Heli time!

Yesterday I went into the helicopter again, snowboarding all day long with guides Bob Sayer and Bob Rankin. Louise Rankin, Bob's wife, was there as well, and fellow staff member (aka the other lucky bastard haha) Steve Marcotte was my tree buddy. Steve's brother Ian is married to Crosby's sister Sarah.

This day will very likely be the whole season's most epic day. Stepping out of the heli I would sink in the snow up to waist deep at times! Trying out a new board for the season, a firetruck red Burton Fish made for Terje (Hakonsen), and with the new level of powder I had never experienced before I have to admit that the first few runs I was overly confused. However, once I started to understand the board better I had soooo much fun!

Sorry mum and dad, but I jumped a cliff, on purpose. Bob Sayer told me jump off this 8ft cliff (2.5m), since the landing is even better than jumping off a diving board in the swimming pool. (At the time he said it was only 5ft..., and yes, there is photo proof.) The landing indeed was very nice, and funny; it felt like jumping in a big, soft whipped cream pie! We'll see if I ever repeat that.

Steve was very kind all day, every time I fell over or got stuck in the deep powder he would check on me, asking if I was okay. Crosby thinks it is because Steve is afraid that Crosby would give him a hard time afterwards if he didn't treat me okay, being related and all! ;) Well, or maybe Steve is just a nice guy!

Louise Rankin is just one big sweetheart, and one of the prettiest women in the world. Wow, Bob R. is very lucky! She hung out quite a bit of the day with me and Steve, and sometimes she had some great runs with Bob.

The day ended perfect, with Crosby cooking one of his signature dishes (chicken curry with quinoa), and then going over to Bob Sayer and his wife Linda (and Bob S is also a very lucky man with Linda!) - who is here for the holidays - with ice cream and red wine.

I am so lucky!

Snow - and lots of it!

I got to love Blue River! Go to bed at night (really early, one of those good things to do in winter), and wake up to 45 cm of new snow on the ground... And more coming down all day long!

Our car, which we used last night so it was completely bare, is barely visible. People are getting stuck in the drive way. I had to walk to work, not risking biking in this. Not because I will fall off it (the good thing about riding a kids bike is that you can always reach the ground with two feet at all times), but because I am too lazy to push it to work and back. And really, just walking through 45cm of snow is quite the work out.

The roof of the car (2003 Subaru Forester) in these photos is covered with at least 30cm (1ft) of snow!

A day in the life of: Winter vs Summer

13 December 2009
6.15 am – Alarm clock goes off. (Oh no... really?) Time to get dressed – it’s a new day!

6.20am – I eat a bowl of cereal, and maybe even a Vega Smoothie, while checking personal e-mails and the news (online).

6.40 am – I step on my (kids) bike to work. Crosby already left 5.25 am to do weather forecasting.

6.45 am – Getting at work I check (work) e-mails and then Front Desk duties that need addressing with guests while I see them during their breakfast (like resigning waivers, reporting on progress with their lost luggage)

7.00 am – I go to the dining room in the lodge (from the admin building) to talk to guests, and be around for them. Often I am just joking with them while they are piling bacon and waffles on their plates. They sure need the energy to go out all day in the snow!

8.00 am – I eat some more breakfast (preferably Birger Muesli) in the dining room after the guests left for a ski day. I am one of those people that (literally) start to cry when not eating regularly and/or enough... I Love Food!

8.15 am – Back to the office to do organisational and follow-up work. I might stop in the Guides Haus to talk to guides. Mostly work related talk about Silver Buckles or Guest Preferences, but secretly sometimes just to see Crosby before he takes off with his guests :)

11.00 am – Time for me to go home for a few hours, it sometimes is quite a bit later, though...

Break – running, yoga, indoor climbing, ice skating, reading, e-mails, blogging & facebook, eating, and/or sleeping; whatever makes me happy! (No, not ALL of the above in one break. Hahaha!)

4.00 Back at work (overall depending on when the guests get back from skiing) to do more office work and talk to the guests; about their day and stay, and maybe a future stay.

7.00 pm – Dinner with the guests. I sure love my job: fine dining – including dessert and often ice cream or sorbet!!

8.00 pm – Guide announcement in the dining room by one of the lead guides (ski tips, weather, safety)

8.15 pm – It is about time to think about going back to the office to do some final office work

8.45 pm – I am back on my bike, going home

8.50 pm – Hanging out with Crosby, Tuesday nights we are playing hockey in the new rink. I still need to get the hang of those short skates...

10.00 pm – The latest I go to bed when having to get up so early... Now is the time to think about what to wear the next day, because my brain can’t deal with that in the morning. (Yep, really funny, but true...)

