so much powder untouched in the area. I therefore decided to make the most of it.

I headed back up and into the 'Symphony Amphiteatre' a few times that day. Each time I rode further over onto the right as possible, each time getting cleaner and cleaner powder lines all the way. Just the medicine I needed after a long time off the snow and the injury.

All too soon the lift was to close at 15:00, so I had to make may way over and down "Pitkas Traverse". Normally I would have hurtled down there, but I could feel the ankles holding me back (and as usual, silly skiers [not all skiers are silly!] got in my way). I cruzed over the top of the 'Emerald Express' and down onto the usuall "Orange Peel" and "Bear Cub" and onto the 'Big Red Chair'. It was also starting to get quite cold, so I decided to call it a day.

Once again I took "Orange Peel", onto "Bear Cub", around and then into "Crabapple" and to the far left on "Lower Olympic" and int othe village. It was a good day in all, and a good test for the ankles. They have stood up well, but are definatley hurting now... Hopefully they will be OK in the morning and allow me to get out riding again.

Total Time: 04:04:33
Moving Time: 03:47:28
Distance: 63.3km
Moving Speed: 16.69km/h, 76.59km/h max
Elevation Gain: +5664m / -5686m
Calories: 2058.1 KCal

New Backcountry BackPack

2011-01-25T00:33:00.000Z

My old Dakine HeliPro backpack just wasn't cutting it when going into the back country. So, for a while I have been considering buying a new back country backpack.

On a day where it was raining, very high freezing level and zero visibility on the mountain, I took the opportunity to go shopping. After walking around a few stores in whistler, I ended up in the "Excess Backcountry" store.

I ended up buying a Mammoth Nirvana Ride 22L.

This functional backpack is perfect for all-mountain and freeriding activities. With functional equipment and high carrying comfort, it is ideal for 1-day ski or snowboard tours as well as freeriding.

V-frame 6 mm aluminum, adjustable and removable
2-layer, high-density EVA back padding, hip and shoulder belts with stretch fabric cover
Front pocket for avalanche safety equipment
Ski attachment, can be used on the side or diagonally
Lateral, extremely sturdy, width-adjustable Velcro ski loops
Snowboard carrier with fully adjustable stabilisation belt to ensure freedom of movement of the legs
Helmet carrier with snow protection, stowable
2 front gear loops for helmet fixation
Ice axe straps and trekking pole straps
Padded goggle pouch
Zipped inner compartment with key clip
Removable, padded hip belt
SOS label with emergency instructions
Insulated hydration tube cover in shoulder harness
Hydration system compatible

upper fabric 600D Cyclepet
trim fabric 1680D Nylon Ballistic
base fabric 420D Nylon
Back System CONTACT V Frame TM

Whistler, Canada - 22/01/2011

2011-01-24T19:45:00.000Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed but choppy
Visibility: Poor
Wind: Calm increasing to moderate in places
Temperature: -1 to -6
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Heavy

With the computer disaster earlier in the week, I obviously didn't charge the GPS device properly, as the battery died out part way through the day. This was a real shame as it was an epic day!

Got a call from Chris to say that he was on the mountain with Victor. First time he's got up the mountain before me!

I met them at the bottom of the "Fitzimmons Chair" as the line for the Village Gondola was huge. We then took "Garbonzo", then "Emerald" and headed on over and took the "Peak Chair". We rode around to the left and headed to the "Symphony" chair, as it was our intention to hike the Flute!

We decided to drop into the left side of the first flute horse shoe, and drop into the "Flute Main Bowl", next to "Stuie's Slope". It appeared that only one person previously had put in any lines here. Chris wanted me to take a video of him coming off the wind lip. So, I rode straight on in and took a decent drop and stopped above the little cliff drop which is in the top middle of the slope. Chris did put in a good sized drop but didn't manage to hold the landing so well. Victor too also put in a decent, but smaller drop but stuck the landing. The snow was good but there was occasions when it simply turned to crud and practically became ice in patches. I put the camera away, took a little drop of the side of the cliff, rode right and took jump over the ridge and landed on some really icy crud. The ride out gave some great turns and also some really icy turns. All in all good through.

At the bottom of the "Symphony" we decided to head on down to the village and grab some supplies. This meant some lunch at the pub and a pint, and also a 15 pack of beer!

After 'stocking up', we took the "Excelerator Chair" up Blackcomb, straight on to the "Glacier Express" and then onto the "Showcase T-bars" to get to the Glacier. We walked along the wind lip before riding hard right to get to the "Back Country Entry Gate".

Unfortunatley, it was part of the way up the "Glacier Express" that the GPS logger battery died! DAMN IT! If died at about 14:30, yet we actually rode off the mountain and got to the village at 17:00, so I'm missing 2 1/2hrs of GPS data!

Once you enter the back-country entry gate you have two hiking options. Our choice was to go right and up and over into DOA (Dead On Arrival). The hike was good hard work, and took us about 45-60mins. Victor took the first stint, then Chris and I then finished off the hike to the top of the climb. The views from here were amazing, and obviously very different from any view that you can get from 'in bounds'.

After a short interlude, a couple beers and a photo session, we rode on down to the entrance of DOA. The top section was scowered by the wind, but we managed to pick our way through and avoid the majority of the rocks :-) We had decided that we were going to keep hard left along the bottom of the ridge, as there was hardle any lines there and also we wanted to hike up onto the ridge. I managed to catch a rock at one point, as it was quite rocky at the top (only slight damage to the rail, which I'll file out). I also managed to keep very high and get a lot of clean open turns.

We eventually got to a point where we were close enough to hike the ridge, and I set off first. The ridge was a very steep hike, and I had to use my board to help hold me. After another 30min hike with me at the front (I was feeling good), we eventually made the ridge and also hiked back up the ridge a way. This was to both get to a good point to drop over the ridge wind-lip and also to get a good view of the sun set.

We did want to stay for the sun set, but there was too much cloud cover. The guys got some decent photos however. We then started our decent. Obviously it was getting dark, and the lifts had ALL closed about two hours ago!

Chris went first and dropped into a little couloure. Then Victor took a drop off the lip higher up. I didn't see either of their drops, as I was further back, as I wanted to ride into the lip rather than just drop it. The drop wasn't too big, but I made a great landing and rode it right out. It was helped with the snow being some of the best on the mountain at that time.

The lines back down to the bottom of 7th Heaven were fantastic, and really what snowboarding in the backcountry is all about.

The rest of the ride down "Sunset Boulevard", "Upper Main Line" and then into the village on "Green Line" and "Village Run" was basically a speed blast and us getting down there as quick as we could. It's definatley a great ride when it's getting dark and there is virtually no-one on the mountain.

PARTIAL GPS LOGGING (missing 2 1/2 hours of details!)
Total Time: 04:58:59
Moving Time: 02:41:11
Distance: 45.6km
Moving Speed: 16.97km/h, 94.83km/h max
Elevation Gain: +5189m / -3213m
Calories: 1459.7 KCal

Whistler, Canada - 21/01/2011

2011-01-24T01:11:00.000Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: groomed but choppy
Visibility: None, improving through the day with increasing sunny periods
Wind: Calm at lower altitude, gale force at peak
Temperature: 0 to -3
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

Had a bit of a disaster earlier in the week. My computer 'black screened' and I was forced to re-build. This has meant that I have lost all of my GPS tracking information for the season so far! Doh! Oh well...

Anyway...

I headed on up the village gondola, which was back up after breaking down last week. I then headed straight on over to the Peak Chair and around into symphony. At the top here the wind was very strong, and it was whipping up the snow so much that you couldn't see the board on your feet.

I rode a few lines down in Symphony, all of which were to the right and through the trees, but can't remember the names of these runs. They were nice and steep with a decent helping of powder on top of hard pack. Didn't take long for the fun the wear out over here and I headed on back "Burnt Stew" trail and onto Harmony.

I did a couple runs down the "Harmony Piste". Normally I go as fast as is possible down here, but it was so choppy and the light was poor that it just wasn't going to happen today. So headed on up Emerald, and down "Orange Peel", "Pony Trail" and "Bear Paw" to Big Red chair.

I decided to take a look at the Peak again and headed up the "Peak Chair" and turned right onto "Upper Peak to Creek" and turned off right into the top of "Stefan's Chute". Wasn't to bad here as it was quite sheltered and had decent snow until you met the avalanche debris and tracks at the bottom. I headed on far right over the "West Bowl" so as to avoid as much of the "Highway 86" cat-track before I was forced to join it.

It was getting on in time and I was getting tired so I headed on over the Peak2Peak and took a few runs in the "Terrain Garden". I am definitely hitting the jumps with more confidence as the days progress. I even had the courage, on the last run (especially as there was no-one really around me) to try a "Half Cap" on a couple jumps. They weren't great, but at least I gave them a go. I was disappointed with my "Backside 180" on the whole however. I really was trying with this but found that I has stooping and my head was looking at my feet, causing me to be off balance on the landing. Need to work on that.

The last run of the day was also through the park and down and out along the line of the "Wizard Express" chair.

