Date: 30th of December 2007

Hi Everyone,

Wee all of our session two athletes have arrived safe and sound. We picked them up at 12.20pm from Kelowna airport – yes unbelievably Air Canada was on time but they did mis-place one bag. We loaded everyone into the vans and it was off to Vernon and Attridge ski and board store. There were quite a few purchases with everyone getting all the gear needed to hit the slopes tomorrow. It was then up to Silver Star and a quick bite to eat to tide everyone over until dinner. The rest of the afternoon the new group unpacked and introduced themselves to the rest of the camp athletes.

Meanwhile for the rest of the crew today it was a full day off to rest their weary bodies. They’ve been skiing and riding hard for the past week with all the fresh snow we’ve been having and they definitely needed the R & R. Day’s off around here mean about another hours sleep, not a huge amount but better than the normal 7.30am wake up. Breakfast was at 8.45 and it was the full cooked option today of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and potato gems….. just what everyone needed to get a day off started on good note.

You’re probably getting bored of me talking about all the fresh snow we’ve been having  here lately, well I’ll have to keep on boring you as there was another 12cm overnight… the conditions are just awesome at the moment.

Tonight’s activity was pretty low key with a good old fashioned DVD and get to know each other night right here at the lodge. Most of the new arrivals started nodding off on the couch between 8 and 9 but a couple of the die hards made it through until 10pm.

Lunch today was pumpkin soup, some left over burgers from yesterday and a sandwich buffet. Dinner was our regular Sunday night roast with beef being this weeks choice. It came with all the trimmings including roast potatoes and pumpkin, carrot and corn and broccoli/cauliflower cheese…yummy! There was ice cream for dessert but most were stuffed full and skipped on that option.

The practical joking has kicked in well and truly!  Last night a group of the guys thought it would be funny to do a coordinate room swap at exactly 11.00pm. With the hall quite at 11.00am and Min and Sam on duty in the hall, the doors flew open from 3 rooms and the boys in each ran out in to each other’s rooms. Needless to say Min and Sam were not too happy. The biggest problem the culprits faced though is they managed to wake me up in the process of their little joke and let’s say after I finished ‘chatting’ to them there was not a sound for the rest of the night.

After dinner it was time to do the official welcome and run through for the new arrivals and an opportunity to get everyone up to speed on the bits and pieces to do with the camp. Some of the ‘6 weekers’ also needed a little reminding after a few tardy performances over the past few weeks.

We also held the second of our AWSC awards tonight where we give out 4 awards to the athletes that are voted on by the coaches. The first of the awards was The “Bolle Big Break Award” and this is awarded to the athlete who has made the most improvement over the past week. This week it was awarded to Bryn Jones. The second award is the “Helly Hansen Encouragement Award” is awarded to the skier and snowboarder who have contributed the most effort and tried the hardest over the past week. This week it was awarded to Jack Carlin for the snowboarders and Conrad Lucas for the skiers. The final award is the “XTM Training eXcellence Award” This week it was awarded to Rowan Cozzella.

FYI, we have loaded all the photos and movies onto the site from last night’s rail jam…so enjoy!

Just a short update tonight as no on snow training today.

That’s it and let the craziness begin!

Stowie