Whistler-Lake Louise 8,

Nov. 29, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

Today was an epic day as well as my 5th day in a row of skiing. I had a great dinner at the Youth Hostel in Lake Louise. Although I was certainly the oldest diner, there were several other patrons in my age group. I was able to read an account of Nat’s grandfather who was in the merchant marine in WW2 and managed to survive a torpedo attack on his ship by a German u-boat. If you have been following my blog, you will recall that I was able to visit a u-boat in Wilmhelmshaven last summer.

The day began with chilly weather and blue skies but warmed up gradually as the day progressed. This was my first day of the Level 3 Camp and I joined a group of 2 other pupils accompanied by 2 level 4 instructors, Fred from Bromont and Lee from Whistler. With a ratio of 2 instructors for 3 pupils, it is hard to imagine a better private lesson.

Both Fred and Lee maintained a friendly atmosphere where ‘fun’ was equally important to ‘technique’. When Fred asked the question “what do you like about skiing”, the answers he received were about the freedom of gliding on the snow, the enjoyment of the sport and the ambiance of skiing out in the open with friends. He remarked that no one ever mentioned ‘the separation of lower and upper body to improve technique and style’. Students will keep coming back to the sport because they are having fun. By the end of the morning, although we were strangers at the beginning, we all felt that we were a team learning new skills while at the same time enjoying ourselves.

My take away learnings concerning technique were to keep the arms outstretched and wide apart from the body, to avoid up and down movement when doing turns, to plant the pole in the middle of the initiation of the turn and to shift the weight gradually from the outside ski to the inside ski to complete a gracious and efficient turn. Movies were taken to emphasize the points with positive criticism.

Thank you Fred and Lee and nice meeting you with you David and Christie.

Love,

Brian

Whistler-Lake Louise 7,

Nov. 28, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

The temperature today started off at -13C but it was dry, sunny and no wind. I put on an extra layer and was warm as toast.

I spent the day practicing my ‘carving turns’ and I hope that I will be up to par. In the afternoon I met up with a group of 4 Canadians, one of whom is taking the course with me.

The scenery here is spectacular and I have been getting some beautiful pictures due the the sunshine and the fact that I am also above the clouds at certain times of the day before the sun burns them off. I took some pictures of Chateau Louise Hotel and the lake behind the hotel. There were several people skating on the lake as well as playing pick up hockey. Next time I will bring my skates and hockey stick.

I registered for my course this evening and will have supper at the youth hostel which in the past served great food. I should be the oldest guest there and am certainly the oldest person taking a Level 3 course.

Love,

Brian

Whistler-Lake Louise 6,

Nov. 27, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

I stopped off in Banff for a coffee yesterday. I stayed in Banff many years ago and was not that impressed at the time. Banff is really beautiful. The shops and restaurants are really first class. There are many inns and hotels to choose from. The road to Lake Louis is incredible. I am happy that I took the option of snow tires as the road is mostly 2 lanes, partially snow covered and slippery.

The temperature in Whistler was 2C to 5C and I felt rather over dressed with my ski outfit, fleece and down inner jacket. It is much colder here in Lake Louise with temperatures of -8C to -10C and wind. Most of the mountain is closed with only blue trails open from the top. The snow coverage is good for early season skiing. I did one run with my powder skis and then quickly switched to my eastern Rossignol carving skis. I spent most of the day practicing my technique so as to be ready for my course that starts the day after tomorrow and lasts for 3 days.

I am sitting in the luxurious lobby of the hotel writing my blog. Today on the gondola I met 2 young Germans who work here. The fellow works in IT and the lady is a writer from Hamburg. I told them, of course, that I did the Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg finishing 43rd out of 44. No use bragging about my accomplishments. She writes novels but her books have not yet been translated into English. They promised to read my blog. I am so proud.

Love,

Brian

Whistler-Lake Louis 5

Nov. 26, 2023

HI Everyone,

I was up at 6:30 this morning, to drive to the Vancouver airport, to drop off the car, to drop off my luggage, to go through security, to eat breakfast, to fly to Calgary, to pick up my luggage, to pick up my rental car with snow tires, to drive to Banff where I had a Starbucks muffin and coffee, to drive to Lake Louise, to check in at Chateau Lake Louise. Door to door took me 10 hours. Travel is really for young people.

I have flown out west at least 40 times but this was the first time that I had a window seat, in broad daylight, with clear blue skies allowing me a fantastic view of the snow covered Rockies. I must say, it has to be one of the most beautiful sights in the world. The Rocky Mountains stretch as far as the eye can see, with no towns or roads to be seen. What a wilderness!