Total Time: 05:21:03
Moving Time: 04:15:24
Distance: 75.2km
Moving Speed: 17.67km/h, 80.22km/h max
Elevation Gain: +7150m / -7150m
Calories: 2312.0 KCal

Whistler, Canada - 14/01/2011

2011-01-15T03:44:00.000Z

New Snow: 8cm
Piste Condition: Heavy
Visibility: Very poor
Wind: Very high
Temperature: +2 to -4
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

I didn't go up today. Mostly because it was chucking it down with rain in the village, the freezing level was 1600-1700m, the snow was heavy, and I basically didn't want to ride nor hurt my ankles!

Doesn't look that good for tomorrow either, with slightly warmer conditions, rain all day, and a very high freezing level!

Whistler, Canada - 13/01/2011

2011-01-13T23:14:00.000Z

New Snow: 4cm
Piste Condition: Powder, but getting heavy during the day due to rain
Visibility: OK at lower altitude, white-out at upper altitude
Wind: Calm at lower altitude, gale force at upper altitude
Temperature: -2 to -5
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

Started later today than I wanted. Had to make a phone call to someone in the UK. So after that was done, I took the Fitzsimmons Chair (as the village gondola is still out!)

None of the alpine lifts were open, so I decided to hike "Pikas Traverse". This is well worth doing when the alpine is not open and not too many other people have done it yet. There weren't too many tracks here so it made a good ride. When I got to the top of "G.S." before the Harmony chair I could see that people were starting to line up and wait for the lift. So I decided to chance it and waited.

After about 1/2 hour the Harmony chair opened and I managed to get on one of the early chairs. The wind at the bottom was negligible, but at the top, it could knock you off your feet! I decided to go straight off "Little Whistler", but couldn't see anything to didn't make a very good job of it. I tried to go over the "Camel Back", but as I was first to make the lines I just didn't have enough speed so came around onto "Back Bowl" and on to the lower section of "Harmony Piste". All of the way I was the first one to make any lines. If the visibility was better I would have been fab, but with no visibility it took some of the enjoyment out of it.

Getting back up "Harmony Express", I could see that it was going to be tough to get fresh lines, as there was loads of people over here now. So, when i got to the top I followed the Harmony Ridge and pulled off to the right and took "Hidden Chute". There was really, really good riding in here to be had. So I made the most of it and pulled in some fat lines through the trees and then into the open. The ride out onto the "Burnt Stew Trail" I completely bollocksed up! Basically, I came in a little too hot, trying to keep my speed up, and caught a fat edge and completely splashed it! Meant i had to hike along to get to the cat track. Not fun, and I was starting to get wet.

I did the same run again, down "Hidden Chute" as it was so good earlier. This time, the visibility was worse, but the riding was still great. Also, this time, I made damn sure that I didn't bolock up the the run out :-)

I thought that this time, that I would head on over into the "Symphony Amphitheater" to see what I could get there. Big mistake! The wind was so strong that I did actually get blown over, and the snow was stinging. Couldn't see a damn thing either. As I headed down I kept to the left and decided to take "Cresendo". Second big mistake! As I couldn't see anything, I ended up getting stuck as I hadn't managed to keep my line nor my speed. Took me nearly 1/2 hour of hiking to get to a spot where I could ride again. I also got totally soaked, as the temperature was rising and the snow was turning to rain. Plus I had to hike and dig my way out. All the time I was there, I didn't see another soul. it was quite peaceful!

I eventually managed to make it back towards the "Harmony Express", but when I got there, it had been closed due to the high winds. Not surprising really. So "Sidewinder" it was. When I came to "Emerald Chair" it was packed with people so I bypassed it and headed down "Olympic". the conditions here were really heavy and wet, so I decided to call it a day. Passing "Garbonzo" I cruzed on over to "Crabapple" and took my usual run out to the village.

All in in a painful and wet day. Both of my ankles are hurting and my left knee. Not good, but I've got until tomorrow morning to recover, and for my gear to dry out :-)

Total Time: 05:00:34
Moving Time: 02:53:32
Distance: 37.0km
Moving Speed: 12.79km/h, 77.77km/h max
Elevation Gain: +3325m / -3311m
Calories: 1627.4 KCal

Whistler, Canada - 11/01/2011

2011-01-13T22:50:00.000Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: hard Pack and icy in places
Visibility: Overcast and poor
Wind: Calm
Temperature: -5 to -16
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Very Light

Had to take the Fitzsimmons chair up Whistler today because the Village Gondola has broken down and is unavailable "indefinitely"!

I rode on down the "G.S Run" to Harmony, and took a quick run down "Burnt Stew" trail. It was a little choppy, but managed to work out the legs a little. I then did the "Harmony Piste", that too was a little choppy but I like that run as it's quite long and wide withe very few people on it at any time. Enjoyed it so much that I did it again. This time however, in the poor light I didn't ride it as good as I know I can.

I then decided to head on over to the Symphony chair and have a look over at the Flute. The flute didn't look inviting, so I passed and simply rode on down the "Adagio" and out to Harmony chair again. Was not much fun without anything to see, and with it being so cold.

Took another run down and out of the "Harmony Piste" and along "Lower Ratfink" back to the Emerald chair. On "Lower Ratfink" you can get up some good speed, but have to be careful of the cross traffic on "Marmot" when you cross the car tracks.

By now I was really feeling the cold and had to take a stop at the "Round House" for a hot chocolate. I stopped in there for nearly an hour and just couldn't warm up enough, so I decided to take the run out down "Orange Peel", "Tokum", "Crabapple" and down to the village on "Lower Olympic". I do like that run!

Time to warm up!

Total Time: 04:18:04
Moving Time: 02:52:54
Distance: 51.9km
Moving Speed: 18.01km/h, 78.61km/h max
Elevation Gain: +4375m / -3907m
Calories: 1617.9 KCal

Whistler, Canada - 10/01/2011

2011-01-11T04:38:00.001Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: hard Pack and icy in places
Visibility: Overcast and poor
Wind: Calm
Temperature: -7 to -19
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Very Light

Started late yet again today and headed out with Gareth and Karl from the house. We headed up the Wizard chair, onto Excelerator, and then around to 7th Heaven. We made it Karl's choice today of where to go. We took "Hugh's Heaven" down. it was a nice long run, but quite bumpy and a bit icy in places.

We headed over 7th Heaven and up the T-Bars and up into the "Blackcomb Glacier". It was the first time up the glacier for Karl. The conditions of the snow up here weren't so great, as it was quite wind swept and therefore crusty. We all did enjoy the run down to the top of the "Glacier Road". It was really bumpy in places where you needed to keep you speed, and Karl took a "head over heals" tumble, but was perfectly OK.

The "Glacier Road" was a really good ride out and I do enjoy that one, as it does have a lot of good features to ride. we got to "Excelerator" and then over to "Solarcoaster" where we met some of Karl's friends.

We all decided to run through the Terrain Park. I must admit that I only hit a couple of the hits on the way. However, when I got to the top of the half-pipe I decided to hit it, after all I had hit it a couple times a few day's ago. So, it was a real shock when I took a little bit too much speed into the drop in, and found that there was absolutley NO transition and I smashed into the bottom of the pipe. I couldn't take the full impact through the leggs and the board slid out from under me and I landed really heavy on my ass! MAN that did hurt! Thank god for impact shorts. I was numb for a bit, but it wasn't bad. If that's the worst bail I have all season then I'll be really happy.

When we got to the top of Solarcoaster, me and Karl decided to take a quick hot chocolate. My ass needed a rest too :-) After that we met back up with Gareth and Karl's friends and took a ride out via the Terrain Garden. Now, here are all of the features that I can hit. Two jumps, a box, a jump, a rainbow box, 3 roller jumps and a rail, is basically the line through the Garden I take. I need to build up to taking the hit's faster, bigger and adding in grabs and spins. Got to work on it!!!

I thought that we were going to catch the last Solarcoaster up and then take another run through the Terrain Garden, however, everyone else was taking the ride out. So, I too took the ride out. We went via the top of the Tube Park and then to the right to the top of the village. I honestly don't think I put in more that 1 turn (you have to make 1) all the way to the village. Good way to end the day!

Total Time: 05:27:37
Moving Time: 02:29:00
Distance: 37.9km
Moving Speed: 15.25km/h, 73.61km/h max
Elevation Gain: +3954m / -3988m
Calories: 1401.6 KCal

Whistler, Canada - 09/01/2011

2011-01-10T05:21:00.000Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed
Visibility: Blue Bird
Wind: Calm, windy after sun set
Temperature: -6 to -19
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

Got a late start, but this was the first outing in a few days, due to not feeling so great. Headed out with Gareth and we headed up Whistler. We decided to ride the Whistler park for a bit. I even had my "Go Pro" head cam with me, and took a video of Gareth riding the park. I wanted to get in some practice of using the camera. Link to the video soon!

By mid afternoon, I had a call from Chris, and me and Gareth headed over the Peak2Peak. I left Gareth to go ride the terrain garden, whist I met up with Chris and Mark, as we were going to go hiking!

We took the Jesey Cream up and rode on over to 7th Heaven. We kept high and skier's left, past the boundary and into the back-country. We also hiked up for about 45 minutes to get to a good spot and have some beers whilst watching the sun set over the mountains. We stayed for quite a while, and also did some jumps on a kicker that someone had made out there. Photos and video to follow soon too!

