So where do I start with this epic adventure, obviously somewhere near the beginning. Well on Saturday 24th March myself and Phil departed sunny Darlington for Glasgow where we were to catch a plane the following day. The journey was rather uneventful and we arrived in due course. It turns out that the directions from the AA website weren’t that good since we arrived at the Holiday Inn rather than the Holiday Inn Express. It turns out that we weren’t the only ones to do this, it is however an easy mistake since the Express is hidden round the corner. Eventually we arrived, checked in and hit the bar for a few beers with Adrian (Phil’s bro), I somehow even managed to score a free round of beers from the bar staff.

Sunday

The next day we got up and went down for breakfast where I met the rest of the group, who were a splendid bunch of people. The next bit of the story is mainly a lot of waiting, some sitting and some travelling, I will therefore fast forward a little…..

….Upon arriving at the hotel we checked in a rushed off to our rooms. There had however been a huge mistake since it appeared as though we had been assigned a double room. Yes Phil is my friend, but we had no intention of being THAT friendly. I went back to reception to speak to the hugely attractive Aussie girl and triumphantly returned with keys to a new room. This room however was equipped to 2 large Queen sized beds.

Even though I’d been awake for a very long time it was still quite early, I can’t quite remember how we passed the time, but I believe we went to the liquor store to purchase some ale and then convened in one of the rooms for some Dominos pizza action. It was a great night. An early night was had because we were catching the first bus to Sunshine Village.

Monday

So on Monday morning we rose with the larks, or at least did the best we could. It was the beginning of the holiday and we were going to make the best of it, and as everyone knows this means getting up early for the first bus. Megan had been booked into snowboard lessons for the first 3 days at Sunshine Village so this was to be our playground. It was fantastic, it’s by far the biggest resort I’ve been to in my short snowboarding career. The amazing thing was how quiet it seemed. In order to get to Sunshine you need to get a gondola from the car park up to the base of the mountains, by getting the first bus we were able to miss all the queues. The second amazing thing about Sunshine were the breakfast bagels, these were just to die for, they also had the biggest rice crispy cakes ever. The perfect accompaniment for such a feast was Gatorade, which isn’t that great tasting but I couldn’t get enough of the stuff.

After a great day boarding we returned to the hotel to get cleaned up and then as was to become a bit of a tradition some beers. On my very first snowboarding holiday we were lucky enough to get a fridge in the room, sadly in this room we did not. What however we did have was a sink and access to an ice machine. It therefore became a bit of a tradition that within the first 5 minutes of getting back to the hotel I would have a sink full of ice to chill the beers. You’ve got to make the most of what you have, and I did. We capped the night off with another awesome Dominos pizza.

Tuesday & Wednesday

The Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty similar to the Monday, with lots of great boarding done and some amazing food in the evening. On Tuesday we went to the Bears Den which was a bar in a neighbouring hotel, I had chilli as did a few others, and it was nice, it’s just that I wish I’d had the shepherds pie which looked amazing. On Wednesday we went to Tommy’s Neighbourhood pub where I had an Elk burger. I’m not sure what I expected an Elk burger to taste of; I guess I assumed that it would be a bit like beef. Well it was a lot like beef; in fact it probably was a beef burger.

If anyone reading this is a boarder then they should know that a leash is an essential piece of equipment. What is a leash I hear you ask, well its one of these. It’s basically a strap, which you attach to your binding, the other end you attach to your leg. If you then have binding failure or drop your board while carrying it, then it won’t fly off down the mountain. Phil didn’t have a leash, so when he climbed aboard the chair lift at Wa-wa, he had a board attached to his foot, after about 20 seconds when he thought to himself ‘my board feels very light’ he suddenly realised he didn’t have it and the bloke in the chairlift behind us was carrying it. It turns out that the ratchet on his straps was failing so the board fell off as he climbed aboard. As a result he needed to buy new bindings which means that it’s the 3rd year in a row where he’s had to buy replacement equipment which he couldn’t afford.

