Date: 24th of January 2008

Hi All,

Well two weeks ago all I was talking about was the snowfalls every day and night. How things change as all we’ve had for the past week is sun, sun and more sun – not that we’re complaining! It’s like in Australia where the sun is warm and melts everything; here it’s just plain old cold! This morning was a little bit of a sleep in as all the groups had their annual group breakfasts out on the hill.

The snowboarders had their final day of coaching today and they started with their annual team breakfast. Beggsy instigated this tradition six years ago and it something the groups look forward to all camp. This year they decided to mix it up and instead of heading to Paradise Camp where they have frequented for the past 5 years they headed to Bean to Cup in the village. Their decision paid off, and they finished their meals in under an hour and still managed to get 5 runs through the park before lunch. The group arrived at the park to find that the halfpipe had opened for the first time this season, so they did their first pipe training session today. For many of the kids in the group they had never ridden a halfpipe before so Beggsy and Matesy took them through the finer points of pumping and edge control. Oli, Jamie and Emma were riding really well and Oli even managed to get a few feet out of the pipe on most hits on each run. Nate also looked solid showing the skills from his racing years had paid off as his edge control was great and allowed him to get to the top of the pipe straight off. Jay was not going very big today but was getting really technical down the bottom of the pipe throwing some nice alley-oop 360s. Jordy and Rowan gave it a good crack this morning and showed just how much they had improved throughout the camp riding very smoothly through the transitions, something they definitely couldn't have achieved five weeks ago. Dave had a lot of fun today in the pipe and even tried his first handplant down the bottom of the pipe, a great achievement for his first day of pipe. After lunch the group headed back to the pipe and spent the afternoon trying to perfect what they had learned in the morning. A great final day of training!

It was a relaxing final day for Ridley’s bumps skiers and Chris’ freeskiers with both groups heading up just after 9.00am to Paradise Camp for a sensational cooked breakfast. Consisting of B.E.L.T’s, eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, cinnamon buns, OJ and hot chocolates, the brekky went down a treat! After the feast the group joined up with Chris and his freeski guys and spent the rest of the day cruising the mountain and enjoying the sunny but cool conditions. They mixed it with runs on the groomers, some through the trees, a couple through the park and even a few through the new pipe. The group definitely enjoyed the laid back final day of coaching, just what they needed before heading home!

Today was also Phil and the alpine/bx groups final day on snow so they headed out on hard boots for the morning. They had a slightly later start since they joined Beggsy, Matesy and the freestyle boarders at Bean to Cup for the team breakfast. They made it out for training just after 10.00am and Chrisy was really on it today having some good turns and showing her aggressive style and ending her camp on a great note. Julia also had really good morning, carving her race board with lots of confidence and determination while Ash kept on improving her body position showing some great carving. In the afternoon, Chrisy went out with the other snowboarders while Ash and Julia started packing for their departure tomorrow morning. The girls had some great training and a great time.

Tomorrow is a free day with the morning scheduled for freesking and boarding. It’s always a great opportunity for the crew to head out for a few turns by themselves or with the rest of the groups. In the afternoon it’s packing and cleaning time back at the hostel, always a dreaded time in the camp. Trying to fit all the new purchases in the bag and finding the odd sock always proves to be a challenge. At 4.00pm we’ll be heading down to Vernon for the annual Attridge 50% off sale. The folk at Attridge Ski and Board store generously give all the kids an awesome discount of 50% everything in the store for the one day only. Going on previous years there will be gear running out the door. After the shopping bonanza we’ll have our final dinner down town before heading back to resort for everyone’s final night in Canada.

Tonight’s activity and the final for the camp was ice skating over at Brewer Pond. What a great way to finish up in Canada than with the Canadian favorite of ice skating. Phil and Ridley took a group of 15 or so over for a leisurely skate while few grabbed the ice hockey sticks and had a quick game of hockey.

Lunch was another Emma’s famous soups, this time a vegetable barley….mmmm yum! Emma also busted out the creamy chicken pasta bake for something a little different and it went down a treat. If we thought lunch was good the Chicken Parma’s for dinner just rounded things out nicely.

The final Pinky for the camp goes out to Piers Fitton who had a problem understanding what the room key was for today. He managed to lock himself out of his room four times in the space of a couple of hours!!!

We say goodbye to coach Phil, Ash, Jules and Jamie tomorrow who all head home a day ahead of everyone on the 26th. Thanks guys for being a part of this years camps!

Until Tomorrow

Stowie