We were up early for breakfast and took the prearranged van to the airport where all the Sar-El volunteers meet. The Sar-El organizers register each one of us individually and then send us off to our respective groups. There are about 6 groups of varying sizes that break off and go to their respective army bases. Our group is the same as last week as we are all taking the Krav Maga course. I am happy about this as we are a very cohesive group and everyone is fun to be with. We were introduced to our new madrihot who seems to be very nice. I purchased a new dog tag as a spare in case I loose the one that I have.
We took the bus to our IDF base which is 1.5 hours away. I slept most of the way as I was up late last night writing my blog and I was tired. It is great to be back at the same base. It is just like a home coming. I am in the same room as last time with the same 3 guys. We had a quick briefing of our days chores and then sat down for lunch. After lunch they asked for 4 volunteers for kitchen duty. I volunteered and the rest of the volunteers went off to a warehouse to continue unpacking, sorting and repacking uniforms in the duffel bags.
We met back at the main barracks at 4:00. Although it was 30C with a hot sun and a minimal breeze, I changed into my shorts, a tee-shirt and sandals and ran 6.5 km. We had a general meeting before supper to present ourselves to the new madrihot.
Below, you will see some pictures of my week at the base. You will also see my new boots.
We got back to Tel Aviv at around 4:00 pm. Most of the volunteers took a taxi to the hotel. I elected to take a bus as I have a pass and wanted to do some shopping in Dizengoff Square which is a circle. I purchased a few necessities and then walked back to Maxim, a distance of 10 minutes. I was glad to get back to the hotel and get my old room back. At 6:00 we had the usual wine and soup and then 3 of us went down to the beach for supper. As usual in the evening there was a cool breeze and we could hear the waves lapping up on the shore.
Friday morning I usually go to the laundromat to wash my week’s laundry. Friday was no exception. It’s silly I suppose, but I love laundromats. They are always the same, buy the powdered soap, choose a washing machine, and pay for 30 minutes. Usually I go for a cappuccino at the cafe next door. I was disappointed to find that the cafe had closed so I just sat outside on a chair and read my emails. The dryer lasted for another30 minutes and I then I was on my way back to the hotel with a fresh batch of clean clothes.
I skipped lunch and went off to the beach which is just across the street. They were not renting chairs yet so I just found a place on the sand. The beach was crowded but you can always find a 10 ft private space for yourself. I lathered up with lotion and lay down to get my first suntan. When I was hot enough, I went for a swim. It was 30C with no breeze and the water was dead calm. The beach was black flagged, meaning no swimming, or swim at your own risk as there were no life guards. There were no swimming signs everywhere. Every hour or so, there was a taped announcement that swimming was dangerous and prohibited. That did not prevent the Israelis from going into the water and swimming. I swam out to the breakwater twice, a distance of 250m, 1 km in total, not bad for a first swim since October.
The Tel Aviv beach is fabulous. The boardwalk extends for miles with restaurants, cafes and bars all along the way. The Israelis are incredibly fit. I did not see 1 overweight person on the beach. The men are 6ft tall, dark skinned, muscled, and very good looking. The typical Ashkenazie Jew that we think of is long gone. There has been 3 generations of intermarriage between the Ashkenazi Jews from Europe, the Sephardic Jews from North Africa and the Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East. Add to that the new arrival of Russian Jews, Yemenites and Ethiopians and you get an incredible mix of genes and cultures. When you see a French person, you usually know by their look that they are French. The same is true for Italians and Greeks. Now, with the intermarriage there is a typical Israeli look both with the men and the women. The women are relatively tall and absolutely gorgeous. They are usually dark skinned with dark hair. Once again they all appear to be in good shape. The men wear shorts for bathing suits. The women wear strings, front, back and top. Everyone is playing soccer, keep the soccer ball in the air with everyone in a circle, volleyball, paddle ball and frisbee. You have to dodge the balls if you are walking on the beach. I had a Magnum ice cream for lunch at 4:00.