The sun set was really cool and we took loads of photos. As soon as the sun set however, the wind started up and it got really cold, really quick. It was also starting to get dark. So, we decided to head on down the mountain, but this wasn't until about 16:30! This was a really excellent ride out, as it was completely empty, fast, and we could do what we wanted and go as fast or slow as we wanted. All too soon however, the ride out was over, so on to the CBB for a quick apres!

Total Time: 05:52:42
Moving Time: 03:22:36
Distance: 51.3km
Moving Speed: 15.19km/h, 70.37km/h max
Elevation Gain: +4958m / -4949m
Calories: 1900.1 KCal

Whistler, 06/01/2011

2011-01-07T00:41:00.000Z

New Snow: 16cm
Piste Condition: Fresh Powder
Visibility: Poor, snowing all day
Wind: Calm at lower altitude, strong at altitude
Temperature: +1 to -6
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

Didn't want to get out of bed this morning, but forced myself to get up on the alarm. Thankfully I did, as there was a load of powder. headed to the Upper Village and got on the Wizard Express and then onto Solarcoaster.

I decided to ride on through the Terrain garden before everyone else destroyed all of the good lines. Especially as the upper lifts were not yet open (7th Heaven, Glacier, Crystal). Hit over by the park again and "Racers" next to the park.

When I was heading back up Solarcoaster the lights indicating that the Crystal chair was open was illuminated. So I headed on over towards that. By the time I got there however there was a massive line for the chair, so i decided to bypass it and head on down to the Excalibur chair.

I got on up and then took the Jersey Cream chair and headed far right and rode on into "The Bite" and onto "Glacier Drive". Enjoyed that so did it again. I headed on over towards 7th Heaven as I wanted to hit some of the tree runs in there. However when I got over there I noticed that the 7th Heaven chair was running, so scooted on down and managed to get on a quick and early chair.

On 7th Heaven I headed far left and into "Xhiggy's Meadow", and there was vistually no tracks over in there. It's a fantastic feeling when on every turn you get a huge face full of powder. Made some sweet lines down there, mostly straight however as I needed to keep the speed up. When I entered "Sluiceway" it was very mougly and certainly warmed me up. I did the same run again, but headed further left, which was a little bit of a mistake as I did get stuck at one point, but only for a minute or two.

By now, loads of people were not on 7th, so I decided to go hit the "Coulouire Extreme" for the first time this season. There were some people ahead of me and they really took their time, so didn't ride the top that well. It was a little steeper than I remember too. I headed on over the right and into "Quasar". I just wish the visibility was better as there was a load of powder out there to be had, but I just couldn't see anything in order to get good lines.

I took the Glacier Express up and headed onto "Spankys Ladder". I decided to follow a couple of Ski and Snowboard instructors and headed on into "Saphire Chutes". The chute is still not great and had loads of rocks sticking out, but it's navigable. On the way down I got involved in a but of a snow sluff, which took the board out from under me, but I managed to get straight up and out of the flow of the snow. The rest of the run was really quite nice, but again would be better with visability.

When at the "Excelerator" chair I wanted to hit "Spanky's" again. This time I headed on around and into the lower "Ruby Bowl". I remember from the last time that the top of the Ruby Bowl, that if you don't get it right you can get into real trouble :-)

I hit the park a couple more times and was starting to get my confidence up. I do need to work on my park riding, as it has really suffered over the last few years. It was getting quite late, I was quite wet, and knackered from all of the hard riding, so took the ride out.

Total Time: 06:21:23
Moving Time: 04:59:34
Distance: 83.3km
Moving Speed: 16.68km/h, 76.19km/h max
Elevation Gain: +8430m / -8417m
Calories: 2812.6 KCal

Whistler, Canada 04/01/2011

2011-01-06T23:58:00.000Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed
Visibility: Blue Bird
Wind: Calm
Temperature: -2 to -7
Piste Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Moderate

Early and rapid start to the morning. got the first village gondola up and met Chris up the top of Whistler. Chris has to get to work for 10:00 so we decided to see how many runs we could get in down to Emerald as possible. As expected it was basically a straight line blast.

We managed to get in 4 very quick runs before we had to ride to the village in order to give Chris time to get to work and get changed. Now the line at the Village gondola was much longer.

When I got back Up I headed up the peak Chair and around onto "Burnt Stew Trail". I wanted to get some decent mileage in and some decent speed. The piste was quite bumpy so I couldn't get up too much speed, as the knees couldn't take it. I also hit the Harmony Piste a couple times, but again it was a bit choppy. I then rode out towards Emerald, but it was busy to carried on to the Mid Station and took it up and had some lunch at the Round House.

After lunch I headed on over to Blackcomb and I heard that there was a smaller pipe in the Terrain Park. I headed on into the Terrain Park, and found the pipe a ways down. It has been quite a long, long time since I last hit a pipe. I hit the right wall and it was OK, but the left wall (my toe side) was awful. Not just my riding, but also that wall was pure ice and not shaped very well. I wanted to hit it again to try a little better. The second ride through however was much, much worse. Hmmm.

I then took a turn through the Terrain garden to work on the jumps a little. All of the kickers in the terrain garden are quite good and the boxes are quite easy too. Only trouble is that there are very few features available (lazy parkies!).

When I got back up Solarcoaster again, I noticed that the Blackcomb Glacier was open, so I thought that I would give it a go. When I got up, it was very quiet on the glacier. They also bashed the lip and I could get quite far along the lip before having to drop in. The conditions on the glacier were not that pleasant and very crusty. I do like the ride out however, all 4.8Km of it.

I headed up Excelerator, then the Jersey Cream chair and back into the terrain garden. Got to the bottom and I was quite tired so decided to take a ride out.

Total Time: 09:36:24
Moving Time: 06:32:32
Distance: 100.6km
Moving Speed: 15.37km/h, 88.51km/h max
Elevation Gain: +9450m / -9466m
Calories: 3687.4 KCal

Snowboarding summary for December 2010

2011-01-05T02:49:00.000Z

As I have a GPS logger, I thought I'd compile a rough idea of the stats for December 2010. It's rough, because there has been a day or two where I have either forgotten the GPD logger, or only switched it on part way through the day!

I only got to Whistler on the 9th, and only started riding on the 12th.

Days Riding: 14/31
Calories: 33111.5 Kcal
Total Hours Riding: 58:24
Total Distance: 948 Km

My goal is to ride the distance from Blackcomb to London which is 7508 Km.

Whistler, Canada 03/01/2011

2011-01-04T01:23:00.000Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed
Visibility: Blue Bird
Wind: Calm
Temperature: -6 to -11
Piste Crowding: Heavy
Lift Lines: Moderate

Late start this morning as I didn't get much sleep last night. By the time I got to the top of Whistler, I got a message from Chris to say that he was on his way up, so I waited for him at the Round House.

We set off on our favourite run and jib set, down "Orange Peel" and onto "Bear Cub". There are dozens of jib points all the way down there, you just need to know where. Did this a couple times, and each time I was getting better and getting the confidence up.

On the way back up "Big Red" we decided to hit the park. We decided to keep it on the small jumps/rails. As I haven't scoped them out before I was a little hesitant, but did the big box and also the "up rail", and a load of the smaller jumps. They have extended the park all the way down the basically the bottom of "Jolly Green Giant" for the smaller jumps.

It was quite busy in the park, so to keep any momentum, you had to 'snake' your way through. Especially the second time through, as it was really busy. This did mean that I missed out a cpouple jumps this time. However, I took the jumps with a bit more pace.

Chris has to go to work in the afternoon, so by the time we were getting to the top of the Emeraly Express, we decided to take out favourite ride down to big red, and make as many jibbs as possible. I decided that I would ride down to the bottom of Creekside with Chris, as I hadn't rode all the way down there this season yet.

There was a jib under the gondola before the timing station, that I took a pop off a roller, and didn't land it right. It was icy and I was on a bit of an edge and lost it, slaming hard on my ass! My fault, as I need to get the board level.

The ride down to the Creekside base, was quite good, if really quite icy. I said bye to Chris and headed back up the Creekside Express, Big Red and onto the Peak Chair. I decided to get around to the "Burnt Stew Trail" and see what that was like. It was quite bumpy and didn't allow me to get up to full speed, but it was fun none the less. Getting around to Harmony Chair I decided to take another favourite run of mine, which is "Pitkkas Traverse" and right onto "Harmony Piste" where I could open up the speed a little. Again, it was quite bumpy and with the sun over the back of the mountain it was in shade, and not so easy to see the bumps. When I got to the bottom, it was the last run for the Harmony Express. So I did the same run, but instead of taking "Lower G.S." back to the chair I turned off onto "Lower Ratfink" and along the "Sidewinder".

I took the Emerald chair, and decided to take the jib run out as it was getting late and all the grommits were starting to head down. After getting past "Big Red" it was the usual on to "Crabapple" and instead of heading left onto "Lower Olmpic", I was forced to get onto "Lower Fantastic" (bloody skier and boarder got in my way for the turn!).

All in all, quite a nice day...if a little late on the start.

