My year of learning continues!

Today (Friday 13th November 2009) I passed my driving test!

After working loads of hours this week (74 hours over 5 days) and having two driving lessons, I was feeling really tired.
So, when it came to test day I was really tired, and the 1 hour lesson before the test did not go well, not well at all!

My test was at Kings Heath in Birmingham. I arrived and found that there were 4 other people having a test at the same time, of which I found later that I was apparently the only one to pass!

My examiner was a guy called Jeff, and he was a hobby IT'ist. So we got chatting as I drove.

The test started off as a couple of Show Me/tell Me questions. Both of which I easily answered.
We set off, and all the time I was concentrating so much and trying to drive in a safe and consistent manner. We headed out and around the Kings Heath roundabout and onto the road to Evesham, which is a national speed limit road. Whilst hitting 55Mph the heavy rain started, so I had to put on the wipers, and at that speed as a (at the time) un-qualified driver is a little scary.

We then moved onto the manoeuvres. I eventually had to do three. They were the 3-point turn, reversing around a corner and the emergency brake. The first manoeuvre went really well, which was the reverse around a corner. I absolutely nailed it!

The 3-point-turn was going well, and I was about to complete the manoeuvre when I let the clutch slip too much and I stalled *arg*. This did get to me a little and I was so annoyed with myself.

We then went on to some more driving and the examiner made me pull over to the side of the road, where explained that he wanted me to perform an emergency stop. With it raining heavy, I was a little apprehensive, but he made it happen whilst we were under and under-pass, which was dry. No problem!

We then headed back to the testing centre. I did fail to make sufficient progress at one roundabout, so I knew that would be a minor. However, I thought it to be better to keep 10,000% safe and not risk it, just for the sake of a minor.

We pulled back-up to where we started and I was delighted to be told that I had passed! Yay!. Turns out that I received 4 minors (one for the stall, one for not making progress, and two apparent failed to observe - disagree with those, but what the hay!) out of an allowed 15 minors. Obviously with no serious or dangerous.

Can't believe it, I'm a qualified driver

I have never really had the opportunity or need to learn to drive.  However, this year it is all about to change.  Not only have I undertook this year so far my MCPD and MCTS for SharePoint, but I have also booked driving lessons!  My first lesson should hopefully start on Thursday Afternoon (30/07/2009).  Wish me luck!

Microsoft Certification Status

Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully

I recently completed a MCPD certification, but I had also wanted to get come training and certification in SharePoint Application Development.  After I got back from India and my MCPD I decided to look for a course that would provide me with the training I was looking for.  I did a lot of research and evaluation on-line for a suitable training company.  I eventually came across Firebrand Training, and after some more research as to their coverage and reviews I decided to go ahead and book with them.  I booked the SharePoint Developer (Dual MCTS) Certification, which was the "Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) 3.0 Application Development" and the  "Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Application Development" courses rolled up into one.

I received the usual email literature and was given a login to their Pre-Reading site.  This however did not prove to be assuring, as the site was poorly designed and often came across areas that were confusing, or simply did not work.  The site was based on SharePoint, and as I wanted to go on a developer course for this very subject it did not bode well.

I arrived in St Neots train station on the Sunday afternoon and was picked up by their free shuttle to the training facility at Wyboston Lakes.  From there we checked in to the hotel and had to make our way over to the training centre for the 18:00 induction.  The hotel rooms were very basic but pleasant enough.  After the induction we were ushered off to our relevant training rooms.  This is where I met the other 7 students (they were Daniel, Peter, Aquila, Xavier, Andy, Simon and Carl) and our lecturer Joel Jeffery (See the company JFDI Phoenix Ltd).  It was here that I got a little bit of a shock, as we had now plowed straight into our training!

The training was extremely intense and as Joel stated, there was more material to cover that we could possibly get done in the time, so it was up to ourselves to  learn what we could this week and then the rest after the course.  The training started at 09:00 and continued on until on average 23:00 each night.  This however did not include any time to study, so I was often up until 02:00 reading the supplied books and material, before going to bed.  As such I was quite tired every day, and at the end of the week it was quite tough to concentrate.  The course lasted from Sunday night to Friday afternoon.  This however was where our trainer came to the good.  Joel was very good at his delivery and was very good at keeping us motivated and attentive.  I have no idea however how he managed to keep going for so long and so focused.  No wait, yes I do!  The amount of coffee he drunk   I don't think that there was a point at which during the week that there was an area of the subject where I felt weak, as a result of the lectures.  I personally felt much more confident with the Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 part of the course rather than the SharePoint 2007 part, as I was more experienced with WSS3.0.  As a result I did indeed pass the WSS course with a higher percentage than the MOSS exam.

Overall I really enjoyed the course and everything I got out of it.  All of the people on the course and the instructor were all really pleasant and I enjoyed their company.  I think that this really helps when you are in such close proximity, all trying to learn the same thing and it aids learning when you can feel comfortable bouncing questions off each other.

At the end of the intense week, I came away with the following additional Microsoft Certification Status (See my previous post for the other certifications I have achieved):

Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully:

I have been wanting to get qualified for a very long time.  I have been in the "Software Development" industry for a very long time, and specialised in Web Development.  I have however been too busy "doing the job", and not getting the qualifications that say to employers that I am qualified to also do the job.  In todays economic climate I thought that it was about time, and as I had the drive and determination I thought that I would go for it.

My original reasons for going to Koenig were twofold.  Firstly they were recommended to me by former colleagues (Colleagues from Xansa and Capgemini) and secondly it was at a very attractive price!  Originally I planned to go to their training facility in Goa, India in early March but this proved unachievable.  I was not able to attend the training course until June.  As such I thought that going to somewhere like Goa would be simply too hot for me and therefore make it challenging for study.  After some further advice I decided to attend their Shimla facility.  The travel there would be longer, but I think I made the right decision.

Upon arriving in Delhi, India I was hit straight away with the sheer heat and was thankful that I had indeed decided to go to Shimla, India which is much further north and in the Himalayas.  The instant that I arrived in India all of the Koenig staff were polite, courteous, friendly and very informative.  This was to be continued thought my entire time in India with Koenig.

I took the night bus from Delhi to Shimla, which was perfectly fine and gave me my first experience of India, even if from an air conditioned bus and through a window.  Upon arriving in Shimla I was greeted again by helpful and friendly Koenig staff and taken to my hotel, which was the Hotel Willowbanks.  The hotel has big rooms and is right on a main street called “The Mall”.  This made it convenient for entertainment, food, shopping and general sightseeing.  The only problem I had was that on the top floor, during a heat wave/drought, the hotel room became very hot during the night as it did not have air-conditioning but simple fans.  However, when the heat wave broke (and the monsoons came) it was pleasant enough.

Every day you had the option of being driven to the training centre or walking.  The walk from the hotel does require a fair amount of up-hill walking but is pleasant enough and takes about 40 minutes at a leisurely pace.  This is well worth it as it affords some great views and experiences.  The walk back from the training centre is much easier as it is mostly down-hill and takes you through the main market areas.  The cab ride however, for someone from Europe, is quite an experience.  Our driver (Negi?) was an excellent driver and very safety conscious.  He took care of us at all times and made sure that our cab experience was appropriate and pleasant, even if the roads and the other road users were not.  Trust me, if you do not like agressive driving, then this is probably not for you.

The training centre it’s self has a large number of private laboratories that provides for a number of different students to study a number of different subjects.  Each laboratory had its own computer systems and air conditioning facilities.  The examination facilities were also very well organised and very conducive to taking exams and feeling comfortable.  There was also a large dining area where all of the students could eat their lunch.  The food provided by Koenig, especially the “Koenig Special” which was prepared by the chef who provides the meals at the serviced apartments, was excellent.  It was always a disappointment when the chef had a day off and you then had to choose from a different menu!  There was also an available area at the top of the building that you could use to take a break, get some fresh air, watch people in their daily life and take in the stunning and expansive scenery.

I had booked a “Fast Track” course and when I arrived I was expecting to be placed in a group with other students and therefore be subject to learning at the pace of the slowest/least experienced person.  I was pleasantly surprised therefore to find that I was not within a group but on my own and provided with a dedicated lecturer.  As a direct result of this I found it much more conducive to learning.  My lecturer was Ashish Bhardwaj and I found him to be a really nice, extremely friendly, he has excellent English, is very engaging when delivering his material, and most importantly, he really knew his subjects.  At every occasion that I had a question on the subject he was able to directly answer these questions and was able to provide further explanations and where appropriate examples.

As I was the only one receiving tutelage from Ashish we were able to go at a pace that suited me perfectly.  We concentrated on areas where I was weak or had no previous knowledge, whilst going faster over areas where I was stronger and had relevant experience.  Where the official course literature was incomplete or lacking, Ashish provided me with invaluable additional material that really helped me understand the subject.  It was only with the expert help from Ashish that I was able to pass all of my exams and thoroughly enjoy my learning experiences at Koenig in Shimla.  As such I was able to really learn the subjects and not just about the subject and how to pass the exams!

I thoroughly enjoyed my learning experience at Koenig and in Shimla.  Without fail I was provided appropriate support at every stage of my trip and learning experience.  When you look forward to going to training and examinations every day and still have a smile on your face at the end of the day, this says an awful lot about the experience.

At the end of the training I came away with the following Microsoft Certification Status:

Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully:

Today was going to be my last day on the mountain.  I got a text from Ed to say that he was on 7th Heaven, Blackcomb.  So I headed up there and we met for lunch.  After lunch we headed on to 7th Heaven.  Ed wanted to borrow my GPS logger to see how fast he can go down the piste.  The conditions were not great but he did manage 98km/h.  As for me, I wasn't too far behind.  It was however the first time in two seasons that I have ever ridden the actual piste on 7th Heaven!  But of a shocker that, as normally I only ride it when there is powder and then you avoid the piste!

We headed on back up again and did the same run.  This time, I knew where to go and rode it a lot better.  We headed on up for a third time, however by now Ed was feeling the cold and had decided to call it a day.  So we took the run back to the top of the Jersey Cream chair and whilst Ed headed off, I headed for the Peak2Peak, as I had a call from Chris to say that he was heading up Whistler mountain, and he wanted to ride it before they close it after Sunday 26th!

Myself and Chris headed up the Peak chair and at the top stopped to take a couple pictures of the Black Tusk mountain.  We then headed on down the Saddle.  At the top of the Saddle it was extremely icy and there was very little grip.  After that however it livened and loosened up, but got quite choppy.  It was then a case of pointing the board straight down the mountain.  We charged straight past the bottom of the Peak chair and headed for Big Red.  On the way we hit every single jib and jump that we could find, and trust me there are absolutely loads on the way down to Big Red.

After getting back to the Roundhouse we stopped for a quick beer.  After all, it was my last day on the mountain!  We then headed on down Orange Peel and down to Fort Knox.  We were going to see if there were people there that we knew, but Chris met a couple girls that he knew just leaving and they said there was no beer left.  So we rode down with them back to the village.  We took Crabapple down and out, and again there were loads of jib's and jumps to be had on the way.  Near the bottom however the snow had melted away and there was a huge patch of dirt that I had to ride over.  I was so glad that I lent back a bit as when I hit the dirt it was really sticky and it really pushed me forward.  No damage done though and I was able to ride on through it.  The rest of the run was just pure slush.

Well, it has been an interesting season, and so very much different than my last season here.  Mostly the mountain and my riding was very different.  I also met a lot of really good people.  It was just a very poor year for snow and as such a lot of the extreme slopes just didn't appeal to me.  This year was all about speed and getting my self confidence back after damaging my shoulder.

I'm already looking forward to my next time on the snow!

Visibility: Bright sunshine
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Icy early, becoming very slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +17 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

One of my last days on the mountain.  Boo!  But all good things have to come to an end!

I headed up with Village gondola onto the Whistler mountain, and straight up the Peak chair.  I decided to head on over to see what the Symphony amphitheater would be like.  Today I wasn't disappointed, as it was fast and smooth.   I got up some good speed and enjoyed it.  As the Symphony chair has been closed for the season for a while now, I had to take Burnt Stew out and back to the Harmony chair.  Whilst heading up the chair I could see that the Harmony Piste looked really good so I decided to hit that next.  It too was fast and smooth, until you got near the bottom of the run, where there were loads of big and hard cookies.  This made it really difficult and caused huge vibrations when trying to ride at speed.

I headed back up the Harmony chair and it was then that I decided to do the Symphony again and then the Harmony again, then repeat.  I did this run a total of three times before heading down past Emerald and onto Olympic and headed for the mid station.  This too was fast and fun.  It's surprising what late season can bring.

I had decided on the way up that I was going to head on over to Blackcomb, as they were having the Snowboard Half-pipe competition, and wanted to see if it was any good.  Boy was it good.  It was an open competition with loads of things going off all at the same time.  Much more interesting than the Ski Half-pipe, where it was minutes between one rider and another.

It was at the Half-pipe I caught up with Sam, who was taking pictures of the competition.  After the competition we decided to put in a few runs.  I offered to take a few photos of Sam, so we headed into the blue park.  I got a few good photos of him.  So we did it again, and some more good photos were the result.  It was late so we headed on down to the village and watched the band that was on (at the Tellus Ski and Snowboard Festival).

Visibility: Bright sunshine
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Icy early, becoming more very slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +12 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

Myself, Edd, Alex and Sally all headed out and took the Village Gondola up Whistler.  The very low temperature for this time of year meant that the piste was really icy.  We headed up the Peak and took the saddle.  The piste condition was so icy and bumpy that it made the riding challenging.  So much so that when we got to Big Red we all went in for lunch.

After lunch we took a line down through the old Whistler park (been taken down for a few weeks now) and onto Olympic.  I have to say that I really enjoyed the Olympic piste.  Whist not challenging in terms of steepness, it was riding really well and fast.  Speed is your friend!  We then took a hard left and headed down Crabapple and into the village.  It was here that we left Sally, as she had to go to work.  Edd and Alex had also decided that the conditions were not fun for them, so I headed back up the Village Gondola on my own.

I headed on back to the Peak chair and took the saddle down again.  This time however the snow had softened up just a little, even though there was loads of ice just there.  I rode back down to Big Red, and decided to try over in Harmony.  I took the easy route over to the Harmony chair and rode the piste.  This is my favorite run on the mountain, and today did not disappoint too much.  The lower part of the run was full of cookies and made it really difficult to keep any continual lines or speed.  I did the run a couple times before the lift closed.  I rode all the way to the Village gondola mid station, via Olympic.  Again Olympic didn't disappoint today.  There were a load of people across the slope and I had to put the brakes on, which was disappointing as I was getting a good head of steam on.

Heading back up the gondola I took my favourite run out back to the village.  That is Orange Peel, Tokum, and then Crabapple.  On the way down Crabapple I forgot that the snow had melted and there were patches of earth, so for about 5m I was riding (pretty fast) over the dirt.  Thankfully it was grassy.

Whilst the early part of the day didn't bode very well, I enjoyed everything from lunch onwards.

Visibility: Bright sunshine
Snow: 3cm
Piste Condition: Icy early, becoming more slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +5 at the base to -13 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

Really late start today.  So much so that when I got to the top of Blackcomb, I just headed into the Rendevous restaurant for lunch.  So after lunch I headed down springboard so as to get some speed under my legs.  After that I headed on into the Terrain Garden.  It was running quite well and I was hitting my front side and back side 180's.  So I kept running around the Terrain Garden for a few runs.  The lift line at Solarcoaster was always busy and was starting to annoy me with people cutting the line and not going up in groups of 4.  So I decided to head on over to Whistler reasonably early, that way if it was bad I could get back on over to Blackcomb.

After getting over onto Whistler mountain, I headed up the Peak chair, with the intention of heading down the Saddle.  However, I wasn't paying attention and ended up going on over into the Symphony Ampitheater.  That was a mistake, a big mistake.  The snow was so sticky that I had to unstrap a couple times just to get on over the humps.  Not fun at all.  I then headed up the Harmony chair and took a run down the Harmony piste.  Again this wasn't that much fun.  I headed back up again and took the Saddle down this time.  This was a bit more like it, but only because it was steeper and therefore the board didn't stick so much.  I passed the Peak chair and rode on down to Big Red.  I headed back up Big red and took the peak chair again, and onto the saddle once more.  Back around, this time at the top of Big Red I decided to take the run out to the village.  It wasn't possible to get on over onto Orange Peel as the snow was just too sticky.  I did however take Crabapple down and out to the village.  The snow here is running very bare and there are only a few lines with snow on to take through.  So you have to be a bit careful when charging down the hill.

Visibility: Bright sunshine, becoming cloudy late
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Wet, slushy and sticky
Wind: Strong
Temperature: +12 at the base to +4 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely light, except on the Solarcoaster chair

Ah!  That's better.  I headed up with snowboard in hand, and instantly felt so much better in myself.  As I headed up Whistler however it was clear that the conditions were terrible (really slushy and sticky), there were only 3 lifts open (Village Gondola, Emerald and Big Red), but there were hardly any people on the mountain.

As there were only a few lifts open this meant that there were little options for riding.  However I had a good time, especially as on every run there was virtually no one else on the piste.  I rode around on Whistler until it was near lunch time.  I was sick and tired of the food at the Round House, so decided to head on over the Peak2Peak, grab lunch ad the Rendevous and then ride Blackcomb.

I started off riding "Springboard" and a few other runs.  I headed up the Glacier Express and took the T-bar up and over into 7th Heaven.  The visibility was awful so I decided to head on back towards Jersey cream and into the Terrain Garden.  I wasn't really in the mood for park riding, but I had a good ride through.  I put in a couple front side 180's and some back-side 180's.  Made me feel good.  So I rode around the Terrain garden for quite a few times before the end of the day.

I headed down to the village, but took it easy.  It was extremely slushy so quite dangerous for catching some big edges.  A girl in front of me caught a nose edge and flipped quite a few times and landed quite badly.  I made sure she was OK, before heading off, making sure that I wasn't going to take a nose edge and flip it out.

Visibility: Cloudy, with light rain
Snow: Trace to 1cm
Piste Condition: Wet, slushy and sticky
Wind: Strong
Temperature: +4 at the base to +1 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light, to practically empty
Lift Lines: Extremely Light, to practically empty

Day two of the dark side...skiing!  I headed up the Whistler Village gondola and straight back to the family zone.  Initially the skiing was not that great.  My right knee was giving me real trouble and I was struggling with the left turn.  However as the day progressed things really improved.  I rode around the mountain a lot more today and generally tried to increase the steepness of the terrain and ramp up the difficulty.

I mainly stayed around the Emerald and Garbonzo chair for the morning.  I did however head on over into the Symphony amphitheater.  I mainly stuck to the Burnt Stew trail and really got some speed up on the way down.

After lunch however I headed up the Peak chair and tried out the saddle.  The top was really icy and fully of moguls.  As my technique was not great this did mean that I struggled.  Not far down from the top I managed to do a face plant and hurt my busted shoulder a little.  I struggled a little to get one of the ski's back on, but after that it all went really well.  As the day wore on towards a close the average speed and linking of turns had increased in speed and were really smothe.

The run back down to the village was not great fun, because it was just so slushy.

All in all a good experiment to see how the 'other half' of the mountain ride.  I'm not a convert, as I prefer the snowboarding experience better.  It should help with any back country however.

I had contemplated it for a while, and decided to try the Dark Side.  That is I thought that I would try Skiing for the first time ever.  I thought that I would see what the other side were 'moaning' about.  So I headed into the Village and headed to Summit to hire some ski's. After a short time I was all kitted out and headed up the Whistler Village gondola.

Clicking in for the first time, it felt as though I was standing on top of a couple blocks.  It felt like I was on stilts!  The weather was awful in the morning and the first run was so tiring, because I was trying so hard.  By the time I got to Pig alley I had relaxed a little and it started to get a little easier.  I did start out with the old snow-plow, and making sure that I could stop, but as I passed the Chick Pea restaurant for the first time I had moved on to parallel turns.  These just seamed easier to do, along with the hockey stop.  I headed up the Emerald chair for my first experience of getting onto and off a chair with Ski's.  It was very much easier getting on and off with ski's rather than with a snowboard.  You just have to made sure you get up and keep the poles out of the way.

The second run down was very much faster and easier.  I likened the experience of parallel turns to using the stair climber at the gym.  I did still however find my balance to be a little off still.  After the third or fourth run down it was getting much better.  I took a few different routes down the mountain and even took Orange Peel down to Big red, and also ended up in a small mogul field.  I could tell that my technique was not good enough to ride mogul's as I didn't have a very good time getting through these.

By now I had taken a couple tumbles (splits to face, and wayward ski to falling over to my side, etc.) and the weather had closed in to be a white out, so I headed on in for a quick lunch.

After lunch things went even better with the skiing.  My timing was very much better and the speed was getting better and more controlled.  I still didn't feel that I was getting my weight forward enough but the turns were much easier and flowed.  I managed to get a good few runs down to Emerald chair and a couple down to Garbonzo.  All too soon however it was lift closing time, so I headed on down from the roundhouse down pig alley, and past Emerald, onto Olympic and then Crabapple.  The snow conditions were really wet and sticky down here and I was struggling with my left turn as my left knee was giving me some pain and trouble.  I pushed through it and skied all the way down to the bottom of the village.

Visibility: Overcast, with periods of snow & white out's, clearing late to sunshine
Snow: 5cm
Piste Condition: Everything from fresh powder, hard pack, soft, lumpy, bumpy, slushy and very wet
Wind: Moderate and gusty
Temperature: +8 at the base to -4 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Slow start to the day.  Headed up Whistler and over into Symphony.  The riding in here today was actually really good and fast. I did a few runs in here before going over to Harmony to see if that was good too.  I was left disapointed.  The Harmony piste was not groomed and was not in good condition.  I gave it a couple runs but it wasn't very enjoyable.  I headed for a little lunch.

Afted lunch I headed on up the Peak chair and onto the Saddle.  The Saddle was running good too, if a little lumpy.  I charged on straight down to Big Red and waited for Chris, Mark, John and DJ , at the Roundhouse.  The plan was again this Tuesday to have a BBQ at the fourt.  We headed on down to find that there was again a lot of people this week.

After a couple hours in the sun there were only a few of us left.  Myself, Chris, John, Mark and DR.  At about 19:00 we had drunk all the beer and eat all the food and decided to head on down.  There were a number of freshly groomed lines down the hill.  On the way down toward Big Red we came up to a pister who was drifting into the right.  DR and Chris got through on the right before the gap closed, and I had to emergency break andpass on the left.  Thankfully the others followed me.  We charged as fast as the conditions would allow down Crabapple and into the village.

Visibility: Mostly sunny with occasional cloudy periods
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Choppy but soft on top of hard pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +4 at the base to -10 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

It's tough to be motivated at the moment.  The cough from the flu is still here and the conditions are not great.  Saying that there were 10cm last night.  By the time I got up Whistler all the fresh lines were already done.  There were still some good stashes to be had however.

I headed on over to Harmony first and put in a couple runs to the side of the piste.  Things were a bit choppy but still good.  I stayed on Harmony until I headed for lunch.

After lunch I headed up the Peak Chair and into Symphony.  I was hoping that there would be good conditions in the trees.  I wasn't totally disappointed, but it wasn't great.  I rode a few rimes down, and even tried the Rhapsody bowl.  Under here you could really feel the hard pack and it wasn't a good line.  I then headed on back to Harmony and took a run or two down the piste, but it was really quite choppy and difficult to get the speed up.

Getting towards the lift close I headed all the way down past Emerald, onto Olympic and onto the Garbonzo chair.  I timed it right as the clouds started to move in on the alpine.  I made a couple runs down Dave Murray and onto Tokum back to Garbonzo.  I had had enough for the day and rode down to Creekside.  It was really slushy and full of moguls, but loads of opportunities to get some hits and kicks out there.

Visibility: Dark and cloudy with occasional bright patches,snow and hail
Snow: 10cm
Piste Condition: Moderately heavy Powder, on top of hard pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +2 at the base to -10 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Moderate to light

Didn't start to early again today as am still feeling unwell from the flu.  Headed on up Whistler with the view to just ride around the mountain, which I ended up doing all day.

The low cloud made riding in the lower part of the mountain a no-no, so I headed straight on over to Symphony via the Peak chair.  I wasn't really enjoying myself over here so headed to my favorite Harmony piste.  From here I rode Harmony Piste about a dozen times.  The piste was quite rough, and as I didn't have much strength I kept the speed down a little, but still managed 83Km/h.  Not too bad, and should be able to get into the 90's when I'm feeling better!  I stopped for lunch even though I wasn't too hungry, but headed back to Harmony after.  I eventually rode all the way down to Garbonzo for a last run down Orange Peel and Tokum, before riding down to the bottom of Creekside.  The run in was extremely slushy at the bottom, but still entertaining.

Visibility: Cloudy with occasional bright patches
Snow: Trace
Piste Condition: Hard and icy early, warming to a light slush layer later
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +5 at the base to -5 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

I took my time today and rode like it too.  I had been ill with the flu since last week and was just not feeling 100%.  I headed on up Whistler and just rode around trying to feel the 'mo jo'.  I tried a lot of the usual haunts and found that the Harmony Piste was by far the best piste of the day.  So I rode this a few times, before hitting the last Harmony lift.  I then headed on over to the Round House and waited for Chris to arrive after work.

Myself and Chris then headed off for a quick run down Orange Peel and Tokum.  On the way we dropped off his bags, before we headed on around again and re-collected them.  The plan was to the Fort Knocks as there was a huge number of people there drinking and having a BBQ.  Chris had brought a golf club and some golf balls.  These were hit by various people off the slope and into the trees.  At about 17:00 one of the piste patrol came along and told us to leave.  A small group of us simply headed down and around a little and out of sight.  Here we stayed for about another hour.

When it was time to go some of us dropped the cornice and rode on down, with the sun setting in the background.

Visibility: Bright sunshine
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Hard and icy early, warming to slushy later
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +8 at the base to +5 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

Headed out with Edd, Jenny and Adam.  We parted early so that myself and Edd could ride a few lines before we met up again.  The plan was that we would take Adam and Jenny up the flute along with some of their friends.  After a few runs we all met up again and headed on over to the flute.  We took our time hiking up the flute, and eventually there were 10 of us in the group.

Rather than going down the shoulder, we headed on around the Flute North and dropped in where ever we liked.  One of the girls (Sarah) managed to drop her board and was very luck that it only shot down the slope a little before launching off and plunge into the snow.  Edd dropped a big cornice.  I dropped a much smaller one however.  Once we got into the North Flute the snow was fantastic.

When we all got to the bottom various people had to leave and go to work, such as Edd.  Adam and Jenny also wanted to go and ride to their own pace.  I headed off with the rest of the 'pack' for a couple runs before we headed for lunch.

I got a call from Chris to say that he was on his way up, so I met up with him and we did some runs around.  We headed on up Harmony and headed onto the "Head Wall".  From here the view was fantastic.  There was a drop off to the right back towards Harmony so whilst Chris was looking at it, I just rode up and stright off.  It wasn't too big but I managed to land inbetween a couple small trees. *phew*.

We decided that given the clear weather that we would hike the Flute again.  By the time we got on over there it was the last Symphony chair.  At the bottom of the hike we met a Ski Patrol guy, who said that we would have to hurry and would have to hike out.  We hit the hike reasonably fast and caught up with two skiers who were much further up the hike than us.  On the way along the ridge we could see that a couple people had dropped the big cornice on the main flute.  That was it, decision made.

By the time we were ready the Ski Patroll had caught up with us and was trying to make sure that we had full backcountry gear on.  I did, but Chris didn't at the time.  I dropped a little 12-15ft drop and Chris went for the big 22+ft drop.  We both landed and rode out into really nice lush powder.  Instead of heading out to the bottom of Symphony we headed straight accross the flut bowl and tried to meet up with the "Burnt Stew Trail".  It involved about another 20 minutes hike but was worth it.

We eventually just rode on out, tired but feeling good.

Visibility: Poor
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Choppy soft pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +2 at the base to -10 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

A very late start to the day, after last nights leaving drinks for Shiv.  I wasn't really feeling it either.    I decided to hit Blackcomb as I hadn't ridden there for a while.  I headed straight up to the glacier and rode that down.  The visibility was awful and I couldn't see a thing, so even though the snow was good it wasn't brilliant.  I wanted to go for lunch, but I got a call from Chris just before I went to get some so I decided to skip lunch.

Chris had dropped the back of his phone at the bottom of the Excelerator chair, so we headed up Jersey cream to head on over.  On the way however we went through the Blue park.  We both tried a couple of the jumps, but because the snow was quite sticky and slow running, despite straight lining we just hit the knuckles.  We also had a look at the pipe and decided to give it a go.  Not a bad ride and the pipe was in great condition.  I need to work on my pipe riding more!  We then made our way down under the chair and retrieved the back of his phone.

We enjoyed the pipe so decided to head on back up and ride the blue park and the pipe again.  I did a couple more of the jumps but no luck in getting enough speed.  No-one else were having any luck either.  The second run through the pipe was better, but I managed to 'tweak' my ankle again when I hit the transition on over toward the toe side wall.  We headed back up again, but took the boarder cross.  It was running fast, but icy.  There were a few sections where it got the heart racing.

We decided to head on over to Whistler and headed into the Round House for a coffee and a cookie.  On the way over we discussed doing the "Singing Trail" again.  So we headed on over to Harmony and dropped down Robertsons and into the Burnt Stew trail.  Before getting back onto the run in to Harmony, we dropped into the trees.  The snow in here was definitely the best snow on the mountain.  The trees here were also very well spaced and provided you made sure you didn't get into one of the feed valleys there was some good tree rides to be had.

All too soon however we hit the trail.  This time however, there was less trail to ride as we dropped in later on the trail, and we knew what the trail was like.  So we rode it quite fast.  We also managed to avoid all of the nasty bits, but still had to walk a couple times.  After we passed under the gondola, there is the big hole that Ed fell in the last time.  I warned and warned Chris and even shouted as he got close.  However he managed to not stop in time and slide right into the bottom of the creek.  I couldn't help but laugh

The rest of the ride down was really nice, fast and entertaining.  We got to the bottom of the village at about 16:10 and hoped that we could get the gondola back up, but were denied as it was already closed :-(  Oh well, for what started out as a really slow and poor riding day, it definitely picked up.

Visibility: Poor
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Choppy soft pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: -1 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

Headed out on my own today, up Whistler.  It was quite busy on the Big Red chair so I headed on down to Garbonzo.  The visibility was not too good today however.  I headed up Garbonzo up Emerald and over into Harmony.  I was looking for some speed on the slopes again, but the visibility wasn't good.  I wasn't riding too good either as I just wasn't feeling it much.  So I then headed on over into Symphony, where I met up with Ed and Adam.  We decided to hike the flute as Adam had not done it yet.

Myself and Ed decided that we would take Adam over and down the Flute Shoulder.  The visibility was awful so we didn't get to show Adam the sights.  The top of the shoulder was not in that good a condition and was a bit rough and crusty.  Adam took a bit of a tumble right at the top but didn't let him phase him.  We traversed over into the bowl and found the snow to be in excellent condition as we headed down.  Typically the skies cleared a bit as we got to the bottom.  We then took Adam through the trees at the bottom of the flute and back to the symphony chair.

We then rode out to Harmony and did a line down before going back up and headed over towards the top of the t-bars.  We then took the "Headwall" over and back to the top of Big Red and over to the Round House for some lunch.  At this point both Ed and Adam left as they were feeling really tired, but I wanted to carry on.

I headed on up Peak and back over to Symphony.  I only had time to make a couple runs down Rhapsody bowl and then back out to Harmony.  I put in a couple runs down the Harmony Piste and then all the way down to Garbonzo.

The day so far was only 'average', but as soon as I really started to run down Orange Peel and Tokum and back to Garbonzo I really started to enjoy myself.  The conditions of the piste had changed quite considerably and with the falling snow, the piste was riding really well.  It was bumpy and rough but really still soft and you could hold a good edge.  I did this run time after time (5 times) until after 16:15.  There were loads of hits and jumps all over the place and I was really getting some good air and the occasional grab.  By now the day was well late and all the lifts had closed so I took the long fast run down to the village.

Slow start to the day but it really did pick up.

Visibility: Zero to none, with some bright patches
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: soft pack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Visibility: Cloudy with some sunny patches
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Hardpack
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

Myself and Ed headed out really early.  Initially we headed on down Orange Peel and Tokum.  The slopes were nicely groomed and untouched all around.  So it was a speed day.  I didn't start off too confident and took a while before I got up to speed.  We took Garbonzo up and took Raven into Phtarmegan.  It was running really well so we did it again.  The run was then being roped off for a race, but we sneaked under and did the run again.

We headed on over into Emerald in order to take the G.S. run over into Harmony.  We headed straight over into Symphony and down to the Symphony chair.  Our plan was to hike the Flute and ride the ridge, just inside the boundary.  The 30 minute hike was the usual, but me and Ed chatted all the way up.  We also got a call from Rich, as Ed had arranged to give Aleis(?) a ski lesson.   We rode down the ridge and hiked a little up the next ridge.  Once we rode over the last peak and onto the ridge the snow really improved.  It was silky soft, and 'bouncy' and had very few tracks in it other than some old lines.  We had a really good ride in there and ducked in and out of the trees a little.  It didn't last too long and we found our selves once again at the Symphony chair.