Thursday, Friday & Saturday

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday we had snowboard lessons. I know what your thinking, why did I need lessons? Well as a wise man once said you’re never too good to learn. They were lessons aimed at blue and black runners; they were 3 full days of riding, spending a day at each of the different mountain resorts. The first day was spent at Sunshine Village, the second at Lake Louise and the final day at Norquay. I was a little apprehensive at first, I get a little worried about these kinds of things, especially when I know that I’m going to be the worst in the group which makes my confidence even worse. I think I did ok and hopefully didn’t hold the others up to badly. It was very useful; I did get some advice which should make me a better rider so long as I can actually get my mind to do it. I also discovered that my stance was too narrow, this has now bee rectified.

The first two days we were instructed by a guy called Tom who was quite cool, sadly he got some kind of food poisoning so for the final day we were taken by Forrest who sadly was a bit crap. I’m sure it was difficult and he was trying his best, its probably quite hard to take over a group on its final day. The advantages of the lessons were that we went down some runs that we may otherwise have not found, or we did on the first two days with Tom, Forrest didn’t really take us anywhere too challenging. This was possibly due to the resort, Norquay is a bit crap, in the morning the slopes we were on were really icy and by the afternoon it had all turned to slush.

On the Friday evening we attended the Shine and Dine at Lake Louise. I’d heard great things about this from Phil’s previous visits and so was expecting great things. On the whole it was a great evening, it was held at a lodge half way up one of the mountains. Some cheesy entertainment was put on and some fantastic food was served. A lot of beer was drunk and some snowball fights were had. The highlight of the evening was to be snowboarding from the lodge to the bus at the bottom in the dark following the torch of the person in front. Sadly due to the clocks changing it wasn’t actually dark enough to need torches. It was still quite amusing watching Phil crash into a skier (don’t tell him I told you!) The most sickening part was that by the time we reached the bottom, checked in and boarded the bus it was dark, so why couldn’t they have delayed the decent by 30 minutes.

On Saturday evening we attended an all you can eat buffet at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel which was organised by the ski school. This was another enjoyable event. We got to watch the video that had been made during our lessons and yet more great food was served. We were probably a bit rude because we ignored Forrest and sat at another table, but we had asked him about organising a table to accommodate all 8 of us and he said it couldn’t be done, it just so happens that Stan had asked his instructor and he said it would be fine so that’s where we sat. As well as the great food it was also an opportunity to take a look at the amazing hotel, because there’s no way that I could ever afford to stay there it was amazing.SundayWhile everyone else took a day off to do family things Phil and I carried on with the boarding. Just how hardcore are we? I must admit though that we did get up a little later than usual though. For some reason we were entitled to a free breakfast in the hotel, but only on Sundays so after we had eaten that we headed off to Sunshine for some board action. It turns out that the efforts of the previous week were beginning to catch up on us. It was getting slightly more difficult to get my feet to do what I wanted them to do, and aches were starting to appear. The best solution we could think of for this was for a beer in between runs. We didn’t get that many runs in, but a nice relaxed day was had. Just as well because we would need it. On the evening we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory, if you’re ever in Banff you should go its lovely, the food was very tasty and surprisingly cheap.

Monday

When you think of a holiday, you may think that its a time to relax and do very little. A time to recover from the stress and worry of work. Well on Monday there was a great deal of stress and worry, and it started really early in the morning. We were going to Kicking Horse and the bus was picking us up at 6.55am.

Kicking horse mountain resort is a boarders dream. Unless you’re a little nervous on the steep stuff, since pretty much everything is the steep stuff. It’s described as a power resort because they don’t bash the pistes, they just let the snow lie naturally. Luckily there had been a lot of snow so there was a lot of lovely power. The problem was that under the powder was a lot of bumpy ice, so what looked flat on the surface was actually a little rough. As I already mentioned it was also quite steep and the sun was hidden by clouds so visibility was difficult since no shadows were visible. It was still bloody brilliant. Because of the powder on the ground it was good fun boarding in between the trees because there wasn’t really an issue of doing any damage to ourselves.

At lunchtime we had food at Eagles Eye Restaurant, which was quite spectacular. Sadly the meal I had was a little disappointing, but you can’t have everything. After lunch I took it easy as I was struggling a bit so stopped and had a jug of beer with Adrian.

