Tomorrow at Noon

Tomorrow at noon I’ll be heading out of Fernie, which is not going to be happy in the least bit. My time here has been nothing short of amazing and I’m going to be very very sad to see it come to an end. There is some good news though, because my trip isn’t over.

We’re (Myself, Malin, Dan, and Jack) heading on our road trip and heading out to Banff National Park for the first couple of days. That’s as far as Jack is going with us, which is too bad, but his flight is out of Calgary, so he’s going to get a ride to there from Banff. The rest of us will head to Lake Louise on the 15th and then to Jasper on the 18th. Jasper is supposed to be amazing with Mount Robson, and I’m really looking forward to that. The 19th is going to be a long day because we’re headed all the way to Whistler which is about a 10 hour drive. It’s supposed to be a very scenic drive though, so that’s a plus. On the 21st, we’ll go down to Vancouver and then over to Vancouver Island on the 24th. The last leg for Malin and Dan will be back to Vancouver on the 27th to catch their flights. That night I’ll head down to Tacoma to see Kara until she kicks me out Then it’s a couple more day’s drive back home to Sioux Falls. I should be back home around the 1st or something like that. Don’t quote me on that, though, because it’s definitely subject to change!

Unfortunately before any of that can happen, I have to pack. I swear my bags got smaller since I’ve been here! There’s also a guitar to pack that I didn’t have before, either. I’m definitely going to start packing the car tonight, because tomorrow morning is going to be stressful enough without having to pack the car, also. 

It’s going to be great to see people again in Sioux Falls. It’s been so long and there’s a lot of catching up to do when I get back. Until then, I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and keep writing in this as much as I can. 

For now, it’s time to hop in the shower and see if my wash is dry yet. The MotoGP race is on a bit later and I might watch a bit of that before I head up to the hill for one last beer at the Grizz with everyone. 

24 hours to go…

Hot Dog Day

With only 3 days left until we leave for our road trip, it’s really starting to sink in that we’re heading out of here. It all started with the boarders leaving on Monday morning.  Not all of them left, but lots did and a few pretty good friends as well. They were closely followed by the skiers leaving on Wednesday morning, and it was Hot Dog Day. 

On Tuesday we headed up to the mountain, and because some people were going to be leaving before Hot Dog Day, we kind of had our own Nonstop Hot Dog Day. Crappy timing on everyone’s part for not coordinating that better, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault, really. Hot Dog Day was originally scheduled for much earlier in the year, but it got pushed back because of weather. In any case, it was fun to see everyone dressed up in ridiculous 80’s ski garb and ski like morons all day.

The real highlight of the day though was a picnic up on the mountain. Since there was no way I was going to be skiing anywhere, the ski host for the course, Jenny had arranged with Ski Patrol to get me a snowmobile ride up to the Bear Chair, which I then rode up, and then got a ride down on another snowmobile to the picnic area! It was a ton of fun to get on one of those, and the ride up the Bear Chair was pretty surreal as well. It had been over 2 months since I’d been actually up on the mountain and it felt GREAT to get up there in the fresh air. 

After the picnic it was another snowmobile ride down to the base area where everyone was hanging out. We had a couple of beers and then headed to the Aquatic center for a swim. I have to say that was a pretty good time as well, and it felt good to get the knee exercised with a little resistance.

Tuesday night as well, we had our skiers farewell dinner. Awards were passed out, slideshows were watched and everyone had a very good meal. I even got an award! Granted, not the one I was hoping for, but that’s okay. Apparently at one of the instructors meetings they were talking about injuries this year and how they could have prevented them and my name came up. Unfortunately about a third of the instructors had no idea who I was because I was hurt so early in the course, so I got the ‘Where’s Waldo’ award! 

