As you know I am currently in Birmingham, UK.  I will be heading back to Whistler on Wednesday 1st March 2006.  Looking forward to getting back and putting my new found skills into practise, and also my CASI Level 1 Snowboard Instructor certification.

What I intend to do with my Level 1 is, try and get some part time instructor job on the mountain.  Perhaps the weekends only.  Us this as an experience builder, and then go for my level 2. Will be asking around for some advice on how best to prepare for this and on how to get the part time job (working visa - how?).

You may have noticed that I havent been posting any weather reports for the last few days!  There is a perfectly good reason for this.  I am currently back in the UK!

No need to worry though, on Wednesday 01 March 2006, I will be flying back to Vancouver and then back to Whistler again.  I will be staying in Whistler until the end of the season, or until the snow deteriates too much!

So, come back on the Thursday for continued weather coverage

Visibility: Cloudy.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Packed with icy patches.
Wind: Strong.
Temperature: -1 at the base to -10.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Today I travel back to the UK for a 1 week quick trip.  Why you ask?  Well, I am one of these people who doesn't trust anyone.  As such, what with being away from my home in Birmingham, UK, I felt that I needed to go back half way through my trip to make sure things are all OK.  It also allows me to pick up my mail, ensure that everything in the house is OK, and that I have no unexpected bills!

Anyway,  the trip back started off with a bus trip from Whistler to the airport.  It felt like it took ages to get to the airport, what with setting off late and embarking on a tour of the city dropping people off at their hotels.  Once we arrived at the airport, I did my usual of getting checked-in quickly and through security, which I managed in double quick time.

I wanted to get something to eat and surf around the duty-free shops.  Vancouver airport, whilst a nice place sucks big style for duty-free and general shopping.  All of the decent places to eat are before security!  Also, the duty-free is extremely limited, and basically only perfume, chockolate, cigarettes and alcahol.  There was virtually no electrical goods at all, apparet from a couple watches!

So, my advice is that you do not plan to do any duty-free shopping in Vancouver airport!!!

The flight was OK, apparet from some whyney little kid who threw a massive tantrum for over 40 minutes before falling asleep.  The movies were poor though, so poor that I can't even remember what they were!

Got the tube from the airport and met up with MDO for a quick catch up, which was good.  After that got the train fron London Euston back to Birmingham.  Managed to snag 1/2 hours sleep at this point.  Was some 24 hours without any sleep!

For those who remember, I was in Scotland at the folks for Christmas.  Where I managed to leave my house keys!  It was a mission to get back into the house before flying out to Canada.  Thankfully that got resolved.  Anyway, I got my Mum to post the keys to my house, and the good news is that they were there waiting for me when I arrived.  So, thanks Mum!

Visibility: Cloudy.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Packed with icy patches.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: -2 at the base to -9.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Today is the day that we get our assessment for the CASI Snowboard Instructor course.  The day started off with us all just doing some riding, whilst the piste condition was good.  Really starting to feel that the carving skills are progressing nicely, thanks to the instructional tips from Greg.  Also, I was doing a lot of jibbing here and there and am really enjoying that too.

So the actual assessment got off under way through the morning.  Thankfully I wasn't the first to go, but I got selected to do the "Side Slipping" exercises.  When I started off I really tried to get the group motivated and in the mood.  I then started off with the "What" are we doing, "Why" we are doing it, and then onto the "How".  I started off with giving the 'Crab Walk' instruction for my students.  It was going well, and I then moved my students on to Assisted side slipping.  It again went well and I ended the class off really quite well.  In all, my feeling's on how well this went wasn't top notch, but acceptable.  I know that I can do better!

After lunch, we started off the lessons again.  I do have to say that Andy was doing really well too, and I knew that he would pas the course.  My lesson in the afternoon was to do the "Pendulum".  Again, I tried to motivate my students and get them enthused.  This lesson went better that this morning, but again I felt that I could have done better.  I suppose that this comes with more experience.

The end of the day came and we headed back to the hotel to await the results.  Greg gave us our results 1-2-1.  Not surprisingly, we all passed!  Hurrah!  I received an "Above Expectations" for my riding skills, and also an "Above Expectations" for my teaching.  Top results...excelent.

So, I am now a qualified snowboard instructor.  If you want to know more, have a look here: http://www.casi-bc.com/default.aspx

Visibility: Mostly cloudy with Sunny spells.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Packed with icy patches.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top, improving to -5 by afternoon.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy.

The morning started cold, but again very much warmer during the day.

To objective of today was for us all in the group (see yesterdays blog) to put into practise what we leaned, and actually take lessons.  The lessons we had to teach were each a random selection of one of the core requirements from the 7, each assigned to us randomly by Greg.

