Birthday Smiles

Contrary to the rather pesimistic opinion aired on the last posting, being 31 is the business (that is so long as every day at this age consists of daydreamy skiing and boarding at Lake Louise, blue skies and fine hosteleries to finish off the evenings). Needless to say, the birthday bash weekend was a treat!

Saturday saw Brina don the skis for the first time in a good while too - after a stint of cajoling and some bullying tactics Brina hit the slopes in fine fettle of form. She's still fighting off the dratted lurgy, but had a blast on the slopes and was even coaxed down a number of the steeper runs.

Here she is zipping off the first lift of the day, a la Franz Klammer. It was great to be out in the snow, although the temps were still bloody cold. This was remedied however by the fine gift sent across the oceans by brother and sister (inlaw) - thanks Kidda and Luce. The big green jacket I was sporting all day is the perfect wear for winter days in the Rockies - a real toasty number, plus the most gadgets and pockets of any jacket ever made - pockets for goggles, pouches for phones (not that I own one), seceret holes for ipod headphones, stashed chamois for cleaning lenses - I'm sure there's even a toothbrush holder tucked away in one of the arms; but am yet to find it.

The evening was spent in this room in Lake Louise;

They even put the flag on top for us. What made it better was views like this below from the bedroom in the morning;

Saturday night was topped off with some fine apres ski in Lake Louise - hosted by Alexender Keith's finest Indian Pale Ale (actually real beer that tastes a treat- a rarity for North America), and eager chit chat about how this weeks predicted snow fall will top things up nicely for the first weekend ski of March! There were lots big smiles;

And we reckon there'll be a bit more of this white stuff too;

Hoping you all had a super weekend, and here's to being 31 (or whatever age you are)

Off to have another search for my toothbrush holder,

S&S.

Ageing Ungracefully

I thought I'd best pin up a posting as I lament the rolling on of the real thirties! It always seems much older when you see it written down, but with tomorrow comes the maturity laden 31st birthday. If only my brain would wake up from its teenage beliefs and irresponsible attitude. On the bright side however I have been told that 40 is the new 30, which makes me 21 tomorrow - an equation I much prefer to work with.

There are a lack of photos today - I had a memory card full of last weekend's trip to Sunshine with Brad (twas his second day on skis and I semi consciously thought it would be a good idea to hack down a few double black diamonds - oops) however, I have neglected to recall the precise location of my camera. I hope to find it before Saturday as Brina and I are off to Lake Louise for the weekend (and it's still snowing!!!).

I realised that I was becoming a little more accustomed to the winter this morning as, when stepping out the front door with just a jumper (yes N.American people that would be a sweater - not that it was sweaty) I felt rather at ease to leave my coat behind in the pre dawn light. It wasn't until I saw that it was still minus 13 that I got goose bumps and wished for the car to heat up faster.

I've put a link onto the blog to Portland Ken's blog site - he's one of the American fellows referred to in many postings, a more foul mouthed Yankie cock a doodle doo who berates anything and everything not made of limestone and covered in snow or ice - his main target of hatred being his great leader Bush - some of the stars and stripes waving loonies see the light. He has a rather entertaining account of forays around the Canadian Rockies - the blog is "oregoncanadian.blogspot.com", thought I'd best write it out as no doubt I'll be defeated by the technology when it comes to putting a link on here.

Well, don't want to bore the socks off you too much, will get interest of the weekend up here by Monday - Hopefully will spend Friday night in a haze of Guniness wishing myself happy 21st.

Bottoms up,

S&S.

Dig to Victory

Hi All!

The snow hasn't stopped for the past week or so, resulting in a tremendous amount of shovelling the driveway - alas, a hideously mundane topic for the veteran Canadians amongst you, but still a hilarious novelty for the fresh faced immigrants, who never had anything as remotely interesting to while away thier evenings during winter in their homelands (although I do note that the British equivalent of this would be me getting excited about mowing the lawn for the umpteenth time in a week). Keeping a tight ship in Cochrane means I have to crack the whip with the scivvy at times;

Although the scivvy soon promoted herself to Captain, tossed the shovel over her shoulder and demoted me to finish the job off myself "yee lazy landlubber". Unsurprisingly Brina wasn't as interested as I was that I'd cleared 4 inches of snow off the drive last night, and this dump was just from when we'd been out at work (the Canadian instinct in her kicks in to retreat indoors, light the fire, put the kettle on and keep fingers crossed for warmer weather). I was inclined to agree after 20 more minutes outside as the minus 28 wind chill had numbed my nose (again).

