Sunday 22nd November

Today was the first proper on slope lesson. Of the 3 resorts serving Banff, todays lesson was at Sunshine Village. With the lesson starting at 10, and the bus's running at 8.30, 9.50 and 11.10 there was only 1 option of bus to get. With this in mind, alarms had been set and activity in the house started at 7.30. With 6 people and 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen getting ready in the mornings is challenging enough. Coupled with my ability to get out of bed in the morning, it was a recipe for disaster. The bus stop is a 10 minute walk away, so an alarm was set for 8,20 to remind me to leave the house. Having finally managed to get out of bed at 8, I managed to make my lunch and put the water on to boil for tea. I even had time to put breakfast in the toaster before  everyone left the house. Unfortunately, I was nowhere near ready and spend the next 8 minutes finishing off. With a challenging walk ahead, my ski boots on but not done up and probably about a million things left behind i start the icy quick time march to the bus stop. at 8.32 as i reached the corner, skidding around it on one foot, poles swinging wildly and skis' teetering on the edge of my shoulder I made it just in time.... to watch the bus pull past. My first day of lessons, and i'd missed the bus - it was like school all over again! And much like school, i entertained the idea that if I ran hard enough in the same direction as the bus I might be able to overtake it at the next stop. No such luck. I sat there, panting through a haze of sweat in the -2 degrees temperature contemplating my next move. There had been a car loading up along our road, and the temptation was to take a walk back and see if they had space in the car. As only 2 resorts are open at the moment, there was an even chance they were heading that way and being Canada, hitching a lift is far more acceptable. As I sat there catching my breath, a man van pulled into the layby. By all coincidences, it was tagged up with Sunshine Village, and the driver had the blue uniform of a member of staff. "You heading to Sunshine?"...... the question hung. "Sure, hope in" Perfect, who ever said that asking didn't get you anywhere. As I clambered into the van, petting the guys dog as it explored my ear with its cold wet nose, I couldn't help but smirk. The others would have been laughing their heads off at me missing the bus, probably blaming someone for not having woken me, or for having left without me. as we drove alone, the guy got on the radio getting a number check for the bus. With a favourable reply coming back, instead of taking me all the way to resort (a good 20 minute drive) he dropped me at the last stop in town, having advised the staff on the bus he was doing so and that they should pick me up. Less than 5 minutes later, I was clambering onto the bus, grin spread from ear to ear to scattered applause and cheers, with everyone asking how I had managed it!

Once we arrived at Sunshine, it was time for breakfast. My poptarts had gone cold, stuffed in my pocket as I ran for the bus, but they still tasted great. With as much excitement as I could handle out the way for the day, the lesson proved exceedingly dull. Made even more so, by the instructor not recognising me as I was in "normal" clothes - the one peice ski suit was tucked back away for another special occasion. We got to know our instructor and the group but skied at a very slow pace, getting right back to basics on positioning and stance. Tales from the other group of skiers later in the day indicated that they had been given a little more instruction, but it was the snowboarders who rued the day, as they had all had a sick day exploring the mountain and tree runs, and taking it off piste. Lucky sods! All day my helmet had been bothering me, despite having tried it on in the shop, it just didn't seem to fit right. I decided to leave it, surely it was just me and tomorrow it would be back to fitting right - clearly my episode with the bus had swollen my head so it didn't fit.... right? Only tomorrow would tell.

It was a busy night in town on Sunday, due to the weekend and the best club night of the week. Plus the added benefit of the local CFL team playing an important game, but we opted instead for a quiet night in, I did not want a repeat of this morning as I caught the bus, and had to get an early night to make it so. With a laptop set up and Crank 2 on the go, the beers flowed fine and for a change I wasn't tempted to go out regardless. I was determined to make the bus on time!

Tomorrow, I will include 2 days worth of events in an attempt to catch up with real time. Ideally, I would like to be blogging the days activities and anything relevent from the night out before and to do this I will need to catch up first. Look forward to a double bill coming your way tomorrow!


Run out to base of Mountain at Sunshine Village