Dave Murray Camp Reports

• Dave Murray Photo Gallery

The first camp of the 06-07 season is in the books and what a camp it was. Detlef was here from Belgium for his 53rd camp and Marrit was here from Norway for her 3rd camp. We also had quite a few "Camp Virgins" including Mike, who is a local. I thought that most longtime locals have done at least one camp.

The first camp is always a bit stressful as we work out the kinks, but what Mother Nature threw at us this week was insane. Don't get me wrong – we loved it! High winds, snow, more high winds and more snow. The first day was a bit of a challenge as we tried to get everybody organized in the blizzard and the sheer amount of snow was a bit daunting for some of the skiers. But by the second day everyone was getting the hang of it and the fact that The Peak and Harmony Chairs opened that day helped a lot. For some of the skiers it was their first time to experience the high alpine and the snow was delicious. We even missed lunch!

On the third day the storm picked up again and it was gusting to 90 kph, strong enough to blow the dog off the chain. The Alpine was closed due to the high winds, but the tree skiing lower down was outstanding. By the time we did a lap, our tracks were filled in and it was like getting fresh tracks every run. Everyone was caked in snow and ice and had perma grins frozen on their faces. This was Whistler at its finest, the snow was like velvet. And as I'm looking out my window, it is absolutely, as we say in Whistler, puking snow!

The Camps are about skiing, but they are also about friends, fellow coaches and having fun. We may be pretty good at coaching skiing, but we really shine at laughing at each other, laughing at ourselves and generally having a good time. As we have not seen each other since the end of last winter, we have a lot of "ribbing" to catch up on.

The coaches were the "old" crew Leslie Glaysher, John Kindree aka The Verminator, David Traynor and yours truly. Eli, freshly back from back from Hawaii, all tanned up and looking hot in her new pink/white DNA suit, was, as she always is, in charge and cracking the whip. Leslie is back fulltime after having a family. Now that she is a mom, those looks she gives us when we get unruly seem to have more meaning.

You would have to experience one of our early morning Gondola rides up Whistler to get the true picture, but I think that you get what I mean. It's John Kindree, David Traynor and I that really enjoy ripping each other apart. There was the mention of my slightly expanded midriff, fueled by my summertime consumption of the amber nectar (it was a hot summer, what can I say). There was something about John's pronounced double chin and large cheeks. How he is starting to resemble the very vermin he is busy exterminating in the summer on his farm in Eastern Oregon – Thomomys mazama, The Western Pocket Gopher. All of this was good for a few laughs, but did not even compare to the abuse that David Traynor caused himself to be subjected to.

David went to Hawaii this fall and kept sending me e-mails how he is working out and how he is riding his bike up the Haleakela every day and how he is getting into this unbelievable shape and how his normally flabby carcass is transforming into a chiseled Bowflex model look alike that is going to be the envy of the locker room. I have to admit that he had me a bit worried. After all, he was all tanned and looking good, but you can't even imagine the roar of laughter when he was standing in the locker room in his shorts on that first, fateful morning. John Kindree and I almost died laughing – there he was, resembling a brown bean bag, flabby as ever. Anyway, I think that we will be able to milk this one for most of the winter. Good times ahead.

The other coaches, Kim McKnight, Ken Pedersen and Mark Anderson were coaching a racing camp in Sun Peaks last week and Brian Bennett was racing Nor-Am races in Lake Louise, but they will be there for the next camp, which is good, because we need new abuse victims.

What has all this got to do with skiing? Absolutely nothing! But at least now you have an idea who you are dealing with when you join a Dave Murray Ski Camp. Read next week's Camp Report or even better, be a part of it by joining the camp next week. What could be better than rippin' around with the best and wackiest coaches, cutting lift lines during the Christmas Holidays?

See you there!

Tom Pro