Ah. Back in Blair's Britain now for just over a week. It's good to be home. Mum and Dad are both alive (and well-ish), I am being re-united with friends and to start with a glorious British spring was on display to greet my return. Things are so green! I thought it would be really clever to take a picture of the lawn in Oxford and call it the green green grass of home. As soon as I had that idea it started to pour with rain and it hasn't stopped for four days. Oh well.

God knows I love Canada but comming back reminds me that the UK of GB and NI is my home. I understand how this place works and I feel at home being here. What that really boils down to is: I know where to go for news on the radio and proper kick ass newspapers! Driving along listening to some belting track by Faithless on the radio was also great after a diet of the "Kootenay's Best Rock" for the last 3 months. But not all is well in the state of England I find. Since when was it acceptable to admire the work of Peter Andre in polite circles!

Today was my last day of skiing this winter. :(

I'm glad that it was a bit of a cracker :)

Here in Lake Louise its been like winter again. About 30cm of snow over the last 3 days and cold temperatures stopping it turn to mush. So I've been enjoying some nice soft powder turns. But the last days have been quite cloudy, today was blue skies and sparkly snow. At least in the morning. It was a great way to end the ski trip. I really like the skiing here at Louise, the terrain is really varied with some great steep stuff, long groomed runs and skiing above and below the treeline. But bloomin' eck: there are a lot of rocks and other nasties under the snow. And not that far under in a lot of places. I've done more damage to the bases of my skis in 3 days here than 11 weeks in Fernie. But it was worth it. Above all the scenery here is STUNNING! Skiing some glittering pow-pow with the stunning views all around really was fantastic.

- A stunning view
- mmmm fresh tracks
- Did I mention it was snowing?
- Snow in hat and goggles = recent faceplant!

This crazy winter continues. 3 days ago it was over 20 degrees and I was debating buying a pair of shorts. I went for a bike ride around Banff. It looked mostly like this:


When I got back to the youth hostel the thermometer read 22 degrees C. I then had two days of sunny spring skiing at Sunshine. It's pretty high up there and the skiing was good. But I'm a proud Fernie-ite now so I've decided nowhere is as good as Fernie! But the scenery is stunning: a wonderful prosepect of mountains all around you. The skiing should be even better now because its been snowing all day and now Banff is again clothed in white. These Romans are crazy.

Serendipitous meetings continue! At Sunshine yesterday I bumped into Nonstopski's very own Phil Hargreaves and his charming lady friend Sarah. I enjoyed some good skiing with those guys and we met up again for dinner in the evening. I'll keep my eye out for them in Lake Louise which is where I'm headed next.

More pics:
- More Mt Rundle
- Bald Eagle feeding? Whaddya think?
- Bow Falls

The NHL playoffs are underway and I have to say the action is superb. God knows I love hockey anytime but playoff hockey really is something else. After an 82 game regular season it just gets turned up an extra notch. It's faster, with constant attacking and end-to-end rushes. It's also incredibly physical with bodycheck after bodycheck bringing the fans to their feet. But there's no fighting (why can't it be like this all the time??). Anyhow I'm happy to report that Montreal are back to winning ways after my little betrayal. I attoned for it by cheering loudly all the way through game 3 (and a huge portion of nachos) in a bar in Banff. The series with Boston is 2-1 to Boston but the tide has clearly turned our way.

Another feature of the playoffs I like is the trash talking in the tabloid papers! It seems its the duty of the hometown journalists to ridicule the other city. So the BC Province had a point-counterpoint article with a journalist from Vancouver explaining how all Calgarians are truck-driving, cowboy hat wearing rednecks who don't know anything about good hockey, while the Calgary writer pointed out that Vancouver was full of latte-sipping, tofu-munching, sandal-wearing hippies who don't know anything about good hockey. Nice. Oh and the mayors of the respective cities have also got some kind of bet on. We should get this going for the cup final at home.

Or on second thoughts maybe we shouldn't...

My mind is still realing from the infinitesimal probibilty that yesterday's events would have unfolded in the manner they did. But they did, so let me break it down for you.

Yesterday I got I lift from Nelson to Banff courtesy of the lovely Eleina who I met at the hostel. It was good karma really (or should that be car-ma) because I was cooking on Wednesday night and offered her and her friend some of my special Chorizo Risotto. They gladly accepted and as we talked it turned out that Eleina was going home to Red Deer on Saturday and would I like a lift? Oh yes - trying to get to Banff by bus from Nelson was a terrible prospect. Once we had worked out that we could get my skis into her car the deal was done and I was a happy hosteller.

We set off on Saturday morning and the first stop was Kaslo to drop off Eleina's friend Ebony. Then it was off under a clear blue sky through wooded valleys, past glassy lakes reflecting the glittering glaciers and snow capped mountains. North and East we went, through Nakusp and Revelstoke. We could have taken a couple of other routes but this turned out to be a beautiful drive. And our timing was perfect for as we arrived at the Arrow Lake ferry it had just started loading so we drove straight on and we off at once. We stopped in Revelstoke for lunch, turning off the Trans-Canada highway in search of somewhere slightly more salubrious to eat. The Three Bears Bistro looked good. As we walked in I almost said to Eleina that 2 friends of mine from Vancouver were meant to be in Revelstoke - I bet we see them.