Here's Brina in happier times, just before the mutiny (I was reluctant to tell her about the bit she missed near the garage - that was my downfall - note: when wife is working, don't comment on progress - constructive criticism isn't advised).

As winter begins to really grab us by the short and curlies, occassional thoughts of that pool we had in Miami cross our minds (very briefly, before making backcountry boarding plans for the weekend - hurray!). And, just to get in the spirit of things, I have been driving a chuffing huge truck around for the past two weeks - it's a monster, and I feel the back of my neck getting redder by the minute - all I need now is a gun rack and a chequered hunting cap with ear flaps! A couple from work have lent us the truck while Brina is just working half days at school - the couple were going to be giving me a lift into work each day, and Brina was going to drive - but rather than give me a lift, they gave me their big fat 4x4 monster. I thought it was a really nice gesture, but on reflection it seems to be saying "I don't want to drive to work with you soooo much that I'm prepared to offload my shiney truck to you for as long as is necessary!?" Only kidding, it's been ideal;

It's all a bit like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, shovelling our driveway. The snow hasn't stopped, and by this time tomorrow it'll be out with the big yellow shovel again to make sure we don't get buried in, so it'll be more of this for Brina;whilst I put the kettle on and swab the decks. Aye aye me hearties,

Put your back into it (whatever it is),

Keep on truckin'

S&S.

Lets Split

How Do All! It's time to recant a few more tales from the chateau Williams:
Life has been speeding us by as we already race into February, lessons at work are being completed now which should really have been done in November and the winter is half gone (but in the optimistic sense at least there is still half the winter left!). The temps began to rise today as it reached the giddy heights of 9 degrees in Cochrane - I've not been privvy to such a balmy day for months - although it's back to normal tomorrow as the high is forecast at minus 13 with oodles of snow, followed by minus 17 for Wed, Thur and Friday highs - and snow every day!!!!!!!

Now it's down to the gritty stuff! Saturday was one of those priceless days where you think "bloody hell, it's great this place". Brad and I cruised up the Banff/Jasper highway (Icefield's Parkway) armed with split boards (snowboards that come in two pieces to be used as skis to slide uphill for those of you unfamiliar with winter accessories) and the usual avalanche regalia, searching for big mountains and deep powder. The southern flank of Cirque Peak was our just rewards - snow deep enough to drown in, no other tracks, no other people, clear blue sky, views across the vally to Bow glacier, Crowfoot glacier and the icefields. Skinning up the hill on the split boards was entertaining enough, and certainly well worth it for the decent:

In the glee of picking our own lines all day, I neglected to get the camera out apart from the shot above. Each hour or so skin up was well worth the ride down (even after becoming burried in a tree well for several minutes after a close call with one of the pines - snow way above my head as I tumbled down to the base of the tree only to be covered by more snow following me into the hole). I was thinking I was becoming a bit fitter, but playing around between 8 and 9000 feet makes you gasp like a steam engine - and calls for extra concentration when putting the board together at the top of the hill - you don't wont one half of the split to go skittering off downslope - it's a long walk to the bottom:

And that's just Saturday! Sunday saw a stint to Sunshine with Yankie Brad and Portland Ken. Being Brad's (different to Canuck Brad of Saturday) first day on skis at a big resort, we were expecting some serious wipeout humour - but alas, he hung onto the black diamonds rather well and the day was a treat! It was great fun to be riding the slopes with them both - even though they are skiers - and American. (I'll make the coffee stronger next time).