We started the day off with some riding as the conditions of the slopes were just perfect.  Greg is very good at setting us riding 'tasks' for us to do when we are just riding.  These included such riding as X jumping, Edge-to-Edge, Hand over nose & tail, switch, Hop Turns, Tornado, Ollie and Nollie, Top Gun, and many others.  (want to know more about these, just ask me and I'll let you know, as these are very good 'Tactics' to encourage "self discovery" in your students!)

After some riding, we got into teaching our "students" (which were the other people in the group, who pretended to be beginners).  Me and my big mouth managed to get it so that I was first to give a lesson.  My first lesson was to teach Isolated Beginner Turns.  I thought that this went OK, but not excellent.  To be honest I think that in the morning everyone was a little ropey.  Greg was a little concerned, however after lunch it really improved.

After lunch we all managed to step it up a level.  For my self, my second instruction course was to teach 'Pendulum'.  This instruction went very much better than this morning.  In fact, I think that everyone really did well in the afternoon.  The non-english speaking students did struggle a little, but this was very much because of the language barrier, but their demonstrations were still good.

In the evening 1-2-1 discussion with Greg, once again I got some really positive feedback from him which was hugely appreciated.  Once again I was a 'strong' rider and a 'strong' instructor.  Let's hope that tomorrow goes as well.

In all, once again I feel that I got a lot out of today.  I am so looking forward to tomorrow!

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Packed with icy patches.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: -2 at the base to -12 at the top, improving to -5 by afternoon.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy.

The morning started cold, but very much warmer during the day.

An early start today, as my Instructor course started at 08:30 at Merlins.  We (myself, Dawn and Pete) got the early bus, quickly followed by Andy and grabbed a coffee/hot chocolate before registering.  The first part of the morning was simply a registration and an introduction session, before we headed up Blackcomb to the top of the Solar Coaster.

There was a lot of people taking this course and we were all given a number, which assigned us to a group.  There were 6 groups of 7 riders with 1 instructor.  Myself and Andy ended up in group 2 with the lead Instructor, who was called Greg.  Dawn and Pete also managed to be together in another group.

Our group comprised of myself, Andy, Michael (a Swede), Ralph (another Scot), Matt (a Canadian who is already instructing), Shiho (girl from Japan), and Minhoo (from Korea), and of course Greg the Instructor.  We all got on well straight away, and bonded well as a group.

The whole day was a mix of two main core elements.  Our own personal assessment by Greg, and a complete run through of all of the beginner to novice snowboarding progressions requirements.  For each of these we had to demonstrate that we could 'de-tune' ourselves to effectively demonstrate as how we would to a beginner.  It went along like this:

1. Basic Mobility (Skill: Stance & Balance):
   • Equipment Description and guidance
   • Walking/Skating
   • Climbing
   • Straight Running
     • Fore and Aft
     • Lateral
     • Vertical
     • Body Alignment
     • Arms, "Balance Awareness"
     • Head Looking in direction of travel
   • Toe/Heel Drag and also Hypnosis Turns
2. Side Slipping (Skill: Edging)
   • An introduction to edging
     • Crabwalk
     • Gas Pedal
   • Side Slipping
3. Pendulum (Skill: Pressure Control)
   • Pendulum
4. Traverse (Skill: Pressure Control)
   • Traverse with stop
5. Isolated beginner turn (Skill: Pivot)
   • Static rotation exercises (board off - full body rotation)
   • Twisting the disc's (result of full body rotation)
   • Assisted isolated beginner turn
6. Linked beginner turns (Skill: Timing & Coordination)
   • Linking beginner turns
   • Mileage
   • Equal pressure
   • Side slip to control speed
7. Novice Turn (Skill: Pressure Control)
   • Static Flexing/Extension exercise
   • Linked novice turns (look/ follow/ react)
   • Speed control Techniques (shape, size, slope)

I do have to say that I was riding really well and as Greg put it "strong" today.  This does not surprise me at all, as I was riding well within my self, and can honestly say that I think I could pass the level 1 riding assessment in switch!

The day ended off with us all going to the Marriott hotel for a couple video presentations "Respects & Standards", "Children & Snowboarding", and also an equipment analysis.  It also detailed what was required from Level 1, and we also watched what was required for level 2.  I am so much more positive that I can achieve level 2.  The only thing I will need is some experience putting level 1 into practise for a week or so.

In summary, I really had a good day.  It was really good to go back to the basics, and reminisce as to what it was like to be a beginner again.

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Hard and very icy.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: -4 at the base to -17 at the top, improving to -12 by afternoon.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

The morning started cold, but very much warmer during the day.

Once again, not a particularly good day on the slopes.  It was even colder today on the slopes than yesterday.  With the wind chill added in it was -40!