We took the chair back up and headed on to the harmony chair.  We met Rich and Aleis at the top of the lift and all headed down the Harmony Piste.  I do like that run.  We headed on back up and this time myself and Rich headed for the Horse Shoe #8.  Not sure what happened but we ended up at the top of the biggest cornice (instead of the smaller one) and took and easy way in.  We met up with Ed and Aleis on the Harmony Piste again.  We headed on up the harmony chair again and took Pikas Traverse to head to the Round House for lunch.

When at lunch we met up with Jemma and her friend Ella(?), whom Ed had been lined up to give a lesson also.  So after lunch Ed headed off with Jemma and Ella, and myself, Rich and Aleis headed up the Peak chair and back around into the Symphony amphitheater.  The visibility was quite poor at this stage and it did not make for a good start to the "Burnt Stew Trail".  We rode the Symphony chair and the lines down a few times as Aleis enjoyed it and the piste conditions were really good.  Myself and Rich were taking a lot of jibbs on the sides of the piste and some 180's.

The Symphony lift was closing all too soon so we headed back to the Harmony chair and took a couple runs down.  It was here that I managed the highest speed of the season so far (that I know of) of 93km/h.  We headed back up again and then took the Saddle down.  We charged all the way down the slopes and onto the ski-in.  The ski-in was not in that good a condition as it was quite sticky.  Aleis found it really difficult as it was pushing past her ability.  We eventually got down and out.

Visibility: Poor in places
Snow: Zero
Piste Condition: Hardpack
Wind: Light
Temperature: +2 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

Headed out on my own today.  I headed on down the run next to the Emerald chair.  The ride was OK, but the powder was a bit bumpy and rough.  I then headed over onto Harmony and took a couple runs down the Harmony Piste.  The visibility was really bad and it was quite tough to even see where you were going.  I then headed on over to "Robertsons" to see if that was any better.  Even though there was 4cm of fresh powder on the slopes, the crud underneath made the riding really poor.  I got down but gave up on the idea of hitting that again.

After doing "Robertsons" I took a long run all the way down to the Garbonzo chair.  It was good to just have such a long run under my belt.  It was also so good to not have to wait in line for the lifts.  The lifts were empty today after the huge lines on Saturday.

I took a quick run down Orange Peel and back onto Big Red.  After a long lunch (it was tough in the high winds!), I headed on up Peak Chair and over into Symphony.  I could not see a thing until I made it into the trees near the bottom.  In conditions like these you have to rely on your core skills, and you can easily see when people are struggling with these core skills!

After blindly making my way down off the top of Symphony I headed on into the Rhapsody bowl.  Whilst the run was rough under foot there were still some good lines to be had.  I proceeded to hit this run time after time, taking a different line each time.  I was really enjoying it.  Even the liftie commented that there must be something out there that was really keeping my interest.

When I eventually left the Symphony amphitheater I headed on up Harmony for a run down all the way back to Garbonzo.  I really do prefer long runs, without interruption.  I intended to head on up for the last Peak chair, but I was feeling a bit tired.  Instead I took a ride down "Cross Roads" and into the Ski-in.  The ski-in was quite sticky at the top but as you got further down it got icy and fast.  There are a few patches that are getting a little worn down and lacking snow, so I don't think that there is much season left for the ski-in.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 4cm
Piste Condition: Powder on top with crusty pack under
Wind: Moderate to strong
Temperature: 0 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely Light

The lift lines were HUGE today.  It took a very long time just to get up the mountain, not happy, and not enthused about riding today.

I decided to head on over to Symphony and hike the flute.  My first line was off the shoulder and dropping over onto the north flute.  It was quite steep and narrow where I dropped in.  My line wasn't that good but enjoyable all the same as the powder was deep and lush.  When I got to the bottom of Symphony and found that the lift lines were again huge, I decided to hit the flute again.  This time I headed off the shoulder and into the bowl.  It looked quite icy at places from the lift but turned out to be really nice.  I laid down a sweet line and found loads of nice powder.  The hike was very much helped with my having my back-pack on.  It is SO much easier when you do not have to carry the board in your arms.

After the double hike I headed on up Harmony for a blast of speed down the Harmony piste.  I headed on back up and took the cat-track back towards the Roundhouse but carried on down past and all the way out to the bottom of Creekside.  All the way I passed three lifts, all of which had HUGE lift lines so I decided to call it a day.  I can't stand wasting my time in huge lines!  Oh well, better luck the next day.

What a rubbish day...

It was bucketing with rain all last night down in the valley.  That coupled together with quite warm temperatures up the mountain and strong winds closing all the alpine lifts, made for a warm, sticky, wet and frustrating day.

I decided to take out the big Palmer board (162cm) and I headed on up Whistler to find that the lines on big red were horrendous.  Instead I did the usual in this case and headed to Garbonzo.  This too had long lines, but I bared with it.  I headed on down Upper Dave Murry, to find that there was no real fresh powder lines and that the snow was quite heavy.  I already was not liking it.  I headed into the line for Big Red.  Long wait.

I was finding the Palmer quite strange to ride after the K2 Zero, which is so light and poppy in comparison.  I also felt that the bindings were too narrow, but the stance was the same as I have used previously on the Palmer.  Strange.  Will have to try it out tomorrow with an even wider stance.

As there were a lot of punters on the hill and all confined to the lower lifts I headed on off into Franz's Meadow and stayed high to get the lower part of the VD Chutes.  Been I while since I was last in here and it was entertaining.  I was riding the trees only to find myself in a deep tree well.  Took me 5 minutes to get out.  I later found a fallen log that was mostly covered in snow.  Without really meaning to, I ended up riding it in a full board slide and managed to pop off the end and ride out.  Pretty sweet.  At the bottom of the Chutes there is a river valley and I stacked it in the bottom.  Another hike out.

I had already had enough and decided that I was going to take the ski-in.  The snow was heavy and the piste was crowded so I decided that it was best that I go down before re-injuring my ankle.  I rode past the long lift lines at Big Red and took the "Cross Roads" line.  I tried to take the ski-in cat-track but the snow was so sticky that I was going nowhere, so managed to re-join main run back to the Creekside gondola.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 14cm, heavy wet snow and rain lower down the slopes
Piste Condition: Heavy wet powder
Wind: Moderate to very strong
Temperature: +2 at the base to -5 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy
Lift Lines: Heavy

No alpine lifts were open.

Headed out on my own today and up Whistler mountain.  When I got up I found that the alpine chairs had not yet been opened due to high winds and loads of snow.  I bypassed Big Red and headed straight for Garbonzo.  Taking Upper Dave Murry I headed on down taking as much powder lines as I could.  It was already choppy but nice and fluffy.  As the lift lines were large I decided to take the run all the way down to the village.  This was a mistake as the line at the village gondola was big too.

After a very long 22 minutes on the Village gondola I was back on Whistler mountain.  By the time I got to the top the alpine lifts were open, so I headed straight on over to the peak chair.  Flipping a coin I decided that I was to head to the Symphony Amphitheater.  The winds were so strong and the visibility was so bad that it was quite difficult riding the car track to Symphony as there were a lot of snow drifts that could catch you out.

Symphony was however in excellent condition, and I rode a few different lines down there taking a few runs over into the trees over by flute.  Most lines were brilliant until I decided to head more into the flute valley.  Huge mistake.  I got to a point where it was flat and full of powder.  20 minutes later I managed to hike to a point where I could strap the board on again.  It wasn't a long hike, it was just that the snow was waist deep.  At the end of the hike I got a call from Rich to say that he Alex and Amy were at the Symphony chair where I met them a minute later.

At the top of the Symphony chair, the visibility was near zero.  It was here that we lost Amy as she said she could not keep up.  The lads then decided to his the Symphony cornice.  We knew roughly where it was as there were markers, but seeing the lip was impossible.  I eventually pushed forward and found that there was no lip where I was and it was a simple rid out.  Heading back towards the chair there were a number of mogule runs that I enjoyed as they were full of powder and I was hitting them with a good amount of aggression.  Nice riding if I do say so my self!

We decided to hit the cornice again, but this time higher up the line.  The sun just barley gave us enough light to see the edge with just as we got there.  Rich went first and decked it.  My line turned out be be a little easier and it was a simple drop and ride out.  We were going to go and hit some of the steeps over towards the Flute valley, but Alex dropped out so it was only myself and Rich that took these lines.  I managed to stack it on a jump, as it was a lot bigger than expected and I had straight legs on the landing.  Now wonder I stacked it then!  Rich then later stacked it trying to do a tail press!  Not a great idea in the powder.

It was getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to hit Harmony so we rode "Burnt Stew Trail" to the lift.  I persuaded Rich that we should do one of the Harmony Ridge horse shoes, #5.  The entrance was scraped and there were a number of exposed rocks.  Once you got past these the powder was excellent however.  We then rode hard left and took the jump between the trees.  I took a line slightly off to the right and stuck the landing.  Rich however took a more straight line and whilst he stuck the landing then proceeded to cartwheel rag doll for a while.  Thankfully he was OK.  I didn't see this, I saw him land and carried on.

The plan was then to go grab a quick chocolate and cookie in the round house but we decided instead to take the Saddle down and get the Peak Chair, for a run at the Ski-in.

We took the Bagel Bowl which was lush, and then on into "Ladies Love".  Unlike the last time we stayed in the valley and had a much better time of it.  Rich however was feeling the exhaustion and kept falling over...a lot.  The further down the valley you go, the fallen trees get really tricky.  This coupled together with some watter holes make for a very interesting run.  The ski in was good and fast and called for a lot of 'S' weaving.

All in all a good day.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 11cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder
Wind: Strong
Temperature: +1 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Moderate

Visibility: Mostly sunny with occasional cloudy periods
Snow: None
Piste Condition: Slushy
Wind: Light to none
Temperature: +4 at the base to -3 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely Light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 12cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top of hard pack
Wind: Moderate to strong
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Heavy

This is what I remember Whistler being like.  Snow, snow, snow and more snow.  Yet another super early day out onto the slopes.  First lift over in Blackcomb.  I headed straight on op to try and get an early Glacier chair.  However it was not open until nearly 10:00, so instead I settled for a few runs up the Jersey Cream chair and down the Jersey ridge.  The snow is now so deep that it is balls deep, and light and fluffy with it too!

After a couple runs I met up with Jess and we headed on up Jersey Cream chair as the line for the Glacier chair was immense.  The runs were just so powder filled that it was difficult to keep a grin off my face .  We then hit the Glacier Express, which was a stroke of luck.  As we got there they opened the Horstman T-bar so we headed on over to 7th Heaven.  The 7th Heaven chair wasn't even open yet.

We traversed on over to Cloud-9 and found some completely un-tracked powder that was balls deep and fluffy.  It was such a brilliant ride that when we got to the bottom and the chair lift, and found that there was no-one waiting for the chair we just had to do it again.  We just hit so much powder and I managed to get quite a few jumps and kickers out there.  As we got to the bottom of the lift this time it was obvious that more people had noticed that 7th Heaven was open.  This time when we got to the top we decided to ride down through the trees.  I have to say it again, so much powder.  We had decided to head on down to Solarcoaster via Sunset Boulevard, and grab a coffee at the Rondezvous.

On the way up Solarcoaster we got a call from Rich to say that he was on the way up the Whistler gondola, so we decided to head on over the Peak2Peak and grab a coffee over at the round house instead.

After a short coffee we three headed up the peak and into the Bagel Bowl.  This too was back to why I remember it being like.  At the bottom of the Bagel Bowl we headed straight into the valley run called "Ladies Love".  We went a very long way down this tight valley with the trees and water holes.  We eventually got out the valley and onto the top of a steep cliff and tree run.  This is where it got a little tricky and was not as enjoyable as the earlier part of the run.  We eventually popped out on one of the cat tracks up by Kadenwood, which we took and eventually joined the Peak to Creak run.

Down in Creek side we got the gondola up and then took big red and then the Peak chair on over into Symphony.  The wind had picked up by now and the visibility was not good.  The symphony was still good riding however, especially when we made it into the trees.  We headed on back up however it was late in the day and Symphony was closing.  We also dropped the cornice on the left of the Symphony run and on over towards Burnt Stew Trail.  On the way there was a lot of hits to be had.  One particularly stood out as I hit it and took off much more than expected and landed quite a big jump.

As we rode the Burnt Stew Train cat-track we looked up into Robertsons and myself and Rich decided that that is where we were going next.  We headed along the Harmony ridge and pulled left on over to the top of Robertsons.  The run down was chock-a-block with powder, the trees were well spaced, the pitch was nice and steep, and I just hurtled down actually whooping like an American because it was so good.  At the bottom we decided to do it again, even though this was the last lift for Harmony.  This time down Robertsons it was good but not as good as it was the last time.

We had to take Sidewinder on over to Emerald chair where we decided to take another coffee at the Round House as it was after 15:30.  We then took a simple run down Orange Peel, past big red and onto the Ski in.  The ski in was difficult at the top as the snow made it really tough to keep your speed to make it past the flat sections.  However the tight steep sections were good and fast and you really had to bang in the turns extremely quick and tight.

Yet another brilliant day on the slopes.  Long may they continue!

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 22cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top of hard pack
Wind: Light to Moderate
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Yet another super early day up the mountain.  Myself and Seth headed on over to Blackcomb.  Thankfully we did, as apparently the line at Creekside was about an hour long!

We headed on straight up Excalibur, Excelerator and onto Solar Coaster as the alpine lifts where not open yet.  However when we got to the top of Solarcoaster the Glacier Chair was on standby.  We decided to risk it and head to the Glacier chair and wait for it to open.  We had to wait about 20 minutes.

We decided to head up Spanky's Ladder.  At the top I asked Seth where he wanted to go, and we headed along the ridge and over to the Ruby bowl.  I DID say to him that this was probably one of the hardest entrances, but we went anyway.  I headed on in first and found that the right side was completely barren and totally rocky.  As such I was in a bit of trouble.  I shouted up to Seth to go left, which he did.  Meanwhile I had to slowly and carefully shuffle on over to the left and away from the danger.

Once we were in the ruby bowl, it was SO worth it.  The sun was out, the powder was deep, light and un-touched, and we made some brilliant lines.  I also pointed out the easier way to get into the lower ruby bowl, so we will save that for the next time.  The run back to Excelerator was brilliant, as it was slick and fast and the first roller was much bigger than normal and you got some good air off it (if you wanted to not).

We got a call from Seth's girlfriend, Pearl, to say that she was over at Seventh Heaven.  We decided to head on there.  We had planned to take the Glacier chair and then the T-bar and meet her at the top, however the line was massive so we took Jersey Cream and the cat-track on to the bottom of the 7-th Heaven lift.  We caught up with Pearl at the top and proceeded to ride down 7th Heaven and through the gladed trees.  There was a big wind lip near the top of the run and I hit it a bit too far to the left and there was too much powder and I nearly stacked it.  I was disappointed as I wanted to get some air and possibly even try a 180. 

We headed on back up and basically did the same run again.  This time on the run in to the wind lip I was totally out of control and just couldn't get it under control before stacking it on the way UP the wind lip.  How embarrassing . By now, Seth had a call from Sam to say that we would meet up in the Glacier Creek restaurant.  We headed back up Seventh Heaven and dropped on over the other side and took the piste run down.

After a quick lunch all four of us (Myself, Seth, Pearl and Sam) headed back up Glacier Chair and headed to the left through the poor visibility.  We decided that we were all to follow Sam.  He made a lot of good runs, jumps, hits, tree runs and drops along the way.  A very good run indeed.  Heading up Jersey Cream we headed on the Jersey Cream run and into the trees again.  We were following Sam again.  This time however he limboed under this tree branch.  There was no way I was able to do it, as I am just not that flexible.  I also had my backpack on which contained my shovel and probe, and I was wearing my avalanche transceiver.

We made another run up the Glacier chair and ended up under the Crystal chair.  It was here that Sam and Seth said that they could get up the Glacier chair and to the Crystal hut, before myself and Pearl could get down to the Crystal chair and up.  The Crystal chair is just SO slow.  4 minutes after we arrived at the Crystal hut they arrived.  So, the Crystal chair is so slow, that you can get to the top of the Glacier Chair and rid down in the time the Crystal chair takes to get up!

We got the Jersey Cream and headed down the face of the ridge and back into the trees.  I managed to catch a tree branch and flip.  Thankfully no damage.  It was really late now so we headed back up Jersey Cream with the intention of having a quick beer at the roundhouse.  It was just too late, so we decided to ride through the terrain garden.  Learning from the other day when I completely over shot the landings, I took it much easier on the ride in.  Rather than heading over to Solarcoaster or taking Sunset Boulevard we decided to take the trees just after the bottom of the terrain garden.  These trees were just too close together and there were a lot of fallen trees, so it wasn't that good a ride.  Sam and Pearl had some real trouble and eventually had to hike onto the side of a piste.  Again, thankfully no damage done.  We then simply rode down to the village for an extremely well deserved apres beer!  Job donw.

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 12
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top of hard pack
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -4 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Heavy

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: 16cm
Piste Condition: Fresh light powder on top a hard base
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -4 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy

Late start today due to lack of sleep (noisy in the house until after 03:00).  Decided to actually ride around Blackcomb for a change and get some miles in on the mountain.  I headed on straight to the glacier and through the rid out.  Was choppier than yesterday, and with the lack of visibility it made for a tough ride, until the ride out which was in great condition.

I headed on back up toward the glacier.  This time however I cam down the main slope, as it had been a very long time side I did this run.  Again there was little or no visibility, so I didn't ride it as good as I wanted to.  I too the cat-track on over towards Crystal as I already knew that the slope back to the Glacier chair was littered with fallen rocks from an exposed and deteriorating slope.  I just took which ever slope took my fancy and ended up at the crystal chair.  Taking the chair I again just followed my nose and went where the slopes took me.  I passed the Crystal chair and carried on down past the top of Excalibur and down to the "Wizard Express".  Again it has been a long time since I was here.

I met Jess and Cordelia and one of their friends at the bottom of Solarcoaster and took the chair up with them before leaving them to make my way down "Springboard".  I enjoyed that run so took Solarcoaster again and started to do it again when I spotted Adam.  I joined Adam, Emma and her boyfriend (can't remember his name) for a ride in the boarder-cross.  I left them just after as I wanted to continue my ride around.

I headed on back up the SolarCoaster and this time took the run just below the Terrain Garden, as this was where the last time I was here (2005/6 season) there was some extra jumps and rails.  Unfortunately the parkies have not bothered to put any thing in here.  I joined the bottom the Terrain Garden and took in a couple jumps and rails before heading back to wards Solarcoaster.  I had intended to ride on down to the village but forgot and took Solarcoaster up.

I was feeling peckish, but rather than stopping for lunch I decided to take the Peak2Peak and go ride some of Whistler.  I had a quick visit to the little boys room and headed down Orange Peel and Tokum to Garbonzo.  This was, and is, my current favorite ride.  After Garbonzo i wanted to get on over to Harmony/Symphony before the lifts closed.  So I simply headed to Emerald and took the "GS" run to Harmony.  The wind was really blowing at the top and was getting cold, so I headed on over to "Burnt Stew".  I couldn't see a thing so I relied on my wits and riding skills to get down in one piece.

Having been over in the Symphony amphitheater I decided to take Harmony and do the main Harmony run.  This is a good speed place but with todays lack of visibility and rough piste it wasn't as much fun as it normally is.  The Harmony lift had now closed but I managed to get a lift up.  I took the Saddle with the intention of heading up the Peak chair, but was too cold so simply headed on down and out to Creekside.  I knew that I should have put on that extra layer

Visibility: Poor to none
Snow: trace
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Today started off with me giving Amy and Sally a lesson.  Both of them had only ridden snowboards for about 3-7 hours in total, so this was going to be a beginner lesson.  They both improved and demonstrated that they have good balance, but need to improve their stance (more weight on the front leg).  They both also were also able to link their turns and improve their pivot and steering.  I left them to head on over to Blackcomb, with the intention that next time we would work on their pressure control as they were quite static.

I headed on over to the Blackcomb glacier as there was supposed to be a group of the house mates and friends having lunch up there at 13:00.  I was there early however so took a run into the glacier myself.  The conditions in the glacier were choppy but surprisingly soft.  It was just before 13:00 by the time I was on the T-bars again, so I SMS the guys only to find out that the plans had changed and it was 13:30 at the Glacial Express.  So I headed once again down the glacier and the lovely long run out (4.8km run out).

I still arrived early at the Glacial express and had to wait around for them.  Eventually Sam, Rich, Edd, Seth and Pearl all showed up and we headed up to the glacier.  I too the lead and hiked up to the top of the glacial ridge, where we all stopped for a little light lunch and to take in the views.  I persuaded everyone to hike on further up to the summit of the ridge and ride the "Ladies First" run.  The hike was reasonably easy if a little treacherous.  We stopped again at the top of the ridge to again take in the scenery and take some photos (I'll need to get a copy of them from Sam).

We then made our way over and into the glacier side of the ridge.  This is where it got really scary and nasty for the hike traverse.  There were a couple times when myself and Rich were hanging on by our finger tips on tiny little ledges, whist there was certain injury on the rocks awaiting below!  The others took a slightly easier way into "Ladies First", but not without incident.  Pearl slipped and was sliding down the slope head first.  Thankfully she was last in the group and Seth managed to grab her.  Thankfully she had the common sense to hold onto her board.  If she hadn't it would have been well gone.

Once we started to ride "Ladies First" the powder in there was the best on the mountain to be had.  Deep, clean, soft and very, very steep...only just too short.  We all headed on down through the glacier and to the run out.  A nice ride I do have to say.  Everyone was really stoked and in some cases a little relieved to get down in one piece.

We headed on back up Excelerator and then on over to Solarcoaster.  We decided to go ride the boardercross.  First however we hit a couple of the big jumps in the blue park.  The first jump, you have to take at a straight-line.  Normally I would easily make the transition but just at the base of the jump the snow was quite sticky and it slowed me down, so I had to ollie more off the lip and pull my knees up so as to not knuckle the landing.  In the boardercross, this time as I had ridden it before I was able to take it with a bit more speed and aggression.  I still rode well within myself so know that I can up the level even further.  Back up solarcoaster we decided to hit the terrain garden.  The first jump was good, however I hit the second jump with so much speed that I completely cleared the landing be a very long way and landed heavily on the flat before bouncing out and wiping out.  It didn't bruise my ego, but certainly bruised my backside!  I too the rest of the jumps a little more cautiously, but even so I still managed to overshoot most of them.  I think they really added some extra lip to them all.  I was hoping that the dragon box was still at the bottom of the park but it wasn't.  I was disappointed and had to make do with an up-box and a pop off the end.  Oh well.

Charged down "Sunset Boulevard" back over to solarcoaster.  On the way I hit my favorite front-side 180 spot with some real pop.  It was time to head on down to the village for some well earned drinks.  So we all charged it on down ("turning is for wimps"..."speed is your friend") into the village.  A good day all around.

Visibility: Bluebird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches
Wind: Light
Temperature: -2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Got up and checked the live mountain weather reports.  It was reported at being -24 degrees with 24kmh wind.  I wanted to do some park riding today so I put on my armour suit and also another layer, so that made 5 layers!  All 5 layers were needed too!

I headed on out with Jenny and Adam and we walked to Creekside and got to gondola and big red up and then took the Peak2Peak over to Blackcomb.  I left Jenny and Adam there and headed off to the Terrain garden.  There were a lot more features there that the last time I was there.  All of the jumps were really nice and they rode really well.  I only took straight air over them all.  At the bottom of the garden it looked like there was a "rainbow-box", so I hit it.  Turns out that it wasn't a rainbow at all, but a whoop-de-do box.  Gave me a bit of a shock to see that come up as I rode over the top of the first rainbow section, and I bailed it!  Thankfully just a little bail.

On the ride back to solarcoaster, the cold was so biting that I had to stop and put a mask over to protect my face from frost bite.  At the end of the Sunset Boulevard there is a nice little side hit that I was getting my usual front-side 180's in.  All day I hit this well and was getting more style and amplitude as the day progressed.  Pity I cant say the same about my back-side 180's.  All day I tried them and they just were not happening.

I headed on straight back to the Terrain Garden and rode it a few times more.  It thankfully warmed up as the sun rose over the trees.  I also took a ride through the boarder cross, which was bigger than I thought it was going to be.  I eventually had to head in for some lunch as it was cold and I needed something to eat.  I met Adam and Jenny in the Redezvous restaurant and headed out with them back over the Peak2Peak and over to the Whistler mountain.

All three of us headed into the Nintendo Park and took the green line through the park.  Jenny hasn't ridden jumps much before so it was mostly for her benefit.  I hit the first jump at the top of the park, which is quite a bit jump.  Nice straight air over the big jump.  The next jump I came in switch and pulled a half-cap.  From there on I was trying some grabs, so as to practice getting my knees up rather than my chest down.  On the way to the Emerald chair and back around again for a repeat performance, I gave Jenny a couple tips to try and help her riding.

After a few runs through the park, Adam and Jenny decided to head off and I went to get the last Harmony chair.  I managed to get two rides down Harmony before the chair closed and got up to a nice 80km/h.  I KNOW that I can got much faster, and just need to stop wimping out on the rises and trust that there are no idiots hidden down just past the rise.

I then hit Orange Peel and Tokum for a couple runs before riding out to the Creekside base for the end of a very cold but ultimately rewarding day.

Visibility: Bluebird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Light
Temperature: -14 at the base to -24 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

The GPS receiver was unfortunately full, so I got no GPS action today.  Really quite disappointing, as because of the conditions the slopes were extremely fast.

I headed on up Whistler, as this mountain has some of the better long and fast runs, and that coupled with the good light makes for fast riding.  I basically only just rode around the mountain looking for some fast action.  The weather however was really cold and windy.  It was really sore with the wind chill.

Visibility: Bluebird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Strong to galeforce
Temperature: -10 at the base to -17 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

A really slow start to the day.  When I eventually got up the slopes I decided to just ride around for a while.  It was running quite fast and reasonably smothe, so I just hit it all up.  I initially headed on up the Peak and over into Symphony.  It was no where as near as good as yesterday, but still reasonable.  Not too long into riding I got a call from Jess.  She was still on Blackcomb but was coming on over to Whistler where I was riding.  I headed back up Symphony and over into Harmony.  I rode that a couple times before then heading down sidewinder and up Emerald chair. 

I waited just outside the Peak2Peak gondola waiting for Jess.  I eventually got a text from her to say that she was in Pikas.  After a quick coffee we headed on up the Peak chair.  I took Jess on over into the Bagel Bowl, where it was good, if hard packed and lumpy.  For Jess it was a new experience and she really enjoyed it.  We headed on back up Big Red and back up the peak Chair, but this time on over into Symphony.  i showed here were to go for a good wind-lip drop jump, so that she could give it a go when there is another good snow dump.

We rode the Symphony amphitheater a couple times, using the various hind blow lips as hit's and jumps. Eventually the lift closed and we headed on to harmony for a few runs.  We met Edd and his girlfriend at the chair and took the chair up with them.  We dropped off quite early as Jess wanted to ride some moguls.  They were quite steep but still had a lot of good grip in them.  We then dropped into McConkeys for some bigger moguls.  These were more challenging for jess but the trooper rode them well.

The harmony lift closed and we headed on over the Saddle and down past Big Red and into Garbonzo.  We did my favorite run or Orange Peel and Tokum back to Garbonzo, hitting a few jumps as I charged along.  It was getting late for Jess as she had work to go to later, so we decided to call this the last run.  We again hit Orange Peel and Tokum, past Garbonzo and charged it straight down into the village for a quick beer in the Dublin Inn.

Visibility: Sunny, with occasional light cloud
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

I was supposed to meet Chris at the Village Gondola at 09:30.  However he didn't make it so I headed up myself.  I headed straight up the peak chair and decided to do the face.  Because of the wind the upper parts of the mountains were completely scoured, and the wind also scoured your face.  The face was not that good as there was a lot of under lumps and bumps.  I headed out toward Big Red and on to Garbonzo, taking the Orange Peel.  I got a call from Chris to say that he was on his way.  He was about half an hour away so I did Orange Peel again and Patarmagan then back to Garbonzo.  I then headed on over to Big Red and got another call from Chirs to say that he was at the mid station and I had just got on Big Red.  We met up at the light board.

Myself and Chris headed on up the Peak chair and down into the Bagel bowl.  The wind was really scouring and actually hurt.  The drop into the bagel bowl wasn't that good either.  We traversed all the way over to the other side where the sun was hitting.  We dropped a couple rock drops and headed on out via Highway 89.  The rid out to big red was really fast and furious, as the run was quite hard packed and smooth.

Chris only had time to get another one run in, so we headed on down our favorite of Orange Peel and past Garbonzo and down onto the village.  I like following Chris on this run as he knows where all the hit's are and I can then hit them too.  On every roller and side hit I pop on over them all, each with speed.

I said goodbye to Chris and got on the Village Gondola for the second time today.  From here on in I had a really good time.  I headed up the Peak and into the Symphony amphitheater. Because of the wind there was virtually no-one there.  There were so many drifts of snow that on the way in the bowl there was so many places to hit and pop air.  It was really really good.  Over the last week or two I have kind of lost some of that 'good' feeling that the snowboarding brings, and the going home feeling was there.  Today has got that feeling back.  I hit symphony a few times.  Even when I got stuck on the Harmony chair for over 25 minutes, and in the howling wind, I still took the ride down Symphony.

When the lift closed I headed on over to Harmony for a couple rides.  Again because the piste was wind blown it was quite smothe and there wasn't anyone there. When Harmony closed I headed on down to Emerald and back to the old stomping grounds of Garbonzo.  By now Upper Dave Murray was open (there are a lot of races on and it always appears to be closed lately...well, for the last 2 weeks anyway) and I rode here instead of Orange Peel.  It was really good riding today, if a little bumpy when you hit the tracks of the racers.  I hit Garbonzo all the way until that lift too closed.  I then just took the "Crossroads" run out and back to Creekside.

Today turned out to be a really good day!  I am definitely a 'bad weather' rider (High winds, zero visibility, heavy snow...but not rain!).

Visibility: Sunny, with occasional light cloud
Snow: 1-6cm
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches, and very wind blown
Wind: Strong, to gale force - Also, very cold
Temperature: -5 at the base to -14 at the top.
Crowding: Extremely light
Lift Lines: Extremely light

Started off the day just getting around the mountain, after yesterdays 'cabin fever' day.  I was really lucky and timed it just right to get nearly the first chair up the Peak when it opened and charged straight around to Symphony.  The snow was deep but very heavy and sun-baked.  However, keeping to the right there was so much un-tracked stuff that it was blinking great and fast too.  I made first lines down into the bowl and all the way down to the ride out.  I was then rewarded with more luck as I was once again near the front when the Harmony chair opened, and didn't have to wait more than a minute or two.  Straight up harmony and back to Symphony.  Again there was so much un-tracked stuff that it was just too good.  By the time I made it around for a third time, everyone else had cottoned on and it got pretty tracked.  Passed this dude for about the third time and he said that the symphony chair was due to open in 10 minutes, so I dropped the cat track out and headed through the trees to the Symphony lift.  Unfortunately it was about 30 minutes before the lift opened.

As soon as I got to the top of Symphony I headed straight on over for the Flute hike.  So many other people were doing the same too.  At the start of the hike I was 10th, but by the top I was 2nd.  The guy who beat me up was using skins on his skis, and he headed on over to the Flute North.  I instead headed for the Flute Shoulder.  First lines down were amazing and so open.  I carved well into the bowl before heading straight down slashing as I went.  At the bottom I was really stoked, and there decided to hike it again.

On the chair back up Symphony I could see that the Flute Shoulder was already completely tracked out!  Gutted!  I persevered however and made the second hike.  I had a like at the Flute North but it too was already tracked out.  So I dropped in a little further down and carved over to the right before making my way down through the trees.  A good ride but nowhere as good as my first ride.

After hiking flute twice I needed a rest and some lunch, so I headed up Harmony and around the cat-track back to the round house.  Just as I was entering I got a call from Rich and he arrived when I was nearly finished.  After lunch we headed on the Peak chair and around into Symphony.  We went to hit the wind-lip drop.  The landings were a bit sketchy, so I opted for a smaller drop of only about 12ft, but Rich puckered up and went for the bigger 20ft.  Not happy with his first drop, as he bailed it, he went up again for another.  Hitting the same bomb hole he made on his first jump, he again bailed it!  After that we rode Symphony again before heading over to Harmony, as the Symphony amphitheater was done.