All in all, the weekend was ace and fuelled me well for the arduous week ahead - had a cancer check at hospital today and it would seem that my blood, chest, lungs, liver and testicle are all in good health (so there's even more to smile about),

Here's to the second half of winter,

Make every turn count,

Big smiles to you all,

S&S.

Frozen Ropes

Ey up all! 't has been a while since the last post regarding avalanches; due to avalanches of a different kind - the report papers piled high on the desk kind of avalanches. I've been swamped with bloody school work, burried beneath mounds of paper (all as a result of my own deathly procrastination throughout the preceeding few months) and thus have just managed to complete my final report - it is Friday night now and the deadline was a good few hours ago (midday to be precise). Ho hum.

Anyway, not wanting to let work get too much in the way of freezing your brass monkeys off kind of fun, last Sunday was dedicated to a day out in Kananaskis searching out the easiest ice climb this side of the Rockies in a vain attempt to reassure myself I could still thwack an ice axe around with some kind of conviction (although I was still debating this by the end of the day).
This is the route we stumbled on - Chantilly Falls in Evan Thomas, and it proved to be all good fun.

The guy I was climbing with was a scouser no less - so I had to keep a close eye on my gear all day and double check that all my wheels were on the car when we left, but it was good fun none the less. There wasn't even much smug satisfaction about the scousers 2 nil win over Chavski and the Gooners jammy 2-1 injury time victory over Man U.

It was great to be out in the quiet cold mountains - and a super feeling that this place is less than an hour from home. Despite the simplistic nature of the route, my concentration was a bit much at times - see the next shot, I look like I'm trying to work out some formula for splitting the atom (or look like I'm worrying about an exceptionally wet fart).

All in all, a bit of a different jolly for the winter weekend fun which was a blast. I had kind of written off any ice climbing this year in a manic obsession with boarding and keeping the biking legs in some kind of shape - but it was great to get out and I'm sure there'll be a few more days of crampon renting before the season is out!
This weekend sees a return the calving the powder (and a gear freak excitment at testing out the new soft shell), although Saturday is a wife day. We're off for a mooch around Bragg Creek for breakfast and a hike tomorrow with beers on the agenda for the pm! (afternoon, not Prime Minister). Brina is still fighting off her sickness, but it seems like we're getting to the bottom of it so hopefully we'll have a healthy house soon (for the first time in a good while).
(Here's the second pitch).

Anyhow, the Canadian roller coaster continues (I shall avoid any comments regarding legality of certification here in case it is ever held against me in a future law suit), hopefully some of you are putting coins away in a tin to help me out with bail money for the inevitable illegal immigrant customs bust that's going to happen in Cochrane soon.

Keep smiling, breathing and checking your undies - just in case.
Good health and laughter to you all,
S&S.

Big white thunder

You know you're having a good day when your fall lines take you through the steeps, trees and beyond the orange string boundary line. The snow was all very safe, despite the sheer slope angles, but it's always playing in the back of your mind "Caution Avalanche Danger". As I was making a few deep turns I heard an ear splitting BOOM!!!!! "Oh Bollocks" was my first utterance, I'd forgotten that the ski patrol were doing an avalanche demonstration at 2pm (and here I was in the avi terrain). I expected to see a cloud of white concrete chasing me down the mountainside as I nervously craned a glance back up slope. Thankfully though the avalanche demo was on the mountainside on the opposite valley, so I had a front row seat.

Now, anybody familiar with the Euro resort avalanche control will be aware that all this gubbins of detonating slopes with rather sophisticated explosives to rid of avalanche danger goes on in the earlier hours of the day, before the masses reach the slopes. But Canada, being a sharing and caring nation, elects to prime the slopes just after lunch, for everyone to enjoy the spectacle of hundreds of tonnes of snow being blasted down the mountainside at two hundred miles an hour.

I was at first a sceptic, however, it was all rather impressive, and I feel that the boys with the explisives did a good job - perhaps too good, seeing as though the snow cloud from the slide carried all the way up the other side of the valley, covering me in my own little whiteout blizzrd and freaking out a hoard of people who were still on the summit on my side of the hill!

