I ought to mention that I am spending Christmas with two red-hot Germans. Twins actually, about the same height as me but really fat. I mean a 94mm waist is way bigger than I am used to handling. Here they are:


These skis are the first things I've ever bought on eBay. It was a bit of a saga getting them delivered and for a while I was sure it was all a gigantic fraud. But they came in the end and today was my first real chance to try them out. I'd say it was money well spent. I wanted fatter skis for ripping up the off-piste but I'm amazed by how good they are on the groomed runs too. Really stable and solid but responsive too. I'm delighted!

I'm pleased with the skiing at Panorama too. I'd heard mixed reports, the naysayers complaining that it didn't get as much snow as other places. I seem to have lucked out because the snow is good for the early season. Even so there are few bare patches where things have been scraped by skiers and boarders. By and large though the conditions are fine and it started snowing this afternoon and *goes to the window to check* it's still snowing now so fingers crossed for tomorrow.

The skiing is all through the trees and they seem to have a great mix of broad runs , gladed bowls and off-piste routes.


Although it was cloudy most of the day the sun did come out for a few hours and the scenery around and abouts was great. There was a cloud inversion in the Columbia valley and in the distance I could see Mt Assiniboine (about which more later, well in March...). Best of all the trees and houses are all robed in deep snow so it looks very wintery and Christmassy to boot.


The one thing that didn't work out today was my musical selection. I wondered what skiing to an accompaniment of Icelandic soundscapers Sigur Ros would be like. I'd hoped their affinity for ice and snow might heighten my own. My favourite songs (Hoppipola and Staralfur) were still great but my main take away is that there is a time and a place for Sigur Ros and skiing isn't it. Tomorrow I will be kicking it old school.

Run of the day: Fritz's (and that's not the Germans talking)