Whistler opening day 2011

I wasnt born in Whistler but I used to live there, then I moved away.  Then I sat in offices staring out of windows wondering how and why I had convinced myself that I had made a good choice in leaving. So I moved back.

And then I moved away again.

I could list the pros and cons and go over in great detail the case for and against, but the bottom line is that I have love affair with one of the most beautiful wonderful places in the world, and when i see vids like the one below I become green with envy.

I can smell snow

Ok I cant.

I am away with work and its about 35 degrees every day but the emails from back home (when I have a freaking internet connection that works!) keep telling me its getting cold.

This can only mean one thing: Its time to organize a snowboarding holiday.

I’m thinking the US this year as although I have been to the States a bunch of times I’ve never been to any of the ski resorts, time to remedy that I think.

The dreams have started again…..

It’s that time of year, I’ve gone too long without getting up earlier than I would for work, stumbling through the motions of making coffee and then heading up the mountains for some snowboarding.

If you’ve never tried skiing or snowboarding follow the Nike advice and just do it.  Maybe you won’t like it.  Its possible, but you owe it to yourself to try it at least once.  It’s not just about falling over on something slippy and being cold, it’s about being outdoors with your friends, having agood time, pushing your comfort zone mentally and physically or maybe none of the above.  Maybe its just about the apres.

Anyway, I had my first snowboarding dream a couple of nights ago which shows my mind is already clicking back to it even though we are technically still in summer. I’m trying hard not to read too much into the fact I was caught in an avalanche and promptly woke up. 

Hopefully thats not a sign of things to come……

Trees don’t move, no matter how hard you hit them

Fact of the day; snowboarding into a tree will not force it to move.

Who of thought it?

Luckily I came off well in my collision but it still rocked my confidence enough for me to call it a day on the snowboarding front.  It was pretty disappointing as I’d been having the best day in a while.  Long story short i decided to take an off piste route that had no tracks as the snow was awesome, my board caught something below the surface and sent my flying, hit a tree and then landed on my butt with my board wedged between 2 trees and higher up the hill than my head.

Slight panic ensued as the snow beneath me started to give way into a tree well so a quickly started getting myself out of the predicament, but carefully enough that the snow didn’t give way and send me down the well.

Once out I sat Ipod off reminding myself that fortune may favour the brave, injury is the friend of the dumb ass.

Top O’ the world

Got up the mountain today and the cloud lifted for a while.

Bliss.

Still here…..

The forgotten blog.

 Well not forgotten just under used.

 I’ve not posted in a while for a few reasons, partly I have been ill, partly I have been snowboarding (I did make it up despite being full of cold) and partly as I have been in a bad mood.  I think that blog venting is good on occasions, but my posts would have just been sulky and let’s be honest sometimes it’s best NOT to share.

Turns out I have to go get some surgery done on an old issue, nothing serious but it does mean that I will miss a few weeks of the season, which is bollocks.

On the plus side I watched For Your Eyes Only the other night for the first time in years, gotta love 80’s Bond.

Rogger '007' Moore

A big fat f**k you

Having waited so so long, and so patiently to get snowboarding again I spent the first day of the season not snowboarding but at home.

I got up this morning early to beat the line up and be one of the first up the mountain, even if it meant standing still for over an hour before the lifts opened but my head was pounding and doing anything simple (such as blinking) was a cause of pain.  

Gutted.

I have had 3 different types of over the counter meds at 3 points throughout the day and I still feel rough, I’m now resorting to some spicy curry as I think its sinus related. 

Fingers crossed.

Time to dust of my gear

It’s that time of year!

My local mountain is opening a few days early and I should be snowboarding on Saturday.

I can’t wait.

I relocated earlier in the year so I could enjoy another season on the slopes, and now I’m just days away. 65 more centimeters of snow due before the weekend it should be good opening few days.

You learn something every day if you pay attention (Ray LeBlond)

So I’m considering my life options at the moment. Not so much a quarter life crisis (think, and I stress think, I’m over that) more of a concerted effort to roll with the punches and change things up a little.  I’m attempting to turn something I really love to do into something that maybe, just maybe I can make a little bit of money from. 

Like most people in their twenties I have had various jobs over the years, some good some bad, some I learnt important lesson from others that taught me nothing.  From paper rounds to writing policies in the office it has been a fairly varied path but now I’m doing something completely different, taking a different path and turning something I spend my free time doing and my daydreams well daydreaming about into something more. 

I’m training to be a snowboard instructor.

Ok so the daydreams are about snowboarding not instructing but I’ve been able to snowboard for years and never considered teaching other people how to snowboard as something I would ever do.   Sure maybe taking a friend up the mountain and teaching them the basics so they could try something new, but now I’m seeing it slightly differently, seeing the potential for more.  

I figure with the world and its recession going to hell in handbag maybe I’ll get off the ride for a bit and do something fun.  Just for 18 months or so, I figure I have earned it.  Maybe.

So that’s the plan spend the next few days boosting my education in something I enjoy, then packing the bags heading west and trying to make enough money to not go hungry (ok maybe by a few beers too), meet some new people (to laugh and enjoy the ride with) and have a few experiences that I’ll enjoy telling my friends about at a later date but hope that any future kids I have never find out.  

The best part about all this is it all stems from once upon a time years ago when someone gave me a snowboard lesson.