We did our usual runs of hitting Orange Peel and Patarmigan and the Garbonzo lift and runs.  All too soon however the day was nearly done and we decided to take the ski out.  On the way down, before we got to the first set of 'bumps' I bailed it and nearly slid out into the thick trees.  Didn't do my nerves much good, and then nearly bailed it again on the final stretch.  Glad the ski out was the end of the day

Visibility: Sunny
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches
Wind: Light
Temperature: -2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Today really sucked.  The lift lines were horrendously long and seamed to take forever.  That coupled with the poor conditions of the snow and visibility made for an un-interesting day.  When I eventually made it up big red, I headed on over to Garbonzo and simply did a couple runs down again.  I then hit the Whistler gondola so as to avoid big red, and took lunch.

After lunch I headed on over to Ratfink and down to the Harmony chair.  Again, horrendous lift lines.  I headed on over into the Saddle and then onto the Peak chair.  I decided to take Kaiser and the tree runs down and avoid the Peak to Creak.  the top part of the run was really difficult as the snow was really variable and it was difficult to get any turns in with any confidence.  Further in however the snow conditions got better and it was much more entertaining making turns in the trees.  Eventually it all came to an end and I hit the ski-out.

Lets hope that tomorrow will be better.

Visibility: Overcast, with very occasional sunny patches
Snow: 2cm
Piste Condition: Hard pack with icy patches
Wind: Light
Temperature: -2 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy
Lift Lines: VERY Heavy

Not an early start today, and I had even skipped breakfast!  I headed up Whistler and straight up the Peak lift.  I headed on around and gave Bagel Bowl a look.  It was chopped and awful.  Headed around Highway 89 and back to big red, disappointed.

I needed a little cheer up so I headed down Orange peel and on down to Garbonzo.  Speeding down cheered me up a little.  At the top of Garbonzo I headed under the lift and took Seppo's through the trees.  They were really nice and secluded with loads of powder in there, if a little tight (read, dangerous).

I decided to head on over to Harmony but ended up in Symphony.  Over here the sun was in full bloom and the piste was in great form, if a little bumpy.  I stayed here for a few runs and eventually got a call from Chris.  I headed straight over to Harmony and charged down at a good lick of pace.  At the bottom of Harmony I called Chris and we met at the top at the entrance to Burnt Stew trail.

Immediately we headed left onto Alligator ridge.  We had a look at a couple of the drops, but there was simply not enough snow and too many rocks.  So we simply looked for as many hits of deep powder as we could.  Back up harmony we came down the Saddle.  Well, we traversed hard left and looked for hits and powder.  We managed to catch the last Peak chair.  We headed off towards the Symphony but before we rounded the bend too much we dropped off into the back-country.  This was a new place to ride for me.  The camera came out and we took some scenery shots.  This would be an excellent place to ride if the sun hadn't got to the snow.

There was a little hike out to get us back onto Kaiser track, where we met piste patrol on clear up.  We had to take Highway 89 and nearly 20 minutes after the lift was supposed to close we were allowed on for another run.  We decided to hit the round house and let the grommits get down the mountain, and await ski patrol kicking us out.

On the way down he hit the 'circle', which is a hidden spot where you can relax and wait out before heading down.  We headed straight down into the trees here, and it was really gnarly and tight.  I must admit that I side slipped a lot of the way as it was really steep and tight with trees.  Once we were at Big Red we decided to hit the BMX track.  It was great and the final run into the village was fast and fun.

Visibility: Bluebird, with occasional cloud
Snow: 1cm
Piste Condition: Chopped powder
Wind: Light
Temperature: -8 at the base to -13 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Heavy

Today was a late start as I wasn't feeling to hot after last night's pool competition.  I headed on over to Blackcomb and took the Whistler gondola.  I cruzed around today, down Upper Dave Murry and the Garbonzo lift.  I only did a couple runs before Rich gave me a call to say that he was coming up Big Read and heading over to Blackcomb to meet Jess.  It was Jess's birthday today.

Over on Blackcomb we met up with Jess, Nick, Cordelia and a couple of their other friends.  We headed on up towards the glacier, but because of the weather the top T-bar was closed.  Instead we headed on over into Seventh Heaven.  There was just so much powder it was amazing, and a good hangover cure.  We did the run down through the trees near the chair lift again and again.  We didn't go very fast as there were lots of problems with things like lost skis, too small a board, general falling over etc.

At the last lift there was only myself, Jess, Rich and Cordelia left when we headed back over towards the glacier for the last run down.  We got the last Jersey cream chair over and took the Peak2Peak over to Whistler and into the Round house for a quick drink.  Piste patrol kicked us out very quickly and we had to ride out.  Myself and Rich just charged down.  Turning is for wimps, I think the philosophy was.  Job done and straight into the GLC for birthday drinks.

Visibility: Overcast, poor
Snow: 13cm
Piste Condition: Fresh deep snow
Wind: None, increasing to light later
Temperature: -6 at the base to -15 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Heavy

I headed on over to Blackcomb today for a bit of a different ride and to get some big powder riding in.  There was a fair bit of cloud today at more than a couple levels, so when I got up the top of Excalibur and saw that Crystal was clear I headed for that.

I headed on over to the right and found that the piste was well groomed and un-touched.  So I hit the thing a couple times.  It was a really nice flow.  I then decided to head on up to the glacier.  As I got to the top and looked down the "Blow Hole" and I really fancied giving it a go. So I did.  It was really cool but too much powder in the bottom of the hole so that you couldn't go all the way down.  I popped out the side, which was like a half-pipe and as there was virtually no visibility I have no idea how high I went, but it felt like a very long time before landing.  The run back to Excalibur was really nice too, no longer any ice patches (I'm sure they are still there, just not today) and it was fun keeping up the speed.

I decided that this was a really good run so headed back to the glacier.  This time I headed off to the far side of the glacier and made more fresh tracks.  It was so deep that it was really difficult to keep my board from torpedoing and having to keep all the weight on the back foot.  It was quite tiring.

Heading up Jersey Cream, I headed on over to Seventh Heaven.  It was really windy up the top, so I kept to the main trails.  Other than that it was really un-eventfull.

First gondola, last lift day.  As there was loads of fresh snow (25cm) today, I started early and it was defo a 'no friends' day.

Hopping onto one of the first gondolas at Whistler, I headed straight up and into Franz's Meadow.  The powder was knee deep, if a little heavy.  There was simply so much snow to be had, only trouble is that everyone else was after the snow.  Dave Murray was excellent and I made a few runs over to the Garbonzo lift, including some tree runs in "Unsanctioned" and "Bat 21".

I then headed on up the Peak chair and on around to Symphony.  The snow in Symphony was a little dryer and lighter than elsewhere and was real fun.  Only trouble was that the snow was so deep it was really hard to get to areas which hadn't already had someone else run it.  I floated around Symphony for a while, before heading back up Harmony and in to the Round House for a well deserved lunch.

After lunch I headed down some tree runs to Emerald and then headed back up the Peak chair and back over into Symphony.  I expected the place to be much more tracked out, but the disappointing thing was that the snow had started to get heavier.  A few more runs over there, and it was all to quickly the last Symphony lift.  So I headed up Harmony and rode the ridge over to the top of the T-Bars and down the side to the Peak Chair.  Again this was the last lift, so I decided to take the Peak to Creak run and the ski out.

I headed into the Bagel bowl, but it was already tracked out, but was still quite good.  After getting onto the Peak to Creak it got really mouguled and the snow had turned into summer sticky snow.  The ski out was also really sticky, but entertaining.

Long day, but good!

Visibility: Overcast, two cloud layers, poor
Snow: 25cm
Piste Condition: Fresh deep snow, but heavy and getting heavier
Wind: None, increasing to light later
Temperature: -1 at the base to -3 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Heavy

Wasn't in a very good mood today.  So plugged in the tunes, cranked up the volume and just rode!

Headed up Whistler and arrived at Big Red.  However the lines were horrendous so headed straight over to Garbonzo.  I managed to put in a few laps down Upper Dave Murry and on down back to Garbonzo. On about my third or fourth round I remembered what Rich said last night, in that despite the Harmony chair being closed, it is only a short hike after getting the Peak Chair in order to get over into Harmony.  So I headed on up Big Red, and found that the T-bars had just been opened.

Jumped on the T-bars and headed straight on over into Harmony piste.  There was no-one there!  I had the whole thing practically to myself.  I boomed it down the slope and charged down sidewinder towards Emerald.  Emerald chair was full loaded with people, so headed toward Garbonzo.  The Olympic run down to Garbonzo was icy and lumpy and not in a very good state.  Headed up Garbonzo, down Dave Murry and back to Big Red.

The loop seamed like a good one to me so I did it a few times.  Each time there was no-one on the Harmony slope and it made for some great riding.  Only on the last ride down was there even anyone on the slope.  One guy, going really slowly.  So passed him quickly.

After a few laps it was getting late, and I managed to catch one of the last Big Red chairs, and got down to Garbonzo as quick as I could for the last chair there too.  Once again I headed down Upper Dave Murry and on to Cross Roads for a rid down to Creek Side, and down to Rowlands to watch the Canucks game.

Visibility: Excellent - Blue Bird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack, with icy patches and ground showing through
Wind: Light
Temperature: +4 at the base to -4 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy
Lift Lines: Heavy

The Harmony chair has been closed due to a chair "falling off".

Another slow start to the day, but it soon picked up.  I initially just cruised up and down towards Garbonzo, that was until Rich gave me a call.  I hurtled it down to the Whistler village and met Rich at the Whistler Gondola. On the way up once of the Mountain Safety guys let us know why the Harmony chair had been closed.  Apparently one of the chairs fell off!  It hasn't been a good year for the Whistler mountain, what with all the mechanical failures and the HUGE number of deaths that have occurred.

Once we got up to the to we decided to head on up the Peak chair and over into Symphony.  The runs were actually really quite nice and ran well.  After a couple runs in the Symphony we decided it was done and headed back on over towards Emerald.  Finding the lift line to be huge we carried on down to Garbonzo.  From then on we did the Upper Dave Murry run and swung around back to Garbonzo.

We eventually had had enough and decided to head out via the ski out.  It was really icy and fast, but still a lot of fun.

Visibility: Excellent - Blue Bird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack, with icy patches and ground showing through
Wind: Light
Temperature: -1 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy

The Harmony chair has been closed due to a chair "falling off".

The day started off slowly.  I didn't want to push the ankle too much.  I headed up Whistler and generally just rode around the mountain.

I was starting to actually get a little bored, then Chris gave me a call and we met up at the Round House.  Chris had his camera with him, so we decided to take advantage of the sun and take some 'action' photos of us slashing the snow.  Ended up being quite a fun afternoon.

We then stopped at the Chick Pea for a last drink and allow all the 'plebs' to get off the mountain before we headed down.  The run out was pretty good and we rounded off the day with watching the Canucks in the Cinnamon Bear.

Visibility: Excellent - Blue Bird
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack, with icy patches and ground showing through
Wind: Light
Temperature: -1 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy

The Harmony chair has been closed due to a chair "falling off".

My first day back on the snow after doing in my ankle.  I started off later in the morning than usual as didn't want to over stress my ankle.  Went up Whistler and decided to take it quite easy.  Good job too, as I was initially struggling.  Things did improve however and the ankle started to feel better and the speed crept up.  I rode around mostly to runs that took me down to the Garbonzo lift.

I eventually decided to head on over to Harmony.  On the way down I tweaked my ankle again so rested on the slope for a while.  I decided to carry on for a while and see how it felt.  From then on however I was struggling on my toe side edge and couldn't keep the edge.  I then decided to head to the Round House for a hot chocolate and a biscuit.  After that I then headed on around for a few more runs.  Heading up the Peak chair the weather was closing in and the visibility was getting worse.  I then decided to head on down before things got worse and before my ankle gave out.

Not a great day, but just glad to get out and be on the snow.

Visibility: Good deteriorating to poor
Snow: none
Piste Condition: Hard pack, with icy patches and ground showing through
Wind: Light
Temperature: -1 at the base to -8 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Got a call last night from Chris and he and Rich were looking to go sledding today.  I jumped at the chance to do something different.  I met the guys shortly after 15:00 and we checked in to Outdoor Adventures.  We were driven to Cougar Mountain where we were kitted out.  We had our own group and an English guide and then set off.  The sleds that you get are really big and heavy and took me a while to get used to it and to feel comfortable.

We set off and I was first behind the guide.  We arrived at a small open area where we were allowed to rid our sleds on our own.  This is where I got a good feel for the sled.  Gunning the throttle and going as fast as was available and also getting some air over some humps.  All too soon we were off again.

We eventually got to this lake where we had to ride over it as fast as possible.  Excellent.  Another great chance to gun the throttle.  After that we were at a big open frozen lake.  Here we were told to simply always go around ant clockwise and to avoid the marked areas.

And they were off.  The next half hour was spent just gunning the throttle, hanging on for dear life whilst keeping my speed up going around the bend and generally trying to go as fast as possible.  It was a great time.  We then stopped for some hot chocolate and some soup.  A welcome break from all the efforts needed to keep the sled going.

After the break we started to head off.  The sun was starting to set and it was getting quite dark.  The lights on the sleds were good and looked really cool when we were all going around the tracks and bouncing around.

All too soon the day was over and we were back at the start.  A well worth it time.  I will definatley be doing that again, and hopefully again!

Start Time: 13/02/2009 14:08:25
End Time: 13/02/2009 18:25:40
Duration: 04:17:15
Total Distance (approx): 53.4km

Got up this morning to find that there was 11cm of fresh powder out there.  Myself and Edd headed on out to Whistler mountain.  We decided to hike up Pikas trail and over into the Harmony Bowl.  We hiked up to the avalanche marker and made fresh tracks into the gorgeous powder.  It was really great powder in there.  We headed on down towards the Harmony chair, but it wasn't open so headed straight to the Emerald chair and back to the hike.  We hit the fresh powder again, once again making fresh tracks.  Brilliant.

At the top of Emerald this time we decided to hit Ratfink and some tree runs.  We good but already tracked out. Around again, we headed further round and dropped into the trees above right of harmony.  Good, but still needs a lot more powder.  We decided to wait in the Harmony lift line and wait for it to open.  We lucked in and only had to wait for 2 minutes.

On the way up Harmony we decided to hit the Horseshoe 6.  As we got around to it there was two skiers scoping out the drop in.  Myself and Edd were really cheeky and did not wait.  We dropped straight in.  I hit a hard lump almost straight in and tweaked my bad ankle.  The run out however was great.  We headed over towards the Gun Barrels.  It was quite moguly here, and I tweaked my ankle even more here as I hit a big mogul before seeing it.

At the top of harmony we decided to head over into Symphony bowl.  I kept to the left and hit a rock head on and flipped.  Tweaking my ankle yet again.  Now my ankle was in real trouble.  As such we only made a couple runs down symphony before heading down the saddle and into the ski out.  Edd had work to go to and I just couldn't board any more.

Lets hope that my ankle is a bit better for tomorrow, as it is quite swollen at the moment.

Start Time: 09/02/2009 08:14:37
End Time: 09/02/2009 12:25:31
Duration: 04:10:54
Total Distance (approx): 53.8km

Visibility: Good
Snow: 11cm
Piste Condition: Powder with hard pack underneath
Wind: Moderate to heavy
Temperature: -4 at the base to -11 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

It just wasn't happening today.  I got up the mountain quite early, but it was really quite cold.  I couldn't get warm all day, despite it not being a very cold day.  I also forgot to start the GPS logger, and that really annoyed me too!

I headed up Blackcomb with the idea of hitting the Terrain garden and trying out the 180's again.  The piste condition was extremely solid, and didn't ease up at any time during the day either, that coupled with the very poor visibility made even seeing the lip of the jumps difficult.  I went around the Terrain garden at least 10 times during the day, and whilst enjoying the first jump, the second I just couldn't get right.  I was trying to get my line into the jump set-up and didn't do a very good job.

I had lunch at the Glacier Creek today before heading back up the Jersey Cream and back to the Terrain Garden.  It was very crowded and the conditions hadn't improved much.  So I only gave it another few trips around, and eventually called it a day at just after 14:30.

Snow is expected on Sunday night, so let's hope it's a lot and I get my 'mojo' back

Visibility: Poor
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Choppy powder with loads of icy patches
Wind: Heavy
Temperature: -4 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Heavy

After some excellent advice from Will (the landlord and Level 3 instructor and park instructor) I headed straight to the Blackcomb Terrain garden and practiced my lines again and again, and built my knowledge of the jumps.  I went around the park four times just getting my lines right and pulling some straight airs with grabs, in order to get to know the park.  On the run out back to the Solar coaster chair there is a hit at the side which allowed me to pull a Half Cab (front-side 180) which I was really starting to dial down.

After these four runs Rich met me up and we hit the terrain garden together for a couple runs.  This time however I was starting to pull switch 180's on the first kicker, but still pulled the straight airs on the second.  All the time hitting the rails, boxes and benches on the way down, and continuing to hit the Half Cab before the chair.

After this we decided to hit the "Blue Park".  Oh my god!  Even the medium jumps are HUGE, especially the landing and run outs which are extremely steep.  You also had to hit each of the jumps almost straight lined!  I did however manage to hit the landing on each of the jumps but one.  Even that one I hit the transition but wasn't lines up correctly, but still managed to ride it out (eventually).  We then rode into the super pipe.  The first ride in the pipe wasn't so good, but not too bad.  I tried to remember the advice my regular riding buddy from the UK gave me (MDO), and tried to keep my front leg a bit straighter.

We headed around the blue park again.  I had a much better run this time.  Also this time I had quite a good pipe ride.  I was much higher up the transition and felt much better in the transitions.

After a spot of lunch we hit the Terrain garden again for a re-warm-up.  This time we decided to throw more spins in this time.  Rich landed his first 360 and I managed to land a really nice and floaty switch 180.  So we then repeated the run out, and again I was managing to spin on the hit and land my Half Cab.

We again went into the Blue Park.  This time Rich tried to pull a 360 on the first big jump.  He didn't quite manage it but it was a really, really good try! For myself, I hit everyone of the jumps on the way down, hitting the transition really well (on one I was leaning a bit too forward and nose pressed the landing for about 3m, before getting it down!) and just scorched through the park.

On the way up again we got a call from Chris, who had headed up Whistler Gondola.  So myself and Rich jumped into the Peak2Peak and headed over.  There was only time to charge down to Garbonzo, hitting loads of hits and jumps over rollers, before we had to ride down.  Myself and Rich decided to ride the "Ski Out" to Bayshores where the house is.  I have to say that it was very interesting sketchy and extremely narrow in places.  I will have to be much more aggressive in riding it next time, now that I know the exact route.

What an awesome days in the park!  More to follow tomorrow...

Start Time: 06/02/2009 10:08:00
End Time: 06/02/2009 16:29:25
Duration: 06:21:25
Total Distance (approx): 90.9km

Visibility: Poor in the morning, increasing to excellent in the afternoon
Snow: 1-3cm
Piste Condition: Choppy powder with some icy patches
Wind: Moderate to heavy
Temperature: -2 at the base to -7 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

Today was a day for going fast.  Well, before the slopes got too chopped up!  I just simply charged around the mountain building my self confidence over the slopes at the higher average speeds.  Harmony was especially fast today.

I headed for lunch at about 11:30 and when I finished and left the roundhouse Rich gave me a call to say that he was on his way up.  I headed on up the Peak chair and over into the Bagel Bowl.  The bowl was extremely disappointing as it was fully crusty and hard packed.  I headed on past Big Red and onto Garbonzo, then down and over to Emerald.  Despite putting in three different lifts, I was still waiting at the 'light board' for Rich.

We simply then headed on around the mountain looking for some fun areas to ride, and ended up in Symphony for a couple runs.  It was just too choppy, so we headed on over to Harmony and hit the main run down a couple times as it was fast and fun.

We rode around for a while longer and planned to head down to Creekside to buy some sushi for dinner.  However, we were mucking around too much and riding switch and throwing in some 180's that we missed the last turn that would have allowed up to get to Creekside.  We tried hitting a couple tree runs to try and get over but it wasn't happening.  We did however see people getting the Garbonzo chair and chanced it, as it was after 15:40.  We were in luck, and this time headed straight down Dave Murry all of the way to the bottom...without stopping.  Good day.

Start Time: 05/02/2009 09:24:09
End Time: 05/02/2009 16:00:17
Duration: 06:36:08
Total Distance (approx): 99.3km

Visibility: Very good, with light cloud in the afternoon
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Choppy powder with some icy patches
Wind: None to light
Temperature: +4 at the base to -4 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

Another amazing day on the slopes.  Early start again and headed out to the slopes with Edd.  We headed up the Creekside Gondola and straight over to Garbonzo via the BMX track.  Much nicer today on the BMX track.  We hit a couple runs, waiting for the Harmony and Symphony runs to open up.  When Harmony opened up we headed down the Harmony ridge for a little and then hikes up a small ridge and dropped the steeps into Hidden Chute.  It's quite a steep slope and had already been tracked so it was a little difficult to get a rhythm going.  At the bottom, both myself and Edd hit some really hard avalanche debris.  I banged my left ankle, and Edd flipped!

We headed straight on up Symphony chair and decided to hike the Flute.  We had a look at the whole ridge and ended up heading down the Flute Shoulder.  Turns out to have been an excellent idea.  The turns we made were so powder filled and our tracks were the only tracks in there.  The lines were so blinking sweet, powder filled and fast.  Once we got back to the Symphony chair and after a very quick discussion, we were again hiking the Flute Bowl.  Again we hit the Flute Shoulder.  No-one had hit it in the mean time, so it was still only our tracks, and because there is a lot of terrain to hit we laid down yet more fresh tracks.

By now it was quite late and Edd had to head off to go to work, so that left me at the bottom of Symphony.  I headed on up and rode down and over to Harmony chair and around to the Round House as I really needed a drink and some lunch.

After lunch I headed on over to Blackcomb over the Peak2Peak.  My intention was to hit some runs and I then ended up in the Terrain Garden.  Today I was getting some good straight airs, but with a lot of grabs.  Managed that quite a few times before the last lift.  Headed on straight down the mountain and closed out the day.

Start Time: 03/02/2009 08:21:40
End Time: 03/02/2009 15:52:04
Duration: 07:30:24
Total Distance (approx): 97.9km

Visibility: Very good, with light cloud in the afternoon
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Choppy powder
Wind: None with light wind in the late day
Temperature: +3 at the base to +4 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Light

Today I finally took the plunge and bought some backcountry safety gear.  With all the off-piste riding, tree runs, hiking and general avalanche risks I thought it was time.  This is what I bought:

Ortovox D3 Avalanche Transceiver

Weight: 247g

The triple antenna system on this digital beacon allows precise, pin-point location of signals. Display uses three direction arrows, numerical distance LEDs and multiple burials indicator.

• Carrying system includes cover and elastic straps.
• Single button twists to change from transmit to receive.
• Earphone jack (earphones not included).
• Dimensions are 130 x 80 x 25mm.
• Nominal range is 40m.
• Normal battery life transmits for 300 hours, receives for 40 hours.
• Uses 2 AA batteries (included). Battery strength indicator.
• Meets European Standard EN 300 718.

G3 AviTech Shovel

Weight: 760g (Std)

This is a strongly-built shovel; the connector tube and blade have been heat-treated after welding to relieve residual stresses and produce a rugged shaft-to-blade interface.

• Blade is made from 6061 T6 aluminum.
• Silver anodized aluminum shaft.
• D-grip handle for easy grip; it features a unique ice axe loop attachment point.
• Handle and blade are red for easy location in the snow.
• Dry-stash compartment in handle.
• Multiple slots in the blade allow easy attachment to pack, rigging an emergency rescue sled with skis, or rigging as a deadman snow anchor.
• Available in two versions: ultralight short or longer telescoping handle.

Black Diamond Quick Draw 230cm Carbon Fiber Probe

Weight: 212g

Lightweight and easily packable, this ultra-rigid, large diameter carbon probe has speed bullets for rapid assembly. The velcro closure on the stuff sack pulls open quickly so you can deploy it in just seconds.

• Made of light, tough carbon fibre.
• Marked every 5cm under clearcoat.
• Ideal for professional use.
• Diameter is 1.3cm.
• Packed length is 44cm.
• Assembled length is 230cm.
• Includes stuff sack.

The day started early and proved to be a good idea.  I woke up to find that the forecast was wrong at saying 1-2cm, but instead was 14cm.  Great!  I headed on out with Edd and we headed on straight up Whistler and over to Franzs.  We tore up the powder and it was the best snow of the season for me so far!  At the bottom of the Franz chair, we dropped immediate left into the trees and had more deep powder, but in the trees.  It was quite a job in there as all of the turns and bumps meant you had to be really aggressive in order to get those turns in and not hit the trees or huge bumps.

After that I took Edd to the BMX track that Chris showed me the other day.  We were the first to hit the track and as such it was a bit difficult to keep your speed.  However we both loved it, and intend to go hit it again in the future.  I did intend to hit it as a late run in the day but that didn't happen.

We headed on up Garbonzo and then headed down upper Dave Murray.  It was quite good but a bit tracked already.  We then headed on over to the other BMX track that has a BIG drop at the end.  It was better than it was the other day and much easier to ride.  Near the bottom of it however, as I went into one of the burns, I clipped a rock and flipped.  No damage to me or the board, thankfully.

We headed back up Big Red and then headed over to the top of Emerald and hiked up the cat track until we met the avalanche signs (as Harmony wasn't open yet).  We then dropped some really sick powder lines down and past Harmony.  We rode past Emerald as the lines were huge.  So, back up Garbonzo.  We again headed on down Dave Murry but the lines were really tracked, but still some good powder to be had.

Once again we headed back up Big Red and then did the little hike up past Emerald again for more lines.  This time the avalanche signs were higher up the cat-track so it opened up some more terrain.  It didn't fail us, as we put down some really good lines in there again.  This time, we noticed that people were waiting at the Harmony chair and decided to give it a try.

We arrived at about 11:20, and unfortunately the lift just did not look to be opening up for Edd, so he had to head down as he had work to go to.  After the usual snowball fight, the chair eventually opened at 12:10...it was just SO worth it!  I immediately headed down Harmony Ridge and straight into the McCools Couloir and simply dropped straight into it, no messing...I must admit that the time I spent in the air I was a little surprised at just how long it was.  No idea of just how big the drop was, but bigger than my normal.  I put in a few turns, and I triggered a small slab avalanche.  Thankfully as I was one of the first on Harmony and there was no-one below me, there wasn't and problem.  So I maxed it down to Harmony again.

At the top of Harmony it turned out that the Symphony chair was open and so I headed down Burnt Stew trail (couldn't see a darned thing as it was quite wet and the snow was sticking and meting on the goggles...no matter how much you wiped, you were limited for visibility).  There were so many un-tracked ways to get down.  So I did it again, and again and again.

On the fourth time, I hit the line for the lift, but it had stopped/broken down.  For ages (and again the usual snowball fight) everyone waited, and waited.  However it just wasn't going to go.  So everyone who was there (about 300 people) had to take the hike out.  Not good.  I was knackered already, but to have to hike out really took it out of me.

Eventually got onto the Harmony chair and blindly made my way down the saddle, and straight down the mountain.  On getting close to the top of the Creekside gondola I contemplated taking the gondola down.  I just couldn't face myself if I did that so took the run down.  It was really knackering as the snow further down was really sticky and heavy.  Was glad to get down save and sound.

Start Time: 02/02/2009 09:04:37
End Time: 02/02/2009 15:33:16
Duration: 06:28:39
Total Distance (approx): 41.0km

Visibility: Overcast with low cloud patches, better light in the trees
Snow: 14cm
Piste Condition: Powder
Wind: Starting off moderate, easing to none
Temperature: +1 at the base to -4 at the top.
Crowding: Light
Lift Lines: Varied from light to heavy

Got of to a slower start than normal.  Myself and Rich headed out and we met his family who are here for a few days.  Myself, Rich, Nick and Chris (Rich's brothers) headed straight on up Peak chair.  We then headed down Whistler Bowl and onto the face.  There were patches of really nice powder, but there were also some really hard lumps of snow in there.  That coupled with poor visibility made it quite a difficult ride down.

We then headed on back up Peak Chair to do the other side, and headed down Peak to Creek.  IT was only now that I remembered to switch on the GPS. Taking the Khyber trail and then joining onto Highway 86, we dropped of at the base of the bagel bowl and into the little valley run that I liked the last time I was here.  It was really cool, but Rich's brothers struggled a little with the tight conditions and trees.  We popped out on to the Peak to Creek for real before heading down too far.  This was really painful as it was full of moguls and was quite icy.

At the bottom we headed back up the Creekside Gondola and when we were on Big Red the other Chris (pool at the Cinnamon Bear Bar) phoned and we all met up at the bottom of the Harmony Chair.  We headed down Burnt Stew trail and kept to the right as Chris knew this really nice wind lip drop that we just had to do.  There were a lot of different lines off the lip and we all had a few goes.  I personally didn't go too large, but do need to work my way up.

After that we decided to hike the Flute bowl as the conditions were actually quite good out of where it had all been previously tracked out.  To do this we headed on first down to the Symphony chair.  At the top Chis took a photo of Rich and his brothers and he headed on down to the bottom of the flute hike.  30 minutes later we were at the top and looking to drop into the Flute North.  Nice little drop in with loads of powder to be had.  There were areas of previous snow debris and if you ran them then the snow wasn't too good.

We got to the bottom of the Symphony chair to discover that the chair had closed already.  We either had to wait for Piste Patrol and be taken down with them in a group or hike out up to the Harmony Chair.  We chose the hike out as there was to be about an half hour wait for Piste patrol.  Was a shame we had to hike, as it took a little off of the experience.

We made the last Emerald chair and headed to the Round house for a quick drink.

For the last run out Chris took us down to some of the BMX tracks.  Really interesting but scary for the first time you do them.  We then boomed it down to the village and for a quick beer in Cinnamon Bear Bar.  Job done.

Start Time: 31/10/2009 11:09:22
End Time: 31/01/2009 16:28:40
Duration: 05:19:18
Total Distance (approx): 40.1km

Visibility: Overcast with low cloud patches, occasional bright periods
Snow: 1cm
Piste Condition: Light powder on top of hard groomed, with patches of ice
Wind: Moderate dropping to light
Temperature: -0 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Varied from moderate to heavy

Visibility: Overcast with low cloud patches
Snow: trace
Piste Condition: Heavy snow with icy patches
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -3 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Headed up and out on my own today with the intention of getting some runs in on Whistler mountain before heading over to Blackcomb for some park riding.  However, with all the best intentions it doesn't always happen that way.  I was just to physically tired today to do too much, and with the heavy going conditions and extremely limited visibility it was tough going that took a lot of energy.

I had wanted to head on over to Symphony to enjoy some tree runs, but it wasn't the best.  I just couldn't find any decent lines through the trees and decided to give up on that one.  Headed on over the saddle and down to big red and up for an early and long lunch.

I then flipped a coin and as it was heads I headed on over the Peak2Peak to at least give Blackcomb a go.  I headed for the Crystal chair.  Man I forgot that that chair is so slow!  I took the ridge runner route and wanted to try and find some tree runs here.  Again I was disapointed as it was all done and moguled.  So when I got down again I headed up the Glacier Explress and up on over the back.  Again the conditions were not so good, but better than the last time I was over there.  The run out was good though, enjoyed that.

Headed on up to the Terrain garden for a couple goes, however most of the jumps had not been made and all that there was there to hit were the rails.  So, still did it a couple times.  Got the urge to go shopping so decided to head back over the Peak2Peak and ride down there to the base of Creekside.

Not a good day for the conditions and not a good day for the motivation and energy levels.  There is always tomorrow

Start Time: 29/10/2009 10:04:01
End Time: 26/01/2009 15:14:52
Duration: 05:10:51
Total Distance (approx): 74.8km

Visibility: Overcast with low cloud patches
Snow: trace
Piste Condition: Heavy snow with icy patches
Wind: Moderate
Temperature: -4 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Visibility: Overcast, with extremely poor visibility
Snow: trace
Piste Condition: Heavy and chopped with patches of ice
Wind: Moderate to strong gusts
Temperature: -4 at the base to -8 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Got up whistler this morning to some cold conditions, but not as cold as yesterday.  The weather however was the problem for the day.  There was loads of low cloud and terrible visibility around.  I started off just simply getting around the resort, trying to not get injured in the poor conditions.  I made a decision to head on over to Symphony and ride some tree runs.  However the conditions were so cold and wet with the falling snow that my goggles and helmet were freezing.  This made it near impossible to see anything, which then coupled with a white out made it so that I could only carefully and slowly make my way down "Burn Stew" trail and over to Symphony.  At the top there was another rider who also had the same tough conditions and he decided to follow me down.  Once I got to the trees they were really good riding to be had in there.

The guy who followed me also got on the chair with me and we got chatting.  His name was Neil and he was from Redding.  He told me that I looked like I knew what I was doing and where I was going so in these conditions he decided to follow me.  We spent the rest of the day riding together as in such poor conditions it is good policy to have someone watching your back and you watching their back.  We did symphony again, however this time we went too far right from the top and ended up in some difficult terrain that wasn't greatley enjoyable, but still better able to see what I'm doing!