I was invited for Shabat dinner at Vickie’s. As usual she had other invited guests. Her brother and sister-in-law were there. Her sister-in-law is from New York and made Alliah in 1970 about the same time that I came to Israel for the first time. I was close to making a similar decision at the time but in the end elected to go to France to study medicine. A Swiss-American doctor was also invited and is working as a paramedic on an ambulance like me. We had a splendid evening together.
Today was more of the same. I had some business to catch up with with the College des Medecins de Quebec that took several hours. I then headed off to the beach. It was slightly cooler today with a 20 knot breeze on the water. There were many sailboats out and I envied them. There were 3 foot waves and the usual no swimming signs and announcements. There were a fair number of surfers out taking advantage of the waves. I swam out to the breakwater. I had to do a breast stroke to see the waves coming and to get past them. Every time I saw a wave, I dove down and let it go ever my head. Eventually, I reached the breakwater. I was the only swimmer out there and the surfers looked like they were wondering what I was doing there. I will admit that it was a little crazy on my part and perhaps somewhat dangerous, but I felt really good and I was swimming well. After my swim, I rested for half an hour and then ran 10 km along the beach in 1:10. Overall it is not a great time but for me it is not bad. Richard asked me to run a 10 km with him next Friday so I must practice a bit this week.
We sat around the table for for our usual wine and soup. A young German girl told us that she was supposed to go to the Nova Festival but some how ended up giving her ticket to her best friend. Her friend was one of the persons killed at the concert. She is in the process of converting and making Aliah. Her husband who is Israeli and in the army was killed several weeks later. Several persons at the table did their best to comfort her and a few of them were crying with her. What a tragedy. How do you get past an experience like that and continue with your life.
Last evening after supper, we all gathered in one room for a get together. We sat on bunk beds, drank coffee and ate cookies and cakes. It reminded me very much of summer camp in the Laurentians when I was an teenager. After lights out for the campers, the councillors would gather around a campfire. There was always someone present with a guitar and we would all sing campfire songs until midnight. Last night was the same, with the same atmosphere but lacking a guitar and an indoor campfire. We chatted about many subjects often telling stories of trips to foreign countries and adventures that we had had. I never have a shortage of stories to tell.
Today we finished off packing the soldier’s bags. Some of the bigger and stronger fellows worked loading and unloading the trucks. I was not chosen for this job. I am not sure why! Instead, I volunteered to work in the kitchen. This was very interesting and rewarding work. We sweeped and washed the floor in the dinning room. We set the table for the officers. We prepared the coffee table. We laid out the plastic dishes for the evening meal. We then did a major cleanup in the bathroom, halls and our bunk rooms. It was over 30C but I still went out for my afternoon 6 km run. It was not easy but I felt good after finishing the run and taking a shower.
This evening we had our last evening together. The madrihots thanked us for the great week that we had together. They will move on to another group next week but we will be coming back to the same base for work and a continuation of our Krav Maga training. The madrihots were wonderful and much appreciated by all the volunteers. Each of us had to give a small speech on their 1 week experience here. Everyone was extremely happy with our group, the madrihots, the base in general and the work that we had to do. The 16 volunteers come from 7 different countries and it was amazing how well we worked together. Of the 5 weeks that I have worked with Sar-El, this was by far the most cohesive and friendly group to work with. I am very happy that we will be together next week.
As usual, when it came my turn to speak, I was not at a loss for words. At first my sentiments echoed the sentiments of the other members of the group as I explained in the last paragraph. There are 4 pictures of myself on the base, receiving my shoulder pads and with the madrihots. These pictures have been posted in previous entries of my blog. I sent the pictures to my good friends and to my hockey team. The majority of them are not Jewish. I asked them discreetly if they would like to join me. I received many positive responses.