Total Time: 04:45:54
Moving Time: 03:46:26
Distance: 68.8km
Moving Speed: 18.24km/h, 77.93km/h max
Elevation Gain: +6920m / -6426m
Calories: 2906.7 KCal

Whistler, Canada 31/12/2010

2011-01-03T00:17:00.001Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed
Visibility: Blue Bird
Wind: Calm
Temperature: -6 to -15
Piste Crowding: Very Heavy
Lift Lines: Heavy

The sun was out today, but so was the cold air. I had started the day with the intention of working on my switch riding, but the piste was just so busy that it soon changed my plans. Instead I thought that I would blast around the mountain and give the new Ride DH Two a work out.

Started the day on Whistler and headed straight down Orange Peel and Bear Paw, working on my stance, balance and technique. I think that every so often you have to almost go back to basics and make sure that you work out any and all 'bad habits' that you pick up over time. I think I might also get some lessons this year, to work on those kinks too, and possibly work on my park riding.

Did basically the same run a second time before moving on over towards harmony and the Symphony Bowl. On the Symphony Express I made my mind up to hike the "Flute" for the first time this season. It did look a little tracked out however from the lift. When i got to the bottom of the hike, there were two skiers and two boarders that were there before me and putting their skis/boards on their back packs. I don't ride with my backpack unless there has been a lot of new snow and I'm going to ride in avalanche areas, mostly because of my busted shoulder (at the end of the day my shoulder hurts as is, without having a backpack putting pressure on there!). So, I unstrapped and started hiking straight away. I'm not that fit at the moment, but frankly I made it up there so much quicker that the guys putting their equipment on the backpack, I don't know why they even bothered!

I can't believe that I hiked the "Flute Bowl" 6 times in one day in a previous year here, and that was before the Symphony lift (and therefore a much longer hike). It shows me that I really am not as fit as I'd like. Still, got the rest of the season to work on that more and more!

I could see from the ridge that the main Flute Bowl was not very tracked out. So, I got onto the "Flute Shoulder" and carved in as high and to the left as I could get. The powder in the bowl wasn't as good as I've had it in the past, as there was a slight 'crust' on the top. However it was a good ride down and onto the "Moraine". I had managed to keep my speed high when I hit the top of the "Moraine" and therefore carved a line through the untouched crest, before dropping back into the valley.

The rid out of the bottom of the flute was as always an experience. Not a good one either. You really, really need to keep your speed get get over the flat. Not that hard, until you get down there as it is bumpy as hell. So you really, really have to have your wits and flexible knees about you, otherwise (as I see often) you'll stack it and have to walk out.

Once you get over the flats you are into the "Glassando Glades", which is basically a treed meadow. I like this kind of tree riding, as they are spaced apart and you can pick your route. So good for getting back into practice. Almost slammed it however! I was building up some speed and completely misjudged this when I was going through a closed section. This resulted in me just clipping a very large tree and nearly hitting another. All my own fault, as I looked at the tree and not "the gap". (Tip: When riding trees, look at the gap and not the tree. After all, where you look is generally where the board will take you!).

I decided not to bother with hiking the flute for a second time that day, but instead decided to hit the "Harmony Piste" for a lap. I headed straight on out "Sidewinder" and down towards the Emerald chair. It was busy, so I carried on down to the Village Gondola mid-station.

I took the gondola up to the Round House and had some lunch. A nice Chicken pie and salad. I generally don't eat enough fruit and veg, so it's always good to get some in. Besides, I knew that I'd be drinking LOADS of beer tonight as it's New Year's eve and my birthday on January 1st!

Did a quick could runs down to the Garbonzo chair before deciding to head up the Peak Chair. I wanted to check it out to see what "Million Dollar Ridge" was like. As soon as I got up there however, I discovered that the piste was packed, as people appeared to want to ride in the sun-light. Riding down the piste as busy as it was just served to piss me off. Mostly erratic riding from people riding on something too hard for them, and therefore resulting in me to have to take avoiding action. Hate that! So, I ended up taking the easiest route "Highway 86" on out. At the top you need to keep your speed, but bloody skiers were ALL the way across the cat track and there was no way through. After some cursing from me for their stupidity and arrogance, I headed off again.

It was about then that I got a text from Chris saying that he was finishing work and would be up the mountain shortly. So I decided to ride "Big Red" a few times via "Banana Peel", "Orange Peel", "Bear Cub","Pony Trail", "Upper Dave Murry", and generally any way that I fancied to get to "Big Red" again.

I eventually got a text from Chris saying he was heading on up the mountain, and we met in the Round House. By now it was getting quite late on the mountain. So we charged down "Orange Peel" and hit a good few jumps and jibs on the way. I really do like the pop in my new board. I got a great "Alley Oop" of one of the bankings with loads of air. One of my best I think!

We only had time for 1 more run. As Chris always has a beer or two in his backpack, we decided to ride to "Fort Knocks" and chill with the beer. We rode to the fort, chilled, had a beer and took a couple photos. After twenty minutes or so, we decided to ride out. I left Chris at the bottom of Big Red, as he has to head off to Creekside. I took my favourite route to the village, via "Expressway", "Crabapple", heading off to the far left part of "Lower Olympic", and round into the village. I just love blasting past all of the people that are struggling to get down even this green run. Reminds me of when I was learning, and thinking "How the hell are they able to do that?", then thinking "There is a 'hump' that in snowboarding when you get over it, you wonder 'why was it so hard?' and then knowing that it isn't any more"!

Total Time: 08:04:56
Moving Time: 05:09:45
Distance: 95.2km
Moving Speed: 18.43km/h, 92.69km/h max
Elevation Gain: +9290m / -9291m
Calories: 2906.7 KCal

Whistler, Canada 28/12/2010

2010-12-30T19:18:00.001Z

New Snow: 4cm
Piste Condition: Packed
Visibility: Poor
Wind: Moderate to strong, with gale force gusts
Temperature: -2 to -12
Piste Crowding: Very Heavy
Lift Lines: Very Heavy

Headed out with 3 of the other people in the House. Zoe, Karl and Gareth. The lift lines were bloody awful today, and each time took about 1/2 hour. They were so bad, that we decided to take the Fitzsimmons chair lift up to Garbonzo. First time on that lift ever for me. Turned out to be a good idea, as Garbonzo wasn't THAT busy.

Straight from Garbonzo we headed on over to Emerald and hiked up Pitkkas Traverse. The avalanche gate was a lot further down the trail than normal, so we had to drop in quite early. Not a great ride, because it was so short, but worth the little hike. When we got to the top of the "Lower GS" run, we could see that people were waiting for the Harmony chair to open. So we decided to chance it, and set a limit of 30mins to wait.

Eventually the Harmony chair opened and we decided to try out the "Sun Bowl". It's quite steep at the top but soon opens out. There was some lovely powder here to be had. Karl and Zoe were struggling a little. The lack of good visibility didn't help. The worst part of this was that there is quite a flat section down near the bottom. Unfortunately Karl got stuck and had a miserable time getting to the bottom of the run. So much so, that he decided to head off on his own after that.

With only Zoe, Gareth and myself left, we headed back up to Sun Bowl (after another long wait in the lift line). This time the visibility was much worse, and this made it harder for Zoe. I kept up to the left and in the trees to find some untracked powder and make the decent a little more challenging through the trees.

It was Zoe's turn to have a problem getting to the bottom. She lost a ski on one of the steeps and couldn't get it on, due to the snow being so deep. No problem, and we obviously waited for her.

With technically only 3 runs under our belts, we headed over to Emerald and then into the "Round House" to have a hot chocolate. Needed it after all of the waiting in the lift lines and getting cold.

Hopping onto the Peak2Peak, we decided to take a run through the Terrain Garden. It was a little disappointing as the parkies hadn't done anything to the Terrain Garden for a few days. I did however manage to take a decent video of Gareth riding through.

We decided to take another run through the terrain garden before heading down and out to the upper village. Nothing really interesting happened on this run, apart from one of my best backside 180s of the season so far, when heading down to "Sunset Boulevard".

Merlins for a quick Apres beer :-)

Total Time: 06:58:03
Moving Time: 02:52:15
Distance: 37.9km
Moving Speed: 13.21km/h, 75.90km/h max
Elevation Gain: +3799m / -3158m
Calories: 1617.9 KCal

Whistler, Canada 27/12/2010

2010-12-28T00:20:00.001Z

New Snow: 14cm
Piste Condition: Powder
Visibility: Poor and flat
Wind: Moderate to strong, with gale force gusts
Temperature: -1 to -10
Piste Crowding: Heavy
Lift Lines: Very Heavy

Early one today, which was the way to go as the lift lines today were bloody awful! As soon as I got up top of the Whistler Village gondola, I decided to take Pitkkas Traverse hike up, as again the alpine lifts were not open! I was really glad I did too, as with the wind there was basically fresh tracks. I headed as far right as close to the avalanche barrier as I could. Trouble with that is there there is a bit of a drop near the top that i didn't see. As such I bailed the landing big style. Still it was a very soft landing due to all of the powder. The rest of the ride out was really sweet. There is a nice little jump off down near the bottom of "Marmot" that you can hit with speed and land in powder and still make the harmony chair. However the Harmony chair wasn't open today. You can still make SideWinder however.