We ended up the day heading up Harmony, down the Saddle, into Fitz's, down to big red, over towards Garbonzo and straight down into the village where we had a beer to end the day!

Start Time: 27/10/2009 09:50:36
End Time: 26/01/2009 15:08:20
Duration: 05:17:44
Total Distance (approx): 72.7km

Today was a 4 layer day, as it was damn cold this morning.  -17 to be exact, without wind chill...Ouch!  I plumped up to Whistler early this morning and proceeded to get around the mountain.  I immediately headed on up the Peak chair, with the hope of getting down the Peak to Creek.  Unfortunately it was closed so I headed on over to the Symphony bowl.  I then headed on up Harmony chair and hit in a few other runs and headed on down to Big Red.  At the top of big red I was really cold so headed on in to the Round House for a hot chocolate.

I met Edd and Adam in the round house, and after a coffee and also a hot chocolate, I headed on out with Adam.  I rode with Adam for most of the rest of the day, and at his request I gave him a few pointers on how to improve his riding.  We headed on over the Harmony ridge and did a few runs over there before heading back to Emerald and hitting a few runs down Dave Murry Downhill.

Adam had to head off to meet his fiancée who works in the roundhouse and I headed on back up the Peak chair.  This time the upper Peak to Creek run was open, so I headed on down that.  Not much of the Peak was open but it was a really good view as the sun was setting.  Headed on back up Big Red for another rid down before calling it a day.

Start Time: 26/10/2009 08:51:28
End Time: 26/01/2009 15:13:00
Duration: 06:21:32
Total Distance (approx): 84.2km

Visibility: Snowing, overcast
Snow: 3-7cm
Piste Condition: Light powder on top of hard pack
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: -7 at the base to -13 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Early up on the mountain once again today.  Headed on back up Whistler and was supposed to meet Chris (one of the guys fromm the Pool competition night at Cinnamon Bear).  Whilst I waited by the light board, I met Adam (another house mate) who volunteers on Saturdays and one of his colleagues and had a chat.  As Chris didn't show up at the allocated time I thought that I'd get a run down to Emerald in.  On the way back up I noticed that the Peak chair was open, for the first time in the season.  So scurried on over and joined the queue.

I managed to get on quite an early chair and had a good look at the slopes on the way up.  Looked like loads of powder, but not enough to cover the rocks.  At the top I decided to head down "the face" as it appeared to be the only way open.  After a couple steep drops I was on the open piste.  There was some nice powder there to be had, but after quite a few days being backed by the sun it was quite heavy.  On the way down, you could tell that people were going a bit nuts, as on the way I passed 4 skiiers who were receiving medical attention.  All within 1/2 hour of the lift being opened!

Decided to hit it again before it all got too tracked out, as it appeared that the entire mountain was here on the Peak chair.  On this run it was more of the same, more baked heavy powder and more skiiers being helped off the slopes.  Strange how it was all skiiers!  Once at the bottom the queue for the lift was too great and the slope conpletley trecked that I decided to leave it to everyone else and charged my way to red chair.

On the way to Big Red, I could tell that all the sun was really turning the slope into an ice field.  On one slope especially there was a huge section of blue ice.  Had to be careful when hitting this, and just straight lined it and put in a turn way down the slope when there was something for the board to grip.

Got to the top of Big Red and noticed that on the light board that Symphony Chair was open.  This is a new chair for me, as the last time I was here in 2005/6 it wasn't built.  It has opened up a lot of terrain and a lot of runs through the trees.  I only did one run through as I arranged with Chris as a back-up to meet at 12:00 by the light board.  Will have to head back here and really give it a good thrashing with the board.

Unfortunatley Chris didn't make it so I went for lunch and then headed on over to Blackcomb via the Peak2Peak.  I headed on over to the Glacier bowl to see how it was.  I was increadibly dissapointed at the conditions up there.  Compared to the last season I was here there is so little snow and vastly less terrain available to ride as a result.  It was also really choppy as it had been trecked by everyone.  However I really enjoyed the run-out as it was fast and fun.

Not wanting to go to the glacier again I decided to spend some time in the Terrain Garden.  Certainly getting the straight airs in there, along with the rails and boxes, but need to do more.  Just need to work on the confidence levels and put some real dedicated time into the park.  After a couple ride arounds and the out via Sunset Boulevard, I met Jess and Nicky.  They too were hitting the terrain garden so I rode with then for a couple 'go rounds'.  The lifts were closing so we did a final hike half way up and put in a last few jumps and rails.  The intention was to rid down to the base but I managed to lose them on the way (I charged off ahead!).

Day end.  Glad tomorrow is my day off as my knee really started to ache quite badly once I was off the slopes.  I guess the heavy conditions and me trying to be a bit more agressive in my riding took it's tole.  Still, no pain no gain...right?

Start Time: 24/10/2009 08:25:54
End Time: 24/01/2009 15:29:06
Duration: 07:03:12
Total Distance (approx): 87.4km

Didn't really do much today other than be quite lazy on the slope, and just ride.

Start Time: 23/10/2009 11:15:08
End Time: 23/01/2009 16:03:44
Duration: 04:48:36
Total Distance (approx): 54.3km

Headed on up the slopes just a little later today than normal, but was still up the slopes by 09:40.  I headed on out with Rich, another of the house mates and we hit the slopes.  Later we met up with Jess (English lass from Newcastle) and one of her friends Tyler (Canadian from Ottowa).  We just simply headed around the mountain hitting some jibbs and hitting some speed.  Nice cool and chilled day!

Start Time: 22/10/2009 10:22:28
End Time: 22/01/2009 16:09:51
Duration: 05:47:23
Total Distance (approx): 70.5km

Visibility: Sunny with cloudy periods
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed with ice patches
Wind: Light.
Temperature: -1 at the base to +8 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Visibility: Sunny with cloudy periods
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed with ice patches
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +0 at the base to +7 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Early start once again.  Headed on up Whistler once more.  There was a bit of cloud cover today.  Hopefully that is a good sign and that the snow is a coming!

Today the snow was really good in the morning as everything was nicely groomed.  Thus the riding this morning was all about getting around as fast as possible, and just enjoying myself.  I again covered a lot of the mountain before heading in for an early lunch at 11:30.

After lunch I headed on out and decided to put in a lot more switch riding.  It's coming along but it's still not great.

See below for interactive GPS map:

Start Time: 20/10/2009 08:21:25
End Time: 20/01/2009 14:22:20
Duration: 06:00:55
Total Distance (approx): 85.3km

Visibility: Sunny with light cloud
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed with ice patches
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +0 at the base to +7 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Early, early start again today.  Was close to getting the first gondola up Whistler mountain.  The weather is so warm at the moment, but the conditions of the groomed piste in the mornings is fantastic.  I decided that today was going to be a 'blow the cobwebs' out day, and also try and get back some of my confidence.  I think I achieved both today to some degree.

My mission today was to go everywhere and just enjoy myself.  I think I covered a lot of terrain today, and I'll find out when I get the GPS out.  I rode everything from Harmony, the Saddle, Big Red, Emerald, Garbonzo, and every run in-between.

I had lunch early as the piste was getting a bit busy and also as the temperature increased so did the choppy of the slopes. After a quick lunch I thought that I'd do more of the same.  Eventually got one of the last t-bars, harmony chairs, then one of the last Emerald chairs, and then flipped a coin to see which mountain base I would ride on down to.  Ended up at the bottom of Creekside after a long, but good, days riding.  Well happy with today.

See below for interactive GPS map:

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +0 at the base to +9 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light to moderate.

Visibility: Sunny
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +0 at the base to +0 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy.
Lift Lines: Heavy.

On Whistler again today, and up the mountain really quite early on my own.  As it was a weekend I expected it to be quite busy and it was, especially as it is a US long weekend holiday.  Got the GPS out again (to upload later).  I started out with some switch riding to get back into the groove.  Headed on down towards the Garbonzo lift, which is a nice easy green/blue set of runs.  I need to work a lot more on my switch as it simply is not good enough.

After a few runs I noticed that the Harmony chair was running.  So after a run or two I headed on up the T-bars and on over to harmony.  Whilst in the lift line I met Edd and Will, so I rode with them from the top onwards.  It was Will's last day before having to head home.  So we wanted to explore and cruz around the mountain.  We went all over the mountain, and hit a few good trails.

Edd and Will left around about 2pm, which left me to run around on my own for a few runs.  Nothing too special about that.  See GPS map below:

Visibility: Sunny
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +0 at the base to +9 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy.
Lift Lines: Heavy.

I didn't go up the mountain today.  Being the 'old man' that I am, and with nursing a few long term injuries, I needed to rest up the ankle and knee.

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: 0 at the base to +9 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

With the weather being so warm up top with all the sunshine, it's an early start again today.  Headed on out with Edd and Will and we headed on up Whistler mountain.  Today was going to be a day in the park.  We laid down a few lines down towards Emerald befoer starting to hit the park.  The first medium kicker has a nide drop off and it felt quite comfortable straight away.  Furthr down there was a spine, which is not my favourite but I gave it a go anyway.  Not brilliant (not enough confidence) but still hitting it.  After that there are a nother couple of medium jumps.  The first one, after 3 tries and hitting the knuckle each time, I finally worked out my speed and for the rest of the day was landing good and sweek straight airs.  After that there is a jump that at the moment is too big for me as I havent got the confidence up there yet.  Instead I rode the up rail next to it.  Quite a nice rail.  After that there are only a couple more jumps/rails, all of which I either avoided or used them as little kickers.

All in all quite a good park day.  I also took out the GPS logger today. See below:

Visibility: Sunny
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: 0 at the base to +8 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +1 at the base to +5 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Visibility: Cloudy.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Variable.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +3 at the base to -4 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Rain in the morning, with a very high freezing level.  Getting colder during the day and a very light dusting of snow.

Today started early, especially as I was tired and went to be early.  I headed on out with a couple of guys from the house and one of their brothers who is here for the week.  So myself, Seth (who is my room mate), Edd and his brother Will headed on out to Creekside.  Seth and Edd are skiiers by the way, so it was 2*2 sticks and 2*1 plank!

We hit a few runs out an about.  I could tell that I was not in very good shape and was quite apprehensive.  Don't need another injury!  It was also the first time out with me new stick the K2 0 (zero).  So I wasn't sure if the set-up was good or not.  Ended up that the set-up was near spot on, and I only have to adjust the stance width a little.

A lot of both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains are not open due to the extremely high avalanche risks.  So it did feel a little cramped on the mountain.  I couldn't go to all my 'old haunts'.  The good thing is that the new "Peek 2 Peek" gondola is open.  This new gondola links Whistler and Blackcomb mountains in an 11 minute, and smooth ride.  I was quite impressed.  Especially at just how high you are from the ground at the half way!

So, we made our way over to Blackcomb mountain.  We were heading over to Seventh Heaven, when we stopped and had a go though the slalom timing gate.  I had a terrible run.  Just haven't got my 'snow legs' yet and slid out half way!  Oh well.  So we headed on over to Seventh Heaven.  As always, this area gets hit by the winds, and is very rocky.  There isn't actually that much snow around.  Loads of moguls.  Not a snowboarders choice.  Did have some interesting tree runs however.

After that we decided to head on down "Sunset Boulevard" and then go hit the terrain garden.  We did that a few times.  Was good to pop some air and hit a few rails and boxes.  I 'thing' I might have it correctly in my head and body this time that I should be brining my knees UP to my body, rather than my body DOWN to my knees.  Certainly was getting much more 'pop', especially for a first day, but that is probably also down to my new board.

After a few runs we had lunch in Rendevous.

After lunch we hit the terrain garden again a couple times before again heading over to Whistler mountain on the Peek2Peek.  From there he did the Olympic run, and I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable again, and has starting to feel like my 'old' snowboarder self.  I was however starting to get tired.  So on the next run we headed down to Creekside.  My right knee was killing me by then.  Wasn't helped by the variable snow conditions.  Dry at the top, then ice, then heavy, sticky and slushy near the bottom.  Was glad to finish the day without any further aches and pains.

Couple beers in Dusty's and then headed home.  All in all, a very good first day.  Little disappointed that it is obvious that I am not as fit as I couple be, and that most of the upper mountains are shut, but still a good day!

Visibility: Cloudy early, brightening up in the afternoon.  Periods of freezing cloud.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Variable.
Wind: Light to moderate.
Temperature: +3 at the base to 0 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

On my first full day in Whistler, I had already decided that I wasn't going to go snowboarding.  Instead I wanted to get everything organised and have a good look around town.  So I switched the GPS on and took a wander.  Got my lift pass in Creekside, then popped to the HUB and got a 10 day bus pass (they did not have any month passes!) before heading over to Whistler village.

As I wandered around it was quite clear that very little if anything has changed!  See the GPS track here:

I got it!

I managed to get on the 17:00 bus to Whistler.  Sitting on the bus now, and amazingly still have a connection to the Internet!  All I want now is for the rest of the trip to be uneventful!

Thanks to John, he gave me a lift down to London on Friday night.  We stayed in the Premier Inn at London Heathrow.  Had breakfast this morning and that was the true start of the trip.

Things got off to a surprisingly good start.  I got through security at the airport in no time at all.  Result.  So I spent the time browsing a little and then watching movies on my phone.  Everything was very uneventful until I boarded the flight.  No longer were we ready to set off we were delayed by 1 hour due to freezing fog, the flight facilities were awful.  No private screen, but the really old style of a central screen at the front.  This was keyed wrong, the picture was too big for the screen and the colours were pale and awful.  Needless to say I broke out the mobile phone and watched more movies on it (all in Airplane mode, obviously!).

The flight was again uneventful, apart from there was some major turbulence until we got to Iceland. Then again as we got close to Vancouver.

Arrived in Vancouver to find it was raining, and the baggage carousel was taking for ever.  My original bus time was the 15:00, so with the hour delay in flight plus the delay in getting my baggage I missed the 16:00...or so I thought!

Turns out that the "Permieter Bus" has gone out of business   it went out of business some two months ago!  So, I'll have to claim that money back from the bank, as I paid by credit card.

I've managed to book by another company called SkyLynx, but it was apparently fully booked for the 17:00 bus.  Going to try my luck and ask the driver if there is room.  Otherwise it's the 19:00! *ugh*  So, I thought that I would get this blog entry in whilst I could on the free internet!

Got up early this morning and headed down for breakfast in the hotel. I had eggs benedict, coffee and some orange joice to get my day started. The reason for the early start was that today was my wine lands tour and the tour were picking me up at 08:00.

On time the guide picked me and and drove around Cape Town picking up at another 4 other stops. We then headed on out of town. The guide gave us all some really good commentaries and passed on a lot knowledge and information about wine, the regions, and it’s history in South Africa. Also along the way she pointed out some interesting areas of the countryside and people.

The tour had three different wine tasting stops all together, and a tour stop in XXXX. The first stop gave us a good guide to the wine we were tasting and included a brief tour of the facility and a guide to the actual wine making process for both the white and red wines. They also had a cheese making facility on the farm and we got to try a number of great wines and some cheeses, that were English style cheadar. The various wines were really good and had a lot of taste, which was backed up by the great cheese.

The second stop was a quick tour of SalXXXXX. We were all dropped off and told of some interesting places to go and see and we all headed off in our own directions. I toured a couple streets taking in the different cultures and wares for sale. I then headed off an took a cup of latte, before heading off and getting onto the bus again.

The next stop was another wine tasting and lunch. This place was in a very pictuesque location that offered some great views. I do have to say however, that the guide to the wine was not of great standard and unfortunately the wine was not as enjoyable as the first stop. The wine just didn’t have a lot of flavour and did nothing for me. We all decided that we would have lunch there, even though we did have the option of being taken into town and having lunch there instead. I have the stir fry beef and have to say that it was excelent.

After a brief drive through tour of the town we headed on off to the last wine tasting location, which also had some stunning views. In the very far distance we would see Table Mountain, well we would have if it wasn’t completeley consumed in clouds. It was also the location of some of the best wines we tasted, they also provided us with a taste of some 2 whites, 2 rosé wines, 3 red and also a desert wine. All but one of the rosé wines were fantastic, and the desert wine was a good sweet way to end the wine tasting. We then all had a quick look at the glass blowing factory they had on site before heading back into the bus and back to Cape Town.

The weather on the whole tour was partially cloudy with some light winds, and I think we got the best of the weather for as when we returned to Cape Town it was dark, damp, cloudy and misserable. This however did clear to the end of the evening and I got a great view of the sunset outside my hotel. It litterally set directly outside of my hotel window, and I think I got some great photos.

For evening meal I headed off to Paranga which was just along the road. I decided to go for steak tonight, given all the fish that I had the night before. Turned out to be a very good choice, and I also had a glass of wine from another local supplier, and because I was feeling indulgent I had a desert of ice crean and chocolate. Yum!

I again headed to Baraza for a quick cheeky beer, but it was dead in the place so I only had the one and headed back to the hotel to get packed for the trip back to Durban in the morning.

Got up early this morning, shouldn’t have bothered as the weather was blooming awful. It was raining, heavily overcast and very windy. I decided however to try and give my plans a try, just in case. So I got down stairs and got a taxi over to the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Water Front. I wanted to go and have breakfast at Societi Bistro, which I did. The breakfast was really good, if very quiet as there wasn’t anyone else around.

After breakfast I had a little wander around the V&A shops and stores. I then headed into the Two Oceans Aquarium (TWA). The TWA allows you to watch Cape fur seals and penguins. It also has a predator exhibit that is home to the ragged-tooth shark, loggerhead turtles and shoals of yellowtail. It was good and I recommend to others to go.

After that I thought that I’d try and see if the ferry was running to Robben Island, which is mostly known for the place former South African president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. It was a place of exile and imprisonment for 400 years. However, because of the bad weather no ferries were running. Not unexpected but still disappointing as I would have been more than willing the brave the rough seas.

I then bought a ticket on the Cape Town City Sight Seeing bus (CTCSS) which is a very cheap and easy way to get around the interesting parts of Cape Town. It only cost me R120. I hopped off the bus at Cape Town Tourism on Burg Street. I then proceeded to wander around a little and eventually headed into the Castle which is opposite the Grand Parade. I had a wander around that as it was quite interesting to see details of the Boer War and the conquering and colonisation of South Africa.

After heading out of the Castle I headed up along “Lower Plein” and around into “Paddock” and the Company Gardens. Moving through the gardens I ended up at the top of “Long Street” which is a straight road that runs from the foreshore op towards the mountain and is one of Cape Town’s oldest. It was here that I stopped off and had some lunch and a coffee.

After lunch I headed on down to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and up around onto “Loop Street” and then “The Strand” heading along toward “Buitengracht” which is also known as the M62. It was my intention to re-catch the CTCSS and head on up to the Table Mountain cable car.

The bus was an open top bus and I could tell that there was no chance that the Table Mountain cable car was going to be open. This was confirmed by the guide. The bus on up to the cable car was soon battered by high winds and also engulfed by thick rolling clouds. The bus still stopped at the cable car station and we had a few minutes to have a look around at least.

By now I was actually starting to get wet and cold so I hopped back on the bus, which it’s next stop was outside my hotel the Bay Hotel. The view as we god down towards sea level was really cool but it was hard to get any decent photos.

After a relax in the hotel I decided to head out for some food and ended up at “The Codfather”. It’s a restaurant with a bit of a difference. The waiter takes you up to the deli and explains to you about all of the different fish that they have in for the day, and you then get to choose along with the side. I ended up having Swordfish, Butterfish, Kingklip (???? Not sure of name) and some calamari with rice. I decided to also have some red wine unique to South Africa, Pointage I think! I do have to say that the butterfish was fantastic along with the Kingklip but the swordfish was too ‘fishy’ for me . I felt like a happy and contented stuffed pig at the end.

After that meal I thought that I’d go for a quick beer and ended up having a couple in “Baraza”. In summer this bar must be booming as it is in a fantastic location and looks right out onto the beach. I could only handle a couple beers as the food and all the wolking in the day had tired me out so I headed back to the hotel and called it an early night.

Started this morning nice and easy.  Shane (Jason’s brother) gave me a lift to the airport and we had a coffee and a chat before I caught my flight.  The flight was delayed by 30 minutes but that was no worry as I wasn’t in any hurry.

I've started the journey to South Africa for Lyndy and Jason's wedding.  The journey so far has been so easy and relaxing, just the way I like it.  I left Birmingham on the 13:00 Virgin train, got the Victoria line tube to Green Park, then the Piccadilly line to Heathrow terminal 5.  Each and every step without any trouble and nicely relaxed, just the way I like it.  However upon getting to terminal 5, I took the escalator up to what I thought would get me to departures, only to get so far that you have to take an elevator back to the tube platform only to be taken then to the top floor!  How stupid is that!

My impressions of terminal 5 is that it is lovely wide open, clean and well laid out.  There are no real sign's around the place and instead they have loads of 'honkies' telling you where to go.  Being Scottish and practical, I see that as a real waste of money [especially as most of them are blokes or not so good looking women ].

I decided to have some dinner before checking in, and headed for the "The Five Turns" pub & restaurant.  Service was incredibly slow, despite there being hardly a person in the place, yet I've counted at least 7 people working here.  Took nearly 10 minutes get someone to even take my order!  Then when they did, most of the main menu was 'sold out'.  So ended up having some over cooked fish and chips, then decided to risk having some ice cream.  The ice cream came in a tub that you normally buy from a shop, and they are charging HOW MUCH for that!!!  Won't be coming back here again, or recommending to others!

Let's hope that the duty free and the flight is better   Blog again soon...

Myself, Chris and Koko had decided to go to Sanosaka today.  However, it also turned out that Wayne, Sandra and Mitch with Adrian also wanted to go, so we all got a lift and rode together for most of the day.  The powder and crowding over in Sanosaka was unbelievable.  It was also a cheap day for men on a Wednesday.  You have to take quite a few lifts and runs over and over to get through all of the three different mountain resorts.  The powder was really nice, deep and fresh.  We could have run all kinds of powder lines all day.

Mitch took us up and into a tree run that was just off a closed piste run (apparently this run has been closed for about 20 years, because of an accident all those years ago!).  The tree runs were so full of powder and you could choose your lines through, as long as you have loads of confidence.  Must admit that my confidence wasn't as high as it has been through the trees but is was all good.

The last run of the day was the best.  It was a really long ride down to the bottom and practically straight.  We all just pointed our boards down the slope and just went for it.  Really fast, if a little bumpy.  I'd recommend for people who come to Hakuba to go to Sanosaka often, as it was empty and had loads of powder runs to take.

Visibility: Sunny with cloudy spells
Snow: 12cm
Piste Condition: Loads of powder.
Wind: Light to moderate
Temperature: -4 to -12
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

This morning myslef, Koko and Chris had decided to hir out some Snowscoot "bikes".  It was amazing how cheap they were to hire.  Only 1000 Yen for two hours!  However, trust me, after two hours you are physically drained, so that is more than enough.

We all three headed up top with Stephen (who was skiing) and gave our first go down the slope.  I will say that I took to it virtually straight away, and was very quickly going down the slopes at speed.  Chris and Koko took a while longer but were really getting into it near the end of the two hours.  We did a few easy runs then hit a really steep part of a red run, and it was quickly obvious that none of us had ever ridden these things before!  By the end of the two hours I was looking for hit's, jumps and any kind of varied terrain and was really enjoying it.  The only thing I would say about the bikes is that it really gives you an upper body work out.

After lunch we got back on our boards and did some runs.  The weather was a really bad Wiches V**ina (= Cold, Wet and Nasty).  So we didn't do too many runs.  The powder was really deep and fluffy however, but quite wet.  I also wanted to take Koko and Chris down the off-piste run that I did yesterday.  However, when we got to the top of the run, I went first and immediately hit a drift up to my abdomen.  On trying to hike out, it was obvious that the conditions were quite dangerous so we decided to not hit the back country and instead head on down and catch the bus.

All in all a very entertaining day.

Visibility: Heavy clouds with extremely poor visibility
Snow: 22cm
Piste Condition: Loads of powder, and snowing heavy all day
Wind: Strong to gale force
Temperature: -6 to -14
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Today started off a bit lazy and I just couldn't get going.  I headed straight to the top of Goryu and decided to see if the kicker we built was still in place.  The snow and wind had completely obliterated any signs of the kicker and also the igloo.

I headed on down through the 'alpinaglade' and discovered that the wind had caused a top level of icy conditions.  However there were still areas where the powder was nice and light.  I headed straight on down the slope and down the double black mogul run.  Wasn't that exciting and I just couldn't get motivated.

I headed all the way back to the top again, and this time I was some people I recognised go off into the back country, an area where I had wanted to go.  The only reason why I haven't hit this back-country is that I have no idea where it leads out.  So I headed down as normal, down the piste and when I arrived at the gondola I say some of the people who did the back country.  Hmmm.  This encouraged me to go up and give it a go as I knew that there had to be an easy ride out.

I hit the top of the back country and it was so worth the ride.  There was just so much light powder, the trees were nicely spaced, the terrain was challenging with loads of drops, hits, jumps and amazing carve lines to take me down the slope.  The bottom run out was actually quite scary.  There were loads of trees that you had to duck under, avoid, and all on a very narrow track with a big drop off to the side.

I met Stephen at the top a couple times as he had decided to dig out his Igloo as I did the run again and again and again.  Good riding, just a pity that there was no-one else to enjoy it with me.

Visibility: Sunny with cloudy patches
Snow: 2cm
Piste Condition: Light powder on top, some wind swepped and icy conditions
Wind: None to light
Temperature: -3 to -7
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Headed out for a ride on Saturday as the snow had been falling all night, and I also had a forced day off in the week.  I decided to head on out over to Happo One as I hadn't been there for a while.

The weather was atrocious with full blizzard and white out conditions.  I got all the way to the top and couldn't see a thing.  I knew where I wanted to head and gingerly made my way over to "Sky Line".  At the top of Sky Line I headed to the very right and found what I was looking for.  On the very far right there are some brilliant tree runs.  With the threes there it also provides better visibility as there is a contrast between the snow and trees.  My confidence in my riding made for the tree runs to be much faster and a lot more scary .  I basically hit the same run again and again taking different lines through the trees.  I did actually clip a few trees on the way and cause a few snow slides (but in a very safe and controlled area!).

The weather and my now well worn jacket conspired to me calling it quite an early end to the day.  After 13:30 I was soaked through.  I headed on down the mountain and stayed in the Happo One Ski School to dry off a little.  By the time I dried off I was just simply too tired so called it a day.

Visibility: Complete white out.
Snow: 20-40cm
Piste Condition: Loads of powder with icy conditions underneath
Wind: High to gale force
Temperature: -4 to -14
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Today was a back country kicker building day!  The night before we bought a few large Chu-Hi (Highly alcoholic fruit drink - like a Alco-Pop) and also made dinner.  So the back-pack was loaded and myself and Chris and Koko headed on to Iimori.  We rode on over to the gondola and then to the lift at the top.  At this point Chris and Koko found Stephen, so he teamed up with us.

We headed on up around the top of the mountain to where we had previously had chosen to build the kicker.  I started up the hill and started to build the kicker, with Chris joining me very quickly.  Koko headed off for a couple runs, as she was still recovering from yesterdays crash.  It took myself and Chris about two hours to build the kicker before we were ready to hit it.  It had a short but very steep run in, with a huge run out.  We then broke for lunch to let the sun hit the kicker and melt/solidify.

When we got down to the base spot, we found that Stephen had dug out a huge wind breaker/igloo (without a roof).  Through the day it got deeper and we had an area where Chris and Koko could prepare their dinner, and also dug in 'egg chairs'.  Real good job!

After lunch we then decided to hit it.  Chris went first and it threw him up in the air.  He did say there was too much of a lip, but I thought I'd go anyway.  As such, I made the biggest splash of the day.  The think just threw me and I splashed way down the slope on my back.  The landing was however so soft it didn't hurt.  Through the day we hit it again and again.  Chris had a few spills that cartwheeled him a couple times, and for what ever reason didn't manage to land any, including his 180 attempt.  For what ever reason the kicker just simply wasn't a kicker to spin off (YET...what about tomorrow  ).  I only managed to land the thing three times, each time simple but big and long straight airs, all other attempts resulted in a splash out.

After we had drunk all the Chu-Hi, Koko decided to head on down and Chris decided to go on a Chu-Hi run.  There was a problem here in that Chris had left his jacket, and his lift pass was in it.  It was about an hour before myself and Stephen had worked out that they weren't coming back.  In the mean time we decided to try rolling down the hill whilst videoing it.

The day was getting late and thre was a nice wind lip near where we had built the kicker.  I decided it was time that I hit the wind lip.  The first attempt I got up some speed and went for it.  The landing was a lot harder than I thought but then went real soft.  As such I stacked my first hit.  The second hit, this time again I hit it with speed and I thought that I was going to stick the landing, but on the rid out it got real soft and the nose went in and I flipped.

We were too tired by now and we decided to head on down.  I gathered up Chris's jacket and gloves that he left, all the empty cans, and me and Stephen headed down.  I stopped in at "The Pod" on the way down to wait for Stephen and had a cheeky vodka red-bull.  Myself and Stephen then headed on over to Iimori for the bus.

What a good day.  We hit the Onsen to chill.  I've really caught the sun today and the tip of my nose is burned...OOops.  Sun block on that all day tomorrow me thinks!  Still it can't detract from all the good kicker riding.

Visibility: Blue-bird.
Snow: Dusting
Piste Condition: Bullet proof and icy, with sun crust on top of any powder
Wind: Moderate, decreasing to none.
Temperature: 3 to -1
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Light.

With the weather staying warm once again, todays riding wasn't that great.

In the morning the conditions were at their best, but very quickly turned into slushy conditions with all the blue-bird and sunshine.  We headed to the top of the Iimori lift and hit the trees straight away (myself, Koko and Chris).  We all had a lot more confidence in riding the trees today.  We were just crashing through and brushing the branches away.  Confidence was much better.

We then wanted to head on up to the top as we wanted to ride on over to 47.  Unfortunately it was closed at the top so we had to settle with riding from the top of the Goryu gondola.  Heading down we grabbed every drop and powder that we could find.  The conditions at this time were still great, so we headed down the 38 degrees mogul slope.  Everything was filled with powder so it made for an interesting run.  Hit the deep powder, hit a mogule, get out of control and repeat   Near the top however, Chris and Koko got a good video of Chris and flying powder through the trees.  At the bottom, there was the good dip and real nice powder to crash on through.

We then hit the Iimori park a few times.  Again, for what ever reason the confidence was up and I was hitting the jumps, rails and pipe-rails much faster and better.  This however went a bit wrong for one of us.  Koko hit the up-along-down box and unfortunately took a big tumble and landed hard on her knees.  This forced a coffee stop, while we checked out the damage.  Thankfully with some hot and cold treatment it wasn't too bad.

After that and some positive encouragement given to Koko we headed on up over to the gondola to the top.  This time the runs over to 47 was open, so we headed on over to the new 'breaking the rules' tree run.  Koko was taking it easy and was doing some videos and mostly followed the cat-track.  The run through the trees was great for me and Chris.  As the sun had been beating down on the slopes the conditions of the slopes had really deteriorated.  So when we hit the top of the 47 gondola we decided to call it a day and run all the way to the bottom.  Again, Koko was videoing so we decided to take the cat-track.  Man it was so slow!

Visibility: Blue-bird with occasional patchy clouds.
Snow: Dusting
Piste Condition: Variable, from hard pack softening to spring slush
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: 2 to -3
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Light.

Today I didn't go riding.  My increasingly dodgy ankle is suffering.  So instead I walked down to Hakuba village with Stephen.  Went to the post office and posted a postcard to my Mum (*awww*).  Had pizza at the place next to the train station.  Headed back up to Echoland and then straight to the Onsen.

Hike in the morning.  Myself, Chris, Koko and AJ went straight on over to Goryu and straight to the top of the mountain.  We had decided to hike to the top of the Goryu mountain, which we proceeded to do.  It was a very, very hot day today to do a hike and it was a tougher hike than the last time.  The view from the top however on a blue-bird day made up for that fact.  I headed off first, followed by AJ, Koko and Chris followed up the rear.  The ride down this time was more fun, as I pushed it a little more than the last time.  Everyone had a good ride however, and AJ said that his heart was really beating through the exilaration (he hadn't done anything like this before!).

We headed straight on down to the Escal plaza by going the straight route down the mountain.  It was nearly lunch time and we had only technically managed one run .

After lunch we put some runs through the Iimori park.  I was getting more confident on the first jump and was getting to the point of not scrubbing any speed off.  My rail, pipe-rail, and other jumps were all riding well and I was even tempted to try the 'drum tap' jump, but chickened out and jumpy popped the air instead.

After that we headed on over to Hakuba 47.  Whilst on the hike I had noticed that there was an extra out of bounds, through the trees run that we could take that leads onto the green cat trail.  So we headed on over into it and experienced some absolutely great 'silk like' powder through the trees.  There were now some big drops back down onto the cat trail, so they were a bit knarly to undertake but still great.