This past winter I worked as a ski patroller at Mont Blanc for the first time. The head patroller, Philippe had heard about my experience with MDA as a physician on an ambulance in Israel. When he introduced me as a new patroller in the group, he asked me to say a few words about my experience in Israel on an ambulance. I gave a small talk and mentioned of course that my experience is well documented on my blog which they could read. I never miss an opportunity to self promote. Montreal is a very cosmopolitan city with many languages and nationalities. ⅔ of the city is French speaking. When you leave Montreal and go north into the Laurentians, the population is Quebecois and 100% French speaking. When I spoke I was not sure what the reaction would be as I do not hide my feeling of being a Zionist. I am very happy to say that I received a very positive reaction from the group, many of whom went on to read my blog. Many of the patrollers went on to ask me questions about my stay in Israel in a positive manner. When I finished working with the patrol, I sent an email to the patrollers thanking them for a great season and for welcoming and integrating me into the group I mentionned what I would be doing for the month in Israel. Philippe asked me to post some pictures. I posted the same 4 pictures on our web site on Facebook as requested. Within 12 hours I received 17 likes and several encouraging comments. That made me very proud and happy.
Love,
Brian
This is a shelter. We have 45 seconds to get there. We did not have to use it this time.
Today was a routine day which will be quite similar to tomorrow I assume. We were up at the usual hour, had breakfast and then off to work at the warehouse. We emptied duffle bags, checked the equipment and then refilled them.
I should say something about the food. It is really healthy with a never ending supply of fresh vegetables for the 3 meals. Breakfast is a little different with an egg omelet and delicious cinnamon buns. Lunch is the main meal with an assortment of meats, fish and poultry. Supper is similar to lunch with a different assortment of the above. Desert is always made up of several choices of fruits. I am sure that you could eat as much as you want here and never gain weight.
We have a mixed group of volunteers from Canada, the USA, France, Peru, Estonia and Soviet Union. 30% are not Jewish. The Jews range from very religious and kosher, to conservative, secular and 1 atheist. All are Zionists or they would not be here. The age range is from young to middle age with 1 or 2 seniors of whom I am the eldest by far. Everyone is well educated so the conversations around the table and while working is quite stimulating. We all enjoyed the Krav Maga session yesterday. No one complains about the work or the organization. A few of us go for a walk or a run at the end of the day. One fellow was chased by a few ‘hungry’ stray dogs so I will have to be more careful when I run tomorrow as maybe they didn’t get enough to eat. The weather was hot today, probably hitting above 25C in the afternoon. It was rather hot to run so maybe I sweated more and lost a few more ounces.
Yesterday, my shoes gave out. The 1 piece soles and heels fell off spontaneously within minutes of each other. Perfect built in obsolescence. When our commander saw what had happened , he came over, took my shoe size and promised to bring me a pair of boots today. He was true to his word and this morning presented me with a brand new, black, pair of Israeli army boots. I put them on immediately and received jealous comments from my colleagues. I thanked him and the madrihots profusely. I am so proud to wear them. You can see them in the picture below.
We found out that it was the Houthis that sent us a rocket on Sunday. I guess that we were lucky. We were in the van and had time to file out and get to a shelter. 2 more minutes and we would have been driving along in the van when the sirens went off. The standing orders are that if you are in a car when you hear the sirens, you stop the car, get out of the car, lie down on the ground, on your stomach and cover your head with your hands until all clear. Imagine 20 of us doing this on a major highway. This is an everyday occurrence in Israel that I have not yet had the occasion to try. I have an app that shows where the rockets go off, minute by minute. We have been under rocket fire since I have been here but I only went into the shelter once. We hear the boom-boom several times a day even where we are.
Today we were up bright and early for work. ‘Hi ho,hi ho, it’s off to work we go’. We arrived in the warehouse and worked on army bags. The bags are 3 ft long and 1 foot wide. We had emptied and sorted the equipment yesterday. Today, our task was to fill the bags. We divided ourselves up into several teams to make the work go faster:
1, make a plastic bag, 2, seal 1 end of the bag, 3, put a uniform or jacket in the bag according to size, 4, seal the bag, 5, bring the bag to another team, 6, place the jacket, the sleeping bag and the uniform in the large army bags that someone is holding open, 7, haul the bag to another place, 8, close the bag, 9, put the bag on the shelf, 10, erase the date on the label of the tagged bag, 11, put a new date on the label of the tagged bag
Did I miss any step? I hope not because they are very strict on precision. An improperly sealed or torn bag can mean a wet uniform for a soldier.
