Lesson 1: Remember how to ski!

It had warmed up a bit in Fernie since Tuesday, but not by much. Still sitting at -16*C today, its still a day to keep flesh under wraps. 2012 is the year of the 'Boot Glove', which may look like they belong in the era of fluorescent one pieces, but they do a fine job of keeping your toes warm when your boots are buried under 2ft of snow. Function over fashion people!

We met up with Wendy and Dwight this morning, who will be our main instructors for the duration of the course. They are both incredible skiers and i can already tell it's going to be a huge learning experience to be taught by both of them. It certainly opened my eyes as to how hard it is to make it look that easy! Our standard seemed fairly equal throughout the day, possibly with the exception of Will who has been here 3 weeks longer and had the pleasure of skiing 'The 17th' too...

In the afternoon we split into our groups, with a 6:4 split. The group of 6 consisted of Will, Martin, Ruben, Fiona, James and myself, and were to be taught initially by Wendy. The other group consisted of Katie, Leon, Phil and Tom, under Dwights instruction. 

Left to Right: Wendy, Martin, Will, Dwight, Tom, Ruben, Phil, Leon, Me, Katie, Fiona, James

Wendys 'snownar' was in full force today and she went in search of first tracks in the Currie and Lizard bowls, much to our approval. It was an excellent first day on the hill and ski legs were feeling pretty good. Most of the fresh powder from the previous few days had already been tracked, but the snow was still falling pretty hard, so we knew we were in for a great day tomorrow.

Riders in action

Last thing for today was our first hockey game of the trip. The Fernie Ghostriders are the local B side junior hockey team, but dont let the words 'junior' or 'B side' fool you. Its quick, skillful and brutal, with die hard supporters! Unfortunately the Riders were beaten 4-3, much to the delight of the Creston goaltender who came over to celebrate in front of us after being slandered with shouts of 'You suck Moffat!' and 'You're better off on your knees Moffat!' Not as sophisticated as English football chants, but amusing non the less!