Ok so epic failure on the blogging this time. SOOOOO much has happened but i've been too busy doing it or recovereing from it that I havent had time to write about it. However the big new news is that I have left Banff. Im currently writing this from my bed back in England. "What!!!!" I hear you exclaim. Dont worry its not injury or strife that has caused this by a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Melbourne and work for a bit. So as the season drew to a close in Banff, I packed my bags, extremely hungover from a great leaving party and running very late. Im back in England for less that 24 hours and the fly off to Melbourne. What might happen there? Who knows. Maybe i'l remember to blog it on here.
Fingers crossed for a return to Banff in 2010 for the next season - Banff im not done with you yet!!!
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Long Overdue - 7th - 11th December
So, its now a long time since I last posted anything. Ooops. but here we go, with the help of facebook, sent text messages and the notes i made as I went, I can travel back in time and write it all as if it were yesterday. here goes :)
Monday 7th December.
So following last nights round the world conversation, this mornings start was the earliest so far. The confirmation emails we had all received about the exam had said that it would be starting at 8.30, but even the earliest bus at 8.10 didn't get us there until nearly 9 due to the crazy round town route the bus followed. Having arrived, we searched around until we found our instructors Mike and Anna. With severely cold weather outside, it was useful for the course to be split into theoretical and practical sections so that we only had to have an hour outside in the freezing weather at a time.Much of what we were learning we had already gone through in the previous 2 weeks, but this time we had the technical terminology for it, and this helped no end. After a hard day of trying to keep warm (by this point I had decided that I need new gloves as despite all the tips and tricks in the trade, I still had ice blocks on the end of my arms after every run!) it was great to head home and just chill out in front of the tv. For the first time in 2 weeks there was no Monday night social with the Nonstoppers at the Voyager hotel, but instead we had homework to do for the course :O!
Tuesday 8th December
Day 2 of the exam was just as cold as yesterday. The temperatures outside still hadn't improved and some of the group started to invest in hard and foot warmers from the ski shop at Norquay to battle the cold. We were still being examined today on the technique part of our skiing and going through ways of improving our own technique. Talking amongst ourselves throughout the day we still all felt a bit scared at the prospect of being a few days away from being qualified ski instructors and yet we still knew absolutely nothing about how to teach! Today was also the first day of the snowboarding exam. Yesterday, the boarders had enjoyed a lie in and had a final training session in preparation for the exam, and yet today they were suddenly in the same boat as us and having to be examined! Because today was Kira's birthday, after the days ski we headed out for a meal at Bruno's. The first bar I ever went to in Banff right back on my first day, on a Tuesday they offer 2 for 1 on their gourmet burgers.With 2 of the 3 pages in the menu devoted entirely to the range of gourmet burgers, with an option of beef or bison, regular fries or sweet fries it was definitely a worthwhile meal. Tonight however was clearly a busy night for birthdays, we had booked our table and were taking up a large corner of an already full bar/restaurant and one of the other Gap Canada households came in to celebrate another birthday. They were turned away due to over packed state of the restaurant, while our food had to be brought out in dribs and drabs to accommodate the large group size. Typically, mine was the very last to be brought out! After the meal, I was invited to join some of the Gap Canada people at what had become a regular occurrence - Social Biscuit Tuesdays. This meant going round, and chilling out in a large social environment with a few beers with lots of munchies for the later part of the party. It was a great way for me to meet a few of the others who were out here for the season. Due to my late arrival in Banff I had missed most of the early get to know you events, and so outside of our house, I hadn't really met anyone doing the season out here. The other benefit to this gathering, was that one of the guys is renowned for his lip syncing to songs, in a hilarious way. Watching a guy perfectly mime along to Katy Perry Hot'N'Cold while a little buzzed was amazing, topped with another guys impression of Smiegal from Lord of the Rings. There sure is some acting talent here and the party tricks just kept on coming all night.