As the cold temperature was expected I didn't make the effort to get up the mountain particularly early, so about 10:30 then.  As my Instructor training/certification starts tomorrow, I thought that I would again (as yesterday) work on my technique.  So, I rode all over the place, experiencing different terrain and different levels of ice and moguls.

The full forward lean that I put on yesterday was really pinching my right calf today and wasn't working as well as yesterday, so I lessened it off to 5/6.  This did the trick and saved my poor calf from a royal bashing.

Early in the day the riding wasn't going well on the ice, and didn't improve until I started to ride the Harmony Ridge and over onto McConceys.  For what ever reason I upped the aggression level some what, and really started to tear it down the slopes, even though it was very, very icy, cookie covered, and with loads of bumps and moguls around.  I did that a few times, and each time I rode it I pointed the board more and more straight down the hill.  That was, until some *ick decided that it was a good idea to jump out of the trees right into the line of some skiers who scattered and almost took me out too.  Let's just say, I don't know if the ski instructor took his pass or not, but he got some huge amount of verbal from him.  Too right!

Nothing much else to report to be honest.  Lots of ice riding...very few actual turns (is the best way to ride ice)...loads of mogul runs to keep myself warm (snowboarders generally hate moguls...me I don't mind them too much), and a general day devoted to getting ready for tomorrow.

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Hard and very icy.
Wind: Moderate increasing to strong.
Temperature: -4 at the base to -22 at the top.  With a wind chill factor of -40!
Crowding: Very Lite.
Lift Lines: Very Lite.

In all reflection, today wasn't a very good day.  The weather was bitterly cold, requiring an extra layer and also the need to wear the face mask all day too.  Never really got really cold, but never really got warm either.

I started off on Whistler mountain.  Decided that I was going to work on my technique in preparation of my forth coming CASI level 1 training and certification on Saturday.  So, started off working on my pivoting, edges, balance, body position, popping over into switch and back again, spins, C and S turns, etc. etc.  Decided that since i was doing this I may as well go exploring around the mountains.  As I have already rode almost every inch of Whistler mountain, I decided to ride on over to Blackcomb.

The ride on over to Blackcomb was icy as hell, and really not fun at all.  I had even waxed, tuned and edged my board yesterday, and was still struggling.  On the way up I noticed that my forward lean was down to 3/6.  I remembered that I lightened the lean when I was in the park, and forgot to put it back.  So, I put the lean up to 4/6.  It helped, so next run I put it up to 5/6 and eventually put the full lean on 6/6, and rode that for the rest of the day.

The maximum lean really made the ice riding better.  So much so that I started to straight line it down the piste.  I varied my riding between piste riding and going through the terrain garden.  In the terrain garden I only did a few spines, whoop-de-doos, the box and a couple rails on each and every ride through.  The best part of the day was the striping down the hill, and did make the day OK.

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Hard and very icy.
Wind: Moderate increasing to strong.
Temperature: -8 at the base to -19 at the top.
Crowding: Very Lite.
Lift Lines: Very Lite.

It was bitterly cold on the mountain today.  Requiring an extra layer and also a face mask all day, despite the sunshine.  The increasingly strong winds made the temperature really plummet.

Visibility: Sunny.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Hard Packed and icy.
Wind: Light.
Temperature: -10 at the base to -17 at the top.
Crowding: Lite.
Lift Lines: Lite.

Today started off rather slowly.  We went out for a couple small beers last night, that turned into a late night club fest

So, when I had got up the mountain it was already after 10:30.  After last nights beer I thought that I would take it easy.  Turned out that I had a rather mixed bag day.  I rode literally all over the Whistler mountain.  Rode switch and regular, on and off all day.  Jibbed a little here and there.  Practised my 180's on the flats.  Just can't get the switch backside to work, I think there is a bit of a mental block there.

I rode all day, and skipped lunch as I had started so late.  It was really cold today, and tomorrow is expected to be even colder.  So I was glad that I wrapped up extra warm.  However, if I go out tomorrow I will definitely wear another extra layer.

A lot of us are planing to go out tonight for Valentines Day, and have a few beers.  It also gives us the opportunity to get to know out new house guest April (Auzie who lines in London), who arrived last night.

Visibility: Sunny with periods of cloud cover.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Hard Packed and icy.
Wind: Calm to light.
Temperature: -8 at the base to -16 at the top.
Crowding: Lite.
Lift Lines: Lite.

Very, very cold today, and set to be getting even colder.  The coldest weather front for a decade is expected to arrive tomorrow!