There they were!


The only other patrons were Kynan and Laura - founders of ace frisbee powerhouse Pyrammus and Frisbee, and their friends. I should have been more stunned; I mean of all the gin joints in all of Revelstoke, we had to walk into their one. But part of me really was expecting it. Looking back now it seems such an impossible fluke. What if we had chosen the other route? What if we had been late for the ferry? What if we had stopped on the highway for lunch, or chosen another diner, or they had chosen another diner? It was all absolutely amazing but so nice to see them!

After a BLT and quick talk we had to get back on the road. Eleina very kindly dropped me off at the Banff hostel, a place I last stayed at in 1989!

I am now in Banff. Two interesting facts:
1. It is nearly 40 degrees warmer than when Lucy and I were here in January!
2. I am staying in Room 101. What does room 101 contain - a stereo playing nonstop Sonia records? Rats? The screams of the opressed? No - none of these. It contains a bloke from New Zealand, a charming lad from Lincolnshire and a slightly drunken Japanese guy whose wondering why I'm sleeping in his bed. Who knew!

Just wanted to big up Nelson, BC for a second. The DB hostel here really is the D's B's. And the logo is a killer:


Nelson has a reputation as a bit of a hippy town. Certainly lots of dreads and wispy beards - and that's only the women (BOOM! BOOM!). But that's all part of the charm, there's no shortage of art therapy workshops and the corner shop by the hostel is an organic co-op. But I also got killer French Toast and maple syrup and I found a decent Indian restaraunt for a proper ruby murray (they did a meat thali - noice!!!). And I did see a bloke in a gimp mask and pink bunny ears being lead around on a chain by his lady friend. A nice easter treat for him, I thought.

Some other photos from the last few days. This sign is very Fernie - locals know which is worse, and its NOT death!


- Blast @ Whitewater- when the snow gets sticky, best get steep to get going.
- I am a big head- anyway you look at it

I did a terrible thing today: I told a dreadful lie! I'd been skiing at Whitewater and after a good day on the slopes I need to hitch a lift back to Nelson where I'm staying. Well the only car to stop was a big SUV with a Toronto Maple Leafs flag flying from the window. The driver stopped and wound the window down.

"Are you a Leafs fan?" he asked.

The correct response to that question is as follows:

"No sir! I am a fan of your arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, the greatest team in the history of Ice Hockey. The Leafs suck!"

However, one glance at the driver and I could tell that wasn't the response to get me out of the snow (did I mention it was snowing? It was!) and into the car. So I came over all gormless Brit!

"What? Hockey? Yeah, sure - whatever.."

He didn't seem convinced. He needed one final betrayal on my part. And I, spineless wretch that I am, was happy to oblige:

"Say 'Go Leafs Go'"

"Go Leafs Go!" - aaaargh! The words burnt in my throat. Guy Lafleur - I'm so sorry! Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Jaques Plante, Jean Beliveau - can you forgive me? But I was in. And 30 mintues later I was back in Nelson at the very charming Dancing Bear Hostel. I felt dirty and ashamed. I went straight to the shower to clean myself up, and offer a silent prayer to the spirit of Rocket Richard that he would understand.

Go Habs Go!

I'm leaving Fernie today. I'm really going to miss this place. Not just all the nonstop skiing, but the atmosphere and the people. It's really a great place and I recommend it to the house.

In particular this is what I've loved:

- Making new friends
- The pow!
- NEVER locking my door (Michael Moore was right!)
- Walking everywhere
- Skiing, skiing, skiing
- The smiling liftees, funny whiteboards, see it you can ski it attitude round here.

Good times - thanks everyone.

All good things must come to an end and Nonstopski 2004 just has. Friday night was the end of season party. People will start leaving this weekend and soon I'm going to have to face the real world again. Yuk!

But we went out with a good old knees up. It was dinner for 100 at the Old Elevator resteraunt. I entertained the troops with a short talk on the 5 core skills of Nonstopskiing and Boarding which seemed to go down well. I also handed out presents to the people who had been working on our behalf while we were here. And there were tips for the ski instructors and these charming trophies by which to remember us:


After that: much merry making and carousing. Did they quaff? Indupitably. I even had some Sambuca!. Then there was dancing. If any song will remind me of Fernie it's gonna be Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. And thats no bad thing. And when there wasn't dancing or drinking there was wandering round taking last pics of new friends:

- Matt brings the Blue Steel.
- Me and the captain.
- No pointing!.
- Clare and I.
- Stu, Russ and myself.
- Tim and Adrian.
- Phil and I.
- Me and Stuart my erstwhile roomie.