Asides from gouging a chunk out of my board all the way to the core, it was yet another pucker day at Sunshine - but what else could it be when the sky is this colour;

I was looking for a cloud for scale in the photo, but alas...

We're still trying to get Brina fit and healthy. There's some mystery bug plaguing her system and hopefully an appointment with the powers that be at the hospital on Thursday will be able to shed some light. An on another health note, the bollock cancer scans are still showing that things are remaining A.OK in 2007 (lets hope it stays that way).

Work remains to be roomfulls of screaming and shouting little children, but so long as it's paying the bills for snowboard repairs then it's OK.

I hope the start of the year is going as you all planned and that you haven't broken your resolutions just yet (I still have to make one).

May you all stay within the boundaries (just)

S&S.

The Powder and the Glory

Just a quick post as I procrastinate from marking the tests which I've been meaning to grade for the past two weeks. Work resumes tomorrow with minimal levels of enthusiasm emitting from the Williams' household.

Just to cap off the holiday season though, yesterday was spent in the backcountry of Kananaskis, slogging up to the top of Black Prince Mt with the snowboards, to get the ride of our lives down through the waist deep powder!

We got just above the treeline in about three hours of snowshoeing! The snowshoe thing was all a bit much, and tipped Brad ove the edge, so much so that he was prepared to fling the tortuous things off the summit. After reminding him that there'd be some hefty damage deposit to pay the University rental dept, we stashed the shoes safely away, vowed to bring up split boards next time and latched onto the snowboards!
So many posting on our blog ramble on about the winter, ski-ing, boarding, mountains etc... but this was really the business. 30 minutes of calving down through the trees, making fresh tracks all the way through powder so deep you needed a snorkel, spraying waves of snow two metres high on every turn! - God bless Canada! We're looking forward to what else 2007 will bring - hopefully more of the same next weekend!
In the meantime I'd better get off and make up some grades for those kids' tests! A certain wife of mine is all up to speed with her work - oh to be prepared! Maybe one day!
Riding High,
Watch out for the branches (they'll scratch your goggles),
S&S.

Happy 2007

Happy New Year to all!

I hope that you all had a suitably fun filled New Year! We weren't too sure what New Years eve would bring this year; having spent recent New Years in Time Square NY watching the ball drop, Queenstown watching fireworks over the silhouetted Southern Alps, remote Scottish islands charging brandy glasses and fat cigars at midnight - surely this year would be another to remember - but alas... Maybe age is creeping up on us, but we were both flat out by 10.30pm. I was stirred at midnight by somebody halfway down the street popping a bottle of champers and welcoming the New Year in for everybody, and that is about it!

Admittedly, we'd been ski-ing / boarding over the tops of these clouds in Kimberley BC all day New Years eve, and coupled with the drive home, we were both cream crackered.
We spent the previous few days to New Year over in BC and hit the slopes of Fernie and Kimberley. They really get the snow over on the other side of the mountains, and it was great to go and see what all the fuss is about with regards to these two resorts. As it turns out, the fuss is very well deserved, the powder was awesome, the terrain great, weather was on our side and the little town of Fernie is very much reminiscent of a French Alpine resort - so we felt rather at home supping on a cold apres ski pint. Kimberley had all of the above, minus the nice town feel. It's in a beautiful setting but I expected to see tumble weed bouncing down the road on the tail of a howling wind - it's pretty dead in the townsite - but that makes for quieter slopes (see above).

The New Year has only brought us one days ski-ing so far (although the balmy Cochrane weather allowed me to get out on the bike yesterday), and the piccie shows Brina trying to break the spead limit coming out of Cascade Valley (with scant success). We've got a couple more days at Sunshine to fit in before work resumes on Monday (these two weeks of the Christmas hols have just flown by).

Here's another ditty from today's venture ski-ing around Cascade (although that's the Fairholme range in the background). It's a nice jolly close enough to Banff to muster an excuse to visit the local coffee emporiums post ski. Part of the road on the drive in is closed for wolves and cougars - we were keeping an eye out for their tracks, but the beasties seem to have been in hiding.