Wednesday 9th December
Day 3 of the exam moves us on from the Technique part and onto the teaching part. Today was just about watching and learning ways and means of teaching, how to observe a skier and assess what key competencies should be worked on. With the cold snap still on us, it was still a case of theory and practical mixes to allow warm up sessions. At the end of the day we were all starting to feel nervous about it, we were still being assessed on our skiing and now teaching, we were having to learn the technical terminology and use that in our assessments of each other. With more homework to do still, and lots to revise we almost didnt go to the Christmas house party organised by the people who run Gap Canada over here, hosted in their garage with beer pong set up and free beer. But, it would be rude to turn this down, so we went along to show our faces and have just one before heading back for an early night. Uh-Oh. That treacherous just one. With nibbles and free flowing beer, we arrived 20 minutes late and were still the first there - proving that fashionably late with this group was almost impossible to achieve! The party was supposed to have a dress up theme as well "naughty or nice", and due to the final day of our exam tomorrow we had decided against getting fully involved, so my quick thinking brain replied when asked why we weren't in costume stated " We are in costume, we definitely shouldn't be out drink before our exam so we are all dressed naughty!" Later in the evening, the organisers started to gather the teams together for beer pong. Unfortunately, by this stage we'd had one or 2 .... beers and so decided that it was worth going all the way and getting involved too. In true cougar style, we whooped butt - sinking 5 of the 6 cups while our opponents had managed 1. And there for the first time we failed. Despite only having one cup to hit, we each in turn missed or hit the rim while they gradually managed to hit more and more cups down. When both teams had one cup each left, and 5 minutes was spent with all of us getting so close - they finally got it in, bring to an end the undefeated cougar record. In defeat we turned back to the Keg, which had just been changed from a commercial keg to a keg of home brew. As a budding brewer, much conversation was focused on the kit and how available it was over here. When offered a free taxi ride home though, I accepted and was later to hear that the winning beer pong team was a collaboration between houses with 1 cougar flying the colours and proving that we still had that winning vibe :)
Thursday 10th December.
After the beers last night, I was surprised to find myself getting up on time. However, the shared bathroom meant that I was late leaving, still not being the last one out the house. As I walked up the road, I checked the time. There was no chance I was going to make the bus, and I started paying attention to the cars loading up with skis as I walked past, considering each of them as a potential for my ride to the mountain. Getting to the corner of the road and seeing the bus pull past i rolled straight into back up plan A. Turning back for home to collect Giles, who has been behind me this morning we started a leisurely stroll to what would be the last stop the bus makes in town. This is the only bus this is possible with, on all the other routes missing the bus would be disastrous, but because of the convoluted route that the bus takes we were able to reach the bus stop and sit and chat for a while before the bus turned up, to the grins and laughter from all aboard as once again I defied all expectations and didn't miss the bus! As the final day of the exam, today we were being examined on our ability to give a lesson. The most outgoing people were suddenly silenced and nervous. Anna, our instructor for this section gave us no warning as we went through, jumped from person to person with no time to plan or prepare as we had to conduct a lesson. When it was my turn, time seemed to stop.... then I stepped forward and It was exactly like being back at Uni, running a tour of the buildings. I spoke loudly and calmly with authority. I had no idea what I should be doing, so I improvised until my section was up and returned to the group for the nerves to once again hit. After lunch, as we reached the top of the lift. Anna approached me and advised that I wouldn't be teaching again this afternoon. Did this mean I had passed? Or was i so bad at it that there was no helping me? I had no idea. We finished early and left Anna and Mike to confer and grade us. Some people headed back out to do some nervous skiing, some hung around drinking coffee and worrying. I continued to try and sort out a lift pass for the rest of the season which despite so much chasing I still did not have. Finally we were all called together - and amazingly we had all passed on the skiing. Much cheer and triumph as our instructor pins were handed out, some people even put them straight on. We headed home to prepare for the night out - it was bound to be a big one. The snowboarders were stuck still being examined, and we later found out that only 1 person had failed. The benefits of doing the Nonstop programme were never clearer, such a high percentage pass rate! A big meal to celebrate, followed by a big night out, the nonstoppers were leaving tomorrow and we had to see them away in style!
