Date: 18th of December 2007

The 7.30am wake up calls ‘wakey wakey’ have already become the most dreaded two words on the camp. Min was the instigator this morning, but the effect is still the same. We awoke to light snow falling which turned to heavy snow as the day progressed. After everyone had filled up on brekkie it was out the door for a full days training.

The moguls crew led by Ridley started the morning in the chilly conditions with a couple of relaxing warm up runs down Whiskey Jack. The group then took advantage of the Silver Woods opening to poach some nice pow on the side of the runs. Alex came oh so close to taking one of the falls of the year while Jack did just that. After clipping a w rock under the powder he proceeded to roll and flip in the snow until coming to a stop a short way down in the soft snow. By this stage the group was freezing with cold f9ingers and toes so a couple of drills were in order to get the blood pumping. Everyone did a great job and headed in for lunch at 11.45pm.

The afternoon saw everyone right on time for training, excellent work guys. After a couple of runs on the front side the group worked a couple more drills and headed for the air site where the freeride and snowboarders were helping out. Thanks to Mike from the Silverstar freestyle team, who has been hard at work getting the air site in shape; Fingers crossed the groups will be able to start jumping in the next day or two. The snow continued to dump as the groups headed in for the afternoon. Even the trek to the hostel wasn’t without incident.

Chris had the freeriders which included Conrad, Lauran, Laura, Amy and Max.  They headed straight over to Silver Woods which open for the first time today.  Pez was tagging alone so the group went and found some nice powder runs which Pez was shooting.  After a few laps, the powder was skied up the group headed over to the six pack and started to work some basic drills that helped with the fore and aft as well as lateral balance.  Chris also shot some video so the group could watch it to reinforce what he was talking about. 

In the afternoon they headed out and did a couple of laps on the Whiskey Jack, - Far Out jib run.  Chris had his camera and took a few shots of the guys hitting up the log grind and the tree bonk.  Conrad had some nice tail stalls on the tree bonk and the girls all give it a go and nailed both features.  The entire group did 50/50 on the tree grind and hit the tree bonk which was a great confident builder for them.  The group then headed over to the air site to meet up with Snowboarders and Mogul skiers to help the Silverstar crew finish the freeride jump and get the site prepped for jumping over Christmas break.  When the work was compete Chris’s took his group for a big lap around tube town and up the six for a final run on an untracked run down the front bowl called the Chute.  All the guys said it was the run of the camp so far.    

The boarders were feeling a little sore after all the spins and jumps yesterday, but luckily there was a few centimeters of fresh snow so the group headed over to the backside to find it deserted. After a run down El Dorado the guys were in high spirits and their sore legs were soon forgotten about. The group then headed over to Aunt Gladys for their first fresh tracks for the season. A few of the kids had never ridden powder before so there were some loud hoots and screams of joy being let out as they destroyed the backside. Kane, Jake, Jamie and Jay spent the whole morning getting some massive face shots and constantly wiping snow from their goggles and clearing it out of their ears. A few more dumps like this and the resort will be in prime condition. Nate and Oli were back in their element with the group freeriding more today and really showed where their true skills are showing the rest of the group how it’s done.

After lunch the group found a nice steep run on the frontside that hadn't been opened until today and continued where they left off leaving clouds of white in their path. Pez came out with us this afternoon to shoot but the heavy snow falling played havoc with his camera and combine this with the riders not wanting to stop for photos I don't think he got too much. Then it was over to the Big Air site where the group got busy with the shovels building some freeride style jumps to let set in the next few days. On the way to the site the guys were lucky enough to be the first people in Silver Star to ride Attridge this season. Jordy and Rohan could not wipe the smiles off their faces finishing their first powder day ever with such a spectacular run.
Rowan even got his first face shot ever an experience he will remember for the rest of his life.... Attridge looks set to open tomorrow so if it keeps snowing the boarders will probably pick up where they left off today.

Pinky struggled to find a recipient today as there were very few silly and ridiculous acts performed by the crew. He’s therefore decided on a rain check today and will wait until something more worthy / silly is done.

Lunch today was potato and leek soup, sandwich buffet and some left over lasagna, just what was needed after a cold morning. Dinner was a vegi fix with an asian teriyaki chicken and vegetable stirfry served with rice. Definitely very tasty and not a lot left on plates!

Tonight’s activity was swimming down at the Vernon aquatic centre. Beggsy and Ridley took two vans and 15 kids for the 25 minutes drive downtown. As usual the diving board copped a fair workout with the crew hucking themselves silly for a couple of hours. Surprisingly the group managed not to get themselves kicked out, something that normally happens when we send a group to the pool.

With the fresh snowfalls over the past few days more and more of the resort has been opening with Silver Woods opening today and Attridge opening tomorrow. The cover is still not perfect but is getting better all the time.

We welcome Hamish who arrived today. Like Jamie a few days earlier, the airlines, connections and weather were not very cooperative with Hamish finally arriving about 5 hours late. At least he brought the snow with him though.

Everyone is on snow again tomorrow before taking a well earned break on Thursday.

Until tomorrow,

Stowie