Reflecting on the days....

Morena.
And a good morning it is.
Although I am lying in bed, nursing a cold, and its 11:30- I am feeling pretty good about everything.
It is maybe my second full day off the slopes since having started work...and my body is loving me for it. The tired legs. Sore head. achy back.
The past week has been filled with good times at work..fun days off...and plenty of socialising. I am completly happy to have a whole day to myself- at home!

So whats been happening with the ski patrol life......
Work just keeps getting better.

I keep finding more terrain, more soft snow...and different fun things to do at work.
I am slowly developing a love for tree skiing, as my turns begin to get quicker- and i can deal with the large obsticles accordingly and get the most out of their sheltered, soft soft areas :)

Hut duties are becoming more and more entertaining as each day goes by.
whether is building booters...or giving the Ausie lifties heaps...

This is a view of Eagle Cabin one morning. Next photo is inside- the kiwi girls! from left- Bobbie (flat mate, from whakapapa), Andrea (from Porter Heights), and Kristin (from Tauranga). Missing one other Kiwi flatmate 'Kat'.

This is 'Eagle Cabin'....with Art poseing as the man he thinks he is....after having built these two little booters...the boys get into a jibbing session- off the roof.

Other hut duties can be a little more low-key.
Days like yesturday....when the weather is terrible outside.and you know that your legs just don't wana take it.
the little gas heaters make for a cosy place to sit and listen to the radio- ready to respond to accidents. heat up your lunch. read a book. or even crochette a beanie!
Canadian's won't accept 'beanie' as such a name. its Tuke.

Although some days are pretty uneventful at work- there is plenty of learning to be had.
Sometimes scenarios are put on- for rescues.
Some days I go out with the Avalanche Crewe and learn about the terrain, how and where to ski cut when we have fresh falls.
Plenty of other days...there is just lots of terrain orientation to be done ;)

Some days just take my breath away that much more than others...and i can't help but get out the camera...

On Monday night i worked a 'Torch light Dinner'.

This is when there is a big dinner put on, at Whitehorn Lodge, which is half way up the field on the front side.
It was put on for some of the staff this time....and turned out to be so much fun to work!
we start as soon as we finish sweep of the mountain- at about 5pm.
usually 5 patrollers work it. first we have to take up all the people who missed the last gondola ride....on Sleds.
This in it self is pretty fun. once we have dropped off our passengers- the rules are to ourselves....and just quietly....speed limits are our own responsibility. I love Sleds! they're just that much more fun than quad bikes- because they're on snow. ringadingdingding!
then we join everyone up in the dinner room.

its a full on dinner i havn't eaten so good since i have been here! food is brought out with fire...sparklers...dancing...the limbo...etc.
muscles, prawns, salads, melon plenty of the good stuff.
(oh yeah- and cheese cake henk(no where near as good as yours tho)

we can drink..but no alcohol.there's singing and dancing.....and then everyone, that can, skies down holding bamboo lit with fire..following a trail of red torches down the mountain.
our job is to sled down everyone who is too drunk to ski hehe!

i didn't mind getting paid for all of that at all!

these happen every week apparently. more fun times to come.

Last week we had a fooze ball tournament at our flat...we have a basement which catered well for a large portion of lake louise ski patrol. and it turned out to be a really fun night- the winners took away over $100 so they were pretty stoked.
friends also brought over a air hockey table- it was quite the games night!

Last week my days off were Friday and Saturday...I had lazy starts but made sure that I got into a bit of the back country which i have been eyeing up since starting here...............

the slack country missions i took in the afternoons started from the top of the lift on "Larch" which an area of Lake Louise but is on a separate hill.
The first day was quite a short one...up to the Elevator Shaft (which had just opened that morning)- I got fresh tracks...it was great! i went up there with a guy that i work with- chris. he's been skiing here since he could walk, so it was really good to be shown the cool places to play even when you drop down lower into the 'rock gardens' and 'flush bowls'.
i hope you can see where i am talking about....

The next day we hiked up and over the Elevator shaft, Silver tip, North face and over to the top of Purple Bowl. It was so beautiful. turned out a stunning day...and it was great to see over the back of these bowls also....to spot the lines for more missions. i did this with karem (kiwi)

i got a video of the view from here but unfortunitly cant post it on this site

Well i should really get out of bed now...not much planned for the rest of the day...tomorow i will also try and keep myself far from my wonderful work place - I want to be really rested up for a great week starting off with the fresh flurries we are receiving right now......

take care all

xoxo

erin

Powder Yeeeehaaaaa!

