Big Sky 2026-02

Big Sky 6,

Feb. 10, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Last evening we had the conference banquet. The conference has been going on for 46 years and I have attended many of them. The atmosphere is very relaxed and many of the urologists bring their wives and children. Everyone is dressed in ski centre casual. The food and wine were adequate and everyone was in a very good mood. The conference, although the numbers were decreased compared to recent years was very successful. Personally, I prefer the atmosphere of smaller conferences where you can speak freely with the conference presenters. I met some old friends as well as a couple, Marty and Ellen from Denver. He is a paediatric urologist originally from Winnipeg and almost took a position in Montreal. Ellen is an excellent skier and we arranged to ski together today.

One of the conference leaders, Brian, who I knew from previous meetings, asked me how many conferences that I had attended and if I could say a few words. Never at a loss for words, I told a little story. Dr. Ralph Hopkins organized the conference until 2013. At the conclusion of the conference, in Jackson Hole,while I was putting on my ski boots, he came up to me and addressing me by my first name, asked me how I had liked the conference. I was rather surprised that Dr. Hopkins, the conference leader would even recognize me. After all, I am not very important in the urology world. He then asked me if I enjoyed the skiing and would I be back next year. I replied affirmatively and we shook hands promising to see each other the following year. 3 months later he had a cardiac episode and passed away. I month later I had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass. I can only imagine him looking down on me from above and muttering to himself “Hey Brian, where are you, we had a deal!”

Ellen and I met at 10:00 at a prearranged area at the bottom of the hill. It was a bluebird day, 5C and sunny. The powder that had fallen the day before and though broken, still gave adequate coverage with no ice showing. We followed the sun, skiing from one end of the mountain to the other. We did blues, blacks, tree runs, powdered bowls and trails. She is an excellent skier and can go down any type of hill. At around 1:00 we arrived at the far end of the mountain and after doing some tight powdery tree runs we stopped for hot chocolates and cookies.

To get back to our hotel we had to go up and down several trails taking several chairlifts. We were on top of the last run, at 3:00 pm, a black trail with moguls, sunny with broken powder, challenging but certainly doable. The trail narrowed at one point but I should have had no trouble getting through. I then experienced the absolutely worst fall of my 65 year ski career. I was skiing at moderate speed in good control when the tip of my ski hit a hidden rock. I fell straight forward over my skies and continued tumbling head over heels gaining more and more speed. I spread my arms and legs out, trying desperately to dig in and stop. It was no use, I just kept sliding and sliding. I wondered in my head if I would get badly hurt and hoped that I would not hit a tree on the side of the trail. I eventually stopped in powder snow, one ski on and one ski off 100 meters down the hill. One ski had fallen off and had accompanied me in my fall. Ellen picked up my pole which I had left further up the hill. The ski stop on one ski was bent. Two buckles on one boot were open and bent out of shape. The edge on the tip of one ski is badly bent and may not be reparable. I was gasping for breath but thankful that I had not been badly hurt. I have a minor sprain on my ankle and am limping. I pulled myself together and we skied slowly down to the bottom of the hill on an easy blue. What an experience!

Tomorrow I will fly back to Montreal.

Love,

Brian

Big Sky 2026-02

Big Sky 5,

Feb. 9, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was a non descript day so I did not do a post. It was cloudy for most of the day with a 2 hour sunny period around noon. The snow was hard packed and I could have used my Eastern skis. I skied on blue groomers as they were the only trails available.

In the evening after dinner, I was invited to a party at the conference organizer’s hotel suite. I met several of my old friends from previous conferences and made some new acquaintances. The atmosphere is always very congenial at these smaller conferences. Next year they are planning to have the conference in Park City Utah. It has been on my bucket list for many years but this will be the first time that a urology conference will take place there.

Surprise, surprise!! It snowed all night and all day today. This gave us a total accumulation of 8 inches of heavy powder. This snowfall changed the mountain completely. The groomers had powder snow which made them more interesting. I also discovered some expert terrain which was not available the past few days. I skied on double blue and black trails. I found some glorious tree-glade terrain that had full coverage. At one point I found myself alone on a rather steep and narrow tree run. It was glorious. I continued along and found my self on top of a hidden bowl, 200 meters long, reasonably steep with untracked powder. At 2:00 pm I was the first skier to go down the slope. A chance in a life time.

I used to have trouble with tree runs. I would stop at each tree. I watched Antoine fly through the trees without stopping. When I asked him how he did it without stopping, he replied, “ Dad, your skis are 5 feet long and there is 8 feet between each tree. Don’t look at the trees. Just trace.” With some practice I understood what he meant. I don’t look at the trees anymore. I just trace my path and fly through them. Wow!