Wednesday was an incredibly mixed day because in the morning we had to see the skiers off. Luckily for us, most of us had decided to stay on for after the course was over for a few days, but not all. We did have to see Brendan off. I picked Brendan up from the Calgary airport, and he was the first person I met that was also doing this course, so it was hard to see him go. Polly and James were off as well, and I’d gotten to know them much better over the last week or so of the course. There were many more that left, and some will be back next year, and it will be great to see them then. I think it can go without saying that it was a tearful morning all around. 

The rest of Wednesday was Hot Dog Day and we headed up the hill around 1 or so. Had a bite to eat at Kelsey’s with Jonny while everyone was skiing. I was actually feeling really crappy, because people had left, sure, but I was also starting to come down with a cold that I haven’t been able to kick yet. I actually decided to go home and get some rest. I was just not feeling Hot Dog Day. That didn’t stop anyone else from having a good time though!

 

 

Apparently there was quite a bit going on up the mountain as well…

 

 

There were about half as many people on the other side as well, and the split in the middle is only because there is a huge jump right there. I saw a couple of video’s of people absolutely flying off it, it was just hilarious!

Thursday was pretty laid back, and today most people have gone up for the last few days of skiing they have left. 

With only 3 days left, we’re all determined to make the best of it.

Too Long, and Not Long Enough

So it’s been far too long since I’ve written a blog. Lots and lots and lots of stuff has happened since I did, and unfortunately, I don’t even know if there’s enough time to go through all of it, but I’ll do my best. 

I suppose I’ll start with the most recent happenings, because, well, why not? Tonight is going to be a bit of a sad and awesome night all at the same time. It’s the boarder’s last night here. Some will stay for an extra week or so, but most are headed home tomorrow bright and early to get flights back home. They are all actually at their ‘Farewell Dinner’ where they get awards and a pretty good meal, I think. The big dog Rupert, who owns Nonstop, came in a few hours ago and he’s going to be hanging out for the next couple of days. He should be there and it’ll be a good dinner for all the boarders to say goodbye. A couple of them have had old boards that they are getting everyone to sign, as well. It’s a pretty good idea and kind of makes me wish that ski’s were bigger… and that I had a pair I didn’t want. Maybe next year my twins will be shot and I’ll have the crew sign those. In any case, it should be a pretty heavy night tonight for everyone going out. 

For St. Paddy’s day, we went to the Pub and it was actually a couple peoples birthdays the same day, so it got pretty rowdy then as well. Most people were pretty skeptical about green beer, but I told them it was just food coloring and that it tasted the same. Crisis averted. 

Level 2 tests were a couple weeks ago, and most people actually passed them, which was a bit of a shock. Most people don’t pass their first time. Apparently we have a pretty good crew of skiers and boarders! There is another level 2 test next week and some people will be taking that, either because they didn’t pass the first one, or they decided to not take the first one. 

2 weeks ago I headed to Cranbrook to see the doctor about my knee. It had been 6 weeks since the accident and he said that everything was healing up nicely and he gave me some exercises to do that helped loosen up the knee. It’s been stiff to say the least. It’s been in a brace for 6 weeks before that, what do you expect?! That helped quite a bit. He also told me that I didn’t need to use crutches anymore, so that was sweet as well. I went back last Wednesday and talked to the doc again. He was happy with how much it’s loosened up  and he told me that if I was comfortable that I don’t need to use the brace anymore. So, for the last few days I haven’t been using a brace! I am supposed to use it when I go over rocky or uneven terrain or something like that, but lucky for me, the lodge doesn’t have rocks for flooring. It’s been feeling pretty good lately. A little wobbly, stiff and sore, for sure, but all in all it’s pretty good. It looks a little weird because of the scar tissue inside and things, but it gets better every day. I actually have been driving for the last few days as well (yes the doc said it was okay)! So it’s been nice to get out whenever I want, to say the least. I’m starting to feel normal again! He told me that I need to go see someone in the states in another month for a check-up, and that I should be able to do contact sports 2 months from now. 