It was such a sweet ride that i decided to do it again, so after a long wait in Emerald I did the hike again. This time however there was a lot more tracks, so it wasn't as great. At the top of "Dapper's Delight" it looked to me that the harmony chair was going to open and there wasn't too many people waiting at the bottom. RESULT, or so I thought. The lift mechanic was talking to some people and she said that the lift wouldn't open for an hour or two. DAMN! Over to SideWinder again then.

When I got to the bottom of Emerald, I sent Chris and Gareth a text to tell them that Harmony might open later. Both replied, but Chris would be first, so I rode down to the bottom of Big Red and waited for him to get up the Creekside Gondola.

The lift lines at Big Red were too big, so we decided to ride down to Garbonzo. The crowding here was quite difficult to ride around. from the top we cut in and out between the trees of Raven, Old Crow and Lower Whiskey Jack. There was a couple spots that the fallen trees made it quite a difficult drive, and some gave a good little drop.

Whilst waiting for Emerald yet again, I got a message from Gareth and we arranged to meet at the top of Emerald. When i got to the top, I noticed on the light board that the T-Bars were open. So all three of us decided to ride on over. We were lucky, the line wasn't too bad when we arrived and we got on there quite quickly. Looking back on the way up, the line had doubled!

Taking the top cat track of the Harmony Piste, we stayed high and left down through the bowl, along Kaleidoscope and into Boomer Bowl. We stayed right and found super fresh, un-touched and deep powder. What a ride! Definitely the best powder ride of the season. All three of us where 'wooping'. The whole way down was basically track free.

We wanted to do that again! Unfortunately Chris had to leave to go to work, so we left him at the top of Emerald, and myself and Gareth hit the T-bars again. The second time around the whole experience was good but nowhere as good as the first run through.

Obviously the run's from the T-bars had by now been busted. So we decided to head on over the Peak2Peak. Besides, I needed a little rest as I had been going all day and skipped lunch.

We rode down into the "Easy Out" via a little drop over the "Express Way" and into the Terrain Garden. Gareth handed me his camera (the screen is broken, so I have no idea if any of the pictures were any good) and I rode next to him whilst he took the kickers and boxes. Turning left towards Sunset Boulevard there was a lot of hits to be had on the way back to SolarCoaster.

Deciding to do that again, we took "Express Way", which allows two drops onto Easy Out, I managed to get a nice bit of air off both of them. This time, when we rode through the Terrain garden, I took all of the hits. Nothing big, and I need to get some more practice in and build up my confidence. On the way to "Sunset Boulevard" I did make a nice "Backside 180". Then on the run to SolarCoaster, I got a lot of the hits and one of then was bigger than I expected! Whoo!

By now it was late and both me and Gareth had decided to take the run out back to the Upper Village. The upper part wasn't that much fun, but by the time we got to "Shorthorn" ans "Lower Cruiser" it had smoothed out and I could turn up the speed a little. Half way down there was a crest and I almost didn't see the Snowmobiles coming up. So had to make a turn which was a disappointed as I had basically straight lined it up until then.

All in all, a great powder day.

Total Time: 06:42:21
Moving Time: 04:11:03
Distance: 60.0km
Moving Speed: 14.35km/h, 63.08km/h max
Elevation Gain: +5674m / -5196m
Calories: 2361.1 KCal

Whistler, Canada 26/12/2010

2010-12-27T03:06:00.000Z

New Snow: 18cm
Piste Condition: Heavy powder
Visibility: Poor, and very flat
Wind: Strong
Temperature: +2 to -7
Piste Crowding: Heavy
Lift Lines: Heavy

I just didn't feel it today. Started late and ended early.

It was again raining in the village when I headed out, and I headed up the Village Gondola. I immediately headed on up the hike of Pitkkas traverse. It really is worth doing when the alpine is closed. It was really worth the hike and was a great run.

After that I really only did some tree runs down the line that had been cut for the Peak2Peak. It was quite mogully, but wide and a decent ride.

I then did a couple other runs, but really just wasn't feeling it so took a ride out!

Total Time: 03:01:46
Moving Time: 02:20:16
Distance: 34.6km
Moving Speed: 14.79km/h, 64.94km/h max
Elevation Gain: +3303m / -2803m
Calories: 1316.9 KCal

Whistler, Canada 24/12/2010

2010-12-26T06:02:00.001Z

New Snow: 29cm
Piste Condition: Powder, but raining in the village
Visibility: Poor
Wind: Gale force to strong
Temperature: +2 to -5
Piste Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Heavy

One word describes today, and that word is "wet".

Today was incredibly busy, no surprise given the amount of snow and also that it was Christmas eve. I took the decision to take the Wizard Express, and from the sounds of it, it was the best idea. It took a long time to get onto the lift, but it was apparently even longer on Excelerator and the Village gondola.

After another long wait for Solarcoaster, I headed off over to the easy route. I stayed high on the cat tracks towards 7th heaven and dropped into the trees. I dropped in way to early, as I managed to be at the top of a cliff. Only trouble was that it was rocky, and then there were further rocks below that. So I hiked back up a little, and rode along the ridge until there was an easier drop in. I had to drop about 12ft. I landed the drop, but because the powder was so deep, that I stacked the ride out. Took a while to get out.

I rode down and took the run to the left of the Terrain Garden, which was completely un-touched. It was tough at the bottom as there was a little rise and with there being so much powder, I struggled to get enough speed. I decided to do the same again, but this time, to avoid the cliff drop :-)

I decided to head on over and get the Jersey Cream. When I got to the top I had a text from Chris, and decided to meet him in the Village. So I rode down, and what a mistake. It was raining in the village and I basically got soaked. So i decided to have an early lunch at Long Horn.

After lunch, I headed on up the Village Gondola and met Chris at the Roundhouse. We then hiked up Pitkas Traverse. It was extremely windy and quite a hard hike. it was well worth the hike! There was just so much powder there to be had, and i couldn't help whooping like a little girl.

We rode down and out, and decided to have a beer in the GLC. To be honest, I would have loved to hike Pitkas again, but the Emerald chair was closed, and I was really soaked. So, glad that we called it early.

Total Time: 04:44:35
Moving Time: 02:11:18
Distance: 35.7km
Moving Speed: 16.31km/h, 57.32km/h max
Elevation Gain: +4661m / -3124m
Calories: 1232.3 KCal

Whistler, Canada 23/12/2010

2010-12-23T23:42:00.000Z

New Snow: 12cm
Piste Condition: Powder, but getting heavy during the day
Visibility: OK
Wind: Gale force to strong
Temperature: -5 to -9
Piste Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Started the day off heading out with the two girls that I share the apartment with, Nikki and Zoe. We headed up to the Upper Village where Zoe had her Skis (she works in a rental shop). It was here that I noticed that I had somehow lost a screw from my base plate! Not good. SO I tightened them all up again, as I do every morning, and determined to keep checking during the day.

We headed up the Wizard express, and then took the Peak2Peak on over to Whistler. We headed on down Orange Peel, where I managed to loose the girls very quickly. It wasn't my intention, it's just that the visibility was really bad, and they had miss-heard where I said that we should go. So I charged it down to the Garbonzo lift, where we said we were going to go. I then took another run down to the Garbonzo lift to see if I could catch up around with them, but no luck. Oh well.

The wind was really strong today and the visibility no better, so it made for the lifts to be really tiresome. I mostly stayed the day around the Garbonzo, Big Red, Emerald and Franz's chairs and the runs around there. Trying to get some protection from the conditions. None of the alpine lifts opened on either mountain all day.

After 11, I was getting cold and wet so decided to head in for a hot chocolate. It was SO inviting, that when I finished I decided that I was just going to ride out. However, when I got out side and started to ride, I realised that I was warm enough, and what with all of the powder around, it would be a shame to call it too early. The screws on the binding that had lost the screw were all loose again so I tightened them up.

So, I did some of the tree runs down towards Emerald and down to Garbonzo. These soon warmed me up further. That and also the snow was getting heavier and heavier, as the freezing level rose. It appears that after each run the screws on the base were loosening after each run...not good.

By now however, the conditions were getting to heavy and I was getting tired, so decided to call it a day just after 14:00. I then headed into the village and bought a set of replacement screws and washers. I'll fit them later.

Total Time: 06:57:34
Moving Time: 04:30:03
Distance: 70.1km
Moving Speed: 15.58km/h, 67.44km/h max
Elevation Gain: +8007m / -7615m
Calories: 2539.8 KCal

Whistler, Canada 21/12/2010

2010-12-21T23:21:00.000Z

New Snow: 8cm
Piste Condition: Grommed piste, choppy off-piste
Visibility: Starting off OK, decreasing to flat
Wind: Moderate increasing to strong
Temperature: -5 to -9
Piste Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

After yesterdays poor show, today was much better. Headed up Blackcomb and all the way up SolarCoaster. As there was a lot of fresh snow today, I wanted to go and try find some, before it all got chopped up. I managed to find a run next to the terrain garden that had only 1 set of lines down it, a run called "Racers Alley". Was so nice to plow through some fresh un-touched powder and work on those high speed carves. It re-joins the bottom of the Terrain Garden, and I could take advantage of the rollers at the bottom to practice some ollies. Then when heading down to "Sunset Boulevard" I pulled another sweet Backside 180. I enjoyed it all so much that I decided to hit it again. This time however, a lot more people had found the run, and it was getting cut up. Still a nice ride, and capped off with another Backside 180.