Today didn't start off too early, but early enough.  Myself and Andy left the house and headed on up Whistler mountain.  There was a low level cloud cover all the way up to near the top of Big Red, and it really was cold.  We couldn't quite decide what we wanted to do, so headed on over to the Harmony Chair.  Our first run was down 'Burnt Stew Trail', and was OK, but nothing spectacular.  We headed on back up and over to the Harmony Ridge and headed on down the Sun Bowl, traversing through the trees.  This was a big mistake.  The conditions were so hard and icy that it was terrible.  There is no way that I am going back there until the conditions improve over there.

We did some runs down 'Little Whistler', in an effort to try and find some 'friendly' territory.  So, what we ended up doing was some switch riding down in my usual haunts.  Man, my switch riding is getting much better and sweeter.  We did that for a while and then headed on for lunch at the Roundhouse.  We ran into Pete, Jono, Dawn and Steve in there, and headed out with them after lunch.

We all headed down into the park and run that for a while.  The trouble is that all of the jumps and rails, their run outs were all rather rutted and broken.  The good news was that there were two nice little kickers that I was able to do a number of front side switch 180's over, I think about 10 in total!  Sweet!  I managed to pop a few others at the side of the piste in a few places here an there.  Got to keep the good work going.

After that it was once again the last lift and a couple of the guys had already wained and departed for home.  So, myself, Dawn, Pete and Jono were left to blast it down to the bottom.  Jono did was for us to have a race, but that was a little foolish and potentially dangerous.  It especially didn't start off to well, when he decides to go off down another route!  Anyway, we blasted down that slope.  The conditions were perfect and you couldn't ask for any better if you were going to stripe the hill.  My ears were cold and noised up by the time we all got down to the bottom.  Brilliant!

Visibility: Cloudy with periods of sunshine.
Snow: 2cm
Piste Condition: Hard Packed.
Wind: Light to moderate.
Temperature: +4 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate to lite.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

It was very cold today, especially when the cloud and wind came in.

Visibility: Blue Bird.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Packed piste.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: +2 at the base to -4 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate.

Visibility: Blue Bird.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Packed piste.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: +2 at the base to +1 at the top.
Crowding: Moderate.
Lift Lines: Moderate to heavy.

Today didn't get off to a good start.  I was in a very bad mood.  All started yesterday (probably because I got battered by the sun!), got worse in the evening, culminating in proceeding to get royally wound up in the Evening.  The upshot of this was that I was also in no mood to sleep either, so I ended up getting up and out of the door and on the bus before the lifts had even opened

Today was another blue bird day, probably more so than yesterday, but again very cold.  Was nice in the sun shine though   I decided to head on over to Blackcomb Mountain today for a change of scenery.  This would probably be the first time in about 1 1/2 months that I was actually able to see the mountain too!

Headed on all the way up to the top of the Jersey Cream, and headed on down into the Terrain Park.  This was the first time that I had ventured into the Terrain Park on Blackcomb.  It started off with a huge 'right' spine, which I wussed over.  Not a good start.  Then onto a reasonable sized set of two jumps.  For neither of these I had enough speed, another wussy effort.  A 'left' spine, wuss, 'right' spine, wuss.  Hmm, theme here.  So I had to up it a little, and to do so, the next time I thought that I would warm up in the Terrain Garden.  On the way to the terrain garden I was quite happily hopping between regular and switch riding.  Now this was much more like it.  This style of riding I actually kept up all day, along with a few other rotation and jump exercises I know about.

Anyway, back to the terrain garden part.  The terrain garden was a much better place to warm up the day with.  It too started with a spine on the right.  Much smaller, but at least I didn't wuss that one.  Then immediately onto a left spine, left onto a bug roller where I popped a really nice ollie off, then again onto another left spine.  Now this was much more like it.  After that there was a short box.  Now, I've never been too happy with rails, but I must admit that since coming here I have been much more 'have a go' with the rails and boxes.  So popped up onto it and 50-50 board slid it, and ollie popped off the end.  Quite chuffed with the ollie off.  Next up was a thin rail, just did a 50-50 along it.  Then came a small rainbow, again a nice 50-50.  To the right of this last rainbow is a set of 4 (5?) big rollers, be if you do the rainbow you only have enough speed for the last two rollers.  These are really good places to practise the ollie off, and I managed to pop some nice ( and very stable, and stomped the landing flat) air on both.

After the bottom of the terrain garden there is a nice long run down to the 'Solarcoaster' chair down a number of different runs.  As I had only been riding switch most of the week, it had been a while since I really let rip and stripe the slopes.  So I did, even letting go even more than normal.  This must be some of the riding improvement's that I have made since coming here, as this extra straight lining and higher speed continued all day.  Perfect.