Versus 19 August 2009
3.00 am – Elevation: 4,534 feet/1382 m. Alarm goes off: Alpine Start!! Taking a bit too long with breakfast (we had melon and other luxurious food) to leave for the campsite at the Hermit Meadows, where we will be joining ACMG Full Mountain Guide Mark and his client Jamie. (Crosby is going to shadow and copy Mark to gain guiding experience for his ACMG Assistant Alpine Guide exam at the end of August.) Instead of having a little less than 2 hours, we now only have 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the campground. (The trail is 2.8 kilometres, gaining 2,400 feet/770 m vertical... Last time we did it in 2 hours, when I thought we were going fast enough.)

5.15am – Elevation: 7,060 feet/2152 m. Going at a gruelling pace we reach the campground in 1 hour and 30 minutes, not far off our goal. Unfortunately no one is around anymore, except for sleeping campers... We keep racing up towards the rocks and glacier that leads to Mt Rogers and the Swiss Peaks, the climbing objective of the day.

5.50 am – Elevation: approx 8,000 feet/2500 m. Crosby and I realize that someone is yelling at us from behind us, and we realize we passed Mark and Jamie by going to the glacier a different way. A well appreciated 15 minute break follows so that they can join us. Quick introductions (I never met either one of them, and Crosby never met Mark’s client), and off we go at 6.10 am.

8.50 am – Elevation: approx 9,000 feet/2800 m. We are well on our way to the top of Rogers Peak on 55 degree ice, with spectacular views over Glacier National Park, Selkirk Mountains, and well beyond. Bugaboo National Park, Canadian Rockies, Monashee Mountains; just to name a few.

9.30 am – Elevation: 10,192 feet/3185 m. Around that time we reach Rogers Peak Summit. After that Grant Peak, Swiss Peak (10,224 feet/3195m), and Truda Peak follow, all part of Mt Rogers in the Hermit Range. The first 2 peaks were so much fun, and then we needed to climb 2 more in order to get off Mt Rogers. Yep, tiring for sure! Mt Hermit can wait for another time.

5.55 pm – Elevation: approx 7,680 feet/2400 m. We run into a mountain goat. Hairy and solitary, he lets us get quite close. Jamie takes photo 293 (not kidding - I have proof) and many more of it.

6.30 pm - Elevation: 7,060 feet/2152 m. Mark and Jamie are happy to return to their camp at the Hermit Meadows. They share some chocolate with us, and then it is time for the two of us to return to our camper since we are exhausted.

7.45 pm – Elevation: 4,534 feet/1382 m. Crosby and I are back at our camper. It has been 16 hours since departing, but we have 4 peaks in our pocket and a lot of vertical (feet/meters).

Now which day do you think I prefer? :)

Helicopter Snowboarding - Yippee!

One of the perks of working for Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing is that on days off staff can try to get out in one of the helicopters. Last week - the first week of operations of this season - I got lucky right away!

Snowboarding in the trees in the Monashees is just so much fun, I don't know where to start explaining! Intimidating at first, as I did not have any practise on a snowboard at all before stepping in that helicopter, it is just so much fun after giving yourself over to 'Tha Powda'! The silence of the winter forest makes it really easy to hear yourself slide through the snow - ugh excuse me: powder... The camaraderie is huge after a day like this.

Not only did I get lucky by getting in the helicopter, I also got lucky by joining The Tweeties, a group of heli skiers that celebrated their 10th anniversary with MWHS. Sandy Mortensen (20 years at Wiegele!), Katy Perrey, Christy Hendry, Jennifer Buck, Nell Witting, Wendy Pevler, Amy Rockwell, and Dennis Newman (the only Sylvester this year) were kind enough to include me in their group, along with Michael Schenden who was my tree buddy. (When skiing or snowboarding in the trees you always need to have a buddy, to make sure you are safe and sound.) The only time these ladies (and gents) don't have a smile on their faces is when the Canmore Boys kidnap their Tweetie Mascot.

Last but not least, it is always fun to get to go out with Crosby's group. He is a guide at Mike Wiegele's and works tons. Time together in Blue River is sparse for us, both of us working with the guests. Spending a day together in the Mountains is an even bigger treat!

Hope to see you out here one day!

No more spam..! :)

Hello everyone,

Well, I realised a long time ago that not everyone enjoys getting tons of e-mails in their inboxes. Even though people love to hear about my adventures, I think getting a blog will help keeping people's inboxes a little less cluttered!

I will try my best to update this regularly, and hopefully you will keep looking here for stories!

Rosie :)