In the afternoon we filed into a room for Krav Maga instruction with a young, well built and well trained instructor. He gave us a history of Krav Maga which is an Israeli developed self defence system. We were going to be taught commie, which is a more advanced method of fighting, faster and more adapted to fighting an opponent of a different, usually bigger size. We lined up in 4 lines of 4 and paired off with an opponent of the same size. He then taught us different punches and kicks and how to parry them away and strike back. We took turns as the aggressor or defender saying in advance what the attack would be in order to avoid contact. It was hard work for 1.5 hours, a 10 minute brake and a second 1.5 hour session. I got through the day with all my teeth, no black eye, no bruises and no broken bones.
I did my residency with a fellow who had a black belt with several dans. I asked him what he would do if he were challenged to a fight on the street. He said: ‘I would run away’. I asked him why? He said: ‘I don’t know if he has a gun or a knife and I have nothing to prove.’ That seems to be rather wise position to take and I will keep it in mind.
After work at 4:00, I did a 6 km run for 45 minutes listening to 60s light rock music. After supper we had a 1 hour lecture by the madrihots on IDF slang. The lecture was great and rather humorous but I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open.
This morning we had flag raising and then the singing of Hatikvah. We then received our Sar-EL Volunteer Blue Shoulder Patches. Each regiment has a different shoulder patch. Every time you go up in grade in the IDF or receive a shoulder patch, you receive the traditional punch on the shoulder by your commanding officer. One of the fellows was a football player for Kansas City. The Madrihots really had to reach high to punch his shoulder. The last 2 pictures are the before and after pictures of the volunteers when we received out IDF uniforms.
I went back to my hotel, had a quick shower and went down for the 6:00 wine, soup and light refreshments party. I met a few new people who are doing different things here. There are many ways to volunteer here and make yourself useful. Everyone had a different story as how they had spent the last week.
I walked around downtown Tel Aviv for an hour or two eventually meandering down to my favourite watering hole overlooking the beach. The young waitress recognized me from last year and the fact that I write a blog. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I ordered some nachos and beer, real comfort food. It’s warmed up this evening allowing me to sit comfortably on the terrace under the warm-up lights.
We have been under rocket attack for the last few days. Although I personally have not experienced it, some of the other volunteers heard the sirens and have taken cover in the shelters. The rockets are coming from Hamas in Gaza, from Hezbollah in the north and from the Houthis everywhere. They all blame the Israelis for starting the renewed fighting. Is it possible that they sincerely believe the nonsense that they spout.
There was a big demonstration tonight and some of the volunteers went to see what it was all about. I went to a demonstration last year which was the first demonstration that I have ever participated in. I am very allergic to that sort of thing, preferring to write my own opinion in my blog and hoping that I will have enough of a following to make a difference. Who am I kidding? We will see how my book will be received in the near future when I return.
‘Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.’
I was up at 6:00 this morning to get ready for the day. I split my belongings into 2 parts, the stuff that I really need and the rest which I won’t need until the following week. Breakfast was great as usual. I counted 37 different dishes of fruits, vegetables, fish, cereals, bagels and croissants. They even have a first class cappuccino machine. The breakfast room and common room have a dozen round tables and chairs and a living room next to it. You are welcome to sit at any table, introduce yourself and get involved in the conversation. It’s like summer camp only better as we all have a common purpose. All of the clientele are doing some sort of volunteering. Many are with Sar-El, volunteering on IDF bases. Others are doing daily trips to farms to pick fruits and vegetables. Others are helping in food distribution in Tel Aviv for people who are less fortunate than ourselves. When you speak to the volunteers and ask them why they are here, they all have the same common response. After Oct. 7, when we saw what they did to Israel, we all felt deep down in our hearts that we had to do our part to help Israel in her time of need. 30% of volunteers who come here are not Jewish. Some are religious, others are secular with a few atheists like myself.