We then took some runs around Hakuba 47 and also through the park.  The park has been completely re-shaped from the last time I went through and the jumps had gone from a good decent size up to massive.  Had my first big crash on the first jump.  Came in switch and had planned to do a front side 180.  Just didn't spin enough and landed a 90 and ended up going face first down the transition "scorpion" style.  Still, no damage done.

We then headed on back up to the top of the mountain so Chris and Koko could pick up their backpack.  We were all feeling pretty beat so we headed right to the top and walked around the cat-walk to our favorite powder field.  We all just straight lined it all the way to the bottom without stopping once.  Really exhilarating, especially given the speed we were getting. Speed is your friend!

Then end of a tiring but great day. 

Visibility: Very Good.  Blue-bird with occasional patchy clouds.
Snow: None.
Piste Condition: Hard pack.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: 2 to -5
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Light.

Visibility: Very Good.  Blue-bird morning, clouding over in the mid afternoon.
Snow: <2cm.
Piste Condition: Soft dry powder, but packed down in most places.
Wind: Light to none.
Temperature: 2 to -4
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Light.

Today got of to a real slow start.  Let's just say that yesterdays "couple of beers" turned into some 10 hours of drinking!  *ugh*  I did however get up and dragged AJ on over to Iwatake on the 09:30 bus.  First time for either of us over at Iwatake.  What I can say is that whilst the runs are not very long, they are very wide and open, and there is a load of jibbing to be had all over the place.  Also because of the Japanese mentality of following the rules rigidly, there was loads of powder to be had for us less rully   It's also a perfect resort for those beginner and novice riders with its wide open terrain.

The day started off with is simply cruzing down the slopes looking for hits and powder stashes.  Ideal hangover riding.  We then proceeded to take runs all over the place and I believe that we managed to ride the complete mountain.

We also hit the park in Iwatake.  I do however have to say that given the level of the average rider over there at the time the park was way to big in it's hits.  The very first jump has a very long table on it, and no matter what I did, and riding straight lined from the top, I couldn't get past the knuckle.  The spine however was in great conditions and I made some good hit's from it, along with the bench and rails.  Unfortunately AJ did manage to fall off the rail and bang his head, nothing serious though thank goodness.  We went around again, but it had effected his confidence a little so we decided to hit some more runs.

We simply made our way around the mountain looking for interesting features to hit and powder to ride.  There was just so much to be had!  We even took a ride in switch all the way down one of the upper slopes and practiced our 180's.

Eventually however, the hangover and tiredness caught up and we caught the 16:20 bus out of there.  I might have to go back to Iwatake later, especially when there is another big powder dump, as there is just so much that has not been touched (but we would be breaking the rules!").

Visibility: OK.
Snow: 5-20cm with light snow through the day.
Piste Condition: Soft but wind swepped in places.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: -2 to -7
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

After yesterdays great powder, we all thought today would be a really good day.  Unfortunately we were massively disappointed, and I forgot to GPS track todays riding!  The winds, even at the bottom runs was really strong and whipped up the powder.  As such, there were no lifts or gondolas up the mountain, so we had to settle for the lifts at Iimori and Goryu.

As we thought it would be a good day, we all headed out for the first bus and I took out the big Palmer to take advantage of the powder.  Myself, Koko, Chris, Dan and AJ.  Even though the wind was high the conditions of the slopes were in surprisingly good condition.  We rode everything we could, but had to make it work unlike yesterday.  The runs were super fast and to the sides just in the trees the powder was in good condition.

We all rode as hard as we could and also sessioned the Iimori park for a while.  The Palmer is not great in the park, but we were all hitting the jumps, rails, boxes, and everything else.  I decided to try out the big rail, the up-along-down box and also some spins on the rail-pipe.  The big rail and the up-along-down box are really intimidating, but once you have hit it a couple times you gain the confidence and start to try and hit it faster.  My attempts at spins on the rail-pipe weren't up to much but I didn't stack any.

After lunch we only hit the park and some runs a few times before we decided that the terrible weather conditions had taken their toll and decided to call it an early day.

Let's hope tomorrow the snow continues to fall and that the wind drops away.  Now off to the Onsen for a hot spring bathe and and relax!

Visibility: OK.
Snow: 1-2cm with light snow through the day.
Piste Condition: Wind swepped with some nice powder and some nasty ice patches.
Wind: Gale force.
Temperature: -6
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Powder, powder, powder!

There was a huge dump over night.  Some 20-30cm, and as I was up and early I had the best of it.  Myself, Chris, Koko, Dan and Louka all got the bus over to Iimori.  We arrived so early that the lift wasn't even open!  We shortly got up on the lift however, and the powder was just so deep and sweet.  We made lines through the trees, piste and just everywhere.

The Goryu gondola wasn't running to begin with, but that was no problem as we made the most of the Iimori side, until we saw the gondola start to move.  As such we headed on over and caught the line quick enough so that we were only a few gondolas from being first.

Up top however, it was obvious that there was a load of gusty wind and the top lifts weren't really running.  Again, this did not really matter as we just hit everything we could.  There was a really good double drop pillow hit near the top of the gondola that I managed to hit with good confidence and speed. Magic!  We did as much of the top as we could, riding is some bottom-less powder.  Even the mogul runs down to the base were great and you could really hit the bottom bowl with a lot of speed and just crash through the snow (with loads of weight on the back foot to counter the deep, deep snow).

After lunch the winds were really getting up and the guys had all decided to call it a day, as the good stuff had been tracked out.  I decided to give the gondola another go on my own, and was glad to see that the run over to Hakuba 47 was open, so I took it.  A mistake!

Hakuba 47 at the top gets the wind really bad.  On the way down the double black diamond the wind was so strong, and whipping up the snow so bad that I was getting battered and couldn't even see the board on my feet!  I had to stop there for a bit, as I really could not see a thing, and in the moguls and near the trees it's not a good thing.  I also stopped because a woman had lost here ski in the deep snow and was there on here own.  I stayed until she found her ski and then carried on.

I spend the rest of the day just going up and around all of Hakuba 47 and also the park.  I am really starting to like the park in 47.  The snow in parts was so deep, but wind swepped that you could be in waist deep powder on second and then on scoured ice the next.  After a few hours of taking a battering with the wind, I decided to call it a day...but what a day

Visibility: Poor.
Snow: 20-30cm with snow through the day.
Piste Condition: Loads of fresh light powder.
Wind: Moderate increasing to gale force.
Temperature: -7 to -10
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Today started off a little slow and did not get much better.  Myself, Alex, Chris and Koko headed on over to Hakuba 47.  We headed on up and took a couple runs on-board before heading into the Hakuba 47 park.  I went through the pipe and didn't do too bad and got some really good and high push off the walls.  It was then straight into the jumps and rails.  I pulled a switch 180, small but still felt good.  I then switched over to the box and just did a 50-50.  Over to the bigger jump, and because of the conditions I hit it very much harder than I expected and because I couldn't see the landing it turned out to be a very much bigger jump than I expected.  I then hit the last couple jumps and again I hit it much larger than expected.

We then headed back up the lift to hit the pipe again.  It turns out that Chris hasn't actually ridden a pipe before, so myself and Alex had to persuade him to give it a go.  Alex had borrowed a new board and he had massive toe over-hang.  So for him the pipe just wasn't going to happen.

We then headed up to the top, as we were supposed to meet everyone over at the "Pod" at 11:00.  As there was some nice powder around today with all the snowfall, we hit a few powder drops and a huge load of jibbing spots.  We did however decided to head straight down and through the mogul field.  Even with the new load of fresh powder it was a hell of a lot of hard work.

When we arrived at the Pod there was a very large number of Snowbeds residents in there.  We had a drink and found that one of the guy's had cut his leg badly (clash with his friends earlier up the slope), and after we took a couple photos he headed off to get it seen to. Ended up he needed six stitches.

After the Pod pit-stop we headed on over to the Iimori park.  The wet snow was giving trouble in getting enough speed for the jumps and they were not good.  The rails and boxes were good however.  By now however we were really starting to feel the effects of the effort made (so I was quite sweaty) and the very wet snow conditions.   So we simply got up the lift and rode on over to the Goryu plaza and got the 13:30 bus back.

Visibility: Cloudy.
Snow: 3-8cm with wet snow through the day.
Piste Condition: Light powder with hard packed ice underneath.
Wind: None.
Temperature: 0 to +2
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

The plan this morning was to get the 08:00 bus over to Goryu.  The second part of the plan was to do some hiking at the top of Goryu.  However, by the time the others got their fingers out we ended up getting the 09:30 bus to Iimori.

Myself, Chris, Koko and Alex headed on up the chair lift at Iimori and took the cat track on over to the gondola.  After the gondola we got the lift to the top of Goryu.  This is where the hike started.  We rounded the mountain and were disappointed to see that the other lift was now in operation, and that the powder field that we had nearly to our selves on Friday had been completely tracked out.  This wasn't the objective first thing however.  Instead we carried on round and then started the hike on to the top of the resort.

Koko decided not to join us in the hike so it was left to us boys.  After a good 45-60 minute hike, and a number of times of putting the pressure on Chris to go higher...("I didn't want to die!" - Chris) we ended up quite near the top.  On the way however we met this 72 year old man who was snow shoeing and was on his way down from the top.  Hope for an old b'stard like me

Near the top, I took the opportunity to let the guys know that I have experienced a few avalanches.  As such, it was insisted that I went first  I popped on over the snow shoe track and into some sweet, sweet powder!!!  I kept pretty much to the ridge as the avalanche risk really was quite high today, and the guys followed my lines quite close (still making their won and getting some sick powder).

Koko at the bottom got some video of us coming along the ridge and then coming down through the trees.  Should be uploaded shortly!  High five!

After such a hike we decided to ride to the bottom and grab a drink.  The piste was really quite packed and as the sun was out in force today the conditions were not ideal.  After grabbing a drink, we decided to hit the park a little.  Was a bit more confident in the park today, despite the ankle still being a problem, even after having a couple days off.

We then took the lift up to take the race track run.  It was really quite icy but you could pick up some good speed.  We then headed on over to the gondola again and up to the top again.  It was here that we then had lunch at Alps360.

We did a few more runs, and made some really good powder drops and jumps.

Visibility: Blue bird.
Snow: None.
Piste Condition: Hard packed with some patches of ice
Wind: None.
Temperature: +4
Crowding: Heavy.
Lift Lines: Heavy decreasing to none.

It was a long weekend here in Japan and today was the bank holiday Monday.

This morning started off with 11 of us from Snowbeds heading off to Hakuba 47/Goryu together.  We all set off up the mountain together where Chris was going to show us some new lines.  The group quickly whittled down to 8 as the lest experienced riders decided to go off on their own.  We headed up the lift at Imori and took the run down the cat track and over to the gondola.  Taking the gondola to the top, a short ride down to the next lift, this is when Chris's experience on the mountain told.  He showed us some really nice and easily accessible drops down onto some really nice powder.  The group was gradually dwindling down to 5.

We then headed on over to the Imori park.  Unfortunately on the very first jump I managed to really tweak my already dodgey ankle.

We rode around experiencing a number of different powder stashes around the whole place.  It was then that Chris showed us the real 'stash'.  Taking the lift to the very top of Goryu, you then had to take a little hike on over to where one of the lifts was not in operation.  This is where there was a really nice powder fields that was completely un-touched.  It was what can only be described as 'bottom less powder'.  On the way down everyone got bogged down in the snow and had to dig their selves out.  Thankfully for me I managed to keep my speed and got through the powder with little effort.

We then headed on down the slope to meet up with Mark and Henna at the "Pod" bar.  We didn't meet up with them unfortunately, and it was then that we lock Chris and Koko.  So the group was down to three.  Myself, Alex and Jamie stayed at the Pod and had a vodka redbull and an Australian pie.  We also met Geremie, another Snowbeds patron.

After lunch, we three then decided to head on up and hit the power stash again.  This time however, the visibility was better and I could see that there was a good jump spot.  I rode down first and hit it real big style.  Jamie who was behind said that I really hit it, the snow exploded and I got a really big jump (good to have a witness!).  As it was so good.

Doing the powder stash the second time, I pointed out the jump to the Alex, who missed it the last time.  This time however Jamie had his camera ready and caught me on the jump.  Wasn't as big as the first time bit was still good.  Alex for some reason didn't see the jump, Ollied early and bailed the jump.  Got it on camera too The powder was too good to miss, so we decided to go for it a third time.  This time I took the video camera and filmed Jamie and Alex.

By now on the way down, my ankle was really giving me trouble.  Really could not manage to hold a toe edge turn.  So, thankfully on this last run we decided to call it a day.

For the up coming weekend, it's a long weekend holiday in Japan.  Apparently every bed in the resort(s) are fully booked.  So it's going to be a very busy weekend on the slopes, so it's time to start drinking...

Once again today I started off really early.  I woke up however with a really sore back, and it took me quite a while to work it loose and become more responsive.  I headed on over to Hakuba 47 with a few from Snowbeds.  Mark, Hanni, Ivan and Calum.  Myself, Hanni and Ivan headed on straight up the lifts at Iimori and took advantage of the lovely soft groomed runs for a few runs.

We then wanted to head on up to the top of the mountain, however the winds were high so the lifts were closed, so we could only go as high as the gondola would take us.  So we took the Route 1 run a few times.  There was an area between some cat tracks where there was some great powder and in there there was this one pillow of snow.  I hit this and took a huge air, and managed to no stack the landing in the deep powder.  Was disappointed that somehow on the next two runs I managed to not find it again?  On the way back down to the gondola there are a couple of small jumps.  We were hitting these jumps and I was managing to get some really good air.

The confidence in my riding over the last couple of days has really come back and I am feeling really good about it given my injury last year.

After Mark and Hanni left at lunch time, I headed on up to the top of the mountain.  It was a complete white out and could not see much further past the front of my board.  This didn't stop me however, as I'm a sicko and actually like these conditions.  I completely sessioned the top lift and a run that takes in powder riding, a natural jump, small tree run, and a long wide piste run (but very choppy).  I hit it about 15 times, and each time I hit the jump I was really getting some long distance.

It was getting really cold at the top, and I was getting tired so I took the run all the way to the gondola again.  Was really in a good jibbing mood too and was trying to hit everything I could find.  On the way down I met up again with Ivan and Calum and rode the green run with them a couple times.  Calum then headed off for the bus and me and Ivan did some switch riding runs for a while.  I gave Ivan some riding tips, switch riding tips (he keeps lowering his head and looking at his feet!), and then how to do some simple ollies.  Did that for a couple runs, and since time was getting on a bit we headed on up top.

It was still extremely poor visibility at the top, but I showed Ivan my little favorite run and we did it a couple times.  We then headed down at full pelt (as fast as we could, what with no visibility, tired legs and choppy conditions, and grommits all over the place).

Another long (near 9 hours), but really good day!

Visibility: Good visibility in the morning, clouding over and near zero visibility at the top.
Snow: About 5cm.
Piste Condition: Groumed, light and fluffy and wind sweped at the top
Wind: None, increasing to strong.  Decreasing in the afternoon to light.
Temperature: -2 to -8
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

After yesterdays marathon days riding, I was a little surprised that I made it up early this morning to get the 08:00 bus on over to Hakuba 47.  I actually got a lift with one of the guests from Snowbeds over just before the bus arrived, so that was good.  We then decided to head on up and ride together.  We both headed on up to the top of Hakuba 47, which was a really good idea.

After the last few days snow and cloudy conditions this morning was relatively clear and bright.  As such the piste had been well groomed and was very light and soft.  So when we took the first lines down they were absolutely fantastic.  It took virtually no effort to ride all the way from the very top of Hakuba 47/Goryu all the way down "route 1" to the bottom and very high speed.  So we did that again!  Absolutely fantastic!

We also decided to give the park a bit of a go and also the pipe.  The pipe is your typical affair.  One side is sun hit the other ice frozen.  However the pipe was in really good condition.  I must admit that my pipe riding was up to it's usual 'wimpy' standards.  However, my park riding was getting more confident.  Managed to get in some really big airs and also some prober holding on grabs, not just snatches.

As you can see from the GPS tracking, we rode the park a few times and did a few runs from top to bottom.

For lunch we headed on down to the gondola station of Hakuba 47, where I had a vegetable Udon.  Me...vegetables!  Trust me however, it was fantastic.

For the rest of the afternoon I was left to my own devices.  I actually on put in a couple long rides down to the bottom, before reaching Goryu base and frankly I was really tired, especially after yesterday.  So, I called it an early-ish end to the day and headed on over back to Snowbeds.

Visibility: Good visibility, with hazy sunshine.
Snow: About 1cm.
Piste Condition: Soft corduroy early, getting sticky and a bit choppy later
Wind: None.
Temperature: -1 to -8
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

  Early start, late finish and only 20 minutes lunch break.  A total of about 9 hours riding!  As such, I am really tired and will keep this one short(ish).

Was up early today and headed on over to Hakuba 47 today.  Was out the door before 08:00 in the morning.  Went out with Mark and Hanna, a couple who are also staying at Snowbeds.  We spent most of the morning riding around looking for powder and also hitting the park.  The park isn't huge, but was good for me to get warmed up in.  We started off with a small jump, swung over to the left and hit the medium jump, swing over to the right and hit the box, then on to the second medium jump.  Was all going quite well today, just need to attack them with more speed.  Managed a few 'quick' grabs, and a rather poor switch 180.  But what the hell, it was a 180 and the first in about two years!

While Mark and Hanna headed off for lunch I decided to skip lunch and go for it.  I headed on up and had a run then decided to do the "Adventure Run" which is a double black diamond.  Big mistake as it was one massive mogul field, and a very long run to boot!  Will not be doing that again until it either gets groomed or a big dump of snow happens.

I then decided to have a drink, and bought from a vending machine a hot canned Latte! Blinking excelent!  I them met Thomas, another Snowbeds guest and skier.  We then proceeded to rip up Hakuba 47 and Goryu.  I didn't know until I arrived in the morning that Hakuba 47 and Goryu are fully joined together as one resort!  The conditions made it really hard riding in the afternoon.  The clouds rolled in and you really couldn't see very far in front of you.

We ended up riding right to the end of the day.  Man, am I tired...

I did however find that when I got home that I had accidentally switched off the GP tracker at some point in the day.  Will have to get some tape and stop if from being switched off!  Hence why the GPS tracking for today is limited.

Visibility: Poor, cloudy and patchy.  Better in the morning.
Snow: About 9cm, and snowing all day.
Piste Condition: Choppy, but with loads of powder
Wind: Light to none.
Temperature: -1 to -8
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Again took my time this morning in getting out.  I met up with a group of the guys who have just arrived at Snowbeds and ended up riding today with a guy called Christian.  We headed on straight to the top of the mountain and proceeded to ride all the way down to the bottom.  We then proceeded to just ride around the place, and I gave Christian some guidance on his riding.  I basically covered nearly the same ground as I did yesterday, but today I started to put in some jibbing.  I haven't quite plucked up the courage to try out the 180's quite yet, but hope to give them a go soon.

After lunch, myself and Chrisian headed back up "Skyline" and took a run down.  It was becoming clear that Christian was struggling, and was extremely tired and that his legs were in that burning trouble.  So thankfully when we were on the way up, the weather closed in and gave us a good excuse to head on over and take a last run down.  However by now Christian was really struggling and only managing 20-30m before having to stop.  We have all been there, and will probably all go there again!

I stayed with him, to make sure that in this tired state that he didn't hurt him self.  To push myself I decided to put some switch riding in, and proceeded to ride the rest of the way down in switch.  It didn't really start out that good, but the switch riding soon started to pick up.  Still a long way to go.

Visibility: Bright Sunshine until after lunch, then snow filled clouds rolled in and reduced visibility to near zero.
Snow: About 3cm, and snowing in the afternoon.
Piste Condition: Choppy, but with loads of powder
Wind: Light to none.
Temperature: 2 to -4
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Woke up this morning with a might headache.  Probably through dehydration.  I had drunk about 4 liters of water yesterday but probably still not enough, given the altitude and all the exersise.  Unfortunately it stayed with me all day.

Got up this morning and discovered that there was loads of fresh snow on the ground.  So obviously made an effort to try and get out there earlier.  Didn't quite succeed, and again got the 09:30 bus.

The new snow fall was really nice light powder.  The bad news was that it had fallen onto yesterdays choppy runs, and as such it was very, very quickly quite hard going.  It was also snowing all through the day, and currently at 21:00 here is still snowing, if some what rather pitifully now.  Let's hope it's snowing better up the mountain.

Like on any powder day, you can't stop for anyone and you have to try and find those lines quickly.  As there is very little off piste allowed here in Happo One, nearly all the fresh tracks were taken really quite early.  However as the snow was falling all day, things soon filled back up again, only to be ridden again.

I spent most of my day looking for areas where there wasn't the multitude of the weekend warriors.  And also on the look out for more terrain.  I also made a considerable effort to make sure that my technique was good today.  Earlier in the day it' didn't start off great, but those snow legs soon came into their own.  I was soon riding the chop better than I have ever done.  My angulation and inclanation was nearly always spot on.  This made for some really successful riding, as I charged through the chop and powder with less effort and more style than previous.

I must admit that I spent most of the day riding to be what I have found to be the best run in Happo.  I took a couple runs over one side above the ridge and in the trees, but it was hugely tracked out and really quite icy in places.  The other side was quite moguled.  It is something I do have to say about happo, is that there are a lot of moguls around the place.

I ended up going down this really nice cat track and ended up at the far right (looking at the piste map) of the resort where I had lunch.  With my iPod video, I find that whilst eating lunch, I can also watch part of a movie.  Todays movie was the start of Pirates of the Carribean. 

After lunch I just headed back up to my favorite run (need to remember the name of the thing and update this blog entry!).  Did that for a while, headed to the top of the resort, did a few runs there and was heading down the left most run when I decided that my legs had had enough for the day.  So I continued down to wait for the bus.  Unfortunately I had missed the bus by a couple minutes and had to wait a while for the next one.  Thankfully there are heated cabins that you can wait in.

Visibility: Poor.  Low snow filled cloud.
Snow: 15-20cm, and snowing all day.
Piste Condition: Choppy, but with loads of powder
Wind: Light to moderate.
Temperature: -4 to -6
Crowding: Moderate decreasing to light.
Lift Lines: Moderate to light.

Visibility: Bright but hazy, deteriorating to bright but very flat light.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Choppy
Wind: Light to none.
Temperature: -4 to -6
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

My first day of riding in Japan didn't get off to a quick start.  I was rushing around trying to get ready, and just wasn't quite switched on to snowboarding mode and didn't quite get everything together as quickly as a should have.  As such I missed the 08:45 bus and the next one was at 09:30.  No worries, as I do have a lot of time here in the area to go for it.

The bus ride was a short hop over to the resort, where I got some advice from Phil, one of the guest as Snowbeds, on where to ride on Happo One.  I bought a three day pass, and you get this little device with an LCD screen on it, that is your electronic pass.  Cool.

I headed straight on up to the highest point I could get to on the mountain.  The first thing that struck me is how old the ski lift system is here, and how slow it all is.  The second thing that got me is that very few of the chair lifts actually have safety bars, and the ones that do the Japanese don't appear to like to have it down!  It's no wonder that when it's windy they stop the lifts.  Let's hope they get some better and newer lifts in soon.

This is the first real time I've snowboarded since my accident last year in Davos (see earlier blog entries).  So I must admit that I was quite apprehensive.  It told in my riding, as I just wasn't very confident, stable, or fluid.  However this can also be attributed to this also being my first days riding, so the snow legs were not there.  This did however change through the day, and my riding got more and more confident.  Still not back to what it was but definitely getting there.

The conditions on the slopes were quite good, and there were only a few spots of ice that I found near the top of the mountain, but nothing too much.  I do however have to say that you can ride all of the piste rides in Happo One in about half a day if you put your mind to it.  I am sure that more riding will open up when more snow comes, and my confidence levels increase.

I woke up early this morning as I didn't sleep that well.  So, got up and checked out todays travel itinerary.  Get to Tokyo station, buy tickets to the Shinkansen (Tokyo - Nagano Bullet train), get on the train arrive Nagano, get bus tickets, get on Bus, arrive Hakuba (Happo station stop) and get taxi to Snowbeds.  Hmm.  Sounds complicated but it wasn't really.

I checked out of the hotel at about 09:30 and walked to the Tokyo station.  It isn't that easy with a big board bag and another holdall bag, but it wasn't too bad as I am used to it.  As I had checked out the way to the station and what entry to the station to take it was quite easy.  It's best to enter from the South East entrance, as this is exactly where platform 22 is, for trains to Nagano.  The ticket office is there too.  It cost about 7,500 Yen to buy the ticket and have a reserved seat.  Once on the platform there are signs to tell you where each carriage is going to stop, and outlined on the platform where you are to stand to board at a specific entrance.

The train arrived and the passengers got off.  A little bemusing to myself was that no passengers attempted to get on.  Instead a cleaner for each and every carriage got on and proceeded to clean and dust every single part of the carriage.  Try getting service like that in the UK?  We were eventually allowed to get on.  Thankfully at my end of the carriage there was somewhere to safely stack my board bag and put my holdall, which was nicely out of the way.  I then went and took my seat.  Man, these bullet trains are wide and spacious.  The seats are in rows of two and three, each seat having ample elbow and massive leg room.  So much so, that my feet were barely able to touch the seat in front.  Only trouble was that my seat was an aisle seat and I didn't have much opportunity to look out of the window.  Booo!  I do think however, that on the left I got to see Mt Fuji, but couldn't be sure.

A measly 1½ hours later, and about 170Km, I arrived at Nagano.  This is where the first bit of confusion occurred.  There are two exits from the station, each of which are signed as having bus stops.  The exit you want is the east exit.  The other exit goes down some stairs into an open area, and this is not the way.  Once you are on street level, there is a souvenir shop and this is where you buy the ticket for the bus.  Once you have the ticket make your way all the way to the end of the bus stop lane, stop number 6, and this is where the Hakuba bus can be found.  It wasn't long before my bus arrived and I climbed on board.

If you have ever taken a bus to a ski resort before, you'll know that there isn't really that much to look at.  Lots of mountain passes, little villages and usually a river or two.  Unfortunately this was mostly the same, interspersed with massive concreting of the mountain sides to stop the hillside coming down onto the road.  After a couple stops I arrived at the Happo buss terminal.  I took my bags to the information center and got them to call me a taxi which duly arrived.  I loaded my bags and was shortly outside Snowbeds.

When I entered Snowbeds I must admit that I was a little shocked at just how many people were there.  Apparently the place can handle up to about 30 at a time!  Mind you, I'm not exactly sure what I actually thought the place was going to be like!

I've had a very brief show around the place and paid my 28 days accommodation fees.  I've also had a chance to meet some of the people whom are residing here at the moment.  Every one of them seam like good people, and are from all over the place.  New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Wales, America, to name but five.  A real cosmo crowd.  The place is nice too.  Lot's of space and it's very tidy.  Probably one of the benefits of the owners residing here too

All I need to do now, is work out where the bus arrives tomorrow and what bus to take.  Then get a lift pass organised.  Shouldn't take me long to get settled though.

I got up again early today, and had breakfast and generally caught up on a few things.  I wanted to also avoid the peek travel period as today I wanted to get around a bit more, and not walk about so much! (My poor feet couldn't take much more).

I walked out the hotel and headed straight for the Shimbashi station.  I purchased a pack of 11 tickets for 300yen journeys.  With these I was covered for reaching every area of the Tokyo metro limits.  I don't know why they say that getting your way around the Tokyo metro is so difficult, it's quite easy really.  The only trouble is the stations them selves.  I find them confusing and difficult to navigate through sometimes.

I hopped on the 'Ginza Line' and headed out to the Shibuya neighborhood.  The Shibuya neighborhood is famous as being 'groud zero' for the youth culture, and also for the Shimbuya crossing.  This crossing is often featured on TV with the flood of humanity that the green light unleashes every few minutes, beneath glowing neon signs that tower overhead.

I initially had a look at the Hachikos statue, the story of which reminds me of 'Gray Friars Bobby', then headed on up into Udagawacho and the stores.  Something I didn't realise is that most shops in Tokyo don't open until 10:00-11:30!  So I had a wander around for a bit and ended up in a Starbucks as the wind was chilly today.  Ok, so Starbucks isn't very Tokyo, but I have to admit that I like the late's!  After than I headed on out for another wander and ended up in Tower Records, and this store is the largest in Tokyo!  I eventually bought just on CD!  It was "Tokyo Luxury lounge 3" with is a dance/lounge/electronica fusion style album.  I also got a free promotional Daishi Dance CD, entitled It gets me downs" by Yoko Ota.  Sweet, will rip them to my iPOD later tonight.

I then decided to hop onto the metro again and this time get to the other end of the Ginza line, and head for Asakusa.  I however hopped off at Ueno instead which is in the Shitamachi neighborhood.  I wanted to go see the Ueno-koen (Ueno Park) and the numerous museums, templates and shrines.  I had a good wander around the park and took quite a few good photos.  There was a small market being held in the middle of the park and there was some really interesting pottery, and Japanese art for sale.  I entered the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it wasn't really for me.  It was a show on Japanese calligraphy.  Whist the writing is so much more elegant and artistic than any western language, I just couldn't really get into it with not knowing the language.  I appreciated it for it's art instead. but there is only so much writing you can look at.

It was getting on into lunch time, and so I headed out the south of the park and into Ueno Okachimachi Chuo dori, which was a bit of a down market collection of shops and stalls.    It was a little seedy but nothing to worry about, and I even had a chance to have a quick look into a "Love Hotel" where you can have a room for an hour or two, or the night *wink* *wink*.  As it was a bit seedy I did struggle to find somewhere where I wanted to eat, but eventually settled for this restaurant which was up on the 1st floor.  It not something I think as westerners we are used to so much, in that in Tokyo (and I'm sure the rest of Japan) there is always something on the second, third, fourth, etcetera floor of the building.  So, just because you can't see into the window doesn't mean that there is nothing there, or that it can't be any good!  Take my advice, look up and have a look at those doorways.  I again had the noodle soup with grilled pork dumplings.  Oh my, if I was to live here I'd probably get really fat, and have to become a sumo wrestler.  I do love Japanese food (except Sushi and Sushimi, as I don't like fish!).

I hopped on to the Gina line again and headed on to Asakusa, which is the low city of old Edo.  It's center piece is the Senso-ji temple.  There is a lot going on around this area, with loads of small stalls, shops, temples, shrines, rickshaw's and more.  Look out for the giant lanterns, and also throw a few coins into the temple grates and pass on a prayer.  I had a good mooch around the various stalls and was on the lookout for something to send home to the folks, but they didn't quite have what I was looking for (don't want to give it away, they might actually read my blog...*might*).

It was getting much colder now, and I was getting tired.  So I decided to head on back to the hotel.  I didn't want to do what happened last night.  I had planned to go to Roppongi last night for a couple beers, but fell asleep and woke up at 22:00!  So, got back today just before 16:00, and started to write the blog and upload some more of my photos.  You can see the photo's here.  Eventually I will get them added to my GPS tracking and have them push-pinned to the exact location on the map that they were taken at.

Despite getting up rather early today, I still didn't get out of the hotel until about 09:00.  It took me a while to get ready, and to write yesterdays blog entry.  It was quite a long one

My first goal today was to scope out the route from my hotel to the Tokyo main station, from where I will get the train to Nagano on Friday.  So I headed straight along side the train line, then headed straight up into Marunouchi district and headed into Tokyo station from the west.  After spending a little time figuring out the map, and wandering on over, I can tell that it's from platform 23 I need to depart and it is easier if I enter from the south east entrance.

That done, I headed on up the east side onto the 'Eitai-dori' and over into the Imperial Palace East Garden.  I have to say that it really is a nice place to wander around, and it would be much more appealing in the spring or summer.  I'd recommend it.  I've got some great photos and will be adding these soon.

I exited up by Takebashi, and headed for my second goal of the day.  Gadgets!

I passed through the 'Bookshop Neighborhood' and found some of the stores fascinating. I then discovered that there was a 'Sporting Good Neighborhood' and had a quick look in at a Solomon shop.  But really wanted to push on to the Electronics Neighborhood.

The stores here are amazing.  So many of them, and every single one of them is huge and packed.  What a place.  Makes everywhere else I've been look absolutely pathetic (thinking Totenham Court Road in London).

It was getting later into the afternoon, and I decided to have lunch.  Yum!  My favorite, Japanese noodle soup!  It is a little strange wandering along and seeing plastic models of all the meals that you can get!  I wonder how some 'slop' in the UK would look in a plastic model

After lunch, I wandered around the electric stores a little more.  But I was getting tired now, after all I had walked everywhere.  So I decided to head back, but via the sporting goods neighborhood to see what I could see.  Some of the stores I went in to were packed floor to ceiling with snowboarding/skiing equipment and gear.  It's no wonder the Japanese are mad for the sport when they can get all this in one small area.  Again, it knocks the socks of every other place I have ever been to!

I headed back down towards the Imperial gardens and headed down the Uchidor-dori and back towards Shimbashi where the hotel is.  I visited a couple convenience stores to buy some drinks and snacks for tomorrow.  Then back to the hotel.