I’ve been not shaving for a quite a bit. I say ‘not shaving’ and not ‘growing a beard’ because I’m not sure it qualifies as one. In any case, I’ve been preparing for Hot Dog Day, which is coming up on the 8th. The ‘Official’ Hot Dog Day is the 8th, but Nonstop’s is going to be on the 7th, because lots of people leave the morning of the 8th. I am planning on shaving so that I have huge mutton chops for the occasion. I honestly can’t wait to shave the night of the 6th. It’s going to be an epic day.

The road trip is all but official, and it’s going to be a great time. The tentative plan is Banff/Lake Louise, Revelstoke, Whistler, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Seattle, Tacoma, Sioux Falls. Should be great!

On an unrelated note, I AM still reading The Two Towers. It’s getting there!

I keep thinking a lot about next year, and it’s going to be an amazing year, but the rest of this year is going to be epic as well. There isn’t a lot of time left, and I need to savor every moment. There is definitely not enough time left.

Red Mountain

Red, Red, Red. 

I am in Red Mountain in Rossland, BC. I felt that it was apropos to write from here, as this place has been pretty amazing so far. The week, though, held some pretty crappy news. A friend was dropping in and got a little too far forward, hooked his ski’s, but the bindings didn’t release. He ended up breaking his shin and had surgery the next day. That is pretty unusual to have happen and he’d been complaining of bad shin pain for the last couple of days, so we’re pretty sure that he had a bit of a stress fracture and that just pushed it too far.  Another good friend hurt himself pretty bad as well. He was having some pretty bad pain in his leg from falling on the same spot several times when we went to Powder Keg mountain on Thursday. Powder Keg was pretty good, very small, but they have night skiing, which not too many had done, so it was a good time with a pub crawl on the way back. In any case he fell over and hurt himself in the same spot and that pretty much put it over the edge. He was taken to the hospital in Fernie where the Doc to him that he had a Hematoma in his leg. The doctor said it was the biggest one he’d ever seen. Unfortunately, Hematomas are extremely painful and there isn’t much that they can do except make sure he’s as comfortable as possible and give him some pain killers. I think they said that the worst of it will be over in 5 or 6 days and then it will be tender. Red wasn’t too kind on the injury front either, though. A snowboarder hit a kicker that threw him off and he ended up landing on and breaking his shoulder blade. Here’s to a quick recovery to all!

Other than an injury filled week, Rossland has been pretty cool. We took off Friday around 10:30 in the morning and we all pretty much slept and had a relaxing bus ride to the Kokanee brewery on the way.

Nice View!

The majority of the place smelled like stale beer, but the hopps smell wasn’t too bad! We did get a beer at then end of the tour, and I have to say, it was probably one of the better beers I’ve ever had. Just… Fresh. 

The rest of the trip went by pretty fast and we were in Red before we knew it. We had heard that the place we were going to be staying was sweet, but I didn’t know just how sweet they actually are. Ours is actually 2 stories and has about anything you could want. Not a bad place to be holed up for a couple of days!

Complete with an outdoor hot tub and all. It was late by the time we got there, so there was no skiing or anything, but we did head over to the day lodge for some meet and greet with the Red Mountain Nonstop crew. There are only 40 or so of them, so we kind of overwhelmed them as far as numbers go. It was a decent dinner though and we had a good time that night, hanging out in one of the rooms with a bunch of people. 

The next day everyone went out and I had a relaxing afternoon. We (again, by we, I mean Malin and Hannah) made a nice pasta dinner and besides the people in our house, we had a couple others joining us as well. We also had a bit of wine that wasn’t too bad. I hadn’t had any in a long time and it was a relaxing top to the dinner. 

That night there was a party in town. It was called the ‘Whiteout’ party and we all were supposed to wear white. The room was filled with a bunch of black lights, so it was a pretty cool effect. The evening was completed with some Ski-shots, that is, 4 shot glasses attached to a ski and 4 people have to take it at the same time. Good fun!

This morning I woke up kind of late and most people had left for the hill already. More hanging about for me. There were lots of leftovers, so I had a bit of that for lunch. Everyone is back now though and the bus leaves in about a half hour, so I’d better wrap this up. 