The journey back to Banff was really interesting. There was some fantastic scenery to look at, and our bus driver told us lots of interesting information about Canada and the history of Banff National Park. It even got me thinking about how interesting it would be to spend some time there during the summer months when its possible to explore the parks.

I’d definitely like to go back to Kicking Horse again, but could only handle a day. I don’t think I could stay there for a full 2 weeks. If I were to visit again I think it would have to be at the beginning of the first week when my energy levels were up, rather than at the beginning of the second.

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday it was back to Sunshine since Megan was doing more boarding lessons. By this point in the holiday, I was beginning to feel like I needed a holiday. It was getting so difficult to get up on a morning. Things were that bad that we decided we could no longer manage the first bus. The second bus was now the order of the day which gave us an extra half hour in bed. We were also getting a reputation for tuning up at the bus stop at the last minute. We could regularly be seen running down the road from our hotel to the bus stop. We always had the last laugh though since we never missed a bus and got and extra five minutes in bed.

In fact it was Tuesday night where we had a genius idea. The reason we were getting to Sunshine so early was so that we could get breakfast before Megan’s lesson. Well what if we already had food, well in that case we could get the third bus. It was therefore decided that on Tuesday night we would get 2 extra large Dominoes pizzas which would be enough for tea and breakfast in the morning. There was actually enough for supper the following night too!

On Wednesday night we went to Wild Bills for tea, I had a Buffalo burger with garlic potato and gravy. It was fantastic. It was in fact so good that we returned the following night – I had fajitas. Sadly we always missed the entertainment, they had line dancing on Wednesday night, I think I would make a great line dancer – ye ha!

Friday & Saturday

With our holiday coming to an end Friday was our last trip to Lake Louise, and on Saturday we went to Sunshine for the last time. By now I was very weary, so much so that on Saturday I actually drank more beer than I managed runs on the mountain. I think I only managed 3 or 4 runs when I actually managed around six beers. With it being Good Friday and Easter Saturday these were the only 2 days out of the whole holiday where there were any crowds. The Easter is a popular time for Canadians to go away so this and the fantastic weather brought them out of the woodwork. The weather on our final day was that good that I managed to get a little sunburnt.

SundaySadly it was time to come home. It was with a very heavy heart that I woke up at about 9am to pack my case to come home. I popped into town to try and spend the last of my dollars and be back at the hotel for 1pm to catch the bus to Calgary airport. The best holiday ever was over.

My thoughts

I think that so far Canada has to be one of the best countries I’ve visited so far. It’s just so familiar, it’s got big wide roads, huge cars and trucks, and everyone seems to friendly. The roads are a little confusing. From what I can gather pedestrians have right of way. Therefore when you come to a road that you need to cross it appears that the cars have to stop at junctions to let you cross. This took a while to get used to, I’m that used to standing patiently until a gap appears and then crossing, it just seems strange that the cars have to stop.

When you turn on Canadian TV it is always possible to find Friends, The Simpsons or Family Guy on one of the stations. If all else fails then The Shopping Channel is very entertaining. There is a whole channel dedicated to weather, and on a morning the TV actually tells you when the school bus arrives. It also appears that whatever time of the day it is there is always a live hockey game taking place.

There is a pub in Banff which claims to be an English pub, this I have to disagree with since they didn’t sell Carling, and the place was full of Canadians watching Hockey. It actually turns out that I love hockey, although I’ve got to say that I still don’t understand it.

Well I appear to have reached then end of this blog. There may very well be things that I’ve missed out, although I can’t imagine what. If you’ve managed to reach the bottom of this post without falling asleep then well done!

So what is the point of this post, well if your into your boarding and are getting the urge to hit the slopes, well why not take a look at this to get you in the mood.

Snowboards need to be regularly waxed to keep the base running nice and fast. Applying a fresh coat of hot wax every few times you ride is ideal. Or if you notice that your board’s base looks especially dry or seems to be running slow, now is a good time for a hot wax.