So I went around to the terrain garden again to do the same.  This time I rode it even better.  Only, this time on the box, I didn't get onto it fully and ended up doing a nose press board slide, and managing to pull the board back around when coming off the end.  Perhaps I'll try and 'mean' it next time.

The fourth ride through was prittey uneventfull.  The only event was when I was wurtling down the piste at the bottom on my way back to the 'Solarcoaster'.  In an area where I am going prity fast, some boarder comes crashing down a mogul slope to the upper right, and completely loses it and manages to slide out right infront of me.  Thankfully even though I was going really fast, I always remain in control.  So I managed to avoid hitting him.  Well, almost.  Because he was 'flapping about', His hand hit me on the shoulder, and it put me off so I lost it.  Again, thankfully I managed to come to a screeching hault.

Wait there is more...

This snowboarder was still out of control and still going.  He managed to somehow come around and crash into my side (low speed) and fall over me ending up eventually in a big heap.  Thankfully neither he, nor more importantly was I hurt.  His mates were further up the slopes pissing themselves laughing.  So I asked if the 'idiot' was OK, and making sure he was, also laughed it off and set off again.

Must have 'brought me down' a little, as the next ride through the terrain garden was terrible.  The second hip, I leaned too far forward on the landing and ended up sprawled accross the piste.  The third hip, I must have over compensated and ended up on my arse.  The last rail confirmed it.  Managed to let the board slip out from under me, ended up sitting on the rail then toppeling over backwards and rolling over.  No bruises thankfully.  Needless to say, the last two rollers were also my worst of the day too.

So, decided to try something different that the terrain guarden, and I found the Boarder Cross   It's very, very steep, and even more tight with some netting right on the edge, but great none the less.  That put the smile back on my face again.  So, did it again.  This time, as I knew the layout I hit it with more speed.  On the last corner I was going some, so much so that I couldn't apply any more pressure to the turn without slipping out, so edged out wide and almost ended up in the netting.  Could hear the board touching the netting.

As i got back down to the bottom of the Solar coasterprettyuneventfullyhurtlingSolar coaster, I got on the chair with these two guys and this head snowboard instructor.  They were all getting some unofficial tuition to do their Level 2 Instructor exams.  So, I thought that I would be cheaky and follow and observe for a while.  Turned out there were about 8 of them getting some tuition.  There was only one rider who was technicaly better than I am, and I saw nothing to make me feel that I couldn't also do the level two if this was the acceptable level.  As we rode off the top and headed towards '7th Heaven', I stayed behind and observed.  The leader was asking each one what they would tell rider X (who was just someone riding infront), what they would teach them if they were in one of their leasons.  I was glad to hear that when i was infront for a bit, all I heard was 'Don't know he's pretty good'.

So, I also followed them up 7th Heaven, and knew that they were heading off to the left at the top so did the same.  I thought that I was caught as the leader asked me over and asked if I could take a photo for him.  Phew...escaped!  I decided that it was a bit too cheeky, so I let them ride off first and then followed.

At the top of 'Crystal Traverse' if you head on off left on an extremely narrow and difficult traverse, you eventually end up in the 'Secret Bowl'.  This traverse, with the conditions of the snow (or should I say ice, at the top), made me hang on to the mountain side.  Scary.  As we hit in there, it was obvious that they were going to do some group self assessment as they stopped at the top and rode one at a time.  So I too this as my opportunity to leave them, and carved some sweet lines down the bowl.  I do have to recommend that Intermediate riders and above go for this run!  At the bottom of the bowl, I ended up in what is called 'Pakalolo', which is a tight couloir (about 2m wide to start) which gradually opens up as it progresses.  The conditions were not in my favour, as it was rock hard and very difficult to get any edge.  Still, I must admit that at the bottom I was disappointed in my self, as I know for 100% sure that I can really nail that thing.

OK, I then decided to have lunch.  Man, what a packed and varied day I've been having!  Whilst at lunch at the 'Glacier Creek', I looked at the map, and decided to go up the 'Crystal Chair', as I had not done that particular part of the mountain.

The Crystal Chair, whilst opening up a nice ride and loads of runs, is very slow, pathetic and old.  Really, Whistler should actually invest some money in getting the uplift sorted out, it really is appalling! <rant over!>

I was going to give 'Ridge Runner' a look, as I could choose where to go from that.  However, instead I ended up just going right, and further right.  I actually ended up, if you look on the map, just under the cliffs in the 'closed area'.  This would be a fantastic and varied tree run if there was some softer conditions.  So, I made a mental note to try this the next time there is a snow dump.  I eventually ended up coming out onto the 'Blackcomb Glacier Road', very near the start of it, which is at the bottom of the glacier?!?