I checked into Chateau Whistler, a 5* hotel located on Lake Louise. The hotel is really out of my tax bracket but because I am taking a CSIA Level 3 course, we got a half price group rate. The hotel has everything that you need, 5 restaurants, an exercise room, a swimming pool and expensive stores that have over priced merchandise at 30% off.

In Whistler, I was able to purchase my usual black fleece polo sweater with a half zipper in front. This made Antoine and Julia laugh, as they seem to expect me to go shopping for this item every ski trip. I will ski for 2 days, trying out my 2 different pairs of skis so as be prepared with the right ski for the course.

Love, Brian

Whistler-Lake Louise 4

Nov. 25, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

Today, once again was a bluebird day, 5C, blue skies, sunny no clouds and great snow for early season conditions. Last night we ate at a Japanese restaurant in ‘downtown Whistler’. We ate sushi of course, and Antoine and Julia chose the dishes. I am incapable of ordering food in a Japanese restaurant and am alway happy when I am with someone who knows what to order or if the waitress can suggest several dishes.

Yesterday, Julia and I skied on in bounds groomers. The gondola at Whistler took us up ⅔ of the way and the Emerald and Red chairs were open (for those of you that know what that means). Today we skied with Antoine and Joe, an architecture friend who skies 80 days a year. They took us off trail, on semi out of bounds trails which were clearly marked, ski at your own risk, unmarked obstacles, you are now leaving the patrolled area, ski boundary, hazardous terrain and back country avalanche warning. The conditions were absolutely fabulous.

Yesterday, I used my new Rossignal, elite, multi turn, 76cm underfoot skis and had a great time on the hard packed surfaces. Today, I used the same skies but had some trouble in the bumps. off trail with 6 inches of broken powder. Antoine and I switched skies and he found that my skies ‘were skiing faster than he was’. Tomorrow I am going to Lake Louise and will have 2 days to try out my Rossignal skis and compare them with my Salamon, QST 92 underfoot semi powder skis before taking my course.

We left the hill at 2:00 pm to beat the traffic and wound up in the middle of rush hour traffic. The road back from Whistler is beautiful as it follows a fiord. We stopped several times to take pictures.

Love,

Brian

23-11 Whistler-Lake Louise 3

Nov. 24, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

Today was a bluebird day for skiing. For those of you who are not skiers, it means, blue skies, sunny, no clouds and great ski conditions. To make things even better, Alyson gave birth to a baby boy this morning. Mother, father, sister, baby and grandparents are all doing very well.

I skied alone for the morning as Julia and Antoine had to work. Julia joined me for lunch and we skied the afternoon together. There were only 3 chair lifts open as well as the gondola on Whistler. This gave meant 4-6 trails open. The snow conditions were unbelievable great for early season. You had to be a bit careful because there were a lot of people around given the lack of ski terrain. Nevertheless, a bad day skiing is better than a good day at the office. With the sun, light snow and warm temperatures, I would classify this as a great day. Skiing without sunscreen, I think I got a little tanned which is also very important.

Antoine will join us tomorrow for skiing and we will go out to eat this evening. In the mean time I will go shopping for my umpteenth black ski fleece.

Love,

Brian

Whistler-Lake Louis 2

Nov. 23, 2023

Hi Everyone

I spent the day catching up on emails in a ‘sympa’ cafe and took a few pictures of Vancouver.

Whistler-Lake Louise 1,

Nov. 22, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

I am sitting in an airport waiting for my plane to Vancouver. This was a semi last minute decision to both go skiing and see Antoine at the same time. As you all know if you have been following my blog, and listening to my verbal non sense, I am a member of Canadian Ski Patrol and a Level 2 ski instructor. The season has not yet started here, so I decided to go out west and take a Level 3 Ski Camp at Lake Louise. This is the beginning of a 10 day course which I have little chance of passing. I scraped through the Level 2 course last year and am taking the course to improve my skiing. Most of the Level 3 instructors are Level 4 wannabes and Level 4s are really pro skiers who do this for a living. I will see Antoine and Julia for a few days and we will do some skiing at Whistler. I will then fly to Calgary, drive to Lake Louise, ski for 2 days and then take the Level 3, 3 day course. As a member of CSIA, I get to stay at Chateau Lake Louise, a 5* hotel for less than half price.

2 days ago, I had a muffin and cappuccino at MacDonalds for $4. The same snack cost $9 at Starbucks the next day and $13 at the airport today. The inflation over a 3 day period is extraordinary!