Wishing you all a super 2007,

Trying to stay awake,

S&S.

Dreamin' of a white Christmas

Merry Christmas all!

I trust that Santa bought you all the goodies that you deserved (or didn't deserve) and that the holiday time has been action packed with drinking and eating excessively. Having had no fresh snow in Cochrane for a while, we headed out west on Christmas morning and drove slap bang into a snowstorm in Kananaskis (just what we were after). Sliding along on the cross country sticks is a rather theraputic way to spend crimbo morning, greeting the other skiers with a hearty 'Merry Christmas', before digging into the snow to stop for hot chocolate and, er, chocolate! (Brina found the British shop in Calgary and we were treated to real Cadbury's for Christmas).

As you can see, the festive season got a little too much for Brina;

Clearly the snow got to places where it shouldn't mid 'snow angel'.

After a while crusing around the nice fresh snow, we headed home to feast on Turkey and Christmas Pud (not in the same bowl). Boxing day was all very relaxed until it started to snow again (proper Canadian snow - like, shed loads) and we became rather twitchy at the prospect of getting out onto the slopes. So a great day was had today at Sunshine - not the best visibility as it still hasn't stopped snowing 24 hours later, but the trails are in awesome nick! We're off to Fernie tomorrow for a few days and reports are they're ten feet under powder. Hopefully we'll still make it into the states for a jolly, but who needs the bloody Yanks when you've got the wild land of the Canuck on your doorstep.

No doubt the next report will involve some kind of New Years antics too - so, before 2007, we wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year.

I'm off to find my wooly hat as the Christmas season has also brought a number 1 buzz cut (a bit shorter than action man's hairdo - anybody unfamiliar with action man needs to research boys' toys of the 1980s) - I almost get reflection of the top of my head nowadays.

Snow Angels at the Ready,

Have a drink for us on New Years,

S&S.

Happy Hangover and Merry Christmas

Hi All,

Postings have been somewhat sparse in the festive run up to Christmas. With traipsing around shopping Malls heaving with people all going in the opposite direction to me, to complete Christmas shopping tasks, and finishing things off at work, time seems to have swung by a little too quickly these past couple of weeks. But at least we've got our tree up!

Also, the customary Christmas hangover has been ticked off the list too! A couple of pints and a wee glass of firewater is all that it takes for me to be writhing around in agony crying that I shall never touch a drop again! (I was actually home by 7.30pm so it can't have been that bad!).

We're eyeing up where to visit over the holidays. At the moment it looks like we're off to BC to ski and board for a few days, and then down into the states to test out what Montana's snow has to offer! (I still get a bit sketchy thinking about passing US customs officials seeing as though we don't have a great history - but I'm sure my new photocopied work visa will get me back into Canada!).

The fun things in the hills are going a plenty - and a brief jaunt to Mt Norquay to board for a few hours is the order of this afternoon (today being Chrimbo eve). Having jettisoned down a couple of rocky double black diamonds on Goats Eye mountain at Sunshine, I've dusted off the old helmet to keep my bonce safe - although without a helmet I look like I have the worlds biggest head anyway, so when I don the lid I resemble something more akin to Neil Armstrong at work for NASA. (One small step... and all that).

We'll update you with pre New Years antics, and in the meantime wish you all a very Merry Christmas (just keep off the firewater).

I've got some Brussel Sprouts to peal and Brinas on with the Triffle.

Don't burn the Turkey,

S&S.

Cracking the Whip

Hi All,
So this image pretty much sums up the past week. The shakles of work and study have gripped me by the knackers (oops, should be singular!) and the beautiful weekend drifted by with me desperately trying to keep up to date with marking and lesson plans whilst finishing off an increasingly lenghty project for a course I keep thinking I've finished (it's done for good this Friday though - so a double whammy of boarding to be had this weekend). Whilst I've been chained to the desk, Brina has been sick in bed (not chained - just to counteract any salivating perverted comments).
At work we're on the back nine with regards to the forthcoming christmas holidays now though (if the truth be told I'm actually already in the clubhouse with my feet up sipping a stiff brandy, as all my lessons at present revolve around videos and dvds - and the kids had better get used to it because that's all they're getting until 2007).
I think it's about time to really finish off my blasted project, I hear the jingling of tea cups coming up the stairs so I'd best log off and pretend that I have in fact been 'studying' up here for the past 2 hours! We hope you are all fit and well, and that you're keeping your fingers crossed for Santa's visit!
Premature Ho Ho Hos
S&S.
p.s. If any of you are driving home from a pub tonight and you see a scouser on a bike, try not to run him over -
it's probably your bike!