As is usual, it was getting late now, so headed back up the Excelerator chair with the intention of doing the terrain garden again.  Which I did.  Thankfully to say, this was a much better run through than the last effort earlier in the day.  Then striped it down 'Slingshot' as fast as my little board could carry me, and then onto 'Lower Gear Jammer' and finally onto 'Village Run' back to the bus.

Visibility: Complete Blue Bird.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Packed piste.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: -4 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Very Light.
Lift Lines: Very Light.

A very warm day in the sunshine today, otherwise quite cold in the shade.  Wrap up warm, and slap on the sun cream!

I found this article on the Web today, and thought that I would share it with everyone.

The original posting can be found here.

Many are content to spend all day clicking fancy looking buttons or menu items in order to get their tasks accomplished, but those who know the correct keyboard and mouse shortcuts can often get around applications more efficiently: Browsing the web with Internet Explorer is no exception. I want to take a minute to discuss a few useful shortcuts already available in IE6 that will help you get around the web, and then list some great new shortcuts we are providing in IE7.

First: Getting around the web in Internet Explorer 6

Basic navigation

Others:

Some interesting hotkeys you cannot see by simply looking in the menus…

* Shift+Mouse wheel up/down also navigates forward and back, so does Backspace and Shift+Backspace
** Did you know that hitting the stop button (or Esc) will also stop background sounds?
*** If F5 doesn’t refresh all content try Ctrl+F5.  This ensures no content is pulled from the cache.
**** In the Preview build we also added Ctrl+Shift+Enter when focus is in the address bar.  This works like Ctrl+Enter from the address bar does today but will append a suffix of your choice to the end of the string instead of “.com” (.org, .edu, .co.uk, etc…).  You can change the default suffix in the Internet Options control panel.

New in Internet Explorer 7

Now that we have basic navigation down, let’s talk about some cool new shortcuts in IE 7. You will notice that for features that exist elsewhere (for example: Tabbed Browsing) we put effort into maintaining consistency where possible.

Tabs:

Zoom:

* If you are using the recent Windows Vista preview you might notice that the 100% zoom hotkey changed from Ctrl+(*) to Ctrl+0

Search:

Favorites Center:

Great new mouse actions in IE7

Even with all these cool keyboard hotkeys we’ve introduced a few helpful shortcuts for mouse users as well.

Tip:
My favorite shortcuts are the middle mouse button actions to close a tab and open links in the background (Those make using tabs fast and easy).

In Summary

Internet Explorer certainly has more than just these shortcut keys.  I’m sure you have some favorites I did not mention, but I hope you found something here that will make browsing the web easier for you. 

Got up slightly later this morning, after the epic hiking efforts yesterday.  I made sure that I changed the lenses on my goggles today, as it was obviously going to be a sunny day.  So out came the Iridium Red lens, and man was it a sunny day.  Not a cloud in the sky.  The only trouble was, it was also very cold.  So, I also ditched the usual neck cover and put on the scarf that my Mum bought me for Christmas.  It felt like I was wearing a neck brace, but I got used to it.  It also did the job in keeping the cold out.  Brilliant.

I was still one of the first out of the house and up the slopes.  Yes it was very, very bright and cold and I am so glad I changed lenses and wrapped up more.

I started off with the same switch runs as I did yesterday.  However, I was feeling really confident and relaxed today, that I decided to go and hunt newer challenges to try out my new switch riding skills.  I soon found a mogul field, and found that whilst my switch riding is acceptable on the piste, it is still lacking in the moguls.  Yes I rode them out, but very tentatively, and I avoided the biggest moguls.  Still, give it time and more experience and I'll ride those mogul suckers soon enough.

I also found an extension to my run by bypassing the Emerald chair and carrying onto the 'Upper Olympic' run and down to the 'Garbonzo Express'.  This part of the piste was much more wide open and it made it easier to practise without those damned skiers using me as a turning point at 100 mph!

During the day I was getting faster and faster, and even more confident.  I forgot what it was like to be a beginner again.  All that visible advancement in short periods of time, makes you feel good about your self.  This should set me in good settle for my forth coming CASI Level 1 Instructor test, next week.

Did this run, and quite a few other variations around all day.  I managed to get the last Emerald Chair at exactly 15:30.  From there I headed down my usual switch ride down, 'Pony Trail', 'Orange Peel' and down onto 'Upper Dave Murry Downhill'.  This last run was a mistake.  This run has severely iced up, and it is really not worth the run out, especially trying to do it switch!  I actually gave up trying to ride it switch, and just straight lined it down.  Tip: The way to ride steep icy conditions, is to make fewer turns!

I almost forgot to mention.  As there was a lot of Sunshine today, I thought that I would take my phone up the slopes and take some photos!  Have a look at them here.

