Dave Murray Camp Reports

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When it comes to skiing and ski conditions, I have been accused of being way too optimistic. It is to the point where they don't even bother to ask me how my day on the hill was. The answer is mostly always the same - great! My view is that as long as the ground is white, I'm happy. Ice, hardpack, softpack, groomed, ungroomed, crust, wet coast cement or powder - as long as it's white, it's all good.

Having said all of that, I have to admit that there is something magical about shredding untouched, uncut, virgin powder. It just feels good! Another thing that feels good is to watch people who never imagined to be able to ski powder, steep powder, doing so with a big smile of accomplishment on their faces. To be able to ski powder with authority seems to be the goal of 99% of Dave Murray campers. As most of the coaches, myself included, are all too happy to deliver on that goal, it was good to see the snow start falling again.

That was about two weeks ago and it just kept coming little bits at a time. In the end it added up to 50 cm for the last week. That kind of snowfall adds up to a lot of fun. I spoke to a lot of the campers and some of their responses were "best ski day of my life", "I never imagined these ski runs existed", "I never imagined that I could ski where I skied".

Most of the time the coaches end up skiing with certain ability levels camp after camp. This is because they usually get requested by skiers of that level. Leslie does Level 4 and she is very good at it and John Kindree (Dr. Death) does Level 5, 6 and he is very good at it. But on the Feb 19th camp they switched it up. Leslie took a Level 5 group and John took a Level 4 group.

We named John's group the "Kindree Garden" and no doubt the "kiddies" were treated to some uncharted territory because that is where Johnny likes to ski. On the other hand, Leslie's group undoubtedly experienced a level of instruction and care that only Leslie can deliver. No two coaches are the same, but Johnny and Les are definitely at the opposite sides of the globe.

What a treat for both of these groups! The unique experience, over last two weeks, was that the groomers were as good as the off piste and vice versa. Not too soft, yet not too hard on groomers and just enough pow, yet not unmanageable in the off piste. Just right for perfecting one's ski technique on groomers and then testing it out in the off piste. After all, the goal is to be able to rip the off piste powder, shredded powder, crust or whatever it may be and make it look like you are just cruising a freshly groomed ski run. Right? Right!

Well, having the best of both worlds definitely paid dividends. It was so good to watch my group progress in all fields - Don slash down West Bowl like he owned it, Peter tame the massive bumps of Upper Insanity, Christine and Trine style the race course, Mark shred the powder of Doom And Gloom with a huge grin on his face and Tan master the Lower VD trees like a pro. That is why I look forward to going to work every Monday morning.

I leave you with the Alpine Forecast for next week. Get your fat skis out and shred it!

Monday.. Snow. Snowfall Accumulation 25 To 35 Cm. Freezing Level 1000 Metres.

Tuesday.. Snow. Snowfall Accumulation 35 To 45 Cm. Freezing Level 1000 Metres.