Friday 11th December
Slept late today to help the hangover recovery. After the last week of early buses it was great not to have to get up. In the afternoon I hit town for last minute preparations on Doug and Rhea's arrival tomorrow. I's said to Rhea that I would snowboard with her as she hadn't boarded for 5 years despite the fact i had only done a couple of days on a snowboard. So much of the afternoon was spent searching for a snowboard boots and binding deal for under $500. Everyone behind the counters told me how impossible this would be, so eventually I gave up and started off the collection with some snowboard boots. I made sure I kept within my budgeted amount on the off chance I found a snowboard and bindings for a cheap prince! Due to last nights partying, tonight was chilled and relaxed at home, ready for the hectic-ness of tomorrow with the drive to Calgary to collect Doug and Rhea.
Monday 7th December.
So following last nights round the world conversation, this mornings start was the earliest so far. The confirmation emails we had all received about the exam had said that it would be starting at 8.30, but even the earliest bus at 8.10 didn't get us there until nearly 9 due to the crazy round town route the bus followed. Having arrived, we searched around until we found our instructors Mike and Anna. With severely cold weather outside, it was useful for the course to be split into theoretical and practical sections so that we only had to have an hour outside in the freezing weather at a time.Much of what we were learning we had already gone through in the previous 2 weeks, but this time we had the technical terminology for it, and this helped no end. After a hard day of trying to keep warm (by this point I had decided that I need new gloves as despite all the tips and tricks in the trade, I still had ice blocks on the end of my arms after every run!) it was great to head home and just chill out in front of the tv. For the first time in 2 weeks there was no Monday night social with the Nonstoppers at the Voyager hotel, but instead we had homework to do for the course :O!
Tuesday 8th December
Day 2 of the exam was just as cold as yesterday. The temperatures outside still hadn't improved and some of the group started to invest in hard and foot warmers from the ski shop at Norquay to battle the cold. We were still being examined today on the technique part of our skiing and going through ways of improving our own technique. Talking amongst ourselves throughout the day we still all felt a bit scared at the prospect of being a few days away from being qualified ski instructors and yet we still knew absolutely nothing about how to teach! Today was also the first day of the snowboarding exam. Yesterday, the boarders had enjoyed a lie in and had a final training session in preparation for the exam, and yet today they were suddenly in the same boat as us and having to be examined! Because today was Kira's birthday, after the days ski we headed out for a meal at Bruno's. The first bar I ever went to in Banff right back on my first day, on a Tuesday they offer 2 for 1 on their gourmet burgers.With 2 of the 3 pages in the menu devoted entirely to the range of gourmet burgers, with an option of beef or bison, regular fries or sweet fries it was definitely a worthwhile meal. Tonight however was clearly a busy night for birthdays, we had booked our table and were taking up a large corner of an already full bar/restaurant and one of the other Gap Canada households came in to celebrate another birthday. They were turned away due to over packed state of the restaurant, while our food had to be brought out in dribs and drabs to accommodate the large group size. Typically, mine was the very last to be brought out! After the meal, I was invited to join some of the Gap Canada people at what had become a regular occurrence - Social Biscuit Tuesdays. This meant going round, and chilling out in a large social environment with a few beers with lots of munchies for the later part of the party. It was a great way for me to meet a few of the others who were out here for the season. Due to my late arrival in Banff I had missed most of the early get to know you events, and so outside of our house, I hadn't really met anyone doing the season out here. The other benefit to this gathering, was that one of the guys is renowned for his lip syncing to songs, in a hilarious way. Watching a guy perfectly mime along to Katy Perry Hot'N'Cold while a little buzzed was amazing, topped with another guys impression of Smiegal from Lord of the Rings. There sure is some acting talent here and the party tricks just kept on coming all night.
