Revelstoke Instructor Course Diary - Week 3
Ski & Snowboard instructor course
WEEK 3 By Ole
Week 3 started with an evaluation of the progress of our ski group. I’m glad to be able to say that the Ski Pros Julie aka "the Drill Sergeant ", and Lisa were really satisfied with the improvement we all showed. But nevertheless they let us know and experience throughout that third week that there’s still a lot to learn. By the way since I’m skier I can’t really say a lot about them. But from what I’ve heard I’m sure that our 4 remaining boarders (1 down 4 to go) achieved at least as good as we did. Although it seemed to me that our snowboarders compared to us skiers are often too busy riding in deep powder and hitting every jump there is, instead of doing some talking about technique and tactics;). As the week went on we were all blessed with the long awaited snow. Our first big dump resulted for us in a lot of spectacular powder, glades and tree skiing. On our days off skiers and boarders teamed up to discover more parts of the amazing Revelstoke Mountain Resort like for example the infamous "North Bowl" with its steep terrain and dangerous cliffs.
Since Thursday evening was declared as the official movie night, a bunch of the Alltracks crew went to see the Will Smith blockbuster "Seven Pounds". The film started out mysteriously, confusing most of us for the first half of it. But made up for it with a real big bang ending! On the weekend some of us went for another epic night at the local night club "Out of bounds". Somehow everyone made it home safely after an intense night, without ending up in one of the many snow banks. As an addition to Finn’s entry last week, I just wanted to give a short report on the hockey game a couple of people attended at the end of the second week. In our first hockey game since arriving in Revelstoke we saw the firemen of the town playing the local RCMP (police). In a tight and evenly matched charity game the firemen eventually prevailed. The alltracks group might have also played a small role in the win by cheering enthusiastically for the firemen. That was a result of the fact that the director of our snow/snowboard school Dan was playing for this team.
Daniel: After a short injury related break on Monday. Tweety returned to his old marathon like style trying to be up on the mountain as much as possible. By doing that he has risen to be our inspiration for discipline and consistency.
Chris: Obviously started feeling more comfortable with the less aggressive instructor ski style and his boots. As a result he began to show his whole repertoire on the mountain which left all of us often just staring in pure amazement.
Finn: The talented skier from Belfast went through a strange metamorphosis throughout the week which let him become "Spyder", the illegal immigrant from Mexico. The town of Revelstoke was truly honored to declare him as the first Mexican ever to ski in this beautiful resort. It has to be said though that most people of this small town couldn’t hide their bewilderment when "Spyder" or alternatively "Ricky" came in sight.
Sean (iSean): A "No Reception" sign on his cell would sound like a death penalty to this guy. But as much as he’s dependent on his iPhone, he has proven to be a dedicated skier.
Tomek: The calm polishman continued to gradually improve on the slopes. Probably because of our heritage as the only "real Europeans" on the course ;), we discovered similar taste in tv shows (LOST 5th season is finally on) and food. On top of that, our skiing seems somewhat comparable. All this resulted in a lot of time teaming up at several ski drills throughout the week and checking out grocery stores together ……always on the hunt for something eatable.
Hugo: Hugo is a rather rare bird. He has a considerable talent for telling crazy stories. At times he may tend to loose his train of thought. But his imagination which seems to know no limits makes always up for it.
Raefe: The unofficial family patriarch of the Alltracks team recovered quickly from the sad departure of his sweetheart Alison. Soon he was back cracking jokes and later that week he even introduced us to a new revolutionary way of evaluating women. Since then everyone of the group happily took over this concept and makes wide use of it.
Ole: The author of this week’s diary.
Dan North: Another of our boarders who likes to hit the big jumps. Off piste he is most recognizable for his often sharp comments which unmask every try of swaggering or exaggeration.
Dave: It’s hard to tell you a lot about him because you rarely see a word slipping out of his mouth. But what’s for certain is that he’s a hell of snowboarder who likes to ride down the hill at a pace few people would dare.
Shaun (KiwiShaun): The perfect guy if you need someone to cheer you up, because of his always smiling appearance. He also knows how to impress with his skillful boarding and spectacular jumps.
Ian: In his role as the senior of our group he continued to look after all the young guns on and off the piste. On top of that the Scottishman was introduced to the concept of collective sharing throughout the weekend. Although judging by his disapproving comments he couldn’t really appreciate this concept.
Beth: She has become a very popular drill partner on the slopes. Not only because she’s the only remaining female on the course but also because you can learn nearly as much skiing behind her, as if you would follow one of our real pros.
Jonathan: Our team leader had to survive another week with the wild bunch. While he could distract himself a little bit in the course of the week by continuing his teaching duties on the mountain. He experienced the whole relentlessness of being our supervisor, when we managed to persuade him to accompany us to the local night club to have a few drinks. Well in the afternoon on the next day, when he saw daylight for the first time he could only assure us, that he would never drink any alcohol again.