We all put our luggage onto a prearranged van. You can tell the first timers from the veterans. We know beforehand that they give us army uniforms that you must wear at all times so extra clothes are not necessary. You can leave extra baggage in the hotel. No sooner than we got into the van, the sirens went off. We had 30 seconds to return to the hotel and go down into the safe room in the basement. The room was OK but it was standing room only for 20 people. We stayed the mandatory 10 minutes until ‘all clear’. I am happy that we didn’t have to be in there for 2 or 3 hours which can occur if we are under sustained rocket fire. I don’t know who fired the rocket but I do know that it was taken out by the iron dome probably over the sea.
The drive to the IDF base took about 2 hours. Tel-Aviv traffic is terrible and it took some time to leave the city. Eventually, we were in the countryside, continuing down into the Negev just south of Beersheba. I slept most of the way as I was up late last night writing my blog at a bar on the beach. We were introduced to our leaders called ‘madrihots’. They are lovely girls, 18 and 22 years of age. Their enthusiasm was contagious and they put us all at ease and really ‘broke the ice’. We were given our rooms at random. I have 3 room mates, a father and son team from Oregon and a fellow who was in the US army for most of his career.
Lunch was excellent, 20 different dishes to choose from. Apparently the kitchen was recently renovated and the cuisine has much improved. After lunch we got our IDF uniforms. I love it. Our uniforms are big and somewhat oversized. Our madrihots uniforms have obviously been tapered and fitted. I guess that is the advantage of being in the army. I will know that next time around.
We were then introduced to our warehouse managers. They are also very enthusiastic and welcoming. We took before and after pictures. We then danced Israeli style dancing to Israeli music for 10-15 minutes. I remembered the steps from my Bar Mitzvah days. I was also invited to many Greek weddings and christenings and was taught to do Greek dancing there. The steps are very similar. Our base is trucking base. We have 1437 trucks here. Many have to be cleaned, put in shape and repaired. Our job today was to disassemble large, heavy bags containing sleeping bag, uniforms of various sizes and jacket. We then sorted the merchandise, separating the useable ones from the damaged ones and then repacking the bags. All this work is accompanied by loud music to make the day and the work go faster.
We had 2 hours off before supper. Most of the volunteers took the time off to relax. That is a word that I don’t quite know how to spell, so I went for a 50 minute, 7 km run. That was my first run since October when I did the World Championship Triathlon in Spain. It wasn’t too bad as I had my ear pods on and listened to Crosby, Stills and Nash. I will see how I feel tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will be up at 7:00, breakfast at 7:30, flag raising at 8:30 and work from 9:00 to 12:30. I signed up to be with the Krav Maga group. We are 16 in the group, with an even mix of guys and girls. Krav Maga is an Israeli defence method of defending yourself if you are attacked. It is not a sport. When I applied to be in the group, they would not accept me because of my age. I had to write all sorts of stuff saying that I am a triathlete, play hockey and am a ski instructor. Eventually they accepted me after getting a medical certificate and signing a waiver. We will be starting our first session tomorrow afternoon and will do it 1.5 to 2 days a week.
This evening we had a meeting with our madrihots who explained how the base works. We then had to give a little blurb about ourselves. We are mixed group of Canadians, Americans, Estonians, Peruvians and French people. I started my blurb off by saying that I graduated McGill in 1970 and took a year off to go travelling. “ I don’t think that any of you were born then”. Except for 1 or 2 others, I was correct. This is a very young group compared to other groups that I have been in. The average age appears to be 40 to 50 probably due to the Krav Maga option.
I travelled on a motorcycle for 6 months around Europe until the bike was stolen in Italy. I then hitch hiked for 6 months, skiing for 2 months and working on a kibbutz in Israel. That was my first introduction to Israel. I was cold, I was hungry, I was lonely. It was the best year of my life.