There are four things you will absolutely need:

• Wax: be sure to buy ski or snowboard wax that is designed to be applied with a hot iron. There are plenty of choices, but a good all-temperature wax will work well in most snow conditions.
• Scraper: pick this up at your favorite board shop along with the wax. Plastic or metal scrapers are both fine, just avoid really wide scrapers that are sometimes marketed for snowboards – they don’t scrape as well as the smaller ones.
• Iron: now might be a good time to invest in an iron designed especially for waxing skis and snowboards. These are smooth on the bottom and therefore apply a nice smooth coat of wax. Or you can go down to your nearest Salvation Army or Goodwill and pick up a used household iron for a few bucks.
• Scotchbrite: these rough green pads are available at any grocery store next to the kitchen sponges.

Some optional but helpful items:

• Base Cleaner: if your snowboard’s base is dirty, clean it using a base cleaner (find this at your board shop) and a rag before you hot wax it.
• Vices: setting up a workbench makes tuning and waxing your board much easier. Vices are available that hold your snowboard in place while you work.

Lets get started:

1. Drip

Put down an old sheet or some newspaper to catch dripping wax. Then put your board base-up on your new vices (see optional items) or on some books.

Plug in your iron and set it to a medium heat. It should be hot enough to readily melt the wax, but not so hot that the wax smokes. Hold the iron perpendicular to your snowboard with the pointed side down. Press the wax bar against the hot iron and hold it there. As the wax drips, move the iron up and down the base of your board until you have stripes of dripped wax 1 to 2 inches apart. Set the wax aside.

2. Iron

Now iron in all that wax until the base of your board is fully covered. Keep the iron moving; leaving it in one area for too long can damage the snowboard.

3. Scrape

Turn off the iron and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the wax to set and cool. Now grab the scraper and scrape off any excess wax in a nose to tail motion. Scraping away all the wax may sound counter-productive, until you realize that a hot wax actually opens up the pores in a snowboard’s base where you want wax to go. Excess wax will only slow you down.

4. Buff

After scraping, rub the scotchbrite pad in a nose to tail motion to take off the last of the wax and give your board a finishing touch. You are now ready to ride.

But today I don’t know what to say, I got off to my usual slow start, being a bit nurvious of turning at high speeds, but after lunch I made some adjustements to my board and things seemed much better. We’ve been hitting mainly red runs which at the moment is more that enough although I think by the end of the week we’ll be hitting a few black runs.

The weather has been pretty inclement as its been snowing all day and at one point there was a huge cloud half way up the slope which reduced visibility a lot, but its all good as I recon there will be a load of new poweder for us to play on.

Anyway thats the build up here comes the mail event, because today believe it or not I managed to beat Mr Stephen “I’m a bit psycho with a death wish” Shutt to the bottom of the slope and you’ll never guess how I did it. It was made possible by a 1 litre glass of beer, it was amazing. We went straight back on the slopes after I’d drank it and boy did it work. I got off to my usual start but Stephen had a unusually bad one, I wasn’t paying much attention and was just minding my own business until at the half way point when I realised that I was still in front of him, so obviously I decided to try my best to stay that way. I took a deep breath and went for it. No longer was I afraid, because I had to beat Stephen. And I did, not by much, but enough. I was fast where I was usually slow, I was turning where I would usually have stayed on my edges. So from now on I shall be snowboarding while under the influance.

Tomorrow we hit the black runs!

Bye for now I’m off for a beer.

Upon landing we had to wait ages for our luggage and my board bag, we then had another 4 hour journey on a bus to the resort. I did miss out on the journey as I did keep nodding off for the odd five minute period now and again. Here are the highlights for the rest of the day, checked in, took a look round town, went to wecome meeting, had meal and then went to bed.

Today has been much more exciting, today we hit the slopes, and it has been good, its much much better than the slopes back in the UK. I ache a bit now, but hopefully should be back in working order tomorrow.

We’ve been mainly sticking to the blue runs today which is fine by me while I build up my confidence. We did do a red run on our third time down the mountain, which was a mistake, I did take my revenge on Shutty by wiping him out as my ‘heel egde to toe edge turn’ went ever so slightly wrong.

Anyway I’m gonna go now because this silly french keyboard is confusing me, you can read more about our holiday on Shuttys site, but frankly I wouldn’t bother cos he makes me sound like a girl.