Love,

Brian

Big Sky Montana 2026-02

Big Sky 4

Feb. 7, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

My conference began today with a breakfast at 6:00 a.m. Needless to say I arrived a little late as I am rather allergic to setting my alarm at 5:30 a.m. to arrive on time to my semi medical-ski conference. The conference finished at 10:00 a.m. allowing me a full day to ski. However, with hard packed conditions until the sun softens things up, there is no point getting on the hill until 11:00 a.m. It was once again a bluebird day with sunny skies and temperatures of 10C. The temperature is supposed to drop over the next few days and we are expecting snow on Monday.

I received some nice comments on my blue, Arc’teryx ski jacket with one person noting that I blend in well with the sky. Wow.

Love,

Brian

Big Sky Montana 2026-02

Big Sky 3,

Feb. 6, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Today was another blue bird day of skiing that you could only hope for at the end of March. I was not in a hurry to get on the slopes today as the snow is rather hard packed until the sun begins to soften it up at around 10:00 a.m. We had sunny skies all day with a temp of 10C and no wind.

I skied only on the groomers as the expert terrain was either closed or had too many rocks showing to make it worth while. Tree skiing was impossible as are the chutes. Nevertheless the sun and warm weather made for a good day of skiing. Half way down the hill is a huge igloo that you can walk through. A band was playing inside and people were dancing. There is a patio outside with sofas and chairs. Everyone was having drinks including white wine, beer and Veuve Cliquot champagne. Imagine that, in the middle of winter. I sat on a sofa, took off my ski jacket, wearing only a fleece and basked in the sun in an attempt to get a sun tan.

America is made up of 45% people of ethnic, non white origin. You would not know that by the crowd at the ski hills. Everyone is white and looks to be very successful. Skiing has become extremely expensive. In American dollars a day ticket costs $250. Hotels start at $600 a night. The ski prices are the same as in Canada except that you pay in American dollars. The ski industry must have been hit hard by the tariffs. Food prices in restaurants are unreasonable. There are beautiful areas with homes starting at $5 million and going up to $20 million. The rich and famous have discovered Big Ski just as the have discovered Jackson Hole.

On the other hand, everyone is very friendly. I have not over heard any political discussion. The chair lifts are for 4, 6 or 8 persons. The seats are heated. A bubble comes down if it is cold and windy. The guardrail pops up automatically when you arrive at the top. On the chair everyone wants to know ‘How are you doing today? Are you having a great day skiing today? Where are you from? Montreal, oh I have been there. What a great city. Do you ski at Mont Tremblant?’ It is really pleasant.

My conference starts tomorrow and I ate dinner last evening with a few friends that I know from previous conferences. We will be about 50 urologists and the staff looks to be excellent as usual. The conference is very family friendly reminding me of the times when I used to take the kids with me. I can remember renting a condo for 7 of us.

Love,

Brian

Big Sky Montana 2026-02

Big Sky 2,

Feb. 5, 2026

Hi Everyone,

I left Montreal yesterday at 11:00 a.m. and arrived here at 3:30 a.m. Montreal time, a mere 16.5 hour travel time. That includes leaving the house to allow for 3 hours to go through American customs. No one is going to the States now and passing through customs took 40 minutes. The customs officials were much less surly than usual probably happy to have visitors to their country. I had 2 hours between flights and a 4 hour wait to catch a limo to take me from Bozen International Airport to Big Sky. The drive took 75 minutes and I was asleep on arrival here. I was so tired that I left my skis outside my door in the hallway, leaving me wondering where they were when I awoke in the morning. I slept 7 hours to recuperate and was on the slopes at 10:00, a little late for me.

Today was a ‘blue bird day,’ sunny with blue skis all day. I am happy that I brought my Salmon QSTs, 92 underfoot for those of you who are knowledgeable about skis. The snow was packed powder in the morning with absolutely no ice. By 12:00 it was spring skiing in February, unheard of in recent years. It was 10C so I had to take off a few layers and was skiing with my jacket open, no neck warmer and no long underwear. I sat on a terrace at noon in a tee shirt and sipped a $10 black coffee. The prices are outrageous here.

They have not had any snow here in 10 days. I skied mostly on blue, double blue, easy black trails and bowls. There is a lot of tree and glade skiing here but no one was skiing there as the snow was hard packed. They are really spoiled here. My Icon pass covers the whole area but you must take a gondola for an extra $25 to get to the top Loan Peak area. This is a black, double black and triple black area. There are also dozens of chutes but no takers as the snow conditions were not great and there are a lot of rocks showing. All in all, there was enough open trails to ski on.