Sunshine

Despite the title of this posting, no, this isn't another weather related issue. For those unaware, Sunshine is the ski hill just beyond Banff. (I say hill, rather - three massive mountains). It was our first proper outing to a ski resort this year, and a great start it was! They've had loads of the white stuff, there were fresh tracks to be had just off piste (a la Val d' Isere) and the sky was blue. The wind chill on the chair lifts was about minus 35 however, but this wasn't too much of an issue if all skin was covered; Enter, Darth Maul on skis;

As well as ski-ing for the most part of the day with Darth Maul (above), the brother Vader did make an appearance;

Mt Assinaboine is the Matterhorn like Peak in the background behind Brina in the top photo. It's a classic landmark of the Canadian Rockies and it's pretty impressive to be ski-ing (boarding) with it sat on the horizon (as usual, the photo doesn't do it justice, but it's a bloody massive chunk of rock sitting higher than anything else around).

Brina was testing out her new skis, and they're a lot quicker than the old ones. Much to her delight, I inadvertently took us down a black diamond chute through the trees on the second run of the day. After much coaxing (and talking her out of divorcing me for taking her on such a ****ing stupid run) she glissaded down with ease (better than the oik with a snowboard who took her there!). The old board had a fun day out and found some steeper and deeper stuff when Darth Maul went in for an extra cup of hot chocolate and to warm her frozen tootsies.

We got there at last, the season opener was a good un, and hopefully next weekend will provide more of the same. (It may well even be a bit warmer - the crazy Calgary temps were in the minus 40s last week and they're forecasting plus 16 for this Thursday. I don't know many other places with a temperature range of 50 for the daily highs within two weeks).

The Christmas lights are coming out tonight (all the neighbours have had their outdoor lights up since the end of Halloween and our road is like the Strip in Vegas - only less hookers). I don't think I'll be too Christmassy until work is done - only two and a half weeks to go!!!!!!

Hope the weather isn't too crazy where ever you live,

Deck the Halls,

S&S.

Mercury Rising

Hi All,
just a brief thing. I know I keep yapping on about how cold it is and all that, but here's the weather report for midweek;
Environment Canada's Official Weather Warnings
Warnings
Airdrie - Cochrane - Olds - Sundre3:46 PM MST Tuesday 28 November 2006
Wind chill warning forAirdrie - Cochrane - Olds - Sundre continued Extreme wind chill continues.
The stationary Yukon high which brought frigid conditions to much of Alberta remains entrenched over western Canada. Northwesterly outflow winds from this high over central and southern Alberta are expected to produce extreme wind chill values after sunset and into Wednesday morning. Wind chill values of minus 40 to minus 45 are forecast for the above mentioned warning regions.

So there we have it. Minus 45 with the wind chill. School shut down because no buses would start and it was feared that the little kidlings would perish on the journey! I must admit to having never felt cold like it. There was definitely no hanging around outside, just a rapid dash through the snow from car to indoors.
Tis all a far cry from the scorching outback of Dubbo. Here's what a view out of the rear window of the car used to look like on the way to work;

Not that I prefer the outback! No boarding or ski-ing to be had there! (No frostbite either - just heat stroke). Another snag about these car journeys was the locusts - they used to wreak havoc to the radiator;

Give me this snow and minus 45 any day! It's awesome!!!!

Thermals at the ready,

S&S.