Sun, 03 Dec 2006
POWDER YEEEEEHAAAAAAA!
yesturday (saturday 2nd) was my best day on snow in my life as yet! i can truely tell you that i had never quite known what i was dreaming about until then. Kicking Horse is a ski resort 5min from the town of Golden (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours north of Lake Louise). it is known for its huge dumps of snow- and steep steep terrain...... Yesturday was their opening day. and i was there with bells and whistles on with a couple of groups of mates. not worried at the time about having to fork out for the lift ticket..we all charged on through the quick cash line and got a spot in the massive que for the gondola. you see, this place had just had a shy one and a half metres dumped on em over the past couple of weeks. thats pretty huge. and so were the ques. we didn't care too much- it was all worth the long lasting runs down powder filled tree runs and shoots off faces that hadn't been touched yet. it got tracked really quickly..and there wasn't all that much open in the ways of back country...but you couldn't really expect much more with the 3 and a half metres they've had to control over the past month. it was soooo deep. i found myself saturated by mid-day from swimming/getting stuck in powder and constant kartwheels. there were two vans of people i went with...one was with some kiwis and ausies from banff, and the other was all canadians..one of which i work with. we all headed to golden on friday night and stayed in rooms in a cheapish hotel....had a few drinks and talked riding all night. where the first lines would be, what we wanted to accomplish etc. we were all pretty dam pumped! we couldn't have asked for better weather. apparently known for sitting in the shade or low light- the horse shone its blue colours on this magnificent day. and i was too busy taking it all in to grab the guys cameras for some photos. (im sure there would have been a couple so i will post em when i get em) after a full on day we all headed back to the lake and had some celebratroy drinks at my place. fun times! and very tired today. i had a great day at work- not to strenuous...as i was 'whisky patroler' today- i worked from the base: held the first aid fort, did the chores, and did missions on the skidoos. wooohooooo those things are fun times! i can see more potential for fun than quad bikes any day after a bit of practice. well i can't quite believe it still. a month has passed many things have happened life is forever changing and the exploring has begun the weather is playing a bit of havoc with the system...as it is so varriable at the moment- everyone finds their body struggling to adjust. it will only make me stronger another challange as a part of every day good night all.... please update me on your doings... i think of home all the time and would love to know about it xoxo erin

Canadian Rockie's Snow

Tue, 28 Nov 2006

let me tell you about the snow over here.... its white. its fluffy. and theres heaps of it! the snow here doesn't get icey. the only ice that i have seen is a few patches around the hills-about half a metre wide...where the water highdrants have been leaking. yup. thats right. its pretty dam close to perfect. so light. and so so very forgiving. when your face plants to meet it...it doesn't take much to wipe it off. when you roll amongst it...it just sits on you, it doesn't melt into you or your uniform...it just hangs out on ya shoulders. its really your best friend here. only over the past couple of days has it started to pack down a bit harder, only because we have been having approx 2-5cm each day. im not complaining...a few c's here and there still makes out for some relatively fresh lines in places....infact im more counting my lucky stars...as everyone keeps rubbing it in- this is a great season so far and we are sooooo lucky with what has opened up already. the back country is looking stunning...and for sure-calling my name. we hit the out-of-bounds areas most days while working; as long as we are not too far away if needed. as you can see in my latest lil album there are some shots of the areas that are very easily accessible from one of the work areas i may be assigned to. (please excuse the spelling). the snow on the trees looks beautiful. the untouched rollers in the background are phenomenal. the snow that shoots you in the face and brings you down to meet it is priceless. the groomed runs are even softer under foot. snowballs are often hard to form because it just doesn't stick! the snow in the backyard just leads to excitement. i had just the one day off last week because we have been fairly busy with opening everthing...and that was quite enough for me. i spent the day in banff checking out the shops etc- and spent most of it pineing for my skies to be under my feet! freak. yes im becoming. my shins couldn't thank me enough though. the day in banff was great to experience the christmas season creeping up already...everyone is getting into it- and im pretty excited about having a white one! i think it all made me feel quite far away from home..as i was thinking of you all whilst taking in this foreign environment. back to the snow...... well we are past the stupid temperatures now, and into craziness. -29 degrees celcius today. and for the past three. (thats not including the wind chill factor either) usually not featuring until late december-jan here...it has sure taught us already how to handle the jandle! the key is layers. and more layers. hand warmers....and foot warmers. no exposed skin. no exceptions. frost is out to bite- and does so in a hurry! (not keen on ending up with a bacon-looking face). on poor visability days its all about the hut duties! hehe. we all hog the gas heaters...and try our best to de-frost. blue sky days pull you through. (like today). im feeling really good. the cold didn't get to me too much as i could see outside-and just kept myself busy. busy skiing. hahaha. can you imagine the worst icecream headache you've ever felt? that is what you feel-on any part of you head that is exposed when skiing-at a slow speed. dam it hurts! but only makes ya stronger huh! at this stage the snow is soooooo sticky. flats suck. a lot of scateing on the skies is done...and in such a frustrating mannor...its like skiing on grass. it will pass over. we were looking at temps to rise about after about a week....but now its more like 10 days. hmmmmm. bring on the -15's that i previously thought were cold to ski in! there are, ofcourse, many a good point to this weather one of the main ones being....not many folk head up the hill= plenty of time for patrolers to free ski! yay! its extremely cold to walk outside at the moment and one must rap up tight. have a whisky. and walk super fast! well its time for a nice soak in the bath and a glass of red my friends....

but until next time, take care ka kete erin