As i was heading up SolarCoaster, near the Rendevouz there is a light board that displays the status of the lifts. At that time 7th Heaven was closed, but just as I was passing it, it changed to open. So I 'got on my board' so to speak, and made a dash for the 7th Heaven chair. I had thought that I had got to the chair first, but it turned out I was second. Still, I thought, I'll get untouched powder all the way. However getting over the first crest it became apparent that they had also opened the "Horstman T-Bar", and people were getting into 7th from there. Damn!

Still, it was early doors and there were hardly anyone there. I headed on out into "Lakeside Bowl", and the powder was great, when you got it. Underneath there was a definite crust higher up, that didn't make the turns so easy. Also, it's still quite a low snow base, so there are still loads of rocks around. I stormed down some great lines, and got into a good rhythm and speed. However, when I got into "Sluiceway" the moguls started to get troublesome. I was a little cold so I attacked them. Need to get my mogul riding better. I headed on up and did it a total of three times, and it was basically the same run and the same experience.

Heading back up 7th heaven I decided to drop on over the ridge into the "Horstman Glacier". Again, there was powder, but also a lot of crust and bumps. Didn't enjoy that much.

I took the "Showcase T-bar" to the top of the glacier and hiked up onto the "Blackcomb Glacier" and past the "Blowhole". First time this season, and it would afford me a look at the Saphire, Garnet, Diamond and Ruby bowls as accessed via "Spanky's Ladder". It has occurred to me that I have not ridden the blowhole from top to bottom, so I had a look. Nah! Conditions are not right.

I charged off into the glacier, and like most everywhere else, crusty and bumpy. What a shame! We definitely need more snow! Now, I have always loved the "Blackcomb Glacier Road" as a ride out. It is a little sketchy in a few places, but you can get some decent speed on.

Getting back around to SolarCoaster, I decided to get the "Crystal Chair", and then on to "Ridege Runner" and into "Arthurs Choice". That was a mistake. It was mogul city, and all of the powder had been abused! Still, another major warm up :-)

I was busting for the bathroom, so took a quick bathroom break. I had decided to skip lunch. I had a couple tracker bars in my jacket so ate them on the Glacier Chair. I cruised down the Hostman Glacier, after taking the "Showcase T-bars", and kept high to the left. It was ok, but choppy. So charged out on the "Blue Line" and back to the "Glacier Creek".

Taking the Jersey Cream chair, I somehow ended up over on 7th Heaven. Wasn't paying attention obviously. Instead of doing what I had already done during the day, I decided to head on into the "Secret Basin", and into the "Cougar Chutes". Possibly the steepest terrain I've 'really' ridden this season so far, that had a decent amount of good snow cover. I then made another 'mogul' mistake and took "Staricase". That was a workout.

I needed a bit of a breather, so I headed back up "Jersey Cream" and headed on into the "Terrain Garden". Didn't manage to hit much, as there was loads of Ski School kids all waiting to hit the various jumps, and frankly I couldn't be bothered to wait.

By now, what with the choppy conditions and the heavy snow, my legs were really starting to feel it. So I decided to take my leave and ride out. I started off down "Cruiser" and eventually on to the "Green Line" and 2Zig Zag". Heading straight past the top of the "Excalibur Gondola" I rode into "Shorthorn", not a great decision as it had snow cannons on it and was quite bumpy, but it tydied up by "Lower Cruiser" and I just straight lined it from there. Caught a nice jump just under the chair, which got a "WhooHoo" from someone on the chair, which made for a satisfying days riding

Total Time: 06:06:26
Moving Time: 05:26:51
Distance: 83.7km
Moving Speed: 15.37km/h, 71.56km/h max
Elevation Gain: +9441m / -8946m
Calories: 3066.6 KCal

Whistler, Canada 20/12/2010

2010-12-20T22:15:00.001Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Grommed piste, choppy off-piste
Visibility: Poor, with freezing fog
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -5 to -12

I didn't feel it today. The Christmas crowds have turned up so it was really quite buy on the slopes today. Not only that, but I also managed to get quite cold and just couldn't get warmed up again. As such, I ended the day early.

I did start the day early again as always, and headed on up Whistler mountain. Heading on over to the Peak chair, I rode on into the Symphony bowl. The piste was smooth and the visibility at that point wasn't too bad. I decided to stay on over on the Harmony side of the mountain for a while, and alternatively ride "Burnt Stew Trail" and "Harmony Piste". They hadn't opened the Symphony chair, but I suspected that they would. The wind was quite biting and cold, and also there was freezing fog.

I was enjoying the riding as it was reasonably fast, but I was cold. So I decided to start heading on over to the middle of the mountain. I took a few of the usual favorite runs and tried to look out for some jib's and jumps. I just wasn't feeling it at all...So I headed in for lunch, to try and warm up.

After warming up, as soon as I got outside i was cold again straight away. So I decided to 'acclimatise' by taking the Peak2Peak over to Blackcomb. Wasn't sure what I was going to do, but decided to head on through the Terrain Garden. Man my Ride DHTwo really does have some sweet pop. I rode through twice before deciding that I had enough and rode on out.

Total Time: 05:18:59
Moving Time: 03:19:53
Distance: 66.6km
Moving Speed: 19.99km/h, 78.80km/h max
Elevation Gain: +6737m / -6295m
Calories: 1871.9 KCal

Whistler, Canada 18/12/2010

2010-12-20T01:48:00.003Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Grommed piste, choppy off-piste
Visibility: None, with extremely low light
Wind: Calm
Temperature: -5 to -12

The visibility today was woeful. It ranged from poor, to bad, to really flat lights. So much so that at times I had no depth perception and occasionally I felt a little sea sick (as there was no visible distinction between land and sky). It was also very much colder today and any exposed skin really felt the bite!

I decided to ride around the mountain and get a general feel for the whole area under my hat. On Whistler mountain I rode down to the Garbonzo lift, which is my favorite as it is so under used. I rode a few of the runs that get down to the lift, the best of which was Ptarmigan, which was really soft and made for nice riding. There was the snow cannons running near the bottom as there was some ski races on. This as usual is not a pleasant experience.

I then headed on over to Synmphony and "Burnt Stew Trail" and rode the Harmony piste. As of yet the Symphony chair had not been opened. Wasn't that great riding. Heading over to Emerald, I did a few more runs around and went through the bottom of the park to a little look see. I was bursting for the toilet, but delayed until lunch time.

Whilst having lunch, Chris gave me a call and we met up in the Roundhouse. We headed out and one of his friends, Katie, joined us for a ride around. I like riding around with Chris, as he knows where all of the little hit's and jib points are, and if I follow him I too can take them on. The new Ride DH Two snowboard I have really is nice and poppy, and I was enjoying the jib's and jumps I was getting.

As Katie had to go off to work in an hour or two, we decided to head over to Symphony and work our way back so as to get her to a ride out. To do so, we first headed up the Peak chair and around to top to the Symphony bowl. It turned out that at some point during the day, the Symphony chair had opened up. So we rode on over to that and had a run down. The visibility here at that point was awful. On our ride out, it was clear that I need to wax my board as it wasn't gliding very well. It was also obvious what a difference your weight and the size of your board makes. Katie was struggling to keep up on the long flat cat trail, whilst me and Chris were zooming off. I'll wax my board tomorrow!

From the top of Harmony we took Pitka's Traverse on around to the top of Emerald. Down "Upper Whisky Jack", on to "Orange Peel", and "Bear Cub" we then joined the Down Hill bike track for a little 'banked turns' (a mini boardercross). The last section before re-joining the piste is really nasty. It'll catch you out if you don't know it's there, and it's a good 12ft drop, and at the moment it's a bit rocky. Didn't do a great job of riding the bike track, need to work on that.

We said goodbye to Katie as she headed on off for work and me and Chris headed up Big red. We decided to take the Peak2Peak over to Blackcomb, and take a couple rides over there and the ride out.

We wanted to get on over to the Crystal chair, but by the time we got there the chair had closed, so we had to head on over to SolarCoaster. We took a run over to the Terrain Garden to see if it had been built yet. There was a few features added since the last time I was there, and I hit a couple of the jumps and at the bottom there was a number of rollers. They are really quite fun, and I'll have to go back and work on my 180's. At the bottom of the park we headed onto "Sunset Boulevard", it was here that I attempted and landed my first back-side 180. Sweet!

The rest of the ride out was pretty uneventful, and I left Chris near the Tube Park, as I headed off to the Upper Village. It's a shorter walk for me if I ride to there. The Canucks play tonight, so I headed off to get changed and head back out to the Cinnamon Bear Bar.

Total Time: 07:07:07
Moving Time: 05:44:37
Distance: 103.7km
Moving Speed: 18.06km/h, 83.81km/h max
Elevation Gain: +10168m / -10282m
Calories: 3235.9 KCal

Whistler, Canada 17/12/2010

2010-12-17T23:40:00.004Z

New Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Grommed piste, choppy off-piste
Visibility: Sunny and excellent
Wind: None
Temperature: -5 to -10

Last night, I had enough with the foot pain, so I went out and bought a pair of Super Feet REDhot. They were a perfect size for my boots and didn't need to be trimmed. I rode on them all day, and have to say that they feel so much better than the insoles that came with the 2010 burton Ion boots that I have. Obviously, with any shapes insole you need to work them in a little, so there were a few little bits here and there that still give me niggles, but SO much better that the standard soles! Need to see if they work out over the next couple weeks or not.

