March 18, 2007

Its a Sunday, the rain is beating on the roof, NASCAR is on TSN, World Cup DH ski race is on CTV Sports Net and the smell of bacon cooking is wafting from the kitchen. This is pretty much a man's dream. The only thing I'd rather be doing is shredding some fresh pow, but the weather is what it is, so here I am practicing my typing.

Did I mention bacon? If you know anything about the Dave Murray Ski Camps, you will know that most of the coaches have been around for a long time and that the Camps have been around since 1982. Like any well established institution, the Camps are entrenched in tradition and the coaches follow certain rituals. Although a foot of fresh snow will put a smile on our faces, it is a healthy dose of Pica's bacon before skiing that will bring true happiness to a Dave Murray Camp coach. To us, bacon is energy in it's purest form, like high octane fuel in a race car. Never mind those fancy nut bars which are full of unhealthy sugars. Bacon is pure protein and natural fats, and this spells oodles of energy all day long.

Check out some bacon photos on our Photo Gallery  I know that Canada Health Guide would dispute my opinion, but I feel that after many years of consuming bacon in large quantities, our coaches are living proofs (so far) that bacon should indeed be an integral and invaluable part of any high level athlete's diet, or a low level ski coach's diet. One thing that I have not mentioned in this thesis is that bacon consumed between 8 and 9 am, must be followed by at least two pints of beer at approximately 4 to 6 pm. Consuming bacon alone (no beer) could be harmful to your health.

On to skiing now! How crazy have the ski conditions been over the last two weeks? Had I been a betting man, I would have lost large sums of money betting on the weather. Last Monday was frightening! It was World Cup icy hard conditions! The mountain got a massive water injection on Sunday and then it conveniently froze to one giant ice cube. People always ask me - "how can I carve on this stuff"? My reply - "sorry, you can't". The truth hurts, but it is the truth. Unless you have super sharp race skis (which most people lack) and the skills (which most people lack) to go with them, carving on pure ice is a distant dream.

So we resorted to "Drifting" which can be likened to going very fast while standing on two bars of soap. This form of skiing is awesome - you don't need sharp race skis (actually, dull twin tips are best) and skiers of any level can participate. At the end of Monday, we were fairly experienced "Drifters". But as the weather would have it, just as we were looking forward to more "Drifting", it decides to dump some of the finest, fluffiest, tastiest, lightest pow of the season.

By Wednesday "Drifting" was a just a vague memory and people were asking me - "how can I ski this stuff (pow)"? Happily, at the end of Wednesday everyone was a proficient pow shredder. In a way, this was the most productive camp all year - we learned "Drifting" on ice and shredding pow in three days. Bingo!

Last two weeks, we had to call on the services of some of our irregular staff as most of our coaches were globetrotting all over the map. John, Leslie, David and I are like old dogs that go out of the house just to take pee - we don't get out much anymore. But some of the younger coaches are still very active in various high level ski activities which take them all over the world. Brian Bennett was in Italy for the World Ski Cross Champs (12th) and then he went to Squaw Valley for the prestigious Ski Tour Ski Cross (6th). All of this with a barely healed collar bone. Ashleigh McIvor went to the Worlds as well, but crashed, suffering a compression fracture of a vertebrae. She will be OK. Kim McKnight was invited to the celebrity laden Directors Cup at Steamboat Springs where her team came in third. Ken Pedersen got snatched by the Canadian Snowboard Team to tech their boards. Kenny is a magician in the art of making skis and boards sharp, fast and race ready.

Andree, Jan and Felix got the call to replace the Globetrotters. Andree and Jan have coached many camps before and it is always such pleasure to work with them. Andree always entertains us with tales from the White Circus (World Cup Circuit) as she has two kids on the National Team, Britt and Michael, who are absolutely killing it this year with podium finishes. Jan's wicked sense of humor and mellow attitude always make her a group favorite and it is good to see that she lives by the bacon rule (see the photo gallery).

Felix has done a camp or two in the past, but he has spent last four years skiing in Switzerland, so that made him a bit of a "rookie". For this reason we gave Felix a group of seasoned campers and instructed them "beat up" on Felix. The tables quickly turned as Felix's youthfulness and skiing skills rose to the top like cream. The report has it that some campers opted to ski around some of Felix's chosen lines and the "spankee" became the "spanker". No worries! Everyone had a great time and Felix got a big thumbs up from his group. Nothing like pushing the limits once in a while.

It was so good to see Derek and Tammy and Simon and Claire. These people come every year to do the camp with us and sometimes it feels like they never left - they are like family. It was especially good to see Simon. He used to come year after year to get his "Jacque's French Therapy" (more like "abuse"). Then he and Claire decided to start a family. We all know what happens when that happens - life as we knew it ceases to exist. We thought that Simon was gone forever, never to be seen in Whistler again. You can imagine my surprise and joy when I saw him on Monday morning.

Of course the problem with Whistler is that people come and ultimately, people go - home, that is. As it happened, the Wednesday apres at the Brewhouse was a send off for not only Simon and Claire, but Stuart and Gemma, who have been here for about a month. You can imagine that it was sad to see our friends depart and a fair bit of beer had to be consumed to drown our sorrows.

And to metabolize the bacon!

See you at a Camp!