Whistler Experience Day 4: The Snow Leopard & Usher in one day!
March 12th, 2010Another early start. Met our Canadian hosts at 0715 for a home-cooked breakfast at Chez Merrell – I knew it was going to be a fun day as we started with a Caesar (similar Bloody Mary- contains vodka, clamato (a blend of tomato juice and clam broth) , followed quickly by a Mimosa (Bucks Fizz).
The Snow Leopard & Whistler Blackcomb at the Metro Ski Show 2009
After a huge plate of waffles and bacon with the obligatory maple syrup, and a tonne of coffee, we walked over to the Olympic venue at Whistler Creekside for the Men’s Slalom race – security was airport style (which I have to say was slightly OTT) before we were allowed access. Once inside the venue we grabbed our seats in the stadium just as the 3 forerunners were skiing the first course. There was live commentary from Chris Davenport and all the video playback and display you could handle on a giant screen. The atmosphere was intense and the venue was packed with loads of different nationalities – we sat beside the ‘snow leopard’s’ supporters from Ghana. The Croatians were all in to watch Ivica Kostelic, the Italians were there en-masse, everyone it seemed had a cowbell to ring, the Russians were there in hordes again and the beer was flowing. Suddenly it was time for the first of the 103 skiers (the top 30 are seeded, then the rest follow). They have a run down the first course, then a run down the second course after a short break – the times are added together and the winner has the fastest overall combined time. The best feature is that the fastest 30 skiers from the first run, then ski in reverse order for the second run – ie: the 30th placed skier in the first run starts 1st in the second run. It makes for a very exciting finale. I was blown away by the talent the skiers showed – the course was steep and very icy and visibility was awful, but they blasted down the course as if they were on rails. Out of 103 starters on run 1, only 53 posted a time and went through to the second run.
Winter Olympic Experience Day 3: Fresh Tracks
March 11th, 2010Got up at 6am on Friday to get ready for an epic ski day…
Jumped on the first bus at Creekside and travelled 5 minutes up the road to Whistler Village to grab our skis from the Salomon store underneath the Pan Pacific Mountainside. I’d rented a new pair of K2 Apache Xplorer all-mountain skis (which turned out to be so good, I think I’ll have to buy a pair). We then walked the 200m over to the Whistler gondola for 7.15am to head up the mountain for full buffet breakfast – this is called Fresh Tracks and is a separate ticket to your lift ticket: you get early access to the mountain and a huge buffet breakfast at the top of the mountain – it is one of Whistler’s best features, especially on a powder day. Today was a powder day!
Winter Olympic Experience: Day 2 – Snowshoeing, King of Norway & Olympic Buzz
March 10th, 2010We were up again early to head off to the Callaghan Valley to the Whistler Olympic Park, but first we had a spot of snowshoeing to do along the Medicine Trail with guides from Blackcomb Snowmobile Adventures.
Whistler Olympic Park
I’ve never snowshoed before and I actually loved it – quite gentle walking through mature forest scenery, but with a super-informative guide and a nice breakfast back at their on-mountain base. It was really cool. They also have a snowmobile and dog-sledding operation here, and we got to meet some of the dogs – most were a husky+greyhound cross breed – think small, furry, stocky greyhound with those strange light blue eyes. Very friendly though. It was nice to be back in the mountains with real mountain people who have a real passion about what they do.
