So with no formal training and about 15 days in total on skis, we both managed to pass our Level 1 Ski Intructor’s exam. That means we are both now qualified to teach beginner skiers – at least the feeling of being a beginner is totally fresh in our minds! Read more…
After we both got struck down by the lurgy, we had just a week to get our skiing up to standard to start the Level 2 ski training (even though we wouldn’t take our level 1 exam until two weeks after the level 2 training began). No pressure!!!! Luckily, loads Read more…
The day after the exam was very exciting for me as I ventured out of Sun Peaks for the first time since we got here at the end of November. The nearest town is Kamloops which is an hour drive away and costs $40 each way by pre-booked shuttle or Read more…
So finally after five weeks of training with Winter Sports our Level 2 exam was upon us. The weather was the coldest yet and the temperature at the top of the chairlift on Day 1 was minus 47 degrees with the windchill. It is a 4-day exam but it is Read more…
Last weekend I undertook and passed the Level 1 Adaptive Sports. We learned how to guide the visually impaired, used outriggers, had a go in a sit ski (very tricky), tethered people while snowboarding and learned about how to approach teaching those with a cognitive impairment. The instructors were great Read more…
We are now a week and a half into our Level 2 Snowboard Instructors’ course and our bodies are feeling it and our heads are mashed. Pete is carrying a shoulder niggle, I hurt my ankle yesterday in a tree run and I am nursing a sore knee from a Read more…
For the last 2.5 days we have been undertaking avalanche training (AST Level 1). It started with some theory on Friday night in the lecture room while we watched fresh powder fall outside. There were some pretty sobering videos of people getting caught in avalanches. Saturday morning we gathered at Read more…
The three days of the Level 1 course have been quite intense with homework in the evenings, tasks to do over lunch and lots of feedback to be absorbed throughout the day. Day 1 seemed to go pretty well and the rider improvement section was especially enlightening. Day 2 was Read more…
For the last six days we have been training every day so it has been full on. When we’ve had some snow overnight we’ve had mornings playing in the powder but sometimes that is more difficult than you might imagine. For one of our first runs our instructor, Kyle, took Read more…
Our three days off consisted of one day recovering from too many beers and tequila shots for birthday celebrations followed by two days of practicing our technique and riding switch. Our switch riding is definitely improving and starting to feel less bizarre. Monday was really busy on the slopes as Read more…
Day two of training and the weather was amazing. For the first time since we had arrived you could actually see the peaks of the mountains with blue sky and freshly groomed powder. Just amazing. The instruction concentrated on the use of the lower body in your riding and was Read more…
After another pants night of jet lagged sleep, Day 1 of Level 1 training has arrived and to prepare for it a good breakfast was in order. From the buffet I chose the healthy option of porridge and fruit topped off with a yoghurt. Pete selected the hot option of Read more…
We have arrived! We met a few guys from the Winter Sports Company at Heathrow airport and then boarded a nine hour flight to Vancouver during which we actually sat next to one of our fellow snowboarders. We all successfully cleared immigration and took another hour flight to Kamloops. Then Read more…
“So where to this time?” – we have been asked this question several times today by friends and acquaintances we bumped into at the airport in the Isle of Man this morning (you can’t go anywhere in the IOM without seeing people you know). The answer is Canada (via a Read more…
One of the many great things about travel is coming home to see your friends and family. Your time away makes you appreciate those that you love and miss and then you suddenly find yourselves within a crazy scramble to get to see everyone. And that is exactly what we Read more…
Exactly five months after arriving in France, this morning we left Paris to get our ferry from Calais. It feels strange to be leaving – just when we were getting the hang of some French! As our boat left, I reflected that I never imagined loving so many parts of Read more…
The thing I love about travelling in the van is that you can be flexible and change plans really easily. With the recent rain storms and snow we decided that the best thing to do was head for some city sightseeing. Although from a morning of snow the weather had Read more…
Wow! How the weather has changed and this morning we woke up to snow! So rewind to Friday when the weather was beautiful, warm and sunny in Nice. Then we saw that on Saturday heavy rains were forecast, so time to pack up and head off. And boy did it Read more…
Whilst Janet was spending a weekend in Edinburgh, Pete settled on a campsite just outside Nice in Villeneuve Loubet Plagne. It is right on the coast and very flat enabling Pete to go on a couple of one-handed cycle rides, safe in the knowledge that he didn’t need his front Read more…
A surprise hen weekend was being arranged in Edinburgh to celebrate Lauren’s engagement and imminent wedding in the Isle of Man at Christmas. Janet was upset not to be able to go to the wedding, as we will be in Canada doing our snowboard instructor’s course, so next best thing Read more…
Sometimes in travel the biggest thing is to keep an open mind, not planning your route too much and then being open to change to your original plan. During October, this ethos had become really important in trying to find the best weather conditions to spend our last few weeks. Read more…
When we were travelling in Laos we met a fun French couple who loved motorbikes and had visited the TT the year before. We bumped into them once more in Laos and spent a surprise afternoon playing pool with them in Hue in Vietnam. Small world! They had plans to Read more…
A few years ago when marshalling for the End2End we met a lovely couple who split their annual time between Florida, France and the Isle of Man. Bizarrely the following year we were posted at the same marshal post as them for a road cycle event and we hooked up Read more…
So our days on the Mediterranean Coast haven’t quite been what we imagined when we dreamed of turquoise warm waters, sunshine, snorkelling, soaking up the sun. More dashing out between rain showers, moving our table and chairs to anywhere on the campsite with a ray of sun or out of Read more…
Wow, the temperatures have suddenly dropped. In mid September we visited Bourges du Lac and at 8pm it was still 27 degrees. Fast forward two weeks and we are back but sat in a lakeside restaurant shivering because a cold breeze was coming under the glass fronted panels. Brrr. We Read more…