If some one had told me on Oct 6, 2023 that at 74 year of age, that I would be going to war, I would have thought that they were crazy. On Oct. 7, 2023 I made the decision to volunteer to go to Israel. The rest is history.
Love,
Brian
I travelled on a motorcycle for 6 months around Europe until the bike was stolen in Italy. I hitche
Last evening I went to Vickie’s for Shabat dinner. She invited me as soon as she knew that I was in Israel. Last year she was instrumental in getting me a position as a physician on an MDA ambulance. Several months later, she arranged to have a Sword’s of Iron, medal sent to me. The medal was only made for this war and was sent to about 150 physicians who volunteered to serve on an MDA ambulance during the war. It made me very proud to receive it and I displayed it in my office for several months.
Vickie invited me with 2 of her children and grandchildren along with 2 Turkish students who I met last year and are now living in Israel. Vickie always associates herself with young people who I have met on several occasions that I have been invited. We were not supposed to talk politics but how can you avoid this topic in Israel? Her son had lived in New York for many years and is very well informed of the situation. I asked him 3 questions: ‘What do you want to happen? What do you think will happen? What will happen?’ He answered me in a very candid manner that I will not discuss here. His answer made me think very seriously about the position that I have taken and re-evaluate my thoughts for the future.
Today I woke up to nicer weather, 18C sunny with cloudy periods, in other words not beach weather but great weather for walking around. The water is rough and swimming is not permitted except for the surfers who are wearing wet suits. I took a long walk for 3 hours along the boardwalk taking similar pictures to those that I took last year. I met a few people that I had known from the IDF Sar-El group from last year. It’s a small world.
I am sitting on a beach chair over looking the blue-green waters of the Med., writing my blog and sipping a cappuccino. Life is pretty easy. The boardwalk is filled with people strolling along enjoying the day. There is a cool breeze which makes the sun very comfortable, great spring weather. Young people in bathing suits are playing beach volleyball. They also play another game that resembles volleyball but you use a soccer ball and send it back and forth across the the net using only your head, feet and chest. It looks impossible to learn at my age and limited soccer skills.
Tonight I will pack as I am leaving for an IDF base tomorrow morning.
Today was my last day at the conference and my last day skiing. The conference was excellent as usual. I really enjoy the smaller conferences which are more personal than the larger ones with 10,000 urologists present. Tonight I will attend the banquet. It will be the last one at Snake River Lodge as there will be a new hotel for the conference next year.
I met my ski buddies at 10:00 and we skied together until 1:00. In snowed 30 cm (12 inches) 2 days ago and 25 cm (10 inches) last night. The sun was out and the luminosity was excellent.
We skied one tree run after another on black diamond slopes. The snow coverage was amazing, pow-pow (powder) all the way down the mountain from top to bottom. It reminded me of the last time we came here with all the kids, pre-covid when we stayed on the slope in the big mansion which was offered to us at no extra charge as our condo was not available. With the excellent snow conditions, I used my semi powder skis all week. The 3 fellows that I skied with were super skiers and knew the hill very well. They seemed to know where the untouched powder stashes were hidden away. However, no matter how good we think that we ski, on these black diamond tree trails, there are always better skiers to admire. Most of the time, we were pretty much alone as it takes a certain amount of skill to do deep powder tree runs. On the pictures showing the trees, we actually skied between them. I bid farewell to my friends and did the last few runs on groomers to finish the day.
Today was an epic day, bluebird all the way. I was up at 6:15 for my breakfast and conference at 6:30. I met my new found urology ski buddies. We left the conference at 9:00 and met up at the Bridger Gondolla, the main gondolla at Jackson Hole. The tram takes you up a little further but you have to stand in line and then stand in the huge gondolla with 60 skiers. I have been seriously allergic to standing in line my whole life. Usually, except at ski resorts, if there are more than 2 people in a line up, I come back when the line is shorter. My wife says that I have no patience. I do, just not for line ups.