After the snowshoeing, we transferred to another bus and travelled further up the Callaghan Valley to the Olympic venue for the Nordic events – XC skiing, Ski Jump and Biathlon. Last winter I had the chance to ski some of the XC course, and climb to the top of the 90m ski jump – those guys are nuts by the way. From the top of the ski jump, you can’t see where you land… it just contours away from you. Anyway, I digress. We were here to watch the Ladies 4 x 5km XC Relay – 16 nations were competing (sadly no team from the UK). The format is relatively simple – the first skier from each team completes a circuit of the track skiing classic style, before handing over to the 2nd team member who then does the same. The 3rd and 4th skiers in each team ski a slightly different circuit, this time in free style (more of a skating technique, and much faster). It’s a real sprint relay, with a lot of climbing and subsequent downhill (which if you’ve ever tried to turn a fast, sharp corner on skinny XC skis, makes for an amusing spectator thrill at the corners). The ice maidens from Norway powered to victory – the 4th skier even had time to stop and collect a massive Norwegian flag before skating the last 200m, watched on by the King of Norway no less. The venue was jam-packed and it was a really amazing thing to watch. Canada was last unfortunately….. but got the biggest cheer. Lots of Russians in the same track suit about – very odd.
Winter Olympic Experience: Day 1 Lesson 1: Canadians Love Ice Hockey
March 9th, 2010Last week I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend some of the events at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada courtesy of our industry partners Tourism Whistler.
Over the next week I will recount the tales and the lessons I learnt…
Wednesday 24th February
After a fairly routine 10hr15mins long haul flight on Air Canada from Heathrow direct to Vancouver, I was slightly bemused to find the baggage re-claim hall packed with staff and visitors watching Canada pound Russia in an important ice hockey match. Lesson 1: Canadians love ice hockey.
Canada v Russia Ice Hockey Quarter Final
The arrivals hall was even more boisterous – the whole place was filled with National Teams, VANOC staff, airport staff and visitors going absolutely nuts over the ice hockey. It was a really amazing atmosphere and I was a bit sad to jump on the transfer bus, as the game was only in the second of the three periods. Along the route from the airport into downtown Vancouver there was Olympic branding and Canadian flags literally everywhere – Vancouver has done an amazing job promoting the games. Even the highway road signs were flashing ‘Go Canada’. Bonkers.
As the bus reached the centre of Vancouver we passed the ice hockey venue. The game had just finished with a convincing victory for team Canada, and there were fans pouring out of the stadium onto the streets celebrating raucously. Lesson 2: Canadians love to win at ice hockey.
Regards from snowy Steamboat
February 26th, 2010Today’s 5am Steamboat snow report indicated a small but welcome 5cm/2″ at mid-mountain and 10cm/4″ at the summit. However, when I was shoveling my driveway at 7am and fighting a losing battle against Mother Nature, trying to clear my way out before she erased my hard work, I knew that a lot had happened since the snow stake was checked pre-dawn. And I was right!
Finding myself in a generous and selfless frame of mind and with meetings on my midday schedule, I decided to check out Steamboat snow conditions on the first gondola so that I could provide detailed information to my esteemed friends and colleagues. I rode up the gondola with some nice folks from Fort Collins, CO who were up for a long weekend, and together we planned a ski itinerary for them. Good thing, too. It is definitely a day to have local knowledge or a local buddy, as visibility is as limited as the snow is fabulous. We’re talking superlatives here, folks!
Warren Smith Powder Camps in Japan
February 25th, 2010Over the past week Warren Smith has been holding his Powder Ski Camp in Japan in the resorts of Niseko & Furano.
The powder skiing in Japan is unlike anywhere else, with waist deep powder being commonplace. The Powder Ski Camp consisted of 9 days skiing split between Niseko & Furano and is designed to build and develop skill and confidence, to enable people to ski all terrains with a specific emphasis on powder skiing.
Here are the video blogs which show the amazing powder & skiing that can be found in Japan:
Video Snow Report from Chamonix – 25 Feb
February 25th, 2010Conditions in the Alps have clearly started to turn to spring skiing with milder temperatures and plenty of blue skies .
However that does not mean a lack of snow, 10 – 15 cm of fresh snow fell yesterday in the Chamonix area, providing some excellent skiing & snowboarding. It is important that care is taken when venturing off piste as due to the mixture of winter & spring snow packs there is an increased risk of avalanches.
Here is Seb Montaz’s latest video snow report from Chamonix, with some fantastic footage from a recent ski touring trip.
Another great winter in Vail!