I have been putting together some video and pictures to music, so I’ve been keeping myself busy with that. It should turn out pretty good when I get done with it. 

I do have a doctors appointment this Thursday, so that should be informative. Hopefully he’ll be able to tell me how it’s healing and if I’ll be able to drive out of here as well. I should be a big step closer to figuring out what I’m doing after this by Thursday night. 

St. Patties day is coming right up as well, along with a couple of birthdays, so it should be a good week coming up. 

Only 2 more to go!

Grizz Days

The last weekend was quite the time with Grizz Days. The Grizz is a mythical character here in Fernie and supposedly he’s the guy that brings the snow. He’s been fairly stubborn this year, but a festival in his name must have made him a little happy, because it dumped pretty good this last couple of days.

Nonstop has become a pretty big part of Fernie and so they had decided to be in the annual Grizz days parade, which everyone enjoyed. Basically it consisted of everyone piling in to one of the Nonstop busses and screaming our heads off. 

Oh, and also dressing like idiots, I forgot about that part. The theme was supposed to be ‘Eurotrash’, but we decided that ’70’s Eurotrash’ would be more fun! Plus, these will double as our Hot Dog Day costumes as well. Afterwards we went to the Underground and then over to Annex 8 for a rousing good time. 

The next day we decided to check out some of the Grizz Days festivities, but after a late breakfast and going back to Annex 8 to pick up some Charlie and Claire, as well as a stop at Subway, most of them were either winding down or were over. They had quite a bit going on… a dummy downhill, snowmobile drag races, street hockey tournaments, arm wrestling competitions… lots of stuff going on. We did get to see some of the snow sculptures, which was fairly lame, but it was a pretty good time none-the-less. 

A couple of nights ago we made (by we, I mean Malin and Hannah) a Swedish dinner with rice, chicken, peanuts, curry and bananas. It kind of sounds like babootie (for those of you who remember that debacle) but with the large exception that it tasted good. Good desert as well, all for $5. I’m very much going to miss dinner with these guys. 

We’re all starting to realize that this thing is kind of on the downswing, and no one is ready to come home yet. It’s been such a good time up to this point and there’s 3 weeks left to go. The rest of the time is sure to fly by like the rest of the course seems to have. It’s comforting to know that there’s a pretty good group of people coming back next year, or at least are planning to, myself included.

Calgary, Cowboys, and Vivid

The week (and some change) has been pretty sedated with the exception of last weekend when some of us took the Nonstop trip to Calgary for some good times. I’d relay everything that happened, except that I already have on the Nonstop website in a bit more ‘Official’ format. 

Last week Jenny, the ski host, asked me to write a blog for week 6 for Nonstop to put up on their website, and that’s exactly what I did. The link to the blog is here. As I write this, mine is the last one as you scroll all the way down, although if you just look for ‘Week 6 by Brad Nicolai’ that’d be the one. 

Other than that, It’s been a pretty good couple days since then. We did go out Monday night to the pub for some good times and then back to Annex 8 and Tom, Charlie, and Jonny’s place for some shenanigans afterwards. It was raining / slushing out on the way from the bar to the annex and that was pretty strange to see. I honestly haven’t ever seen anything like that before. The next day (yesterday) everyone said that the conditions on the hill were absolutely horrible, but a few stayed up and Dan even said that it was one of the more fun days he’s ever had. That just goes to prove that even on a crappy day, Fernie still has some good times to be had. 

Already into week 7, lots of people have finished applying for jobs, and a few have even had offers already. All of the people who have applied or gotten offers have been looking in New Zealand for next summer. I am not going to be able to pull that off this year, I don’t think. I have decided that next winter I do want to come back to here for the season. Maybe I’ll start out as a liftie for the beginning of the season, or something like that, and then work toward my level 1 and level 2 instructor certifications over the winter. It’s a little longer path than I had planned, but there are a few things that have happened this year that I didn’t plan on. C’est la vie, I suppose. 