Love,

Brian

Big Sky Montana 2026-02

Big sky 1,

Feb. 4, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

I am in Trudeau Airport, travelling to Big Ski Montana for a medical-ski conference.
The conference is from 6:30 am to 930 am and from 430 pm to 630 pm. This allows me 6 hours to ski. We are required to do 40 hours of retraining per year so this gives me 25 hours.

This is my 35-40th ski trip out west as I try to combine a medical-ski conference every year.

I will write every day and post 5-10 pictures everyday.
You may follow me on my blog: gobriantravel.com.

As you may know, I spent 2 months in Israel last year and 1 month this year. I spent 6 weeks on an IDF base doing the type of work that my mother told me I would do if I didn’t get a good education. I spent 6 weeks on an MDA ambulance as a physician-para medic helping in the care of 150 patients. I detailed my 3 month experience in my blog and am in the process of finishing my book entitled: Swords or Iron, Israel at War, a Canadian Surgeons Perspective. The book will be available for purchase in 6 weeks. All proceeds of the sale of the book will go towards the purchase of an ambulance for MDA.

Love,

Brian

Australia-New Zealand 1

Australia-New Zealand

Oct 30. 2025,

Hi Everyone,

This my final entry for my journey so it will be a sum up of 3 weeks of travel.

I arrived in Sydney and travelled to Wollongong for the World Triathlon Championships, representing Canada in the 75-79 Age Group. I placed 21/21 in 2:12 hours.

I then flew to Auckland, New Zealand where I rented a Honda 500 CMX Rebel, the perfect bike for windy, tertiary roads.

New Zealand is a wonderful country. There are only 5 million people here, of which half are of white origin. The scenery is absolutely outstanding. The people are very friendly and helpful. You are safe anywhere you go. You get good value for your money. It is not more expensive than Canada for what you get in hotels and in restaurants. The country has everything that you could want, the sea for surfing and sailing, mountains for skiing, wine, a friendly laid back population, good service, and a stable government.

If I did not have a wife, 4 children, 6 grandchildren and was looking for a place to retire, NZ would be high on my list.

Love,

Brian

Australia-New Zealand 1

Australia-New Zealand 16,

Oct. 29, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

When I awoke this morning, they were calling for light rain. I reviewed my route with my GPS lady and opted for secondary roads instead of tertiary roads. That would save me 1 hour and 40kms. I would rather be on secondary roads if it were to rain again like it did 2 days ago. In the end it did not rain at all. I was treated to a wonderful ride in the country, 18C, blue skies with a few cumulus clouds and a good road. I am staying in a large house in the country just outside of Hamilton. The B & B is situated on several acres of land. There are horses, ponies, sheep and alpaca in the fields.

Love,

Brian

On the road from New Plymouth to Hamilton

Rua near Hamilton

Australia-New Zealand 1

Australia-New Zealand 15.

Oct. 28, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

I decided last evening after a long, cold, rainy, windy day, I would go to bed early and wake up late (and refreshed). It was still raining this morning, so I took the time to catch up on emails. Eventually, when the weather cleared in the early afternoon, I explored New Plymouth. The downtown area is small and rather cute. The town is situated on the ocean. There is a 12 km path that goes along the seashore. The waves were crashing on to the shore all day.

On the road to New Plymouth

New Plymouth

Love,

Brian

Australia-New Zealand 1

Australia-New Zealand 14,

Oct 27, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

I left Penny and Andrew this morning and before heading off to New Plymouth, I stopped by Clyde’s Place. Penny had arranged a tour of his incredible garden and motorbike collection. Clyde was once a ‘farmer’ with thousands of sheep and cattle on his 1500 acre ‘ranch.’ He has since sold off the sheep and cattle and concentrates on his garden and motorcycle collection.

First I visited his ‘garage’ where he has about 50 motorcycles all in beautiful condition and in running order. Some of the bikes date back to the 1930s. Others are from the 60s and 70s with a few more modern bikes. He has collected them for all over the world. There are Triumphs, BSAs, Jawas, Nortons, Ariels, Ducatis, BMWs, Moto Guzzis and many others that I am not familiar with.

Motorcycles:

Clyde’s motorbike collection

Clyde’s Garden Paradise

The rest of the day was one of the worst motorcycle days that I have ever experienced; pouring rain, sheets of rain, strong winds, but the road was not slippery. I arrived at my hotel in New Plymouth soaking wet. The water had seeped down my neck making my polo shirt and fleece quite wet. The nice lady at the hotel desk offered to dry my clothes for me. I will drown my sorrows in wine accompanied by a good meal.