February 19th, 2010Annie & Graham, chalet hosts at the Ptarmigan & Waverly, our resort rep in Vail, reflect on the season so far in Vail…
Graham enjoying the fresh snow in Vail
As we head towards the second half of February and past the half way point of the season it’s a good time to reflect on the season so far. Although we got off to a slow start with snow we are certainly catching up now, with 27” of fresh powder over the last week alone and more predicted throughout the week, it certainly feels like we are back on track. Ptarmigan has been busier than ever (our third season) with so many friends returning to see us and many more “new friends” that have found Vail’s hidden gem.
With March almost upon us we are excited about the possibility of heavy snow falls as this is the biggest month of our season generally but already we have had 174” and the mountain is in great condition, but I don’t think we’d complain if we had an EPIC March to take us above last season’s end of season total snowfall which was 437” but if you want to catch up with the latest weather, conditions, and lifts/terrain open before you get here (along with a few top tips) then check out our video report for the Ski Club GB which is updated each Tuesday and Friday at http://www.snoveo.com/resorts/vail/102/, also available on an iphone app.
Waverly & Annie enjoying Vail's apres ski
Town is great at the moment, we are currently in Carnivail week which is great fun with live bands, Mardi Gras and beads and we have large screens in public areas to follow the progress of the Vail locals representing the USA in the Olympics (Lindsay Vonn), it really is a great place to be.
If you haven’t booked to come to the Ptarmigan so far there are only a limited number of spaces left with great deals, so don’t wait – grab them while you can!
See you on the slopes.
Annie, Graham & Waverly
Excellent conditions in Whistler
February 18th, 2010Current snowfall is continuing to add to Whistler’s epic season, with nearly 1m falling in the past 7 days and whilst these conditions aren’t ideal for the Olympians, they make for an ideal day on the mountain.
Excellent conditions in Whistler
Hazel, one of Ski Independence’s resort reps (pictured right), told us yesterday “There is a real buzz around town, its so busy with people from all over the world, but the hill is really quiet and the snow in the alpine is amazing, which is great for all us skiers & boarders who love powder, with fresh tracks still to be found late afternoon.”
Both the men’s & women’s downhill races were nail biting, with a great 13th place finish from Team GB’s Chemmy Alcott. Chemmy was full of praise for the course. “It’s the perfect women’s downhill, the best I’ve ever skied,” she said. “And today Mother Nature did us a favour as well with the conditions. It’s bumpy, it’s icy and it’s great fun. You look at this and you think to yourself: ‘This is what we do this sport for.’ I think I could have gone quicker but I made a few silly mistakes. But it’s the Chemmy way.” Good luck to Chemmy for the super combined today, which is one of her best events.
Not quite the Whistler Dave Murray downhill course
February 16th, 2010Hillend may not be on the same level as the Dave Murray Olympic downhill course of Whistler, but it is Europe’s longest and most challenging artificial ski slope. Located on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Hillend is home to just as many memories as the Olympic downhill course so when the Scotsman newspaper announced last week that Hillend is facing possible closure within weeks under a major cost-cutting drive by its local authority owners, we and some previous GB Olympic stars were immediately reminiscing on past times.
Martin Bell: Ex British ski team member & Olympian
Martin Bell - ex Olympian
“I remember going to the Thursday night race training sessions, and stopping for a haggis supper in Corstorphine on the way home. There were many mass start “Chinese downhill” races “around the bend”, cutting the corner over the wet grass.
We must have done thousands of “short swings”, always with Hans Kuwall shouting at us to do more. In the winter we would ski Thursdays on plastic and weekends on snow (up North), so we had to adjust to different surfaces every week, which was great practice for becoming a better skier.
I remember many races, Davee Mercer (ex-British ski team member and Olympian) had some padded jeans made (flared jeans were the only “cool” attire for skiing at Hillend in the late 70s) so I had to ask my mum to make some for me too – I must have been about 12 at the time.