Brass Monkey Skiers

The result of a 5 hour cross country ski in minus 25, results in the above! Saturday saw a more than refreshing ski stint in Kananaskis. We tracked up a rather sizeable hill called Blueberry which sits in the middle of an enormous valley surrounded by glacier clad peaks. The views are impeccable - if it isn't snowy like billio, causing visibility to stretch no further than the next tree (which, if you didn't get it, it was!). Having set out mid morning, we weren't getting off the mountain until it was getting dark - and much, much colder. Brina skied the last 2 hours with about sixteen layers on and a down jacket - and still her eyelids froze too.

Hopefully next week will be more suitable for hitting the resorts to ski. As keen as I am, sitting on a chairlift in somewhere near minus 30 doesn't do it for me (add an extra 10 or so for wind chill on the way down and you'll realise why sunshine was pretty quiet this weekend). The first World Cup ski race is at Lake Louise next week, so maybe we'll head up there and see how the real fast guys do it - in lycra!!!

The crazy Albertan weather continues, there's more snow and ball droppingly chilly weather for the next few days, but by Thursday we'll have a high of one degree - the temps vary by 25 degrees or so for highs from day to day. It's great!

Nothing much else to really, work (yawn), we've got a Christmas party to go to tonight - MEC invite all old staff to their bash - and some bash it is too, so that'll be fun. In the meantime, I've got to dash off now as Utd v's Chelsea is firing up in ten minutes.

Wrap up,

S&S.

p.s. Squeezing four people, skis and poles into a VW Golf makes for a rather cramped dirve home.

So this is Canada eh?

Hi All,
For anyone reading this brief post who is Canadian, the following isn't really a big deal. But for all you other non Arctic dwellers, here's a glimpse of the forecast for the next four days (and we're still in November!).

Wednesday 22 Nov: High -10°C Low -14°C
Thursday 23 Nov: HIgh -5°C Low - 20°C
Friday 24 Nov: High - 20°C Low - 24°C
Saturday 25 Nov: High -24°C Low -28°C
Sunday 26 Nov: High -22 Low -27

Bloomin' eck, this Satuday seems like it's going to be an extra thermals day - don't think we'll be out rafting the river this weekend! Best go and plug the car in.
Hope you're all keeping warm,
S&S.

Lazy River

The middle of November might not be the typical month to be associated with rafting in the Rockies, but that's what Sunday provided. Forget the great snow and ice all over the region, today was the day for navigating ice flows in a surreal a la Shakleton experience.

Having spent the previous two days at a Science teachers' conference, it was an immense relief to escape into the big outdoors. Despite school having funded our conference in Kananaskis, two days milling around with 400 other Science teachers (I say 'other' rather loosely seeing as though I am not actually a bonefide Scientist) is more than I can take before brain meltdown. Luckily Brina was in the same frame of mind so we averted as much social interaction with the other geeks and made the most of being out in the hills. Imagine 400 of the energizer bunnies banging on their bloody annoying drums 24/7 all stuck in the same room, each trying to outdo the other with some incredibly boring yet highly audiable drumming - well this course was the science equivalent of bunny drum banging.

Although Brina had to head home on Saturday, I left the conference and ventured out to finish an Outdoor Ed course I've been doing at the Uni. It was a weekend in Canmore, and the piece de resistance was the rafting trip from Banff to Canmore on the ice choked Bow River. The piccie at the top shows us drifting beneath Mt Rundle with the rather infamous ice route 'Terminator' hanging to the mountainside up above. The piccie below shows a bit more of the ice in the water, it was more akin to paddling in a big old slush puppie (that would be 'Slurpie' in Canadian speak).

That's about the fill of it all for this weekend. Another short week at work is coming up, Thursday and Friday are parent teacher days (sure beats the parent evenings we used to have), so no kids are in school then (phew). The house is shaking as I type (quite literally, the lamp on my desk is going like one of those nodding dogs in the back of a red neck's car) as we're getting hammered by the Chinook of all Chinooks. At least more snow is falling high up even if it is getting obliterated here. Although it's only Sunday eve - roll on next weekend!!!!

Battening down the hatches

S&S.