That still leaves me to figure out what I’m going to do this summer, and I have had a couple ideas. I do know a lot of people in England, and that might be cool to go live there for a summer, though I’ve heard that it’s pretty tough to get a job there at the moment. Living in Sioux Falls might be an option for the summer to regroup and get some cash saved before heading back here for the winter. I’ve looked into working in a national park for a few months, but there’s really no money to be had there, and unfortunately, I do need to make a little money. I’ve even thought of trying to get a summer job in Okoboji, or some other lake resort-ish type of town. I might not make a ton, but I’d have a great time. Anything that happens though, I need to have the 3rd week in June off because I am definitely not missing the Kasstle this year.

Either way I need to start making some decisions so I can get a bit of a head start. The big deterrent in all of this is my leg though, and unfortunately I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’m not even sure yet if I’m going to be able to drive home from here. I think I should be able, but there’s no guarantees. 

Though, it seems that there isn’t much point in making a plan anyways. The first one I had for the winter didn’t exactly go as expected, but I can take some comfort in knowing that even if it didn’t go quite as I hoped, I’ve still had an amazing time… and there’s another 4 weeks to go!

Brown Chicken, Brown Cow…

…in a snow plow! 

That’s Hannah’s new slogan thing for getting into a snow plow. It’s much funnier having her say it herself, but it’s still funny if you ask me!

The last couple days have been a pretty good time. It’s been gorgeous outside, at least down here. From the reports I’ve been getting, the snow is better up top, but snow is still needed. This year has been a bit of an anomaly for Fernie in that we haven’t gotten much snow at all, even by regular resort standards, not to mention Fernie. Supposedly we’re going to get 30cm in the next week. To be honest, we’ve been hearing that the snow is coming all year long and it just hasn’t, so I’ll believe it when I see it. 

From that point of view, it’s not been a bad year to be injured, if there is such a thing. I’d still rather be skiing than anything else right now, but if it was dumping every day, then it’d be much harder to see everyone go out every day. On that same note, there have been quite a few injuries this year. At least 2 others have done the same thing (or similar) to their knee that I did, a couple shoulder injuries, wrists, ankles, and a couple back injuries that have sent people home for the year. Nothing terribly serious, everyone is going to be fine in time, but there have been an unusual amount of injuries this year. Most are saying that it’s due to the lack of snow, because we all know that more fluffy snow is better to fall into than hard packed icy crap. Nature of the beast, I suppose, but for the sake of everyone else, I’m hoping for a good dumping of snow. 

Back to the Level 1 party that I mentioned last time, there were indeed some naked table sliders. There were pictures, and even a video running around somewhere, I think. I won’t post any here, for your sake, but it was pretty funny stuff. I believe the end count was 4 people sliding, just in case you were wondering. 

 

Everyone had a great time and most people did pass their Level 1 tests. There were a few who didn’t pass, but for the most part, everyone did just fine. Those who didn’t do have another chance to re-take their tests, and I’m sure that the second time through they will get it with flying colors. 

The rest of that night went well with people heading over to the OGS for what turned out to be a pretty huge party. Most of the people there I knew, but there were a few new people and that was cool to meet them. 

 

Nonstop is cool enough to have a pretty good size movie room with a big flat screen TV and about 10 couches in there so we kind of took it easy and had a movie night Friday night. The movie room was absolutely packed and there were people sitting on the floor and stuff. Being injured, I got the big, comfy couch. I suppose injury has it’s advantages every once in a blue moon! It was nice to relax for a night in any case. Lots of people had Cat-skiing the next day, so most called it a night after that, but a couple of us stayed up for a second movie.

The reports from Cat-skiing were really good, a couple minor injuries, but all in all, everyone had a blast. People were absolutely exhausted that night, but that didn’t stop some good times from happening! 