Everyone my age, a few years older or a few years younger, can remember exactly where they were and exactly what they were doing at approximately 2:00 pm on Nov. 22, 1963, 60 years ago. It was the day President John F. Kennedy was shot and the world was changed forever. I was writing a 9th grade exam at Monkland’s High School when my teacher was called out of the room and there was a commotion in the hall way. At the end of the exam period, my teacher, Mr. Dewdney announced in a sober manner that the president had been shot and killed in Dallas while driving in a motorcade. Some of the pupils started crying as JFK was very well liked by my generation. 2 days later, we watched live on tv, when Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald. The mystery of the whole affair has never been completely solved. Yesterday I watched the original Zabruski film which is the only known film of the assassination. The film, terrifying as it was, was only released for public viewing 12 years later. Within a short period of time, Robert Kennedy and King were also killed. What would the world be like today if these 3 men had been left to complete their work in this unstable world.

Love,

Brian

Hamburg-Germany 18,

July 23, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

‘Sitting in a railroad station, got a ticket for my destination. Homeward bound, that’s where I’ll be. Home to the….’

I visited an even older section of Bremen this morning. I find it amazing that everyone loves old sections of town, with cobblestone, narrow streets, no cars and low 2 story buildings. Instead, more so in America than in Europe, we build more and more cities that are car friendly, wide multilane streets that are jammed with traffic, tar and 30-40 story building that are way to close together. Go figure.

I left Bremen for Hamburg in the pouring rain and it continued to rain uninterupted until I reached Hamburg when the rain miraculously stopped just to greet me. I looked like I had just fallen into a lake with all my clothes on. My hands are black as the dye in my leather clothes ran and coloured my hands. I had to go to an ‘apothecary’ to buy acetone to remove the stain as it would not wash off with soap and water.

There are 3 parts to every trip: the planning, the trip itself and the memories. The best part of a trip is of course the memories. They go on forever. The second best part is the planning which often takes weeks and builds the excitement as the days go by. The worst part is the trip itself. You must get through it as quickly and as safely as humanly possible.

My trip is no different. I spent weeks planning the trip. I also spent 3 months training for the triathlon in the end up to 2.5 hours a day. Several times a week I did a triathlon broken up during the day. For example, I would run for 5 k in the morning, swim 30 laps (750 m) in the afternoon and ride my bicycle for 50min (20k) in the evening. On the days that I did not train, I either played hockey or raced my sailboat. I also did a practice triathlon in Gatineau 1 week before leaving for Germany just to test things out. I won a silver medal which might be good enough to get me into the worlds next year in Malaga. I planned out my route completely on my Tom-Tom Rider 550 GPS made especially for motorcycles. It can be set to follow windy, hilly roads in the country or secondary roads. I also reserved all my hotels in advance.

The trip itself can also be divided into 3 parts.

The Triathlon: I stayed in Hamburg for 1 week in an Ibis hotel reserved for the 150 Canadians although some stayed in nearby hotels. It was great fun to meet and share the triathlon with my fellow compatriots. We were probably the biggest team among the 36 countries represented and there were about 4000 athletes in about 10 different categories. Canada won 1 silver medal in the age group category. It went to our 80 year old competitor. In spite of this showing, we all had a great time. Anyway, what do you want? Hockey is our game!

The Itinerary: I visited several villages, towns and cities as well as the countryside which I have described in detail in past posts.

The Motorcycle: My GPS lady was perfect. The GPS seems to perform much better in Germany than at home. The BMW 700 is a great road bike. It is very stable on the highway. It is however, heavy for the city. My 1973 Triumph 750 Tiger is a much lighter and more nimble bike for city use. That is probably why you see scooters in the city which are more adapted to narrow, twisted streets.

I am staying at a downtown 4* hotel not far from my 2* Ibis where I stayed for the triathlon. The price is also much cheaper as they really jacked up the hotel prices for the World Championship. I drop off the bike tomorrow morning and fly home tomorrow.

Love, Brian

Hamburg-Germany 17,

July 23, 2023,

Hi Everyone,

‘On the road again, Going to places I’ve never been, seeing things that I may never see again,
And I can’t wait to get on the road again’

I spent the night in Bremen, a city of 500,000 where the most important place to visit is the old town. Here we have a St. Peter’s Cathedral which was built in the 11th century and then changed to a Protestant church with the reformation in the 16th century. I walked around yesterday in the drizzle. I brought an umbrella with me but not my raincoat as I sort of thought that it was going to rain but was not sure. I then did what most Germans tend to do at 5:00, find a tavern and sip a glass of wine for an hour or so until supper. As it was raining outside, I caught up on my reading as I had previously downloaded several books on my i-pad.

Love, Brian