I decided to hit up Whistler today. The visibility was excellent so I thought that I would hit Harmony first. I hit down the harmony piste, the ridge, burnt stew, and loads of the runs around that area. After a few runs I ended up on the saddle and grabbed some of the powder over there and rode all the way down to Big Red.

I arranged to meet Gareth at the Roundhouse at 12, and we spent the rest of the afternoon riding around together.

We headed up the Peak chair, which was the first time that I had hit if this year. Gareth took some photos at the top, as there was a great view. I decided to take Gareth around some of the areas that are good on the mountain when there is a lot of powder. So we first hit the Bagel bowl. The wind lip wasn't too bad, but the bowl was quite choppy and also had a lot of avalanche debris. After big red we decided to head on over to Harmony, and took a left off the GS, but there was really not enough cover and there was loads of rocks on the steep run out, so we decided to hike back out a little bit and ride it better. Once on Harmony, I tooke him along the ridge and into "Robertsons". It was lovely and steep but quite chopped.

After then we decided to take "Low Roll" and see if there was any wind lip to hit. There wasn't really, and like the rest of the mountain it was choppy. So we then did the Saddle and back up the Peak chair. We stopped at a few points and I pointed out where Kybers is and a few other special runs and the "Peak to Creak". By now it was quite late and when we had got up the "Red Chair" we took the Peak2Peak and then a run out to the upper village. The upper village is the closest to the house so was an easy choice to take for a run out.

Total Time: 06:30:35
Moving Time: 04:56:23
Distance: 87.5km
Moving Speed: 17.72km/h, 78.60km/h max
Elevation Gain: +8756m / -8771m
Calories: 2784.4 KCal

Lasagna

2010-12-17T15:57:00.003Z

For the first time in my life, I made a Traditional lasagna. Worked out really quite well. Tasted really, really good, if the pasta was just a little under-done. Still, I made enough for tonight too, and so when it's re-heated the pasta should be perfect.

Whistler, Canada 16/12/2010

2010-12-17T03:20:00.004Z

New Snow: 3cm
Piste Condition: Light powder on a hard piste
Visibility: Good in the morning, flat in the afternoon
Wind: Moderate in alpine
Temperature: +1 to -10

Another early start and I was up on Blackcomb and into my first ride before 9. I noticed on the way up that the glacier express was on standby, and therefore decided to take a run or two from the Jersey Cream. Whilst the visibility was good I managed to put down a little of the old speed and got close to the 100kmh mark. Still not back to the old riding speed, but getting there.

I was just getting down to the Glacier Creek restaurant when I noticed that the Glacier express was literally just opening up. I managed to get about the 3rd chair on there. I decided to keep is safe (still not fit enough, and want to work it in before I pick up any injuries) and took some easy and speedy routes back down to the chair. I was apparently the first one to make it down and the liftie was quite keen to know the conditions. I did another couple runs on there. Whilst taking the lift up I noticed that there was a few people taking "Spanky's Ladder". Now, to me it's way to early in the season, and there really is not enough snow coverage. Still, if they want to risk their equipment and health, it's their choice.

I'm still getting trouble with pinching from my boot, and it was quite cold today, so i decided to take a hot chocolate break. After that I decided to head on over to 7th Heaven to see if there was any good riding to be had over there. Most of the good stuff had already been tracked out and quite heavily. I however persevered and took a run through the trees quite far to the right (as you look down the mountain) of the chair lift. There was a wind lip on the way and I popped a small straight air. I do have to say that the new "Ride DH2" is quite poppy, and I like it. I then found a nice open powder field in the trees, that I'll have to stash in my bag for when there is more powder. After a couple more runs, I took the easy rout from the top out to the Rendezvous and had lunch.

After lunch I took a couple runs on over towards the terrain garden. On the way down I thought that I'd have a look at the park, but from the safety of the "Catskinner lift". I really do need to start working on my spins and tricks. However, during the day I have been taking a few more jib's and small airs around the place.

As the day wore on, the clouds and the poor visibility came in. So, after a few more runs down next to the "Solarcoaster" I decided to take a run out, but which to take? I decided that the old Whistler mountain favorite would be more fun. So I took the Peak2Peak over to Whistler mountain.

When I arrived, I was under the mistaken thought that I hadn't done the Harmony Express chair yet, so I took the easy route to the chair and then realised that I had indeed already done the harmony. But not the ridge! So I took a run down the ridge. The visibility by now was really bad, and didn't make for much fun. So I decided to call it a day.

Whilst getting onto the harmony chair, I noted that their "Run of the day" was "The Saddle". So I decided to give it a go. As usual, it was quite icy at the top, and because of all of the snow scrapings and poor visibility it was really quite lumpy. However there were a couple places I did get the speed up. I decided that this was to be my run out to the bottom of the mountain. So, after the Saddle I carried on to "Old Man", into "Little Red Run", around onto "Bear Cub", on to "Expressway". So far, so good (apart from a lot of people falling all over the place). I then took a left onto "Crabapple", and this is where it all started to go a little awry. All of the snow making cannons were on, and if the visibility wasn't bad enough already, it was awful now! But I soldiered on. I carried on to the left side of "Lower Olympic" and followed that all the way out to the village base. I managed all of that without a single stop, which was good, but because of the visibility and relative slow speed it wasn't that impressive.

Total Time: 06:25:03
Moving Time: 04:36:37
Distance: 71.5km
Moving Speed: 15.50km/h, 98.89km/h max
Elevation Gain: +7586m / -7205m
Calories: 2596.2 KCal

Whistler, Canada 14/12/2010

2010-12-14T23:52:00.003Z

New Snow: 12cm
Piste Condition: Powder with hard crust underneath
Visibility: Variable, degrading to very poor and freezing fog
Wind: Very high to low
Temperature: +1 to -9

Got a good early start, and headed up Whistler to go meet Chris at the RoundHouse. There was a lot of great powder about this morning, however there was still the hard crust underneath on those slopes that hadn't been bashed. We crashed our way down to the Emerald chair grabbing loads and loads of lush powder on the way. It was only on the way back up on the chair that I realised that I hadn't turned on the GPS, so that's lost me some stats!

We took another run through a couple of the trees back to the Emerald before it was time for Chris to take a ride out as he had work. We took the same route to Emerald and carried on through down Olympic and managed to really take advantage of the un-touched power and pisted conditions. We really blasted that thing and took a few jibbs on the way.

I said goodbye to Chris at the blackcomb base and headed on back up the Whistler gondola. I took another couple runs down what me and Chris had done previously. It was here that I started to realise just how good my new Ride DHII board is. It's flat camber makes it really easy to avoid catching an edge. It's also really good and stable with a decent amount of pop. Still need to try and work the pop some more.

I was having trouble with my right foot, having pinching feeling on the outside of the foot, so I decided to head on into the Roundhouse to try and sort it out. I had a hot chocolate and sorted out the boot. I noticed that it was the in-sole that was the problem, so adjusted that and headed onto the Peak2Peak to see what Blackcomb had to offer.

The change to the in-sole had a difference for a while, as I headed on over to 7th-Heaven, as it had only just opened up. The wind was quite intense at the top and there was loads of wind-drifts. I headed on far over to the left and took advantage of the deep un-touched (slightly) out of bounds area of the slopes. Was tonnes of great riding to have out there, if only the cover in the rocky areas is still not good enough. I took advantage of the good riding for a couple rides before heading out on the "Sunset Boulevard" cat-track as I was struggling with the pinch in the foot again, and wanted to go grab lunch. I took lunch at Rendezvous and again sorted the in-sole, this time it was a lot better (but didn't last the whole day).

After lunch I decided to head on up the glacier chair. I'd missed all of the good riding and was only left with the dreggs, so it wasn't that great riding. So I thought I'd try the Jersey Cream chair and a few rides there. Again, it wasn't great riding as all the decent powder had already been ridden, and it was really choppy and difficult riding.

I rode back down to the Jersey Cream chair again and the light conditions was degrading and there was some freezing fog. So I decided to take the Peak2Peak over to Whistler and take the run-out that me and Chris had taken earlier in the day, before doing myself and injury. After all it was a really good ride earlier. Obviously it wasn't as great as this morning, as it had chopped up a lot. Other than that it wasn't that bad. Ended the day well.

Total Time: 06:24:08
Moving Time: 04:47:45
Distance: 73.7km
Moving Speed: 15.37km/h, 77.03km/h max
Elevation Gain: +8479m / -8017m
Calories: 2699.7 KCal

Whistler, Canada 13/12/2010

2010-12-13T23:04:00.003Z

New Snow: 1cm
Piste Condition: Concrete, with large concrete cookies, and icy
Visibility: Poor degrading to white-out
Wind: None, increasing to strong
Temperature: +2 to -5

Second day on the mountain and not a great one. It was warm yesterday and froze up last night. It was like riding of concrete, and the cookies were solid. I had headed up Blackcomb. Not all of the mountain is open yet, but today they did open up the "Glacier Chair" and also "7-th Heaven", but that wasn't until about 10:30. So until then I contented myself with getting my snow legs back under me. It really isn't easy is rock solid conditions and with poor visibility. Need to work on my flexibility and general fitness.

