What is Mother Nature's Fuel? Is it love... or glycogen... or even sunlight?

In fact it's none of these. It turns out that Mother Nature's Fuel is high-octane gasoline from Husky!

Since filling up with Mother Nature's Fuel I feel a lot less bad about driving Big Trak around BC for the last week.

And while we are talking about the excesses of capitalism just look at what I saw when I tried to buy some Ritz crackers last night:


I don't know why this bothers me so much but it just seems wrong that there are 40 different kinds of Ritz crackers. And which one were they sold out of? The normal, original Ritz crackers.

I'm now in Revelstoke, BC staying in the youth hostel, a bit of a comedown from the Vagabond Lodge! The hostel is fine and like most others I've been to (i.e. full of Aussies) but it made me realise that actually the posh lodge I was staying at in Kicking Horse had a much more friendly and communal atmosphere. Everyone ate together and talked about their day and the hosts Ken and Lori really made you feel at home. Think I'd better head over to tripadvisor.com and big them up some more.

But anyway, what I'm really here for is to try out the new ski hill. Having been up there today I can safely say it's pretty awesome. Revelstoke is blessed by mother nature with massive amounts of snow annually and there is plenty to play with up on the hill right now. Viz:


Like at Kicking Horse there is really only a single gondola and chair lift you need to concern yourself with but the combination works better here. You can do laps on the chairlift, called "The Stoke", without having to go back down to the bottom. The lift is really fast and there were no line-ups so I really got a chance to explore. The top of the mountain is fantastic tree skiing, not too steep but steep enough to slide through the mountains of snow. The resort was advertising only 3cms over night (and last night Fernie got 44cm!!) but it seemed that was conservative. There were plenty of boot-deep, knee-deep powder turns and shots of snow in the face on the steep sections. It's been snowing all evening so far so I'm very excited about tomorrow. One more morning and then I think I'll point Big Trak (as I've christened my truck) back home and call an end to this roadtrip.

If you've ever thought of a bit of overseas study why not consider the local branch of College of the Rockies? Just follow the signs for the Golden Campus.

I've had a very happy couple of days exploring the ski hill at Kicking Horse. Christmas and Boxing Day were wonderfully deserted on the slopes and although most of the Christmas Eve dump of snow had been tracked out what was left was still soft and fun to ski. It's pretty steep though and I don't mean the prices.


While some resorts seem to try and inflate their difficulty to be more appealing to experts I reckon Kicking Horse tries to talk it down to appeal to more families and people looking for gentle cruising. Certainly some of their "Blue" runs here run to a darker shade than that. In fact the steep skiing down the sides of the ridges is a lot more manageable than it looks from below (or indeed at the lip waiting to drop in!). Excellent snow conditions helped but once I got going I really enjoyed it, and the Germans were lapping it up.


I've been staying in the very lap of luxury itself at the Vagabond Lodge. It's a great log cabin style building and Ken and Lori the owners are wonderful hosts. Delicious breakfasts and hot lunches are laid on and the beds are the most amazing things ever. Mine has a big feather thingamajig on top of the mattress that you sleep on. It's incredibly comfortable and I've been reminding myself that the word holiday is 50% of "ski holiday" (more if you go by letters alone!) so I shouldn't feel guilty if I just want to lay there and read Jasper Fforde all day. They don't do evening meals but there are restaurants in the neighbouring lodges. My particular favourite is the Highland Lodge and its Scottish themed pub "The Local Hero". The manager is a very friendly chap from Grantown-on-Spey and the bar is patrolled by a gorgeous bushy-tailed marmalade cat. Not only that but they have Irn-Bru! It was my first taste of the orange nectar for years. This being Canadian Irn-Bru it's not exactly the same. Some of the more rococo ingredients (Ammonium Ferric Citrate anyone?) not being that welcome in Canada the bottle carries a message "not a good source of iron". Thanks for that.

When I saw the monstrous proportions of my truck I resolved to try and assuage some of the guilt I felt by offering rides to anyone who needed one. I was able to walk that walk this this morning when I gave a ride to 7 lifties and resort workers who were stranded because their bus had broken down. Hooray for monster trucks - they were all in the cab I didn't even need to stick any in the open bit at the back (what do they call those bits?). And I was thankful for the 4x4 goodness as well. I wouldn't have fancied getting up the hill or in and out of the parking lot in anything else


I still made it to the liftline in time to get the 4th chair up. Conditions this morning were fantastic: 12cm of snow overnight and blue skies come day break. With the clouds gone the scenery was spectacular:


And despite it being a powder day it wasn't busy. I was the only skier down my first run of the morning and on a number of times I could go straight back up on the chairlift without waiting. This made for a thigh-burning, lung-busting morning and before too long I was seeking shelter and rest in the coffee shop. It's a great regret that at 37 I am a way better skier than I was at 27 but in much much worse shape. The days of first lift to last lift are long gone. Nowadays I'm all about the hot chocolate breaks. And lunch.



Knowing that I had an hour and a bit's drive to Kicking Horse that evening I called it a day a little earlier. I was also able to rack up more karma points by giving another lift to some of the resort staff. Dropping one of them off in the nearest town, Invermere, I was struck by home many deer there were, just roaming the streets and feeding in people's gardens. My passenger was quite blase!