One of my ski buddies showed me how to download and use the Jackson Hole app. It is quite amazing. It shows you a map of the ski area and tracks your skiing all day. We formed a group and if someone gets lost, the app will tell us exactly where he is. It also tells you the conditions, which lifts are open and where there has been grooming. By the end of the day, the app told me that I had done 16,950 vertical feet, as well as which trails I had taken and which lifts I had been on.
We skied on all types of terrain today including groomers, the steeps, the steeps with moguls and powder, open powder bowls and tree skiing. I might be improving my skiing as the trees seemed to have been moved farther apart by the ski guru. One of the fellows noticed that I was jumping my turns on the powdery steeps. He showed me to carve out my turns more round and finish the turn before beginning the next one. I did this and it was much less exhausting. I went down runs that I would not have done alone as there is safety in numbers especially in the steeps with moguls and trees. If you get hurt, there always should be someone to call for help.
We had lunch at noon and then skied until 3:30 to get to the conference in the latter part of the afternoon. The sun was out all morning which made the visibility considerably better. It clouded over in the afternoon which may mean snow overnight. We had 6 inched of snow last night which was really good for skiing.
I woke up at 6:15 so as to get to my conference at 6:30. There is a nice wholesome breakfast before the conference gets underway. The conference, which is called the Ralph Hopkins Urology Seminar, has been going on for over 30 years. It usually takes place at the Snake River Lodge. I am staying right next door at the Alpenhof which is under the same management which is convenient. They have just announced that both hotels will be closing for 16 months to 2 years for major renovations. That is rather surprising as I really like the Snake River Lodge. We are all wondering whether the conference will be held next year in Jackson Hole in another hotel or move to another location altogether.
The morning session finished at 10:30 so I put on my skis and away I went. The wind was howling at 30-50 km/h at the top so a few of the lifts were closed. There were driving snow pellets to keep you awake and visibility was zero at best. I skied on the blue (black) trails in the morning and really wondered if it was worth while to keep skiing. I have a little device called Carv which attaches to my ski boot, bluetooths to my iphone and then to my apple airpods in my ears. As a ski instructor, I get it at half price and the yearly membership for next to nothing. I am a walking-skiing advocate for the product. The device can analyze if I am skiing on packed powder, moguls or deep powder. It does this by analyzing the boot angle on my ski, my speed, direction and angle of the ski laterally, vertically and horizontally through AI. The nice lady on Carv can talk to me in real time, in the language and accent of my choice. She gives me a better performance score if I am carving rather than sliding my turns. I can set it to talk to me on every turn at the end of the run. She will give me advice on the pressure of my boot on the ski, the angle of my ski on the snow and give me a ski IQ for my performance on the run. It keeps a record of my daily performance which I can review at the end of the day. An IQ of 100 is average. I usually score about 130 for the day which is quite good. Given the difficult conditions my performance was less than spectacular, so as not to be too discouraged, I shut her off after a few runs. I hope that she was not insulted.
I had lunch at the restaurant at the top of hill to contemplate the rest of the afternoon. I met up with 3 urologists who I know from the conference. They had been skiing in the powder in the trees and said that the visibility was better there. I skied with them for the afternoon which was really fun. We did some great tree shots which for safety reasons I would not have done skiing alone. The wind lightened up and the snow pellets turned to powder improving the visibility. They are really great skiers and I was happy to spend the afternoon with them. There is nothing more rewarding than bombing down a black powder run when you know that you have full control. The sensation is really exhilarating. They are all skiing on dedicated powder skis ranging from 100s to 110s and even 116s in the middle of the ski. I am skiing on Salomon QST 92s which are pretty good except for deep powder. I will probably buy a pair of 99s for next season. I hope that this is not too technical for my non skier followers. We finished the day at 3:00 and I was really satisfied with the day. A ‘bad’ day skiing is better than a ‘good’ day at the office. Today was a great day.
gobriantravel 