Getting on the Hotel Internet

Man, the Internet connection here might be free but it's a right pain in the arse to get on!  You have to submit to a full anti-virus scan, which is done via a Web page and a few Active-X controls.  The firs trouble is that it's all in Japanese, so I didn't have a clue what to click on.  I then noticed that in the URL it does state that the "Language=jp", so I changed it to "en", and that did the trick.  However, it has to do a deep scan, and analyses all of the files on your HD.  Since I have a hell of a lot on my machine this took about an hour!  Yes, an hour!  So that was a right pain in the butt. Eventually I managed to get on though.

Plans for later

When I got back to the hotel it was only about 17:00.  The plan is to get the blogs and GPS tracking entries updated, and then head out for some beers.  My plan is to get some well earned rest and then about 21:00 head on over to Roppongi for some drinks and possibly a quick look at a club!  Looking forward to blogging about that.

  To view the GPS track interactively, go to http://wai.internetwideworld.com/GPSWebService/

Birmingham to London Heathrow

Birmingham to Euston

I decided to get the earlier train of 06:40, rather than the 07:15. Partly because I prefer to be early rather than rushing and also because I know what traveling through London is like, having lived there.

So I set three different alarm clocks to go at 05:45. When they went off I got up straight away and started to get ready, and was out the door by 06:15

The night before I trussed up my board bag and holdall into one, so that all I had to do was roll the snowboard bag. Quite a good arrangement. Despite this, the weight eventually tells, when you have to pull it all the way to the train station.

As is becoming usual when traveling on Virgin trains, the seat booking system was not working, and even the carriage lettering wasn't working. So my attempt to book a seat near where there was a bicycle storage facility was thwarted. There simply wasn't enough time to fin the correct carriage and get on the train! So I simply separated the two bags, put the holdall in the regular bag rack, and stacked my board bag in the train door areas.

Other than feeling the compulsion to check on my snowboard bag every 10 minutes the trip to Euston was very uneventful.

I did notice that coming into London there was a lot of fog around. I was a little concerned that this could cause some flight delays.

Euston to Heathrow

Once I unloaded at Euston I headed straight to the underground. I arrived at the station escalator to find a guard roping it off, which would have left me having to hump the bags, in rush hour, down the stairs. Thankfully I got his attention and he let me use the escalator. Probably much to the annoyance of others

I needed to take either the Northern or Victoria line to connect with the Piccadilly line. I plumped for the Victoria line and to change at Green Park. This didn't prove too successful. The platform was absolutely packed. I eventually made my way to the end of the platform where I hoped for a better chance to get onto the train. After about 5 trains, each of which were packed to bursting, I eventually managed to squeeze on with a little help from a kind Australian woman.

After that it was pretty smooth sailing once again.

I got out at Green Park and dragged the bags to the Piccadilly Line. Not a pleasant 'drag' as there was a lot of people.

Once again I headed to the end of the platform to try and get on the last carriage. Once again I let a couple trains go as they were packed. I then managed to get on, to an Rayners Park train, which wasn't the branch I wanted, but I thought that I could change somewhere further along the line and therefore find it easier to get on. This I did at Barrons Court. Only had to wait a few seconds before a Heathrow train, and practically empty at that.

Sat on the train and read a few news papers that were left behind.

Heathrow to Check-In

Once you arrive at Heathrow, there is quite a trek from the tube station to the terminal. Thankfully at that point I could pick up a trolley and put the bags on it.

I scooted my way to the terminal in my usual quick passed fashion and was there in no time.

For my Virgin-Atlantic flight it was in zone A, and to my pleasant surprise it was very quiet.

Check-In

They have this "Three Part Check-In" system, that to me didn't make a single bit of difference. Firstly you have to weigh your own bags. Then you have to scan your passport/booking in a machine and confirm all your details. It them prints you a ticket of kinds.

You then have to go to the normal check-in desks. Having done the other two steps, they then again had to weight the bags and produce new tickets. So to me, it begs the question of why bother? Seams like beurocrasy to me. The check-in took as long as usual and in my view there was no difference.

As is typical, I had to take my snowboard bag on over to the 'over sized' trolley, and with that I was on my way.

Boarding

Security

I quickly progressed through security, as once again there were very little in the way of queues. Probably a benefit of traveling during the week and not the weekend, and of going to a more exotic location.

For a change I didn't have to take my computer out of the bag, which made it easy as I have a plethora of gadgets. After all I am a gadget geek!

There was a second security scanning section in that it was dedicated to scanning your shoes! Many recent travelers will have experienced this, but this is the first time that for me it's been done at a different machine.

I was then on in to the lounge. I had a quick scope around to see what was there and grabbed a quick sandwich for breakfast and a drink. Ahhh! Needed that!

Did the usual mooch around the electrical shops but nothing took my fancy.

Gate Call

I say the boarding gate notification change and made my way to boarding gate 5. I sat down near the entrance door and took advantage of a free newspaper. I only had to wait a few minutes before they started boarding. I could tell that the flight wasn't busy and the boarding call basically allowed everyone to go at the same time.

I settled into seat 59K.

Flight to Narita (Tokyo) Airport

The flight was ready before time, as the flight wasn't fully booked. Looking outside it also looked like the fog had mostly lifted.

As appears to be a common theme, and long may it continue, the flight was very uneventful. Some small minor turbulence points but nothing to bat an eyelid at.

I usually can not sleep when flying. This trip I did actually manage about an hour to an hour and a half, which was great, if completely uncomfortable.

The entertainment systems on board were excellent and the best I have experienced. The screen was large and the system allowed me as an individual to choose what I wanted to watch and fully control the experience. There were about 30 films available, and I could start, stop, fast forward and rewind at will! Now, this is the way that these systems should be like.

I watched three movies, but can't remember what they were at this time.

We arrived early, and I could tell that there were a lot of low clouds and rain. The runway was very wet but it didn't appear to have made any difference to the landing.

Arrival in Narita

As is usual, after disembarking I made my way to passport control, and after a very short line I was in and through. You have to submit to providing a copy of your finger prints of your index fingers and also for them to take a picture. No problem.

I picked up my luggage very quickly, mainly because there were not very many people on the flight, and partly because of the typical efficiency of the Japanese.

Through customs and I headed to the 'Airport Limousine' desk, where I booked my bus to the hotel.

I sat down for a coffee while waiting for the bus, and thought I'd check the GPS tracking. DISASTER! It had only recorded some 27 points! I was sure I checked the settings and that it was recording, but apparently not. So, I reset and set it up for the bus to the hotel. The battery wasn't in good shape either, I just hoped that it had enough to get to the hotel.

Bus to the Hotel Dai Ichi Anex

The weather was drizzly when we set off and I was starting to feel the jet-lag, but this didn't detract me from watching the scenery go past.

I was actually quite disappointed, as there wasn't much of interest to see until we got into the city, and even that was limited. So I only took a few photos on the way.

The bus goes to the Hotel Dai Ichi, where I was dropped off. The Dai Ich Anex is literally only a few meters away and the concierge helped me with my bags. The Japanese people really are so pleasant and helpful. After a short check in I was up to my room. I wasn't sure if I should tip or not, so left it.

Jet-lag and the hotel room

When I got into my room, a few things struck me. Firstly the room was quite small, but to be honest was a good size. There was a large TV and a really good view. There was also a massage chair and foot massage stool, which I proceeded to try out as soon as possible. Man, I'd be tempted to buy one of these! Was so good!

The room had virtually everything automated. The lights, drapes and lace window cover were all controlled from the bed side panel.

I decided that I was going to chill out for a bit and watch a movie on my iPod. Which I did, and was really feeling tired. So went to bed.

I woke up at about 9PM, and whilst I was hungry, I decided that I was still tired and simply went back to sleep, to get ready for the next full day in Tokyo.

Visibility: Sunny with cloudy periods
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed with large ice patches
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: -4 at the base to -13 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate
Lift Lines: Moderate

I earlier posted that I was planning to go snowboarding for Winter 2008 in Hakuba, Japan.  Well, it's all booked!

My current work contract finishes on Friday 25th January.  So, on the Friday night I plan to go out on the piss with friends.  To fly to Japan takes 12 hours and you arrive the next day due to the time difference.  So, rather than flying on a Saturday and arriving on a Sunday, or traveling to London on a Sunday I thought that I would leave departing the UK until the Monday 28th.  I fly out with Virgin Atlantic on the Monday 28th to Tokyo-Narita airport and arrive the next day.

I've always, since I was a kid wanted to visit Tokyo.  This is the perfect opportunity to do so.  So, I've planned for a couple nights stay in Tokyo at a hotel near Shimbashi station.  I plan to do some of the usual touristy things, and more specifically since I am a geek who likes to drink I'll be going to Shinjuku for the gadgets and Roppongi for the nightlife.

Then on Friday 1st February I'll be heading to Hakuba where I'll be staying with Mitch who runs a backpacker hotel called www.snowbedstravel.com for 28 days.  Man are they cheap, and they come extremely highly recommended from "Rodo" a friend of mine.

You should check out the snow reports for the resort.  Oh my dizzy aunt, there is so much snow.  In the last 3 days there has been some 300cm of snow!

Then when the sad day comes on Thursday 28th February, I'll start heading back to old blighty.  It would be too much trouble getting from Hakuba easily and making the flight, so I decided to stay in a hotel near Narita airport for the night then fly the next day, the Friday 29th February.

Again, because of the time zone difference I'll arrive back in the UK, still mid-day on the Friday 29th February, just in time to go out on the piss with friends again

Let me know where you are going for this winter, or if you are heading over to Japan around the same time, let me know as I'm always willing to meet up.

An article located at http://etech.eweek.com/content/web_technology/top_web_developer_mistakes.html makes really good reading.  It's a slide show, but below is a condensed list of what the article says!

My additional comments are in dark blue, you got any?

1) Click, Click, Click - This is great, someone is at your site and they're ready to make a purchase. Here they go; one click, two clicks, three clicks, just one more! And.... they're gone. Maybe if they could get to where they wanted to go right away you would have made a sale. (I disagree slightly in that as long as the navigation is logical and correct then it should not matter to the user how many clicks...)

2) Just Click on the Magic Compass - It's great that new web technologies make it possible to add lots of cool new navigation and interaction techniques. But don't put access to important features and content behind a strange graphic or icon. People know how links work on web pages. Some icons might as well be in elvish.

3) Don't be too Graphic - The Following Web Content Contains Massive Image Files and Graphics That May not Be Suitable For Visitors With Anything But the Fastest Possible Internet Connections. Toning Down the Giant Graphics Files Is Advised For Site Developers. (This is becoming an increasing problem given that mobile internet is really taking off!)

4) Registry of Lost Web Sites - The legend of the Invisible Web Site. Unseen by search engines, web users or anyone who might actually use the services of the website. It uses the magic of enforced site registration to keep its valuable content hidden from all who might want to use it, especially those who want to give the owners of the site some business.

5) Sticking to the Script - Scripting languages are so useful. They make it possible to do lots of cool things in web design. Click this link for an example. Mmm, getting a script error. If only there was some other way to link to content, you know like an HTML link. Don't use scripting where HTML will work just fine.

6) Too Rich - Animation is great, when it comes to Saturday morning cartoons. On the web too many animations, Flashy graphics, spinning graphs and windows popping in your face is sort of like a sign saying, "Stay away". (100% agree)

7) Welcome To Our Site "image placeholder" - Here's a great idea for the budding web site and application developer. There's this technology that makes it possible to display information to visitors and users. It's called Text! And unlike images and animations used where text would work just as well, text will always show up.

8) What's Your Color Scheme? - Whoa, trippy man. I love the way the orange text looks on that purple background. Dude, that financial firm is just going to love this site design. Or probably not. Unless you're designing for a jam band or some other client that likes wild colors, stick to color matchings that are pleasing to everyone. (Obviously they didn't see the custom colours that I used on the TtG Brokers site )

9) Directionless Navigation - Wow, this site looks like it has lots of great content and products. But where is everything? Can't find related content? Where's that thing I saw the other day? I'm lost! Users of your web site shouldn't need a trail guide. Make navigation clean, simple and easy to find. (All computer users are very aware of hierarchical navigation [Windows Explorer] and also an address bar 'bread crumb', so play to their strengths!)

10) Can We Table This For Now? - Aren't tables great! They provide so much flexibility when laying out web content. And it looks so nice, at one specific resolution on one specific browser. At other resolutions, yuck! When using tables make good use of percentages and make sure the design looks good on all users screens.

11) Sloppy with Text - Wilcom too my grate neww web apliccatiun. Im a perfessinal web dervelper! The greatest coding skills won't help if your web content is full of misspellings and poor grammar. (Being dyslexic, I have no cammant!)

12) Click Here for Click Here - This is such a nice web application that you've built. It will really help our business deploy content to the web. And look it automatically creates links that say things like "Click Here", "More" and "Continue Reading." Now how do we change those to something more descriptive? We can't? Don't call us, we'll call you. (Use your Tool Tip and Alt tags!!!)

13) Putting up a Velvet Rope - This is such as cool web site, can I come in? Oh, you only let in people from the IE click? Us Safari geeks aren't welcome? And I was going to spend so much money. Don't you know that browser-specific web sites and applications are like so five years ago?

14) This is a Web Site, Right? - Now this is what I call a content rich site. Look at the useful information here. Let me click here, wait, this is a PDF document, and this is a Word document. I thought this was a web site, you know, something I could view in a web browser. (What is the point of providing a content managed Web site when half the content the user wants to view is hidden away in PDF and Word files?  I bet 90% or more of content in Word and PDF that are available on the internet would be easy to provide on a Web page and if it was users would read it more!)

15) Over-crowding - You know, when people say that something is like finding a needle in a haystack, they don't mean that in a good way. On the web, too many links and other components can make it hard for a visitor to find the content that they want.

I have finally relented.  I have had my old 60Gb iPod for over 4 years now and whilst in the whole it is perfectly adequate, it is starting to show it's age.  The reasons I have justified the purchase to my self are:

• I managed to scratch the screen in practically the first week of having it (oops).
• The battery isn't lasting as long as it used to, and I use the thing virtually all day every day.
• My vast collection of music and audio books is now topping out the 60Gb.
• All of which unlike most people, I own the original CD's.
• Import quality is set at 56Kb and in the very small AAC+ format (therefore 3^3 smaller than a normal MP3).
• My current iPOD is the iPOD colour, and does not have the video capabilities.
• I'm going on vacation shortly to Las Vegas so need the entertainment for the long flights. (I could buy it in the USA but need to fill it up before going!)
• I can afford it!

So, I finally bought one from Amazon.  Got the black 80Gb version for £185 with a coupon discount and express delivery.  Should receive it in the mail tomorrow!

Can't wait. http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html

I came across this blog posting today, and just had to share it.  It's a blog posting from Scott Berkun about software development methodologies.  It is such a great read, and I recommend that anyone who has ever been involved in the software development industry have a read.

I also like this Wiki entry for Management Anti-patterns.

Just how many of these development methodologies and management patterns have you/are you experiencing?

The Microsoft Learning site has a number of self-paced eLearning courses on current technologies (e.g. .NET 2.0 & 3.0 and VS2005.) This blog pulls a subset of the developer courses that are free and lists them It is worth taking a look at the full developer catalogue as well.

I am personally interested in Clinic 5046 and 5230.

http://blogs.msdn.com/cbowen/archive/2007/06/20/free-microsoft-online-developer-courses.aspx

I do a lot of development on my laptop, both at work and ay home.  Both machines are running Windows XP Professional, and have IIS installed.  I often get the error HTTP 403.9 - Access Forbidden: Too many users are connected".  I have done some digging around this, and found that by default IIS 5.1 on Microsoft Windows XP Professional allows only ten concurrent users connected at any one time.

To get around this, you first need to change your default windows script host to cscript.exe:

cscript //h:cscript

Then you can increase the connection limit to 40.  it can't be increased beyond 40 as this is a hard coded windows limitation:

c:\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil set w3svc/MaxConnections 40

I would then re-set your default windows script host back to it's default of WScript.exe, by:

cscript //h:wsscript

Being in the IT Development industry specialising in Web development, I am always interested in the 'next big trend'. That is, the next piece of development technology that I am going to have to learn and what it's going to be used for. On that note, I came across an article on The News & Observer entitled "3 Internet trends to watch".

The article goes on to describe what in the authors view is the next three themes that will shape the development of the Internet over the next few years. The first trend is as he calls it "the Internet as desktop". This has been bandied about for some time now, but I too feel that this trend is about to take off. He bases a lot of this theme on the introduction of Silverlight , which I too agree about. I think that this theme will permeate the Web rather rapidly, especially by those darned advertisers (which I always block from my browser through a number of means!).

The second theme is about "mashup" where the user is given the ability to take only partial elements from web sites and mash them together with other parts and produce a new piece of content for their consumption. Now, I'm a little worried about this one. Whilst I really can see the benefit for a consumer, but where is the benefit for the Web site owner/publisher who put all their effort into the site? I can see this trend being short lived as the Web site owners start to prevent their site from being mashed so as to protect their intellectual property and profitability.

The third theme I disagree with. Not because of the idea which is fine, but the fact that it will happen in the next few years. This theme is the implementation of search engines that flesh out information with database structure to find relationships between the key word elements of a search. I think that most search engines already try to do this, it is just that there is so much poorly crafted data out there on the Web that it's simply a difficult task to find what you want, because its hard to describe in the same way as everyone else. Everyone has their own way of describing things, and when your descriptions does not match theirs how do you know if there is a match?

Anyway. You head on over and have a read and let me know what you think.

I currently work for a company that uses Lotus Notes for email.  I simply can not stand using Notes for Email, it feels and is, in my opinion very old, antiquated and counter-productive.  I therefore break from the company policy and use Outlook 2003, with the Lotus Notes connector for Outlook.

I occasionally experience problems with the Lotus Notes connector for Outlook hanging on the message "Please wait while outlook shuts down".

Do others have access to your calendar or free/busy information (almost certainly!)? If yes then this is a known issue.

This issue can be resolved in two ways as detailed below.  First you need to kill the Outlook process, by using the task manager.  I have personally found option 2 to work best, as I do try to make sure that I am fully patched!

1. Make sure that Office, including Outlook is fully patched.
2. Start Outlook with the /cleanfreebusy command line switch.

I've been a developer for a very long time now.  I've written in many different programming languages over this time, some more successful than others.  I get a lot of people who have never done any development in their life asking me "how easy is it to develop", or saying "it can't be that hard to develop".

Today I came across the Microsoft beginer developer learning centre, and I think I'll point these people on over to this resource in future.  The beginner developer learning centre is a centralised learning environment specifically targeted to novices and beginners to programming.  It provides a rich array of learning content that starts with the basics, and guides the programmer step-by-step to becoming a developer.  It has provision for Web and Windows development, so it should suit all those budding programmers.

I thought that I'd bring to your attention a couple of great Internet Explorer toolbars/extensions that I use.

Just released is the official release of the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar (IEDevToolbar).  It has just come out of beta, and available for download here.  If you do any development on Internet Explorer or want to 'dissect' Web sites then this is the tool for you.  I really love the ability to change the client code (HTML, CSS, etc.) dynamically!

The second tool that I use for Internet Explorer is the IE7Pro toolbar.  I've blogged about it before here, and it has been vastly updated and improved since then.  Despite it's name, this also works on IE6, so if you are still on the old browser, give it a go.  You can download the updated toolbar here.

I have long been interested in getting a big, wide screen TV.  After all, I do watch a lot of it, and a lot of movies.  So, today when I came across this article on the Pioneer Web site that says "The World's best flat screen TV", I was obviously going to be interested.

These "world's best" are Pioneers 8th generation plasma displays, and from the pictures on the site I cant really disagree.  However the proof will be actually seeing these in the showroom next to other TVs.  The apparent secret for the screens being the best is that the black levels are 80% deeper than what was previously possible to produce, and they have an amazing contrast ration of 20,000:1.  They also support full HD resolution (1080p), and not the cheap 720i that most current screens have (article on the difference between i and p here).

If I was to buy such a TV, I would really have to move apartment, otherwise it would be completely wasted in the hole that I currently live in!

I've been keenly following the developments of SilverLight as you can see here, and talking about it a fair bit within the office to my colleagues.  As such, one of my colleagues today sent me a link to and article on Scott Hanselman's blog.  His article is a good little collection of links to various samples on Silverlight that are currently out there.

As Scott says, "since Silverlight is all text...there's a whole world of copy/pasting out there just waiting for us...".  As everyone knows us developers don't actually write anything original, we simply copy everyone else...Only kidding src="http://blog.internetwideworld.com/smilies/happy.gif">

Virtually all development that I undertake is destined for the Web and HTML.  The trouble with the Web and HTML is that to get a great Graphical User Interface (GUI), it takes a lot of design and development effort.  This is also coupled by the usual user download requirements being very high.  That is, unless you use something like Flash.  However, for me, using Flash is really a designers tool and not a developers tool.  It is also restricted in that it's only really available from the desktop.  Thus it is not usable if you are on a Mobile browser or other 'limited' browsing platform.

As such, I have been following with some interest what people are calling Web 2.0.  It is perceived as the second generation Web.  Whilst this is true in some respects it really only means that there is a change in the way that developers are utilising the Web platform.  The main way that I feel this going is in the field of GUI design.

To make a real difference to the user experience of the GUI, we need to radically rework how this Web and HTML thing works together with other technologies.  I was really excited then when I read about the release of SilverLight.

"Microsoft® Silverlight™ is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. Silverlight offers a flexible programming model that supports AJAX, VB, C#, Python, and Ruby, and integrates with existing Web applications. Silverlight supports fast, cost-effective delivery of high-quality video to all major browsers running on the Mac OS or Windows."

For me if SilverLight takes off, I think that this will deliver what is expected from Web 2.0.  No longer would the Web GUI be limited to large blocs of text, interspersed with some static images, but it will take on a whole new organic life.  The reason I believe this is simply in the implementation of the graphics.  The way that Web 1.0 currently works is that a graphics is in either GIF/JPG/PNG format, and is of a fixed size and resolution.  These graphics do not scale well.  To provide a GUI in Web 1.0 to a different scale, almost certainly is there a need to provide a unique set of graphics per size and resolution.  This is expensive not only for development and maintenance, but also for the end download user.  However, the interesting thing about the way that SilverLight can implement graphics, is that it can be done through the use of Raster graphics.  These graphics are dynamically scalable on different devices and resolutions.  Have a look at some of the video lessons on the subject here, or have a look at "Building rich Web experience with SilverLight".

I honestly can't wait until I can get involved with a project that will allow me to utilise SilverLight.  I already have a personal project in mind, but that is a couple months away before I can really start working on it.  Keep tuned, as I intend to blog my experiences on this development (hopefully with SilverLight).

Way back in the mists of time, when I first had access to the internet, I remember the excitement I had at installing Netscape 0.9.  A lot has changed in the worlds of the Internet browser since then.  I used to be an avid Netscape fan, but they soon shrivelled up and more or less died away to be replaced by Microsoft's Internet Explorer.  I must admit that I never really used Internet Explorer until version 5, and since then I have always used Internet Explorer as my main browser of choice.  I have never really got into FireFox much, other than for accessibility and cross browser testing that I do a lot of.  I just want a browser that displays web pages!

Only since FireFox has taken a chunk out of Microsoft's dominance of the browser market has the giant Microsoft finally got off their backsides and made some improvements.  The market is once again competitive, and I feel that this can only be a good thing.  We saw that when IE vanquished Netscape to the great browserhalla, that browser progress and innovation slowed and died away.  Microsoft were basically 'begging' to have someone come into the market and challenge them.  Better that than an 'anti-competition lawsuit'!

As such I've not joined the browser 'wars', but I really, really do hate these 'browser bashers' who rubbish one browser over the other.  Oh grow up!  Each to their own.  The only reason why FireFox has made inroads to the browser market is in the home, where as in the business is is very solidly IE.  This is the environment I live and work in, so I'll stick with Internet Explorer thank you.

Enough ranting for now...

I was interested to read today that at the Mix'07 conference in Las Vegas (Microsoft's annual event for Web Developers and Designers), that there was some 'hint's as to what to expect from Internet Explorer 8 (IE8).  These hints can be found on the Internet Explorer Blog. The hints touted that the main improvements were to be for RSS, CSS and AJAX support.

I have really started to get into my RSS feeds, and you can subscribe to mine here.  As far as I am concerned the only improvements I'd like to see is improvements in speed, everything else I am happy with.

I do a lot of development around CSS, and I really do hope that Microsoft implement strict compliance to the latest standards for CSS.  The current non-compliance by Internet Explorer is a real nightmare for developers, and I can say that from experience that you have to really work at and 'bash' your CSS to get it to look the same just in two different versions of Internet Explorer!  That just isn't playing ball.

I'm only just starting to get into AJAX really, so I cant really comment about any improvements that are needed here.

It is also speculated that IE8 will also have support for what is known as microformats.  These microformats are small embedded tags in HTML that can be interpreted in various ways by software, such as calendar events or contact information.  Microformats are scheduled to be added to the next version of FireFox, so it is likely that IE8 will also have these, just to keep up.

The last thing that is hinted at being done in IE8, is more provisioning for user interface customisation.  As I have previously stated, I want a browser that does what it says on the tin...it serves me Web pages!  So, to me customisation is not something that I want, nor need.  How about putting the extra effort into improving the speed, reliability and what about reducing the size of the install (bloat ware).

I'm a user of a Windows powered mobile phone, which has Pocket Internet Explorer installed, which I use to surf the web with, whilst on the move.  I find this functionality invaluable, and it has made a dramatic impact/change to my life over the last couple of years.  Anyway, what I want to see for IE8 is a Windows Mobile version that properly supports everything that it's big brother desktop version provides.  I would dearly love to have full RSS, CSS, and AJAX support in the pocket version, along with Flash, JavaScript, iFrames, etc.

What do you think?

In my job I create a lot of Content Management driven Web sites.  As part of this process you need to mock-up what various page templates and styles look like.  This can be a real pain to put in some valid content.  Historically I always wondered how the designers that I have worked with managed to put in lorem ipsum to the design to make it more realistic.  Well, a while ago I found the lorem ipsum Web site.

I now use this site all the time to generate some dummy test for inclusion in my mock-ups.

Some details about Lorem Ipsum

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using 'Content here, content here', making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for 'lorem ipsum' will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).

I read an article today on the BBC Web site, about how BT are developing a motion-sensitive laptop, or more accuratley a device to attatch to the laptop.  The device, which is very much like the Nintendo Wii controler, I think is an idea but not a very good one.

The reason for the controller is apparently to help people with dissabilities  or the elderly.  I don't see that as it's primary use.  Why?  Because it wopuld be like using etch-a-sketch for these people.  How often have the able dodied 'just missed' that menu option, when using the mouse and clicked on something else?  What about those users who do not have full motor control?  Why not give them the same controls as an etch-a-sketch, the knob to move up and down, and the other knob to move left and right?  Would be much easier and simpler!

I see the primary is in the games industry just like the Wii controller.  But why bother?  When you can already buy such devices that are already much better?

Call me a cynic, but I personally think that it's the usual self promotion.  It appeases the share holders as BT are in the news, and it justifies them spending money on this department.  It also makes them look like they are trying to help the disabled and elderly.  If you have a look at the photos.  The laptop that the device is being used on is tiny.  Surely the laptop is too small for these disabled people to be able to see the screen clearly.  There is no way you would be tilting a normal laptop, they are simply too big.  Besides, who can afford such a small laptop, have you checked the prices of those things?  It's almost certinally to expensive for the disabled and elderly to justify.

To me, it's a good try, but too late and completley impractical at this level and target audience.

I posted a few days ago about Solid State Drives (SSD) and how I believe that they are going to change things in the world of Hard Disks (HD).  I was therefore very interested to read this article from Information Week.  It basically states that Samsung have begun the production of a 16 Gb flash memory chip.  These chips are expected to be used in digital music players, music phones and digital cameras.  I really want one of those!

The article goes on to say that in March the company introduced a 64 Gb solid state flash drive for ultra-portable notebooks.  Now, I really want one of those!

I am a big music fan (and am really into audio books), and always have been.  So much so, that I have had three iPods since they first came out (various stories attached, but not here), and I currently have a 60Gb with color display (not the video version).  My current iPod is suffering a fair bit now from a number of ailments.  Such as it's near full, there are loads of scratches on the screen, the battery is not as good as it was, and it occasionally just stops in the middle of playing (I think the phone jack is buggered as it's extremely loose with all earphones!).

As such I have been watching news about the iPod for a while now, and there has been very little news about the iPod for a while.  Especially in the news about a new bigger/better version.  The current version is the Fifth generation iPod (also known as iPod with video)  That was until today.  I came across an article that 'hints' that there may be a new version in the works.  The article (viewed here) is a little sparse on actual concrete news, but does follow the patter that Apple seem to follow when a new product/version is due.

Obviously I'll wait for the next version to be out in the wild before making any decision.  Especially as the current iPod is still in operation and should be for a while (fingers crossed).  I wouldn't mind getting some video content on there either!

A friend of mine recently got one of those digital photo frames, and I must admit it looks really cool.  Well, in a similar style, I found this:

Men's Digital Photo Wallet

Leather wallet features a removable digital photo viewer. Don't carry a wrinkled paper photo of your kids in your wallet. Our new handsome leather wallet includes a removable digital photo viewer that stores 55 color images. Easy USB photo transfer from your PC. 1.4" screen. Better still, the viewer is rechargeable—no batteries to buy! Classic men's bi-fold wallet is soft black Nappa leather.

At $50 is must be worth a punt.

To keep up to date with the tools that a developer needs is a tricky thing.  It's made even harder when the core tools that they use are in the rpocess of being upgraded/improved/replaced.

The main development tool that I use is Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005.  There is a new version of this tool being developed by Microsoft, which is code named 'Orcas'.

I have known that there is a beta version of the application available for download for some time now.  The trouble with downloading and installing the beta is that it interferes with your current version resulting in you not being able to do your real work properly.

Thankfully Microsoft have provided an interesting solution.  The Visual Studio team have made Beta 1 of the next release of Visual Studio (codenamed 'Orcas') available as a virtual machine.  Its a 500Mb+ download but it does provide for a relatively easy way to assess the beta version without causing problems for your existing development environment.

For a long time now, the humble computer hard disk has been left behind in the development stakes.  Processors, RAM, graphics cards, screens, Front-side bus, etc have all been getting faster and better.  However, the hard disk hasn't really kept pace.  Yes, OK it has increased in size and decreased in cost, but it has not really gotten any faster.

How often have you nowadays been waiting for your application to start up, only to watch the HD light just constantly flash, and you can hear the drive churning.

Well, it looks like there is a bright light on the way.  Solid State Disk (SDD).  From Wikipedia, SSD is defined as:

"A solid state drive is primarily a data storage device, for use in computing applications that traditionally use a hard disk drive. A solid state drive is based on either non-volatile memory or volatile memory instead of the spinning platter and mechanical-magnetic head found in a conventional hard disk drive. With no moving parts, a solid state drive eliminates seek time, latency and other electro-mechanical delays and failures associated with a conventional hard disk drive."

To me, I describe it as a solid state drive is basically a lot of RAM put together that doesn't loose the data when not powered.

I have then found an article on http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/ that gives some details on the size and pricing of some of the early manufactured drives.  The article goes on to say "No word on pricing yet for the 32GB, but the 16GB weighs in at a hefty $250.00. With a range of SSD cards from 8GB – 32GB".  I can't wait until we get as common place these drives in every day electronics, such as laptops, iPODs, Mobile Phones, etc.

A lot of my current job is making sure that all the Web sites I create are AA accessibility compliant, and also cross browser compliant.  As many people who need to do this will already know, to test on many different browsers is difficult at best.  You can't have more than one version of Internet Explorer installed at the same time, for a start.  In my efforts to try and at least do a better job in my development of browser compatible Web sites I came accross Browsershots.org.

Test your web design in different browsers

Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.

I've been thinking about doing this for a while now, and thought that I may as well start at some point.

Basically, what I've wanted to do is blog about some of the interesting Web sites that I browse to during the day.  I do have to say that about 90% of my surfing is restricted to IT and work related stuff, but occasionaly something grabs by attention.

So, for my first blog in this area:  I was reading my Blog subscriptions on MOSS 2007, when I came accross a blog on Its official I am Superman .  So I thought I'd give the 'test' a go.  Here are my results:

Iron Man 80% Hulk 70% Catwoman 65% Green Lantern 60% Spider-Man 55% The Flash 55% Superman 50% Batman 50% Robin 47% Supergirl 45% Wonder Woman 15%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

  I then also discovered that they also had the vilan test!

Dr. Doom 73% Lex Luthor 57% Apocalypse 53% Green Goblin 53% Kingpin 53% Venom 52% Magneto 47% Mr. Freeze 46% The Joker 41% Juggernaut 41% Riddler 36% Dark Phoenix 34% Two-Face 33% Catwoman 29% Poison Ivy 21% Mystique 21%

Blessed with smarts and power but burdened by vanity.