It's Back

Hi All,
The good news is that IT's back (IT being a super snowy Canadian winter - although I suppose it is still 'fall'). The bad news is my muscles forgot how to ski and are currently spasming with anger that I honed up my cycling legs for what - for ski-ing!!! The transition from bike to skis wasn't as simple as my little legs had been hoping!

We started off the season on the sticks with a moderate 28km jaunt from Lake Louise to Moraine lake and back. With oodles of the white stuff it made for a great November day. There must be two to three feet up there already. This time last year I was running around Upper Kananaskis lake (albeit in the snow, post holing) but it certainly wasn't ski-ing weather. So hopefully the season will continue with the vigor in which it has begun. The board gets a run out next week and hopefully wont need to be put away for the next six months!!!!!! Brina was taking it easy buying orchids today in the balmy temperatures of Calgary (I think it almost reached zero!), but the two of us are off to Kananaskis for two nights at the end of the week (courtesy of work - there's a science conference on and fortunately for us it is held at a hotel at a ski resort!!!).

I need to go and soak my aching limbs and reassure them that they wont ache this much every time I go out (bloody well hope not anyway).

And as many posts have ended with a sunset, heres a moon rise from the back window;

I hope you are all getting your fix!

Bring on the powder,

S&S.

Wax Lyrical

Five days and counting... that's how long it is until the ski resort of Sunshine opens!! In the excitment of the forthcoming vertical fun Brina got kitted out with a set of new shiney skis - and as can be seen from the piccie she couldn't wait until next Saturday to try them out, I found her all kitted out in dressing gown and ski boots this morning It's fun to be waxing the board again (which is way easier and less messy than waxing cross country skis) and getting reading to hit the slopes. We've opted for a multi resort discount pass this year - fancy going to a few different slopes over the course of the winter rather than just having the season pass for one place.
Luckily all school reports are due in this Friday, so the weekend will be free to get the first runs of the year in!!!!
I imagine you're all knee deep in adventure where ever you dwell,
Keep on carving,
S&S.

Happy Halloween

Well there's a title I never thought I'd be writing a few years ago - Happy Halloween - isn't that an oxymoron if ever there was one? Well, it's all the rage as a greeting here on Oct 31st! For those unfamiliar with a North American halloween - it's huge!!!! Every single student was dressed up at school today (they don't dress up as just gouls or witches, but anything they like, it's a big excuse for cross dressing and the like). And we're not just talking about drooping an old white bedsheet over your head to be the scary ghost - full on makeup and costumes that Hollywood would be proud of. Even all of the teachers get into the groove, every staff member became some hideous creature from the sixties or seventies (generations being the staff theme for costumes). Only the boring old British science teacher failed to deliver with a costume much to the students' disappointments - next year I'll get into the spirit (no pun intended!).

More importantly is the onset of winter. The piccie above shows what's happening up at Sunshine today. They got about 45cm last night and all looks good for the hill to be opening on November 10th!!!!! Sod trick or treaters, I've a board to wax!

Happy Halloween,

S&S.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr

So it hit home again today as to how chilly the land of the Canuck can get. The summer weather had lowered our defences against the weather that makes you "brrrrrrrr" instead of talk. It was about minus 13 on the drive to work, the midday high hit the giddy heights of minus 5 and lucky old Banff had minus 23 at 8 o'clock this morning. Looks like the snow will stick around for a few more days yet then.
On the plus side, the snow machines were working overtime at COP (Calgary's downtown ski hill), they have to make it when they can now, as I imagine the temps will be up in the positive single digits next weekend!

I've no real winter shots to post, but imagine the next seven months will be nothing but photos incorporating snow, so here's the last summer photo for this year from a hike up in Kananaskis a few weeks back.

Looking forward to waxing the skis and board, and may well go and try to have a slide around this weekend. The bike is looking at rollers for the next few days (bloody daylight saving and icey roads have scuppered after work riding now).

Work is still work and we're clinging onto reality by the skin of our teeth (I'm sure working in an LD school rubs off on you).

Trusting that all is well across the globe (in both directions),

Happy camping,

S&S.