Visibility: Complete Blue Bird.
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Very light dusting of powder on packed piste, with some icy patches.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: -7 at the base to -11 at the top.
Crowding: Very Light.
Lift Lines: Very Light.

It was a blue bird day today.  The cold nights and high freezing levels have resulted in pistes becoming much more icy.

Beta 2 of the developer toolbar is now available. Beta 2 includes numerous fixes to improve stability, usability and performance along with a couple of additional features such as the ability to enable and disable CSS on the page.

The developer toolbar has become an essential tool for diagnosing issues with web pages. Being able to click on an element in the page and find out where it is in the element hierarchy is just one of the invaluable facilities it provides.

I recommend anyone who creates Web pages either for work or pleasure, that they download and install this as soon as possible.

Safety Center Beta

I noticed this on the Internet today, and thought that I would give it a try.

Some details on this are:

Get full service for your PC

Windows Live Safety Center is a new, free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC.

• Check for and remove viruses
• Learn about threats
• Improve your PC's performance
• Get rid of junk on your hard disk

Use the full service scan to check everything, or turn to the scanners and information in the service centers to meet your specific needs.

Click here to give it a go!

What a brilliant day.  The sun was out, my riding was going great, my switch riding is really getting there and the Flute bowl was fantastic!

I got up very early again this morning, and was again beaten out only by one of the skiers!  (But she meets up with the British Ski School early).

It was again my intention today to concentrate on my switch riding today.  So I headed on back up to the same 'switching ground' as I rode on Monday (From the top of the Emerald chair, down the "Ego Bowl" which is a green, onto the "Ptarmigan" which is a blue and on down "Side Order" which is a black and back to the Emerald Chair).  The first run didn't start off too well, as I started off a bit sketchy.  However that was overcome before too long and I was straight back into it again.  On the way up the Emerald Chair, I could not help but notice just how great the sunshine was today (see my weather report for the day), and decided that instead of switch riding I was going to go on over and give the Flute Bowl a go.

Really glad I did give the flute bowl a go.  It was fan-bloody-tastic!  The hike up the bowl is a really long one and thankfully there was no wind today so it made it a bit easier.  I got to the top and it was obvious that the recent high winds and cold night temperatures had battered the top of the mountain quite a bit.  The first 10m was very crusty and difficult to ride.  However, just after that 'crust' it was brilliant.  Wide open, powder filled, and completely un-tracked.  There was surprisingly no tracks down the route that I took.  The route that I rode took me down thou a valley that is much like a natural half pipe.  I haired down into it and made a fantastic and huge wind-lip slash, followed by another further down.  The whole run down was so fast, easy, and steep... I loved it.  As is required by the Flute Bowl, there is also another long hike out, before a long easy cat track down to the Harmony Express.

After such an epic run, what else could I do but do it again, and who would blame me?

The second run, I did almost the same, but this time I rode up and popped up over the wind-lip and did a really nice relaxed 'method' grab.  Looking back up the piste, it was also quite a big jump, 6-10 board lengths in distance.

I got to the top of the Harmony Express again, and ... hmm, I just had to do it again.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  I did try the jump again, but bailed it big style, and as usual landed on my heels in a part rotation.  No F'n good!

OK, after doing the flute bowl a huge hike 3 times, I was really hungry by now and headed to the Roundhouse, down Pitkas Traverse.  Whizzed down that run...After all "turning is for wimps", and "speed is your friend".

By the time I finished my huge lunch, it was almost 14:30.  Since it was so late in the afternoon, I thought that I would do some switch riding.  I started off again down the same run as earlier in the day.  I was so stuffed after lunch and tired, that I must admit that I struggled down the first run.  However the next few runs were great, as I doubled my efforts and put my mind to it.  Really starting to nail this 'switch' thing.  I kept that going until the very last lift at 15:30.

So at the top of the Emerald Express it was too late to head on over to the Peak chair, so instead I headed on down the slopes in switch.  I started off on the green 'Pony Trail', then onto the blue 'Orange Peel' and back onto a green called 'Bear Cub' and arrived at the bottom of the Big Red Express.  This switch riding is hard work you know.  Anyway, I thought that I would carry it on all the way to the base of the mountain, so from top to bottom in switch.  Cool eh?

Heading off from the Big red, I headed on down 'Lower Dave Murry Downhill', which is a black run.  It started out nice and friendly for my fledgling switch riding.  However, it got progressively more and more icy the further down.  Now this was a challenge to my new switch riding skills.  I will admit that there were a few 'moments' coming down there, but thankfully no spills.  Even a week ago I would have probably not even tried to switch rid down a black run, never mind an icy black, but I am quite proud of my efforts today.