I was browsing around the small set of Web sites that I frequent, when I came across an article on the BBC that detailed how a man who skied nearly 200ft down the longest escalator on the London Underground.

He launched himself down the 196ft (60m) escalator at Angel Tube station and filmed the stunt.

You can watch the video here.

Project output contains files from the Web or Windows applications that must be added to deployment projects. You can choose to add one or more of the following types of project output:

• The Primary Output option adds all .dll and .exe files that have been built from the Web or Windows application.

  Note   In Visual Studio 2005, Web Sites have been modified to exclude .dll and .exe files. Therefore, there is no Primary Output to add to Web Sites.

• The Content Files option adds Web.config, Global.asax, and all Web Forms (.aspx pages) that are created in the Web applications, or App.ico for Windows applications.

  Note   You can also add Documentation Files, Localised Resources, Debug Symbols, and Source Files to the deployment project. However, those project output files are not necessary for deployment.

Content files from your project must be set to be included in Content file in order to be included.  To do this, go to the properties of your Content file and for "Build Action" select the "Content" option.

I have previously been able to successfully deploy to my computer an IIS application, which is written using the .NET 2.0 framework, that is deployed by using a Microsoft Setup project.  As part of the setup project, it creates a new virtual directory for the IIS application.

Since the last successful deployment, I have installed the .NET 3.0 framework.

When I tried to deploy the project again, using the same setup project, I received the following error:

C:\windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727Aspnet_regiis.exe failed to set .net framework script map for W3SVC/1/Root/<virtual folder name> - aborting.

I found that after a bit of investigation that the registration of the .NET framework against IIS was not correct and was causing problems.

As my Web site still required to run under the .NET 2.0 framework, I re-registered the 2.0 framework against IIS, and successfully re-attempted the install.

.Net framework provides an Administration utility that manages the installation and uninstallation of multiple versions of ASP.NET on a single machine. You can find the file in C:\WINNT\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v**\aspnet_regiis.exe

To uninstall current asp.net version

use the command: aspnet_regiis.exe -u

To install current asp.net version

use the command: aspnet_regiis.exe -i

The following is a letter I received from the Doctors at the "Spital Davos", who treated me after my injury.  It was mostly in English but there were some typical translation errors!

===========

Davos, 29.01.2007

Sehr geehrter Herr Kollege

Nachfolgen berichten wir ihnen uber die ambulante Behandlung vom 29.01.2007

Mit freundlichen Grüssen

======

This is the X-Ray.  You can see on the right the difference between it and the other shoulder (which is my left).  The lump is also extremely prominent on my shoulder even now, almost two weeks later!

My travel to Davos (Switzerland) didn't get off to as good a start as I hoped.  Firstly, the bus didn't come.  Then I found that the train station was not open!  So I hopped into the first cab I could get and hot footed it to the airport.

Once at the airpirt, everything went extremely smoothly.  Check-in was almost instant, along with getting through security.  So I managed to have an early morning coffee and chilled before the boarding call.

Getting onboard the flight was also super quick and easy.  There were hardly any people on the flight, and we were ready to go way before our departure time.  Because of this we actually had to wait for our slot.

The flight was uneventfull and smooth.  As usual I waited until we were as near to Paris as possible, before going to the toilet

Getting off in Zurich and getting my luggage was a breeze.  It was so quick and easy, that I was able to get my bag and a ticket for the early train, and still wait for it to arrive!

The train ride to Davos is really easy, even if it does involve three trains.  I used the Swiss Rail Web site to give me the full itinary, which included all of the stations on the way, departure times per station, and also the platform for each connection.  Typical Swiss rail efficiency, noting like the very poor service we get in the UK.

It was at this point that I switched on the GPS tracking, to give it a burst in a foreign land.  There will be a lot more to follow on the GPS stuff soon!

Once I arrived at Davos Platz, I got out the Google map I printed and dragged my bag up to the appartment.  It was a reasonably comfortable climb.

I was greeted at the appartment complex by the manager/owner.  Unfortunatley for me he didn't know any Englis and I know no Swiss, so the paperword was alittle laborious.  He then showed me up to the appartment and arrund the various facilities.  To say that I was happy with the appartment would be an understatement.  It easily has to be one of the best I have stayed at in europe when snowboarding.  It has everything inluded.  For those who have gone to France, they will appreciate this.  It had all kinds of clean freshly laundered towels, linin, soap, dish cloths, toilet paper, bin bags, storage for boards including drip trays, a radio cassette player, direct dial telephone, TV with about 40 channels (ony 1 English speaking), and the list goes on and on.

So I unpacked and settled in, before going down into the town and having a look around Davos Platz.  I forgot it was a Sunday, so had to rely on the "Coop Express" to get the essentials, like water, and then called it an early night.

Luck 1

On my way home the other night I popped into the local shop to buy some essential groceries.  Whilst there I thought I'd buy a lottery scratch card.  I saw that they had this new scratch card that you can win £40,000 per year for life, and thought I'd get one.  It was a fiver (£5) per card!  Almost decided not to bother, but bought it anyway.

Got home and after a little phaffing around, I eventually got a penny out and started to scratch.  A little into it, I found that I had won a fiver (£5).  I thought, hay, at least I made my money back, and thought that was it.  I carried on scratching away at the rest of it, as I don't know why but I get a perverse pleasure out of making sure that I scratch off all of the area.  Low and behold, I found that I had another win, this time £6 squid?  So, I had a look at the ticked, and found that you could win up-to 15 times on the same card!  Cool.  So, I was now with £11 squids in winnings, and a clear profit of £6 squid.  It wasn't over yet, I found later down that I had won another fiver (£5).

There we are, my luck had come in it's "three", and I was £11 squid better off!

Luck 2

Later that same night I noticed that there was some mail on the table waiting for me.  I picked it up, and it was a letter from the Tax man! *gulp*  Normally a letter from the Tax man is bad news, but not today.  I opened it up and discovered that I'd been given a nice hefty repayment!    Fan-blinking-tastic!  A couple grand plus, to add to my lottery winnings.

Luck 3

Actually, I'm still waiting for luck number 3!  Perhaps this weekend I'll get lucky?

I came across this news article today (BBC: World Economic Forum 2007) that goes some way to explain why Davos is very popular at the moment, and made me getting my booking that much harder.  Apparently the World Economic Forum have a meeting at the end of January in Davos every year.  Doesn't sound very economic to me!  How much does it cost for all of the delegate to travel and stay there?  Not very green either!  All that travel of the attendants, but also, what about all that extra food transport costs?  Surely it must make more economic sense to have the forum in a more eco/economic location!

Today I got the address details of where I'll be staying whilst in Davos snowboarding.  You can see where I'll be by going to Google Maps, here. Sunny position. In the house: bar, lounge, sauna (extra) solarium (extra) table-tennis. Lift. Shop, ski bus stop 300 m. Mountain lift 500 m. Apartments on and above the 4th floor have wonderful mountain views. 1-room apartment 33 m2, partly renovated in 2002: living/dining room with 2 sleeping possibilities, TV and radio. Kitchenette. Bath/WC. Balcony. Please note: only 1 dog accepted. Apartment is situated towards the back of the building.

So looking forward to it!

Me and MDO, have finally got our winter snowboarding on the move.  MDO is going to stay with a friend of his in Davos, and I've managed to get myself an apartment sorted.  MDO spent last winter in Davos, so head on over to his blog for some information about his experiences.

Getting it all organised wasn't without its trouble though.  I tried searching on line for a very, very long time to find a company that provides accommodation in Davos from the UK.  All of the bit tour operators have Davos available in their resort list, but do they actually have any availability, nope (tried their on-line systems and didn't find a single week where they even offered any! - so what's the point in having it available - stinking advertising steelers!).

Accommodation

Anyway, it looks like I'm going to be staying in a 1-room apartment which was partly renovated in 2002.  It's called the Apartment house "Parkareal",  has a living/dining room with 2 sleeping possibilities, TV, radio, Kitchenette, Bath/WC and a balcony. Unfortunately for me the apartment is situated toward the back of the building. However, that should mean that it is nice and quiet, and it should make the maintenance of my stick (snowboard) easy.

Does anyone know where this "Parkareal" is actually located in Davos? Please let me know if you do!

I eventually managed to book it with a company call Iglu Ski, who have deals with InterHome.  I honestly checked every single on-line travel agency I could find on the Internet (find via search engines/portals), Teletext and also a number of high street travel agents too.  Companies like Thompson simply didn't have a thing, or if they did, they were trying to charge £1,900+.  That much for a two week holiday, for 1 person is daylight robbery.

Flights

I've arranged a flight with Swiss Air to depart from Birmingham International on Sunday 28 the January and I fly to Zürich.  From there I need to take a train to get to Davos.  Three changes, doesn't make it an easy one, but i have personally found that the Swiss rail system is usually fantastic.

Train

After arriving at the airport, you need to take a train to the resort.  Davos is one of a few rare resorts that you can actually take a train to.  Normally you have to take a bus, which is not all that pleasant.  Especially as you have to go up wyndy roads (usually at quite a high speed) and since I get travel sick, it's a killer.  Always makes me feel ill for the rest of the day, and most of the next day.

You can get your rail travel information from this Web site: http://www.sbb.ch/en

Insurance

Last year, as I did a very long term trip (4 months in Whistler - See my blog from December 2005-April 2006) and took out a special insurance policy.  This year I have gone back to Snowcard.  I've found them to be quick, reliable, and reasonably priced.  Also, as MDO had a bit of an accident last year and claimed insurance, I know that they actually pay, unlike some unscrupulous/cheap insurance companies!  Did my usual, bought more insurance than I actually need, after all you can't have enough.  This was especially brought home to me, given the experiences of Tim (Day 11 - Whistler, 8th January 2006 - A bad day. A REAL bad day.) that I was with in Whistler.

Equipment

Today I started to look at all my snowboarding equipment.  I bought a new pear of boots recently, and haven't had a chance to use them on the slopes yet.  So, all of next week, I intend to wear them in the evenings to try and ease the break in period.  I have also been looking at getting a new stick (snowboard).  This is because my K2 Zeppelin 157 has a cracked rail.  I think that it will hold on for another couple weeks, but will take another one of my boards just in case .

Man am I looking forward to the trip.  It's been such a long time.  My only real worry, is that I have had an ankle injury since May, that has refused to go away.  Then a couple Thursdays ago when playing football, I really hurt my knee.  Still limping around, and it's very tender.  Let's hope that It'll be better by the time I get on to the snow.

Let me know where you are going this winter, I really am interested.  Especially as I intend to get at least another week later in the season, so may see you there.  So, leave a comment...

I've used, implemented and developed on top of quite a few search engines over my time in 'cyber land'.  Like most people (according to the latest stats), I currently use Google for 'most' of my Web searches.  I always struggle to get out of the search engine exactly what I want.  It's often very difficult to enter the right terms or narrow the results down enough.  The answer to getting what you want out of a search engine is to learn how to use it's advanced features.  I've listed below all of the advanced features that I use on Google below:

 

cache:

Show the cached snapshot of a page
For Example: Cache of www.internetwideworld.com

The cache is the search engine's copy of a page in its index. Google typically caches the first 101K of a page and not the images. The links to the caches are shown in Goggles search results and Page Info button on the Google tool bar can be used to access any cache available for the page.

link:

List pages which link to a page
For Example: Backlinks for www.internetwideworld.com

The term "backlinks" is used to describe those links from external sites which point to the page in question. These links are also known as "Inbound Links" or "IBLs". "Outbound Links" or "OBLs" are links from your site to other sites. The search engine optimisation world places great emphasis on increasing the number of backlinks a site enjoys because Google's conceptual model uses backlinks as votes. In general terms, a site with more backlinks is more of an authority than a site with fewer backlinks. Not all backlinks are of equal importance. In Google the phrase "B.O." is used for "Backlink Obsession" as a humorous reference for webmasters and optimisers who fixate on gaining links. Google's use of the link command omits the "http" protocol.

related:

List pages which Google consider to be related to another
For Example: Related links for www.internetwideworld.com

Related (or similar pages) are worked out by Google's algorithm. This search command allows you to find pages which discuss a similar topic to a page you have already found. For example, a review of Product X is likely to have related pages which also discuss Product X but may simply just be various reviews.

info:

Find one specific URL in the search database
For Example: Page info for www.internetwideworld.com

Presents limited information about a particular page in Google's index. Typically the command shows the page snippet and title as well as links to the cache or related pages. Typing a fully qualified URL into Google's search produces the same page.

define:

Show Google's glossary definitions for a term
For Example: Define SERPs

Google lists definitions of the keyword harvested from authoritative glossary-esq sites. The definitions are presented in a bullet point format with a link to the authoritative URL in green below. This results page differs from the links to Answers.com in the top right of many standard search result pages.

site:

Restrict a search to a single site
For Example: Site search for www.internetwideworld.com

The site: command can be used in two ways; to restrict a search to one site or to list all the pages Google has indexed from one site. For example, site:www.internetwideworld.com google searches InternetWideWorld.com for the word google and site:www.internetwideworld.com searches the site for any page and therefore lists them all. The site: command can either include or omit the 'www' in a domain, omitting the www will return all the sub-domains from the domain which Google has found.

allintitle:

Restrict a search so that all the keywords must appear in the title
For Example: Search for pages with internetwideworld blog in the title tag

This advanced search command restricts results to those pages which have all the keywords in their title tag. The title tag is the mark up to put contents into the bar at the top of the browser (typically blue in Windows XP). The title tag for this page is internetiwdeworld blog really google.

intitle:

Restrict a search so that some of the keywords must appear in the title
For Example: Search for pages which contain internetwideworld in the title and blog in the title or body tag

Returns pages which have some of the keywords in the title tag. This advanced search command differs from allintitle: in that only the keyword adjacent to intitle: is included in the title tag search.

allintext:

Restrict a search so that all of the keywords must appear in the body text
For Example: Search for pages with internetwideworld blog google in their body text

Returns pages which have all of the keywords contained within the body tag. This advanced search ignores the title tag which normally has a non trivial significance in Google's algorithm.

allinurl:

Restrict a search so that all of the keywords must appear in the page address
For Example: Search for pages with internet and wide and world in their URL

A page's URL is its address. The URL of this page is blog.internetwideworld.com/. This advanced search command returns only those pages which have all the keywords in their URL.

inurl:

Restrict a search so that some keywords must appear in the page address
For Example: Search for pages with internetwideworld, blog or both in their URL

Lists pages which have one or more of the keywords in their URL. The inurl: command can sometimes be used to restrict searches to specific sites and directories. For example: inurl:internetwideworld.com/blog/ board will return pages with 'internetwideworld.com/blog/' in their URL and board elsewhere on the page.

OR

List pages which have at least some of the keywords
For Example: Search for george OR leithead

By default Google searches for almost all the keywords entered (some words like a, the, of, etc are omitted). The OR command is placed between two or more keywords and instructs Google to return pages which contain one or another of the keywords.

+

Insist that the search engine includes a given keyword in the search results
For Example: Search for george, leithead and internetwideworld

Google purposely omits some words from normal searches but the use of the + command instructs the search engine to include them. For example, Google would treat a search for george the great as a search for george great as the is ignored but the phrase george +the great would ensure the word the was included.

-

Insist that the search engine omits pages which match a given keyword in the search results
For Example: Search for pages which match leithead but which do not mention george

The - command creates a negative keyword which must not be present on any page Google matches with the rest of the query. For example, football -American is likely to return pages about 'real' football (soccer to you damned Americans!).

~

Enhance a search to include synonyms for a given keyword
For Example: Search for leithead, developer and any synonyms for developer

The synonym search is more like an associated word search. With the ~ symbol present before a keyword Google will return pages which contain the keyword or pages which contain words commonly associated with the keyword. Google simply looks as frequencies across the internet to determine which words are associated with which. Words associated with developer are: software and design.

*

Include a wild card match in your search results
For Example: Search for george, [something] and leithead

The order of keywords in a Google search is significant. Adding the asterisk * as a wild card to the key phrase instructs Google that one or more other words should appear in that location.

[#]...[#]

Search a range of numbers as a keyword
For Example: Search for leithead and a number between 1973 and 2006

The [#] values are replaced with numbers to form a range. For example, 1973...2005. Google will search for pages which contain numbers matching the first, the last or any number in the middle of the sequence.

daterange:

Restrict a search to any daterange
For Example: Search for search on pages which were indexed between September 1, 2005 and September 24, 2005

The daterange command restricts Google's search to pages published between two dates. The date format used in the Julian calendar rather than the traditional Gregorian calendar.

""

Restrict a search so that the keywords must appear consecutively in a phrase
For Example: Search for "george leithead"

The order of keywords in a Google search is significant but not sacrosanct. Searching for george leithead returns pages which simply mention george and leithead. The search for "george leithead" returns different results as only pages which mention george leithead as a complete phrase are listed.

date:

Restrict a search to a recent time frame
For Example: Search for george and leithead on pages published in the last three months

The date: command is used to restrict searches to either 3, 6 or 12 month periods. Pages which qualify are those which have been published and found by Google in the time period. Pages without a last modified header may simply be qualified by the date Google found the page first.

safesearch:

Restrict a search to exclude adult-content For Example: Safe search for girls

The safesearch command mimics the effects of enabling SafeSearch on the Google preferences panel and excludes adult related content. Unlike other Google commands it is necessary to leave a space between safesearch: and the keyword as placing the keyword directly adjacent to the colon results in odd (often adult) results. For example, safesearch:girls (safesearch is off in this example).

filetype:

Restrict a search to a given type of file
For Example: Search for PDFs contain the word search

Google indexes more than just HTML pages. A wide range of different file types, including PDF and .doc files, are found in the search engine. The filetype command restricts searches to documents which match the filetype extension.

You can tell roughly how old I am, as I was around when DOS was still the main Operation System (OS) and when Windows first hit these shores.  DOS did not have the nice GUI (Graphical User Interface) that we have all got used to with Windows.  As such, most of how I worked on the computer was with a keyboard.  Because of this I still use a lot of keyboard shortcuts, that have made their way from DOS into Windows and been added to since.

I was sitting with someone today whilst they were 'driving' their computer, and it was driving me a little mad.  What was doing it was that they were going the long way around to do some basic windows tasks, such as opening Windows Explorer, minimising every application one by one to get to the desktop, and more.  It wasn't their fault, it's just that like a lot of people out there, they are just 'expected' by businesses to know how to use a computer.  This therefore leads me to the keyboard shortcuts.

Below is a list of keyboard shortcuts that I frequently use (coloured Navy), along with others that exist.  It's probably not fully comprehensive, but pretty good.  They are also very, very handy to know if for some reason your mouse is not working, as you can do everything with the keyboard that you can do with the mouse.

Windows system key combinations

• F1: Help
• CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
• ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
• ALT+F4: Quit program
• SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently

Windows program key combinations

• CTRL+C: Copy
• CTRL+X: Cut
• CTRL+V: Paste
• CTRL+INS: Paste
• CTRL+Z: Undo
• CTRL+B: Bold
• CTRL+U: Underline
• CTRL+I: Italic

'Windows Key' keyboard combinations (XP)

• WIN+PAUSE/BREAK: System Properties
• WIN+R: Run dialogue box
• WIN+L: Lock your computer
• WIN+F: Search
• WIN+CTRL+F: Search for computers
• WIN+D: Minimise to the desktop, press again to restore from the desktop
• WIN+U: Utility manager
• WIN+E: Windows Explorer (*My favourite shortcut*)

General keyboard-only commands

• F1: Starts Windows Help
• F10: Activates menu bar options
• SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
• CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
• CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
• ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
• ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window - While in the task-switching window hold SHIFT to go right instead of left)
• SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
• ALT+SPACE: Displays the main window's System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimise, maximise, or close the window)
• ALT+- (ALT+hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window's System menu (from the MDI child window's System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimise, maximise, or close the child window)
• CTRL+TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
• ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
• ALT+F4: Closes the current window
• CTRL+F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
• ALT+F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialogue box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialogue box and the main Notepad window)

Printing Commands

• PRNT SCRN: Snapshot the current Desktop view to the clip board
• ALT+PRNT SCRN: Snapshot copy the current active Window to the clip board

Mouse click/keyboard modifier combinations for shell objects

• SHIFT+right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
• SHIFT+double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
• ALT+double click: Displays properties
• SHIFT+DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

Shell objects and general folder/Windows Explorer shortcuts For a selected object:

• F2: Rename object
• F3: Find all files
• CTRL+X: Cut
• CTRL+C: Copy
• CTRL+V: Paste
• CTRL+INS: Paste
• SHIFT+DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
• ALT+ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object

To copy a file

• Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.

To create a shortcut

• Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

General folder/shortcut control

• F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer)
• F5: Refreshes the current window.
• F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer
• CTRL+G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only)
• CTRL+Z: Undo the last command
• CTRL+A: Select all the items in the current window
• BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder
• SHIFT+click+Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

Windows Explorer tree control

• Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection
• Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection
• Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection.
• RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child
• LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent

Properties control

• CTRL+TAB/CTRL+SHIFT+TAB: Move through the property tabs

Dialogue box keyboard commands

• TAB: Move to the next control in the dialogue box
• SHIFT+TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialogue box
• SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option.
• ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)
• ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button
• ALT+underlined letter in dialogue box item: Move to the corresponding item

Now, I did not know that these commands existed, but I found them and thought that I would add them to the list.  You can tell I got the specific keyboard keys from a Microsoft friendly site.

Accessibility shortcuts

• Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off
• Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: Toggles FilterKeys on and off
• Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: Toggles ToggleKeys on and off
• Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off
• Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off

Microsoft Natural Keyboard keys

• Windows Logo: Start menu
• Windows Logo+R: Run dialogue box
• Windows Logo+M: Minimise all
• SHIFT+Windows Logo+M: Undo minimise all
• Windows Logo+F1: Help
• Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer
• Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders
• Windows Logo+D: Minimises all open windows and displays the desktop
• CTRL+Windows Logo+F: Find computer
• CTRL+Windows Logo+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)
• Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
• Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialogue box
• Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item

Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType software installed

• Windows Logo+L: Log off Windows
• Windows Logo+P: Starts Print Manager
• Windows Logo+C: Opens Control Panel
• Windows Logo+V: Starts Clipboard
• Windows Logo+K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialogue box
• Windows Logo+I: Opens Mouse Properties dialogue box
• Windows Logo+A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)
• Windows Logo+SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys
• Windows Logo+S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off

I've been working on a Web project for some time now, and I have since starting work on it had trouble with IE accessing the Web site.

The Web site is hosted locally on my IIS server (5.1 I believe).  For the project it was necessary to access the Web site using a custom host header name (accessing with something like http://mywebsite/).  For some details on this see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file.

However when I tried to use IE 7 (beta3), I kept on getting a prompt for authentication.  I entered my details, which failed and then got the classic error:

HTTP 401.1 - Unauthorized: Logon Failed

However, it worked OK for FireFox?!? This stumped me!

So I tried adding the site to my Local Intranet and Trusted sites.  No joy.
So I tried changing the settings for User Authentication to set it to "Prompt for User name and password" and all the other settings.  No joy.
I tried doing network packet tracing.  Was all OK.
I looked at the IIS Log files.  Was all as expected (obviously it showed a 401 error!)

I gave up for a while.  After all it was working with FireFox and I could continue development work.

Then I had to write some JavaScript code for the Web site.  As all Web developers out there know (or should know), IE and other 'mozilla' browsers implement JavaScript in different ways (just to make the developers life difficult!).  This was therefore a problem, as I couldn't dilligence test my JavaScript on the IE browser platform.  So, innevitably my code failed on IE and passed on FireFox.!

It was therefore time to try and sort this problem out.  After some more Web surfing, I managed to find this article by Microsoft that put me on the right track.

Apparently in one of Microsofts Service Packs (SP) they implemented a loopback check feature that was designed to help prevent reflection attacks.  Therefore, authentication fails if the domain name or the custom host header (in this instance "mywebsite") used does not match the local computer name (which I wont give away here!).

After following their resolution, I was now able to use IE to gain access to the custom host name!

I feel like a bit of a rant today, especially as I was sent a link to an IE bashing Web site this morning. 

I'm no IE zelout, as I personally think that M$FT and IE has caused a lot of problems for the Internet (what with implementing their own standards and compatiblities), but I do wish that people would give the real picture and let the end user make an informed choice, and not just say "IE will make your computer unsafe" then tell them to use FireFox.

I, like a lot of other people, are sick and tired of ALL of these browser bashing Web sites that actually do nothing but promote their favourite browser!  They highlight the number of secuity attacks and the features of the browser they reccomend.  This in it's self is fair enough, until you consider...

A LOT of the major anti-virus companies have stated latley that FireFox/Opera/etc have just as many security vilrnabilities as Internet Explorer (IE).  IE is only considered 'less secure' because of it's percentage market share (over 80%).  So, when/if FireFox get's the largest market chare, it too will become the most targeted browser and this be regarded as the most insecure!  It's a catch-22.

I personally think that browsers such as FireForx will be targeted more and more.  Why?  Well, it's all about the motives of the hacker.  The hacker wants to gain something from the user, be that thei bank details, or to hijack their computer to send spam.  The home user, where the main majority of FireFox users are based, are the easiest targets.  They are often the least security aware, are least likley to have anti-virus, anti-spyware or have Firewalls installed, never mind keeping all of these up-to-date.  Where as the corporate market, where the majority of the IE users reside, have the corporate anti-virus, spyware, and firewalls, all maintained and kept up-to-date.  So, the hacker community simple need to ask them selves the question.  Go for the highly secured and protected environments, or go for the easy targest.  Hmm.  I'll pick the easy targets, and therefore I'd go for FireFox

I am part of a team working on a very exciting MCMS (Microsoft Content Management Server) 2003 SP2 project.  We are using Visual Studio (VS) 2005 and the .NET Framework 2.0.

The solution has been created and we are all using source control and sharing the project among many developers.  This works fine, except when I try to go to the MCMS template explorer.  I get the following error, but no others do, despite having the same build/setup:

No CMS-Enabled Projects are open

After some reading of some news groups and looking up information posted by the MCMS Gurus (Stefan Goßner, Lim Mei Ying, Joel Ward, Angus Logan), I came across the following:

To enable a MCMS project, from the menu "Website" select "Enable as MCMS Project". - This was disabled for me, so...

In the vwb.WebInfo file, make sure that you have the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<VisualWebDeveloper>
<Globals>
<UserProperties CmsEnabled="1"/>
</Globals>
</VisualWebDeveloper>

Again, my project had this!

Another suggestion was to open the project using HTTP rather than the file system.  I tried this also, but to no avail.

I then closed Visual Studio in lost hope...

Then instead of opening the project via double clicking on the solution/project, I simply opened Visual Studio up and from the "Start Page" tab, I selected the project.

Weird... it worked!

Whilst not the best solution at least it allows me to get to the MCMS Template Explorer.  In order to maintain code and source control, I still have to open the original project the original way.  Perhaps later I can find a proper solution.

I was using MCMS (Microsoft Content Management Server) 2003's Site manager and trying to get a dependent report.  For me it wasn't working, and I couldn't figure out why.  Then it dawned on me...Popup blocker!

Site Manager is actually written using the IE (Internet Explorer) browser control.  As such, when you select to open a Dependent report it is in actual fact opening up a child window.  Therefore, if in IE you have a popup blocker enabled the dependent report will be blocked.

So, to get around this problem, simply disable the popup blocker temporarily!

When IE7 first came out in Beta, there was a facilty where that when you closed the browser, all of the tabs still opened were saved, and when you re-opened IE7 you could restore all of the tabs.  Then in a later update to the beta, this feature dissapeared.  I must admit that I was well dissapointed, as I thought it was a brilliant feature.

Well, I was muching around with my setting's just earlier and noticed that the home page option in Internet Options was a multi line input. Hmm. I thought.  So, I gave it a bit of a try and found that you could enter multi lines of addresses.  Then when you start a new browser, all of these Web sites open up into new tabs.  Perfect!  If like me, you have a list of Web sites that you always want to view, and veiw regularly this is ideal.

There is a limit of 8 URL's that you can have, but I am sure that this is more than enough for people.

What are my list of favourite URL's? In order they are:

1. http://www.internetwideworld.com/Website/ (I get to my blog from here!)
2. http://footage.mcl-dev.com/TeamSheet.asp?tid=2
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/
4. http://www.newsnow.co.uk/newsfeed/?name=Information+Technology
5. http://www.modaco.com/index.php?act=portal
6. http://www.google.com/reader/view/
7. http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk/
8. http://www.giantgroup.com/

1. cd %systemroot%\assembly\
• From here you may have more that one "gac" directory, so you will have to search within each to find your component.  For me, it is within the "gac_MSIL" directory.
2. cd gac_msil
3. cd <assembly DLL name>
4. cd <assembly version number>__<public key token>
• For example: 1.0.23.456__10dbd0fba6984148
5. erase *.*
6. Say "y" to are you sure.
7. cd ..
8. rd <assembly version number>__<public key token>
9. cd ..
10. rd <assembly DLL name>
    

I managed to get some half price tickets on-line and myself, Jason and Lyndy went to Alton towers today.  We got there nice and early, and headed straight(ish) to a ride called Rita.  After a few breakdowns of the ride we eventually go on.  After that we went directly to the Corkscrew.  There were no lines for this ride at all, which was great.  We got onto the ride straight away.  Now that is how a theme park should be.

As what now seams traditional, we went onto the swings.  Which is quite tame, but still good fun.  Won't bother blogging the rest, but here are a couple 'arty' videos.

VIDEO_001.mp4 (682 KB)

VIDEO_002.mp4 (576 KB)

VIDEO_003.mp4 (353 KB)

VIDEO_004.mp4 (436 KB)

VIDEO_005.mp4 (451 KB)

VIDEO_006.mp4 (895 KB)

VIDEO_007.mp4 (477 KB)

I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop.  Now, to me, my laptop always does feel very, very hot.  So much so, that I can't have it on my lap after about ½ hour as it is simply too hot.  I just thought that the cooling wasn't up to much, and normally laptops do get quite hot.  Then a while ago probably like other people I started seeing on the Web details about Dell batteries catching fire.  Then Dell admitted that there was a problem and started to recall the effected batteries.  I found the recall site (find it here) whilst at work and emailed it to home.

About two weeks later, I have finally got my ass going and checked the battery.  Lo and behold, my battery is one of those effected!  Must admit that it does have me a tiny bit worried, as when I do use my laptop, I usually have it on for at least a few hours.

So, I've filled in the on line form, and I now expect a new batter to be delivered.  Below, is the email confirmation that I received from Dell.

===================

Was helping someone install a new New site onto one of their systems earlier today.  The installation went OK, but then when they went to the Web administration console, they simply received a "Service Unavailable" message.  It was all rather confusing.  We checked the installation, and re-installed a couple times, to no effect.  We checked the file and IIS permissions, again, no effect.  I then just happened to notice that the application pool that the Web application was running had not been started.  So, started the application pool, and bob's your uncle, it all worked fine.

So, if you get a simple "Service Unavailable" message from a Web application hosted on a Windows 2003 server.  Check to see what application pool the application is running in, and make sure that it is has started.

Earlier I posted an article about using IIS Diagnostics Toolkit.  I've just remembered another tool that I have used in the past, called 'Fiddler'.

Fiddler is a tool that allows you to find out how Microsoft Internet Explorer interacts with your Web application.  It allows you to track down strange performance bottlenecks, gives you information about which cookies are being sent, what downloaded content is marked cacheable, and more.

It is an HTTP debugging proxy that logs all HTTP traffic between your computer and the Internet. It enables you to inspect all HTTP traffic, set breakpoints, and "fiddle" with incoming or outgoing data. It is much simpler to use than NetMon or other network debuggers because it exposes only HTTP traffic and does so in a user-friendly format.

You can find out more information and download Fiddler from here.

Yesterday, I was helping a colleague with some IIS and MCMS (Microsoft Content Management Server) security issues.  Whilst we resolved the security issues relatively easily, we had trouble putting them to test on the server.  Basically, we needed an IIS box, with a private SSL certificate, in order to secure the login page.

Well, we were having a devil of a time getting HTTPS to work.  If you went to the site using basic HTTP it all worked fine.  However, as soon as you tried to go to the site using HTTPS it failed and came up with a message like "DNS error".

I eventually found this tool called IIS Diagnostics Toolkit (x86), from Microsoft which allowed us to find that the SSL Certificate we generated was invalid, and that we needed to create a new stronger certificate.

I had problems restoring a database backup from one server to another, and blogged about the problems here.

Further to this problem, I thought that I would 'finish off' the issue of restoring a database backup from one server to another.

As detailed in my previous post, I detailed how to select the backup file to restore.  Before you select OK to restore the databse, you need to also change a further couple of settings.  In Microsoft SQL Management Studio, the restore database dialog, once you have the "source for restore" selected, you should check a further few options.

Quite often when you are restoring a database from a different server, more than likely the database paths are different.  The backup file has the paths of the original source location contained within the file.  You therefore need to make sure that they map to the paths that are specific to the destination machine.  You therefore need to go to the "options" page and change these paths.