I went down to the terrain garden, but found that it had not been built and was fully 'crudded up'. It was extremely tiring so I stopped for a quick cup of hot chocolate, as the wind had picked up and I was feeling a bit tired. As I had my chocolate they opened Glacier chair, so I headed on up that. It was only in the upper alpine that the snow was ridable and not either heavily crusty or solid. I rode around for a while, but as I said not all of the piste and runs were open, so after a while I stopped for lunch.

After lunch I took the opportunity to head on over to 7th Heaven. It looked good from the lift. The conditions were good at the top but as soon as you got further down, it was knee breaking crud. Then the wind and the clouds moved in to make it particularly nasty. I then took the opportunity to get myself off the mountain.

Total Time: 06:29:27
Moving Time: 04:09:30
Distance: 63.9km
Moving Speed: 15.36km/h, 64.07km/h max
Elevation Gain: +6701m / -6703m
Calories: 2342.3 KCal

Travel to Cabarete, Dominican Republic for a couple weeks KiteSurfing - 03/05/2010

2010-05-05T00:10:00.002Z

Temp: 30deg
Wind: Moderate
Clouds: Very Light and patchy
Percipitation: None

The Day before, traveling to Gatwick, London
My flight to Puerto Plata wasn't until early on Mondau 3rd May 2010, so I decided to head down to Gatwick and stay at the Sofitel Gatwick North. The train from Birmingham New Street to London Euson was straight forward, along with the tube from Euston to Victoria. I'd done that tube ride many a time before. I had pre-booked my Gatwick express tickets and had an e-ticket on my phone. This simple allowed me to show the inspector the code and that was all that was required. Neat.
Once I had made my way from the train station to the North Terminal, I had to find the hotel. Whilst the signs were where, I must say that they were very small, and could have done with a map or two. However once in the hotel I was quite happy. The hotel and room was really nice, very quiet too, which is what I like. I had dinner in one of the hotels restaurants. I went for the Thai/Chinese restaurant, but was left a little dissapointed. They got my order wrong, despite me getting them to read it back to me before leaving the table. Also, the sweat & sour pork looked like it had been out for a while. Most of the rest of the mean was pleasant however.
Being next to the airport allowed for me to make the most of the morning before the flight. I can say now that this paid idivideds as later in the day I still feel good. I got to the checking with loads of time to spare and breazed through.
The Flight
My flight was with "Thomsons". I had tried to get a window seat but they were all taken and apparently the flight was booked to the point that there was only 1 seat left. I was therefore on the aisle set of the middle set of rows. Not a problem, or so I thought. It ended up that the two seats next to me were taken by a couple with a child of about 1-2 years old! Uh Oh! This family turned out to be really nice and pleasant and we got on really well. There was only a small amount of time that the kid was 'causing problems'. I do have to say though that I was glad that I wasn't in the seat in front, as the kid kept on kicking and pushing the back of the chair. I'll give the parents their dues, they did really try and stop it.
The flight it's self was really uneventfull. As usual I didn't get any sleep though. Somethings to be aware of in regads to the in-flight entertainment with "Thomsons". The newest films you have to pay for, there is no 'on demand' video (it starts at the same time for everyone), because of this it's impossible to get the start of a film, and none of the drinks are complimentary unless they come with the meal. The meal was your standard airline afair, nothing special.
Arrival in the Dominican Republic
There is loads of forms you need to fill in when you arrive. It also really helps if you have already got yourself a Tourist Visa. I got mine from the Dominican Embasy (on-line). This meant that I could get to the front of the queue immediatley, as virtually no-one else had done this. You then need to have a landing card/form completed and hand this with your passport to passport control. You are then in baggage reclaim. This was really fast and efficient. However there is another form that you need to fill-in. An 'in bound' customs declaration (yes, you do have to fill out an 'out bound' customs declaration when you leave the country as well!). Paperwork done, I got out of the airport.
Airport Transfer
As part of my package I had airport transfers all lined up. I got to the desk and they directed me to the bus. There was only myself and one other in our bus (most everyone else had their holiday completley with Thomsons, which I did not). The other person on the bus was someone I saw on the flight, she was the one that got changed into her bikini top and short in the aircraft toilets. Let's just say, all the blokes heads turned as she headed back to her seat. Anyway, whilst we were in the airport transfer we got chatting. Her name was something like Alaisha, Aliana, Alenia, or something. She had apparently quit her job a week or so earlier and was going to stay in the Caribean for a while. Her stop in Sousa was first, and we arranged that she would come down the beach to my hotel some time during the week for a friendly beer.
The Tropical Clubs hotel, Cabarete, Dominican Republic
The airport shuttle dropped me off at the hotel where a security guard took me to reception. By the looks of it the hotel and general area has a lot of security around! After filling in the usual hotel guest forms, picking up my towel vouchers (you get your beach towels supplied and can have them replaced twice a week) and also the TV remote, the security guard showed me to my room. My room is quite big, has a balcony with outdoor tables and chairs, air-con and a fan, and has a great view out onto the beach. There are a couple things that are not so great. The room has 'that damp' smell, I'm sure I'll get used to it. The bed is basically two singles joined together, so a bit of a hard divide. The TV does not work (no problem as I don't intend to watch much, but will tell reception to make sure I don't get shafted because of that). The room might have great view, however right underneath is the pool and bar. The bar get's going at 21:00 with loud music and according to the hotel details, doesn't quiten down until 23:00. Not good on the noise front. Glad I brough earplugs! I await the first night to see what it is really like (music is blaring as I type at 21:10!).
The Beach
After unpacking, having a shower and applying sun cream (SPF 50 in a lot of areas and SPF30 in others), I decided that I would go and find the KiteSurfing school where my lessons were to take place the next day. I knew which direction along the beach the school was but thought that I would ask reception to make sure and to give me a guide as to distance. Turns out that this hotel is over 2km away from 'kite beach' and the KiteSurfing school I was attending. There are two main areas of Cabarete beach, the Wind Surfing and the KiteSurfing. The hotel was at the far end of the Wind Surfing (good if that's your sport). There are loads of schools and plenty close by. So why was I so far away? When I investigated the holiday my first requirement was the schooling I would receive, and KiteXite were widley regarded as one of the best in the area. My next requirement was the hotel class. The Tropical Clubs was the only 3* available in the package so I had taken that. If I knew the distance, I might have thought twice. No matter, it's all excersise.
I therefore decided to head off and walk along the beach to find out really how far it was. Yes, it was probably at least 2km! But what a walk! I think I can do that walk every day, no problem. On the way I tested the ocean waters, cool but not cold at all. The beach was lovley and golden, and there were some waves but nothing big. There were loads of people out on the ocean doing wind surfing and kire surfing. It was great to see first hand what they were all doing. I took a few snaps along the way.
The KireSurfing School
I eventually rucked up outside the KiteSurfing schools @ KiteXite. The guys at the school went and got the owner 'Stefan' of the school and we had a little chat about my 'package' and other things. Turns out that the wind has been quite poor for a while, that was until last weekend and since then it has been picking up real nice and is expected to continue the entire time I'm here. Great! I arranged that I'd get to the school about 11:00 the next morning. I would have like to get there earlier, but I have the usual hotel induction at 09:30 in the morning. I'll attend to see what gets said and so that I can ask questions as needed.
After talking to Stefan for a few more minutes I decided to head back to the hotel, after all it was at least 2km back again! On the way back I decided to shock the natives and ladies by walking back without my shirt on. Thankfully the beach is really quite quiet and most people are off shore kiting! So only scared a couple people really.
All Inclusive
I arrived back at the hotel and decided to have a nice easy beer at the hotel bar on the beach and generally to take it easy. After a while I headed back to the hotel room and took a read of one of the magazines that I grought with me in order to pass the time before dinner. The deal with the hotel is that it is 'All Inclusive'. Normally I wouldn't go with this option but what the hell, I don't HAVE to eat at the hotel if I don't want to. The dinner is the 'help your self' style ordeal. The food was pleasant and there were no problems with the hot food. The cold food was a little more problematic simply because of the ambiant temperature. You have to make sure that you get the correctly chilled portions. I must say though that the fresh pineaple was fantastic, I'll have more of that!
Quick Main Street Wander
After dinner I headed allong the main street in order to just have a poke around and to see where I could get my hand on some essential rations, such as bottled water (I drink only bottled water in the UK, so will be doing the same in other countries, especially 3rd World such as the Dominican Republic) and the emergency snack kit. I didn't spend too long wandering along the main street, and basically did a big loop ending up back on the beach, where it appears that all of the main bars are located (all pumping out music of various styles). I didn't stop in even one to be honest, as I was starting to feel tired even though it was only 21:00 local time, but that does mean 02:00GMT, and with not sleeping on the flight it has been a long day.
So, I thought that I'd get this blog entry added and then review some KiteSurfing Progression videos in preperation for momorrow before getting the earplugs and trying to get some sleep!