Passing beside the lake (Lake Windermere no less) I saw a marvellous Canadian sight. I mean it doesn't get much more Canadian than this does it?


What you can't see on the photo is all the cars and trucks parked on the lake. Trucks bigger than mine were parked by the rink and then one could be seen on the distance basically joy riding: doing skids and slides across the ice! I didn't try it out myself, even the evidence of my own eyes wouldn't get me to drive my beast onto the lake.

The drive up the Columbia valley to Kicking Horse was very scenic while the daylight lasted. The last 45 minutes were in the dark so I really have no idea what my current surroundings are like. The outside at least, because the inside of the Vagabond Lodge is lovely. It's a giant log cabin, covered in snow with a lovely tree in the open sitting room. And right now I'm off to see if the beds are a soft and comfy as they look.

Happy Christmas everyone. xxx

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)

I got my rental truck today. It's frikkin' gigantic! And I can kiss my eco-credentials goodbye too. 5.7 litres - oh God! Still I think it'll be an interesting experience and it's got me as far as Invermere, BC without calamity



I drove out here through the part of the Rockies I know the least well: Kootenay National Park. I've been this way once before, with Lucy, when we went to Radium Hot Springs. It was a beautiful drive and really snowy but it was cloudy and I still haven't really seen it properly. I must come back in the summer and see what it's like. But I did see a wolf! He was struggling through a snowdrift as I came round a corner and I watched him cross the road in my rear view mirror. What he was doing in my rear view mirror I'll never know.

Right now it's -11 and snowing gently. Sweet!

Aaaaah. Only us office-bound wage slaves know the full joy of walking home from work on a Friday and thinking "I'm not going to work on Monday - or the Monday after that!". Happy holidays indeed.

Tomorrow I'm taking off for the wilds of British Columbia. I'm renting a pick-up truck so I get some 4x4 goodness in case it gets snowy and I'm planning to sample some ski hills that are a little bit further away from Calgary. First stop is Panorama (I'll ski anywhere named after news*) then I'll be at Kicking Horse for Christmas itself. After that I'm planning to try out the new ski hill at Revelstoke: it's so new it doesn't open till tomorrow! I'm so excited and the conditions look great at the moment.

My only concern is my motor. I'm convinced this truck is going to be the biggest thing I've ever driven and I'm terrified of winging every parked car on the street or overcompensating and crashing into the oncoming traffic. If you are in the Calgary area I advise you to stay off the streets between 9am and noon tomorrow.



* I'm looking for a good Jon Snow joke here - let me know if you can help.

I think I've witnessed the birth of a Johnston Christmas tradition today. This evening I invited some friends over and told them we were going to make some decorations. I laid on food, mince pies, mulled wine and lots of crafting raw materials. It was great!


Props go to Ashley for the paperchains, Victoria's bows (and the Santa hat for Ganesh), Turner's popcorn/cranberry decoration and Meike's chain of stars. Hopefully I can get some better photos in daylight. And lets not forget Sloaner for keeping up the vibe and making sure everything got an even coating of glitter. The floor, the table, the chairs....

I missed a couple of hockey games with my team (the Crunch!) last month when I was ill and then back in Blighty. But since getting back on the ice I've been on an unprecedented scoring streak! Going into last night's game I'd had a point or more in each of my last 5 matches. Much of this is due to teaming up on a forward line with fellow ThoughtWorker Felix Wong who introduced me to the team in the first place. We've formed a potent offensive team and somehow I've ended up joint 2nd in our team scoring stats. Unfortunately that hasn't helped us win very much: since my streak's been on we've won 2 and lost 3.

Going into the final period of yesterday's game against the Phantoms we were 3-0 up and it was looking good for another win. However it looked like the streak was up: I had had lots of great chances to score and opportunities for assists but nothing was going in. I had one great opportunity in front of the net where I proved what an accurate shooter I am by burying my shot in the dead centre of the goalie's catching glove. Sigh. But in my final shift of the game I got another chance. Again it was Felix the provider. He got me the puck in front of the net and although the goalie got a bit of it, it wasn't enough and I got my goal.

The streak continues!

It's been proper freezing for a week or so now, the sort of weather that makes you stop (what you were doing), collaborate (with anyone who needs help) and listen (to the weather forecast). I don't think it's got above -10C during the day and this weekend featured a particular brisk daytime high of -18! But since I got my big coat I've quite enjoyed going out and about. The thing I still haven't got used to is the inside of my nose freezing as I walk to the shops! And putting on long johns before going out to dinner last night was a novelty as well. But just as well because last night really was cold. This is the ice on the inside of the window of our local florist.



I've also become obsessed with the movements of the jet stream. Apparently it's gone south bringing Arctic air over us for this last week. There was talk of the winds changing and the likelihood of a Chinook this week, which can see temperatures rise 10 or 20 degrees in a matter of hours. However the latest weather forecast doesn't seem to show that. All I know is the webcams at Fernie and Red Mountain started to show some serious snowfall at last so it looks like good preparation for my Christmas road-trip.

Fellow socialists, I bring you this...



Via the good people at b3ta.com and YouTube