If you are restoring a database over an existing database, then it is probably also a good idea to "overwrite the existing database".  Then in the "Restore the database files as" section, change all of the paths to the destination machines database paths.

For example, if the backup file had paths of the following, I would assume that the SQL data was installed on the H drive.

H:\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\<database name>.mdf

If the destination SQL server was installed on the C drive along with the data:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\<database name>.mdf

Obviously, if you do not set the correct paths, when you come to try and restore the database you will get the following style error:

TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
------------------------------

Restore failed for Server '<server name>'.  (Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo)

For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=9.00.1399.00&EvtSrc=Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.ExceptionTemplates.FailedOperationExceptionText&EvtID=Restore+Server&LinkId=20476

------------------------------
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

System.Data.SqlClient.SqlError: The tail of the log for the database "<database name>" has not been backed up. Use BACKUP LOG WITH NORECOVERY to backup the log if it contains work you do not want to lose. Use the WITH REPLACE or WITH STOPAT clause of the RESTORE statement to just overwrite the contents of the log. (Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo)

For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=9.00.1399.00&LinkId=20476

------------------------------
BUTTONS:

OK
------------------------------

I've been having trouble trying to restore a SQL 2005 database.

Background

The database already exists, and I wanted to restore a backup of the 'live' database to my local machine.  So, I copied the file to my local machine.  Then opened up Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, selected the database and then Tasks > Restore > Database...

I obviously wanted to restore from a "device" (file), so I selected the "from device" radio button, and selected the "..." button to open the "Specify Backup" dialog.  Ensuring that the Backup media was set to file, I clcked on the "add" button and located the backup file.

However, the problem comes when I clicked on the OK button.  I get the following error:

The error

TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
------------------------------

An exception occurred while executing a Transact-SQL statement or batch. (Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo)

------------------------------
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Cannot open backup device '<drive>:\<path>\<backup file>.bak'. Operating system error 5(error not found).
RESTORE HEADERONLY is terminating abnormally. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 3201)

For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=09.00.1399&EvtSrc=MSSQLServer&EvtID=3201&LinkId=20476

------------------------------
BUTTONS:

OK
------------------------------

The resolution

In my investigations, I have found out a couple things.  Firstly, the mapping text for the error is incorrect.  It should not be "error not found", it should in fact be "access denied".  This error text is the key, and since in my instance for what ever reason it is not being mapped correctly.  This therefore lead me down the route that allowed me to resolve this problem.

As the correctly mapped error text indicated it's an access problem.  Basically, the service that SQL is running under, needs to have security rights to the backup file.  So, simply adding these rights to the backup file resolved my issue!

Conclusion

It appears to be a reasonably common problem where mapping text does not map corretly.  Therefore, if you do get an error, do not rely on the error text, but the error number.  In this case '5'.  Further more, always make sure that if SQL is accessing files from other servers, that the service account has access to those files!

Recently M$FT recently released a new beta blog authoring tool, called Windows Live Writer. (Download here).  It appears to work with loads of different blog types, such as Windows Live Spaces, WordPress, Movable Type, Live Journal, dasBlog, Blogger and more.  The real difference, is that it is all tied into your Web browsers as a toolbar add-on!  I've really been getting into some useful toolbar add-ons, as you have probably seen.

Windows Live writer is more than your usual WYSIWYG editor.  It has features that provide spell checking, but also some more interesting features such as inserting maps from Windows Live Local.

I would love to put on in here, but for what ever reason, my current blog software and Windows Live Writer cant publish images!

I'm still playing around with it, and may post some more information about it later.

Mouse Gestures

Developer Toolbar

ieSpell

I was having this strange problem last week, and thought that I would share my experience about it with the developer community at large.

I had this project in Visual Studio (VS) 2005, that had two class library components and 1 Web service.  One of the class libraries needed to reference a COM DLL.  As such, when it is referenced within the Web Service it is copied into it's Bin folder.  All fine an fair enough.

However, when I was compiling the Web Service I kept getting this strange error (X is the name of the COM DLL) :

Could not load file or assembly 'X' or one of its dependencies. Access is denied.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.IO.FileLoadException: Could not load file or assembly 'X' or one of its dependencies. Access is denied.

Source Error:

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.
To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.
Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.
To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].

So, all I did was use correct username and password details, and it solved my problem!

I arrived at the new work and was immediatley confronted by the fact that the person that I was to ask for when I arrived wasn't there.  Not a good start.  Thankfully someone else in the office, NL, did know I was coming and was able to help me out a little.

I was shown to my new desk and then informed that as it's all happened rather quickly, that they have nothing ready for me.  No computer, no paperwork, no system login, no nothing, not even a pen!  Again NL managed to get me something to do with the job and get on with.  I was given some paper copies of the Induction material for the project that I would be working on, and also a functional specification of one of the MCMS projects that I would probably be working on.

I was rifling through the Induction document and managed to come up with about 20 questions that I need to get answered, and all this before lunch.

The area where the office is is in the middle of a business park.  As such there is very, very little around.  Thankfully they have a sandwich man come around every lunh time with sandwiches, and they have a host of drinks available in the kitchen which is nice.

One of the facilities people for the office came along and gave me a quick guided tour of the office and also sorted me out a temporary security pass.  Will have to try and get this all sorted out, and get a proper pass with my photo on it.

After lunch I decided to read through the functional specification.  I'm glad I had a red pen with me as i went through the document and had dozens upon dozens of questions and suggestions about the specification.  It transpired later on that this is good as re-developing the site will probably be one of my objectives.

Around about mid afternoon the project manager that I was to be working with arrived in the office.  AP was only going to be there for an hour or so as he had a meeting to go to.  Trouble is that he is only here for a short time tomorrow also, and on Friday goes off for a weeks holiday!  So, no doubt I'm going to be left here on my own to get on with things.  Oh well.

I managed to have a decent chat with AP, and through the course of discussions I managed to eek out some objectives that are going to give me something to do.  Firstly, I need to get this desktop that I am using for the moment, all installed up and configured.  I need to install Visual Studio 2005, the MSDN Library, SQl Server 2005, Content Management Server 2002 with SP2, and a few other little pieces of software.  Let's hope that it goes well, and I don't have any technical issues.

My three tasks over the next week or so are below.  As usual, because it has all been rushed, there is no specification.  Therefore it's the old 'wing and a prayer' style development.  I do however, intend to do this right and fully architect and document my development, even though it hasn't been asked for:

1. Build a fully OO based search engine component that can be used in any product that we may build/use.
1. The component must use a search engine called Coveo (never heard of it personally!)
2. The component must provide the UI.  This is the Basic and advanced search interface.
3. The component must provide the search results in XML format.
4. Create a mockup with the component being deployed into both a Web and Windows application.
2. Build a generic component that deals with forms.
1. The component is to use an XML file that dictates the form elements and the validation required per element.
2. The component must wire up the correct events and exceptions.
3. The component must validate the form elements according to the validation requirements.
4. Upon sucessfull completion the form information must be made available to the calling system.
5. Create a mockup with the component being deployed into a MCMS system.
3. Review the Functional Specification for the Web site and the current site developed
1. Write a proposal as to what I suggest that we could do to the site, and why.
2. Create a mock-up of suggested proposals.

All three of these are quite daunting as the specifications are very flimsy.  But, I am sure that I can deliver what they require without too much effort.  I just hope that I can get this computer all built and set-up quickly.  All of the files are taking forever to copy to this machine before I do the install!

I have recently accepted a new contract job.  After a few weeks searching the right opportunity has come along, and I have taken it.  Last week was extremely challenging, as I had 4 different and very good job offers on the table.  I decided to take the contract role, not because of the money, but because it was in a technology area where I was very capable, and also it was located in a reasonably easy to reach location.

Yesterday I did a 'dry run' of the trip to the new job in Northampton.  There is only 1 train in the morning that get's me from Birmingham New street to Northampton on time.  It's at 06:45, and therefore means that I have to get up at about 05:30.  This is probably the worst thing about this new role.  Once I get to Northampton, I can either get a bus or walk.  The walk is quite pleasant but takes about 45 minutes.  The buses however are appaling!  There are only 6 busses all day that go to the office! 

Only really the 08:00, 08:10 and 08:25 are viable options.  The return bus is worse, with only 1 real option at all!  These lack of busses are provided by First group.  Shame on you!

It's been a while since I posted anything.  The main reason is that I simply as yet do not have direct broadband access at home.  As such it's been incredibly difficult to keep my blog up-to-date.

However, all that is about to change.  I have a new job of which I started today.  So, my intention is to blog the day, so that it alows me to record everything and us it for reference.

I thought that I would spend a little time and piece together some hints and tips, good and bad, that I experienced snowboarding in Whistler, BC, Canada. It is important to note that these are based on my personal experience and are my own personal opinions.

I am sure that I can think of leads more, but it's getting late and I'm tired. I'll add more if/when I think of them.

Today was my last day on the slopes of Whistler, as I head back to real life and the UK tomorrow.  I could tell that it wasn't going to be a good day, as it was raining heavily in the village.  I arrived at the top of the mountain and it was snowing really heavily.  The snow was extremely wet and very shortly I was soaked.  Not good when you have a long day on the slopes yet to go, and a need to pack the gear later in the night.

I wanted to go back on over to my self made kicker and again try some more backside 180's.  I headed on over and could tell that it wasn't going to be that good as the snow was super sticky, and it was actually troublesome getting on over to the kicker.  I got on over to the kicker and gave it a straight air jump.  It was really sticky and it was actually difficult to get some air.  I rode it a couple times but could tell that it was not going to worth the effort.  So I gave up on my kicker and said farewell to the location of where I made some nice air's.

I decided to head on over to the pipe and park.  Thankfully, the weekends means that the Harmony Express is open, and so I don't have to take 'Sidewinder'.  I headed on up the Harmony Express, but by now I was totally soaked.  So much so, that I decided to head on over to the Roundhouse and get some lunch.  Gave me the chance to dry off a little.

After lunch I headed on out, and the weather and snow was even worse.  I really couldn't be bothered with these conditions, and decided to call it a day.  I simply got onto the gondola and headed on down.

A disappointing end to the season on the slopes, but all in all a good time.

Visibility: Very poor to OK.
Snow: 0cm.  However, it was snowing heavily all day.
Piste Condition: Sticky and very, very wet snow.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: From +9 to -1.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

This will be the last weather report that I give from Whistler this season.  I head back to the UK tomorrow!

Let me know if you used or liked my reports!

I was in a bit of a lazy mood today.  I headed yet again over to my self made kicker, over by the Flute hike out.  My mission once again was to put more mileage into my backside 180's.

I started off with a natural warm up and put in some frontside 180's and switch frontside 180's.  The conditions of the kicker was a little poorer today, and it needed a little work to put it into good order.  Thankfully the ride out was in decent condition.  I then got to work again on the backside 180's.  I decided to mix it up and change it around between a regular backside air then a switch backside air.  They really have come on a good way since I started working on them.  Since I've been working on them for a while, I decided to call it on the kicker quite early and headed on up to ride the park.

Surprise...surprise!  We finally have a pipe on Whistler mountain!  It's taken them all season, but it's finally been built and is rideable.  It's at the top of the Emerald Express chair, and in a perfect position to ride then go and hit the park.  So, that's what I did!  The pipe was really busy, and didn't have a great drop in, and was also extremely soft, but at least it was a pipe.  I got some nice good airs off both walls.  I then proceeded on down to the park.  All of the kickers were rather soft and easy to ride into, they were also quite easy to overshoot.  I wanted to try some spins on the big jumps, but to be honest I chickened out as I was feeling really quite lazy.

I rode around the pipe and park a few times.  On one occasion though, I went to drop into the pipe, and the visibility was poor.  I managed to hit a big lip on the drop in and took an embarrassing tumble down to the bottom of the pipe.  No damage though   I called it a day when the visibility due to heavy cloud cover got quite poor.

Visibility: Great visibility in the morning with light hazy sunshine.  Increasing cloud and poorer visibility later in the afternoon.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: Sticky wet snow.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: From +17 to +3.
Crowding: Light to moderate.
Lift Lines: Light to moderate.

I headed on back to my self made kicker yet again today.  The conditions today meant that the snow had softened up nicely, so went for it.  I started off hitting it with just straight airs.  With the new sticky snow that fell yesterday/last night, the run it was initially a little slow.  So hit it again with some straight airs to get it going.

Once the run in had warmed up and wasn't sticky any more, I started off with some warm up frontside 180's.  These feel very much more natural nowadays, which is bloody fantastic.  I then went to work on the backside 180's, both regular and switch.  Almost straight away they were coming together, and they were feeling so much more natural and effortless.  I guess it all comes down to putting in the effort into mileage!

I worked on changing the spin every time.  Going switch backside 180, then backside 180, then back again, and generally mixing it all up.  I think this really helped get my mind to concentrate onto the trick that I was going to do.  It was great practise.

After a few hours of this I decided to head on over to the Whistler park.  I rode through here a couple times, but the heavy fog really made it difficult.  You couldn't even see the jump when you were riding to it.  Thankfully the parkies had put some blue dye on the lip to make the spotting of the jump easier.

I rode around the park for a while and then decided to call it a day, and rode down to the gondola and took the down load.  The end to a very satisfying day.

Visibility: Foggy everywhere.  Poor visibility.
Snow: 1cm.
Piste Condition: Slushy warm sticky snow.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: From +8 to -3.
Crowding: Light to moderate.
Lift Lines: Light to moderate.

I didn't sleep to well last night.  My ankle was giving me a lot of jip, but it felt better this morning so I thought that I would go up the slopes anyway.  The weather really has changed since yesterday!  It was much colder, heavy cloud, and actually snowing!  The only trouble with the drop in temperature was that with all the snow melt yesterday, everything had turned into hard packed and icy.

I decided however, to go on over to the kicker that I built yesterday and give it a go.  It was obvious from my first jump that the whole thing was really icy and hard packed.  I gave it a go though.  I started off doing a couple straight airs, and whilst the landing wasn't pleasant it wasn't too bad either.  I then started to on the spins.  I started off and did some frontside airs.  These came off to be honest...mediocre.  I then also put in a backside 180.  Not a good landing!  I only managed to get around 90 degrees.  Guess the fear of falling/crashing in the icy conditions played on my mind.  I then did a switch backside 180.  This went better, but I decided to leave it for today, before I do actually hurt my self.  After all I only have a few day's left.

I then decided to hit the Whistler park instead.  I headed on straight over, hit the rail, then the step-up-flat-drop box, and then the quarter pipe.  Then I headed onto the first big kicker.  The run in was a little rutted, but the jump was flowing really quite well, and it was quite easy to hit the transition comfortably.  I them moved onto the two smaller jumps and did a frontside 180 and a switch frontside 180 on them.  Then the up rail, which has quite a drop off the end of it.  Then was the three big jumps in a row.  The first was OK, but the run out was extremely rutted and a little dangerous.  The second and third though, were in great condition.  So much so, that on the last jump I kept overshooting.  Every time around the park, I tried to control the speed more and not pop so much, but kept on overshooting.  Needless to say, this was not great for the ankle.

I kicked around the park for a few trips, as it wasn't too busy.  But my ankle was really starting to niggle and throb, so I decided to call it a day.  It was niggling so much, that I couldn't ride all the way to the bottom, instead I got the Whistler Village Gondola at the mid station and down loaded!

Visibility: Heavy cloud with none to poor to OK visibility.  With some low lying cloud patches.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: It was snowing higher up the slopes and as such put a small dusting of snow on to hard icy conditions.
Wind: Moderate to Strong.
Temperature: From +8 to -3.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

I wanted to head straight on over to the kicker that I made yesterday and did so.  However, I must have entered the Flute area higher up in the trees, as I missed the area.  By the time I was over to the area, I was way too far down.  So decided to go to the Flute Bowl hike out and go around again.  On the way though, I noticed this really nice slope with a roller at the bottom, just off the hike out.  So I gave it a look.

I hiked up a reasonable distance and rode down and hit it.  It was really surprising as it had a good up kick to it.  It also had two other good points.  Firstly, the point where I was dropping in was shaded by the trees, and in this heat it was well worth it.  Secondly, the roller hid the kicker that I built behind it so well, that when other people were doing the hike out, I bet that they thought that there was nothing to it!  Perfect!

I started off hitting the kicker and just warmed up by doing some straight airs.  I could really pump some big air off this thing and really travel quite a distance!  I then started some warm ups on the frontside 180's.  The landing on this kicker was way much better, and it really allowed for me to get the spins in there.  I then got into working on the backside 180's.  They didn't start off too great, but then they really started to come together.  They were starting to feel much more natural.  I do think that the better kicker and the much better landing made it easier.  I carried on doing these for a while, all the time popping more and more air on the jumps.

I then started to work on the switch backside 180's.  A couple of day's ago, these were riding really quite well.  However, today, they took a bit longer to come together.  It didn't help too much with the direction that I was coming off of the kicker.  It kicked me off toward some trees, and the ride out was into a bit of a dip and a tree well.  It all came together after some time though.

I had to make sure that I didn't stay too long at the kicker today, as I didn't want to get stuck with the run out and no chair lift back to the roundhouse.  So had to make sure that I left the kicker before 15:30 to catch the last lift.

For my last few jumps off of the kicker, I decided to drop in and do all four 180's!  I started off with a switch backside 180 and a switch frontside 180.  Then moved onto the backside 180 and frontside 180.  I landed them all quite well.  I then wanted to take one big straight air off the kicker.  So hiked up.  All day though, I had been hitting the kicker without my helmet on and left it by the kicker.  On the hike up I forgot to pick up my helmet, so just had to hit the kicker and then go for another one.  The first straight air wasn't too big.  Good thing that I just had to hit it again   This time though I picked up my helmet and hiked further up the piste.  I really went for it this time, and really flexed those legs and popped some sweet air.

After the hike out, I rode around to the Emerald Chair and took the same route down as I did yesterday.  Today though, the wind wasn't warm and was a lot cooler.  Let's hope that the cloud cover will cool things down, and hopefully we'll get some new snow before I leave!

Visibility: Bluebird sunshine.  Late afternoon, some light clouds moved in.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: Super warm, sticky and wet snow.  Very poor slushy conditions further down the slope.  It is not reccomended that you ride all the way down to the base.
Wind: None.  Moderate wind starting late after noon.
Temperature: From +18 to -3.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy.

Visibility: Bluebird sunshine.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: Very poor.  Super warm, sticky and wet snow.  Very poor slushy conditions further down the slope.  It is not reccomended that you ride all the way down to the base.
Wind: None to light.  The wind was actually warm, when riding to the base!
Temperature: From +22 to -3.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy.

I headed straight on over toward the Flute bowl this morning, as I knew that everywhere else was going to be packed and the park was going to be full!  Instead of going through the main Flute control gate (gate 2) I headed on down to Gate 3 and looked for a nice place for to build a kicker.  I very quickly found this really nice slope with nice pitch and rode down it and popped some air, to locate the best point to build the kicker.

I spent about 1/2 an hour building the kicker and got a nice shape to it.  I took a couple straight air's off of it to see how it felt, and it felt OK.  I proceeded to spend the next few hours working on my backside airs.  However it was simply not very good conditions today.  It was extremely hot which made the snow wet, sticky and very, very heavy!  Thus, every landing was hugely difficult, and I only made a couple of the landings all day.  Today felt like it wasn't a step forward for my backside airs, but a stationary one.  I got sick and tired of bombing the landing, even though I was making some good rotations, that I gave up and decided to go give the pack a little look.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll go back and try and make some cheeks 360's   Especially as the landing is so soft!

So, I headed on over to the Emerald chair via Sidewinder.  It was not a good ride as the snow was so wet and sticky that it was really hard work.

I could see from the chair that the park was quite busy, but I decided to give it a go anyway.  The first big kicker was in very surprisingly good condition.  The only thing about this jump I don't like is the run in.  It just doesn't feel right!  I threw a couple front-side 180's in on the two small kickers and then rode the up rail.  Then comes the three big kickers in a row.  The first was good, but the run out was all rutted and not nice.  The second two kickers were sweet, but it was all too easy to get too much speed on them and come close to overshooting the landing.

I rode through the park a couple more times.  Nothing too exciting to report apart from overshooting the landing a couple times.  This really aggravated my now long standing ankle injuries and I just had to call it a day.  I rode on down 'Pony Trail', into 'Jimmy's Joker' and on to 'Highway 86'.  I was going to take the Creekside Gondola download, but forgot that it was closed.  So, I decided to continue on down and ride 'Cross Roads' and 'Lower Franz's'.  This run was actually quite fun and interesting, despite the very bad conditions (loads of bare patches and rocks).  It was really soft and mogully, but this made for a really fast mogul run.

All in all, not a great day on the slopes, but the suntan got a good working out

Yesterday was the last day of the season for Blackcomb mountain.  It has been closed to save operation costs, even though there is some 300cm of snow base on the mountain.  What a shame!

Everyone now has to go on over to Whistler mountain!  However, the operation cost cutting hasn't stopped there!  The Harmony Express chair is now only open Weekends, the Creekside Gondola, Garbonzo, Fitzsimmons and Franz's chairs are all closed (which join the Orange chair which was decommissioned early in the season).  The only lifts open on the mountain are Whistler Village Gondola, Big Red Express, The Peak Chair, Emerald Express and the T-Bars!  So, not only have we lost an entire mountain, it feels like we have lost over half of Whistler mountain too!

Given the very high price of season tickets, I have only one thing to say...Cheapskates!

Visibility: Bluebird sunshine.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: Very poor.  Super warm, sticky and wet snow.  Very poor slushy conditions further down the slope.  It is not reccomended that you ride all the way down to the base.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: From +20 to -4.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy.

Tonight was the last big day for the Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival.  Myself and Will headed on down to meet Yugi (one of Will's friends) and buy some beers.  We didn't get there all too early, but we hiked up around the back of the Whistler Village Gondola and up the slope a little to get a good view.  No sooner had Will and Yugi cracked open a beer, the police were there and made them dispose of it.  No drinking in public I think!  Thankfully for me, I had all my beer in my pockets still

We caught the Ski and Snowboard finals.  It consisted of the remaining three riders having to pull 540, 720 and 960 airs, any way they wanted, off a 60ft table!  Nice!  Those guy's threw some sick smooth air!  When it was done, we headed on down into the Village Plaza to get close to the stage to hear the band Blackalicious, and watch the award presentations.

We gradually worked our way to the front of the stage.  I do have to say that Blackalicious were actually really quite good, and we had a really good time.  It did turn into a bit of a mosh pit up front, and it got bumpy, but it was all good.

After that we all headed on over to Citas and had some more beers there.  After that, I must admit that it got a bit messy as we had all had a lot of beers and had a really good time.  A good night was had by all.

Got on over to Blackcomb at a reasonable time this morning.  I knew that it was going to be a warm day today as the sun was out and there were no clouds in the sky.  The live temperature fees did say -10 at the top, so I knew that it wouldn't start out too warm though.

Getting on the Excalibur Gondola I met Dave, who took his CASI Level 2 with me, and some of his friends.  Chatted to them on the way up and got the Excelerator chair with them.  The line here was massive, and shortly after we got on the chair it stopped for over 5 minutes.  At the top they all headed on over to Jersey Cream chair, but I decided to head on over to the Solarcoaster chair.  Glad I did too, as there was no lift lines here at all!

I headed on straight over to 'Easy Out' and into the lower Terrain Garden entrance.  The mission today was to concentrate on the backside 180's!

I put in a good warm up front-side 180 on the medium kicker.  Then took the board straight off and hiked back up to hit the kicker again.  I did this literally all day on the mountain.  A hit on the jump then hike back up!  I tell you, it got really hot, really quick.  I had to take my fleece off and put it to the side of the kicker!

To start with I started to work on the backside 180 (regular into switch).  Initially I wasn't using my upper body to initiate the spin, and then tried to get that sorted.  I wasn't getting my head around and looking in the right direction, so worked on that.  I just wasn't pumping any air off the jump.  Then got to work on that.  I just kept on going around and around and must have made dozens of jumps.  I did this for almost three hours, until I started to get a sharp pain in my left calf.  So at this point I decided to go for some lunch.

A quick lasagna and a lot of liquid refreshments later to re-hydrate I headed on back out.

This afternoon, I went straight to work on the switch backside 180 (switch to regular).  All the work this morning didn't take long to pay off.  After a few poor attempts where I got no air what so ever and simply just spun on the snow, they really started to come together.  In what only seemed about 1/2 an hour, I was really popping some nice air and getting great rotations.  So much so what I was practically behaving like and American...Whooping!

I kept putting in the mileage on the switch backside 180's until I looked at my watch.  16:30!  Wow!  The mountains closes at 16:00.  So, since I was having such a great time on these airs, I decided to put another one in.  I then hiked up to collect my fleece and then put in another one.  Both were really good.  I then rode down and out of the Terrain Garden.  I did want to put in the backside's on the four kickers at the bottom, but decided that it was probably better to end the day's backsides on a good note.  So, instead I put in some big front-side 180's.

A quick run down to the base and onto the bus.  Man what a good day.  I really left the mountain on a high.  Tonight is the Telus Big Air competition (Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival), so I'm going to go out to watch that tonight.  Expect a write up later or tomorrow!

Visibility: Bluebird sunshine.
Snow: 1cm.
Piste Condition: Good, but very slushy in the early afternoon.  Very poor slushy conditions further down the slope.  It is not reccomended that you ride all the way down to the base.
Wind: Moderate to light.
Temperature: From +5 to +13 at the base and from +4 to -10 at the Peak.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy.

Visibility: Cloudy but OK to poor.  Occasional low lying cloud and some light snow/rain flurries.
Snow: 10cm.
Piste Condition: OK.  The freezing level is quite high, so mostly wet snow higher up.  Very poor slushy conditions further down the slope.  It is not reccomended that you ride all the way down to the base.
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: +6 at the base -4 at the Peak.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Visibility: Cloudy but OK to poor.  Occasional low lying cloud and some light snow/rain flurries.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: Raining/snowing most of the day.  Very poor on piste conditions.  The freezing level is quite high, so mostly wet snow higher up.  Very poor slushy conditions further down the slope.  It is not reccomended that you ride all the way down to the base.
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: +7 at the base -3 at the Peak.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Last night was Andy's last night in Whistler before heading back home.  So, he arranged for us all (himself, Myself, Bridget and Will) to go out for a meal.  He arranged that we would go to Caramba! which serves Mediterranean style wood fired pizza, rotisserie, pasta and seafood.

We were a little late in arriving but it was OK.  We got straight into the ordering and ordered a pitcher of sangria to share.  The sangria was really nice and went down well.  I ordered the Caramba pizza, which has chorizo sausage and Parmesan cheese.  It was a really good pizza, and I would recommend that you give it a try.  I also had the cheesecake desert and an espresso.  The cheesecake could have been better, and the espresso was a little cold, but good none the less.

The four of us made a good evening of it, and had quite a varied number of conversations.  All too soon though, the evening was over and we had to leave.  It was here we said our goodbyes to Andy, as the rest of us headed off to the Brew House for a couple beers.  It was here that Bridget was to meet some of her friends and also Will to meet some of his friends.  We stayed for a couple beers, before me and Will and his friends headed off to try and get into Buffalo Bills.  There was a huge line outside Buffalo Bills, at both entrances!  So, instead we headed off to Moe Joes.  One of Will's friends had VIP tickets and we got straight in and for free.  Thankfully they didn't ask me for ID as I had left my ID back at the house!  We had a good time in Moe Joe's and left about 02:00.

So, in the house now there is only myself, Bridget and the host Will.  I have an entire floor of the building to my self, until I leave.  Which is nice!

Visibility: Cloudy but OK.  Occasional low lying cloud and some light snow flurries.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: Nice conditions with some areas of crusty snow.  Poorer slushy conditions further down the slope.
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: +5 at the base -5 at the Peak.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Myself and Andy set off this morning and headed straight to the Flute Bowl on Whistler for our first run of the day.  To get there though, we had to ride down 'G.S.'.  This is where we met Bridget, one of the other house guests.  She is also a skier.  We managed to persuade her to join us and hike the Flute with us.  I set off at a very fast pace, which slackened near the top, but I really wanted to get in front of this big group of Japanese skiers.  Thankfully I did.  I suggested that we go on over and hit 'Flute North Bowl'.  This is a cornice drop that I have done before and can recommend it.

We got up the hike and I waited at the top for the other two and scoped out the 'Flute North Bowl'.  The drop was only about 6-8ft and the snow at the top looked nice.  There was a rather large lump just below the drop, but I felt that it would be soft and give way easily.  Once the other two arrived and had a look, I got ready and set off.  I rode down the slope a little and then launched off the cornice.  On the drop I actually hit the lump, and unfortunately it wasn't soft at all.  In fact it was a big ice lump.  Fortunately it didn't cause me too much problems and I landed it clean and rode out straight into some nice carved turns.  The snow wasn't actually in that great shape, but it was good all the same.  I rode on over to the top of the trees between 'Flute Low Roll' and 'Lesser Flute Bowl' and waited for the others to drop in.  By the time I got there though, Andy had already dropped in and he wasn't having a great time when I turned around, however he recovered and rode it nice and sweet.  Next up to drop in was Bridget.  Bridget hasn't really done this thing before and was quite nervous.  However, she edged in and lowered her self down, and after the drop put in some nice controlled turns.

The tree's down to the hike out had really great powder on them.  I was hitting the turns so well that I was practically bouncing out of the snow between turns.  Lush!  We all took the hike out together.

At the top of the hike out, Andy said that he noticed a little run down through the trees a short was down the cat track.  So, my and him went to hit it.  The snow here was much more crusty, but when we hit the trees it really softened up and rode well.  The only trouble with this run was that it was very short, and involved yet another hike up and out.  We lost Bridget here as she didn't do this run.

After we got to the top of the Harmony Express, we decided to go for an early lunch.  To get back to the Roundhouse we rode down 'Little Whistler' which was quite mogulled, and on to 'Pika's Traverse' and let the board ride straight down the track as fast as we could.

Once we had a large lunch over with, we took a look through the park.  Well, actually we hit most of the top rails and hits before scoping out all of the lower jumps.  The lunch was sitting heavy on us so we decided to go and hit the cornice at 'Low Roll' which is on the Harmony Ridge.  On the way up the lift, provided the conditions are good, you can give the drop/landing a scope out.  It looked OK and the cornice wasn't too big.  We rode on down and gave it a look.  Where we were there was a carved line a meter or two below us, in where skiiers had simply cut a way in.  I rode on into the drop and really had to pop the jump and pull my knees up to get over the skiier cut in, so as to avoid a hard landing.  Thankfully I made the landing really good and for the second time today, rode out the drop in, and put in some really nice carves.  The snow here was actually much nicer than the drop in on the Flut Bowl.  Andy followed just after me and also made a good pop and drop over the skiier cut in.  The run down to the Harmony Express once again was not all that nice as there was loads of nasty mogulls, and only occasional nice powder.

At the top of the Harmony we wanted to head on over to the park, but to do this we had to get on over to the Emerald chair.  This isn't really achievable without doing Pika's Traverse, and we didn't want to do it two times in one day.  So we headed on all the way down the Harmony Ridge and kept our speed on the lower section and I just made it onto 'Sidewinder' with is a cat track that leads to the Emerald chair.

The park was in fantastic condition today.  For me all of the rails were working, all of the boxes were working, the quarter pipe ally oop was working and the big jumps were really working too.  At the top there was a long thin rail, then onto a down kink box, straight into a quarter pipe.  Then down onto the first big jump.  The first time I hit it, I had a lot more speed than I expected and my arms were all over the place, but I still landed it nice.  The two smaller jumps after that were not good though.  They may have been smaller, but the drop on the other side was big.  The first (and only as I swapped to the rails after that) time I hit it I threw in some front side 180's.  The drop did actually mean that on the first hit I over rotated by a long way and hit a 300.  The second jump I tamed it back but still over rotated.  After these were three really nice big jumps.  They were in some fantastic condition, and the run in was good that you could really launch yourself off them.

The second and third, fourth, fith...etc...time in the park, instead of hitting the two small jumps I hit the rails to the left.  The first was a kinked thin rail and was really good.  After that there was an up rail with a big drop off the end.  The first time I hit this rail I didn't have enough speed and actually stopped at the top of the rail and had to jump off the side   The other times after that I made sure that I had enough speed and really rode off the end.  In the set of three big jumps I was getting some great air and making some really nice indie and method grabs.

We had done the park enough for the day and we were getting really tired.  So we headed on down trough 'Franz's Meadow' and down into  'Lower Franz's' for the final run out of the day.  The conditions here were so slushy and heavy that it was really hard work.  You really have to put a lot of effort into this run in order to get down to the base.  The conditions of the slopes down here are also extremely bad.  So my advice is that you don't do the run, instead you take the download on the gondola.

Visibility: OK to good.  Occasional low lying cloud.
Snow: 0cm.
Piste Condition: Nice conditions with some areas of crusty snow.  Poorer slushy conditions further down the slope.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: +6 at the base -10 at the Peak.
Crowding: Moderate to Heavy.
Lift Lines: Heavy.