Saturday night we had dinner out as a small group, which we actually haven’t done yet. Thus far, we’ve either eaten in the Lodge or made dinner somewhere else, so it was kind of nice so splurge a bit. We originally thought that we could eat at ‘El Guapo’, a little mexican place in a board shop called ‘Edge of the World’. I’d still like to eat there, everything looks really good, but we couldn’t get in there simply because it’s so small and there were already a few people in there. We ended up heading to the Pub to eat (yeah, the name of the place is The Pub) which was really nice. I had a “Pimped out Burger” and was pleasantly surprised. Malin’s dad and sister joined us as well, and it was nice to sit down and talk with them.

Malin’s dad was very interested in South Dakota, the ‘wild west’, indians and all of that, so it was cool talking to him and telling him about the history of the place and what it’s like there. I think that he might know more about South Dakota than me! He asked if I’d been to Mount Rushmore and Wounded Knee and Custer’s Last Stand and all of that stuff. It was cool to talk to someone so into it! And here I thought South Dakota was a place no one knew about!

After dinner we had a few drinks at the Pub and then headed to the Royal and eventually to the Fernie for the end of the night. I’m not sure what the deal was, but there was some pretty official karaoke going on there and one girl was singing nothing but country. No one else was into it, but I’m not going to lie, it was nice to get a little taste of home so far away. 

Instead of having Fat Tuesday, they have Pancake day on Tuesday across the pond, so we’re making them tonight because apparently we just can’t wait. They aren’t pancakes like we’re used to though, they’re more like crepes, which is fine with me, but they had me confused for the first few times they mentioned it. 

With us celebrating Pancake day tonight, that leaves Tuesday open for us to celebrate Fat Tuesday, which is good, because, you know, I like Fat Tuesday!

Alright, time to figure out how to make crepes… wish me luck!

Oh, I also put up a new ‘Header’ picture… it’s actually one I took awhile ago and just got around to putting it all into a panoramic. It’s from the top of the White Pass chair on an day with an epic view. I am working on getting a resized version uploaded onto flickr, so keep an eye out for that!

Now, about those crepes…

2 Down

…and 6 weeks to go until the brace comes off for good. 

I have moved into the Lodge, and now that I think about it the name is a little misleading in that it’s not much of a lodge at all, more of a hotel. That’s just fine with me, but I just wanted to clarify. I’ve moved into Tom and Adam’s room and it was very cool of them to let me crash here. It was a double room, but we’ve squeezed another bed in here, so now it’s a triple. It’s a little cramped on the far side, but it’s not too bad. 

I was a bit bummed out about the speed of the internet around here, because it’s known for being super slow, but the reality is that it’s only bad when everyone comes back from the hill and wants to check Facebook all at the same time. During the day and even later at night when people are starting to get to bed, it’s not too bad. Not OGS fast, but not too bad. 

Today is the day that a lot of people have been looking forward to, either in excitement, dread, anticipation, or all of the above. Today is the final day of Level 1 testing and they day they will find out if they’ve passed, or if they have to re-take the tests. The day ends a little early with people congregating at the Grizz Bar up on the hill where they will anxiously wait for the instructors to come back and present them with an envelope. If the envelope has a pin in it, then congrats, you’re now an instructor. If not, then better luck next time. Ether way, it’s going to be a rough Friday morning for a lot of people, if you know what I mean. There is a bit of a tradition, or so I’ve heard, that once you get your pin for passing, you’re supposed to clear off the bar so that you can run and slide on the bar top… naked. Now, whether this is true or not, I guess I’ll find out in about 6 hours. Honestly, I can’t decide whether I want to see that or not. I guess we’ll find out. 

There is a party at the OGS tonight of epic proportions. Supposedly lifties (the guys who run the lifts at the resort) have been asking Nonstoppers about this party. Apparently the entire town has heard about it, so it should be a good one. 

Unfortunately I have to cut this a bit short. Tom’s sister, Amy, is here to hang out and probably have some lunch. Afterwards it’s off to the Grizz, the celebration, and maybe some naked bar sliding. 

It’ll be entertaining if nothing else!