Wednesday 9th December
Day 3 of the exam moves us on from the Technique part and onto the teaching part. Today was just about watching and learning ways and means of teaching, how to observe a skier and assess what key competencies should be worked on. With the cold snap still on us, it was still a case of theory and practical mixes to allow warm up sessions. At the end of the day we were all starting to feel nervous about it, we were still being assessed on our skiing and now teaching, we were having to learn the technical terminology and use that in our assessments of each other. With more homework to do still, and lots to revise we almost didnt go to the Christmas house party organised by the people who run Gap Canada over here, hosted in their garage with beer pong set up and free beer. But, it would be rude to turn this down, so we went along to show our faces and have just one before heading back for an early night. Uh-Oh. That treacherous just one. With nibbles and free flowing beer, we arrived 20 minutes late and were still the first there - proving that fashionably late with this group was almost impossible to achieve! The party was supposed to have a dress up theme as well "naughty or nice", and due to the final day of our exam tomorrow we had decided against getting fully involved, so my quick thinking brain replied when asked why we weren't in costume stated " We are in costume, we definitely shouldn't be out drink before our exam so we are all dressed naughty!" Later in the evening, the organisers started to gather the teams together for beer pong. Unfortunately, by this stage we'd had one or 2 .... beers and so decided that it was worth going all the way and getting involved too. In true cougar style, we whooped butt - sinking 5 of the 6 cups while our opponents had managed 1. And there for the first time we failed. Despite only having one cup to hit, we each in turn missed or hit the rim while they gradually managed to hit more and more cups down. When both teams had one cup each left, and 5 minutes was spent with all of us getting so close - they finally got it in, bring to an end the undefeated cougar record. In defeat we turned back to the Keg, which had just been changed from a commercial keg to a keg of home brew. As a budding brewer, much conversation was focused on the kit and how available it was over here. When offered a free taxi ride home though, I accepted and was later to hear that the winning beer pong team was a collaboration between houses with 1 cougar flying the colours and proving that we still had that winning vibe :)
Thursday 10th December.
After the beers last night, I was surprised to find myself getting up on time. However, the shared bathroom meant that I was late leaving, still not being the last one out the house. As I walked up the road, I checked the time. There was no chance I was going to make the bus, and I started paying attention to the cars loading up with skis as I walked past, considering each of them as a potential for my ride to the mountain. Getting to the corner of the road and seeing the bus pull past i rolled straight into back up plan A. Turning back for home to collect Giles, who has been behind me this morning we started a leisurely stroll to what would be the last stop the bus makes in town. This is the only bus this is possible with, on all the other routes missing the bus would be disastrous, but because of the convoluted route that the bus takes we were able to reach the bus stop and sit and chat for a while before the bus turned up, to the grins and laughter from all aboard as once again I defied all expectations and didn't miss the bus! As the final day of the exam, today we were being examined on our ability to give a lesson. The most outgoing people were suddenly silenced and nervous. Anna, our instructor for this section gave us no warning as we went through, jumped from person to person with no time to plan or prepare as we had to conduct a lesson. When it was my turn, time seemed to stop.... then I stepped forward and It was exactly like being back at Uni, running a tour of the buildings. I spoke loudly and calmly with authority. I had no idea what I should be doing, so I improvised until my section was up and returned to the group for the nerves to once again hit. After lunch, as we reached the top of the lift. Anna approached me and advised that I wouldn't be teaching again this afternoon. Did this mean I had passed? Or was i so bad at it that there was no helping me? I had no idea. We finished early and left Anna and Mike to confer and grade us. Some people headed back out to do some nervous skiing, some hung around drinking coffee and worrying. I continued to try and sort out a lift pass for the rest of the season which despite so much chasing I still did not have. Finally we were all called together - and amazingly we had all passed on the skiing. Much cheer and triumph as our instructor pins were handed out, some people even put them straight on. We headed home to prepare for the night out - it was bound to be a big one. The snowboarders were stuck still being examined, and we later found out that only 1 person had failed. The benefits of doing the Nonstop programme were never clearer, such a high percentage pass rate! A big meal to celebrate, followed by a big night out, the nonstoppers were leaving tomorrow and we had to see them away in style!
Friday 11th December
Slept late today to help the hangover recovery. After the last week of early buses it was great not to have to get up. In the afternoon I hit town for last minute preparations on Doug and Rhea's arrival tomorrow. I's said to Rhea that I would snowboard with her as she hadn't boarded for 5 years despite the fact i had only done a couple of days on a snowboard. So much of the afternoon was spent searching for a snowboard boots and binding deal for under $500. Everyone behind the counters told me how impossible this would be, so eventually I gave up and started off the collection with some snowboard boots. I made sure I kept within my budgeted amount on the off chance I found a snowboard and bindings for a cheap prince! Due to last nights partying, tonight was chilled and relaxed at home, ready for the hectic-ness of tomorrow with the drive to Calgary to collect Doug and Rhea.
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