What a great day.  Let's hope that there are loads more like this!

Visibility: Blue bird, with only occasional clouds.
Snow: 4cm
Piste Condition: Light dusting of powder on groomed piste, with some icy patches.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: +2 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

It was a blue bird day today, with only the occasional cloud in the sky.  The cold nights and high freezing levels are resulting in some of the pistes becoming very icy.

Visibility: OK
Snow: 0cm
Piste Condition: Groomed piste.
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: +3 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Looks like the dry spell is here for a while.

The house where I am staying in here in Whistler, is huge.  In fact, the building actually has three houses in it.  You could split up the house I am in into two.  Anyway, the bottom house has recently received new residents.  Three French people are the new residents.  So, to celebrate their arrival, they decided to hold a house party and they came around and invited us all to attend.  Excellent.

I managed to persuade Steve to go to the Liquor store on my behalf and buy the beer for me, and all because I put together some video clips for him

So, most of the house headed on round to the house with beers in hand.  When we arrived, the house was full of what must have been most of the French population of Whistler! (Not the French Canadian variety, the real French variety).  Anyway, the night went along and there were quite a few girls there, and for those of you in the ski resort know, girls are a rarity, as snowboarding/skiing is a male dominated sport.  We all integrated and had a good time.  It's nice to meet new people.

I was almost the first out of the house this morning, only beaten by one skier!  *Ugh*  The lines for the gondola was very light, despite it being a Monday and the local schools having this 'Monday Club' thing, that allows the kids to ski/snowboard on Mondays!

As there has been a hell of a lot of powder lately, my switch riding has not been getting much attention, so I resolved to do some switch.  And switch I did.  From 08:30 until the last run at 03:25!

The morning switch riding got off to a shaky and slow start, but I soon started to get into it.  I really was giving it a good go, so much so, I don't think I've taken so many falls for a long time.  One particular fall (caught a heel edge and really crashed out) was quite severe.  I'm glad that I am wearing these dental retainers (those who know me, will know that I have been getting a lot of dental work), as if I wasn't I would have savagely bitten my tongue.  Instead, the retainers meant that I only savagely mashed my tongue!

My route was to cover from the top of the Emerald chair, down the "Ego Bowl" which is a green, onto the "Ptarmigan" which is a blue and on down "Side Order" which is a black and back to the Emerald Chair.  I think I picked a really good route as it started easy and got harder as the run went on.  This helped to push the switch riding in different conditions.

As I had started so early, I just had to have lunch, and did so at the Roundhouse before setting off again.

The afternoon was even better than the morning.  I was really feeling the switch riding and it is starting to feel more and more natural.  My biggest weakness with the switch riding is the toe side turns.  This afternoon though, they were just flowing so nicely and getting really fast, even on the black run.  Really enjoying it as I can really feel the progression and improvement in my riding.

As usual, the day has to come to an end so I headed on over to the Peak Chair and headed on off down the Khyber Pass.  I was just so relaxed after the great day that I really just flowed down the slope, even though it was a mogul mine field that was quite icy down near the bottom.

What a great day!

To finish off such a great day, I had to hit the hot tub.  There have been some problems with the hot tub lately.  The jets didn't work properly.  So when I got in, I noticed that the filter guard wasn't on correctly.  So I opened it up and found that the filter was out of place.  So I moved it back into place, replaced the guard and hay presto the jets were back working again.  Yippee.

Visibility: Excelent to start.  Sunny with whispy cloud, getting heavier until dark.  Bright spells later.
Snow: 2cm
Piste Condition: Groomed.
Wind: None to light.
Temperature: +2 at the base to -6 at the top.
Crowding: Light with periods of moderate.
Lift Lines: Very light.

I have added loads of new photos to my photo album for Whistler.  Have a look at them here: http://www.internetwideworld.com/WebSite/Photos.aspx?AlbumID=13  Let me know what you think about them.  Most of them were taken by Sam.  Thanks Sam.

You may have noticed that I have not been riding yesterday or am riding today.  That is because I want to go and see the Superbowl down at the pub.  This will be the first time in about 8 years I've managed to see the Superbowl on the TV live!  So, going to go hit Tappleys in about 10 minutes!

Go Seattle!

 

Visibility: Fair with periods of poor visibility
Snow: 5cm
Piste Condition: Powder.
Wind: Variable.
Temperature: +1 at the base to -8 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy.
Lift Lines: Heavy.

Visibility: Very poor
Snow: 24cm
Piste Condition: Powder.
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: 0 at the base to -10 at the top.
Crowding: Heavy.
Lift Lines: Heavy.

Clouds practically all the way from the bottom to the top!

Tonight was Sam's last night with us, so we headed on out to Tappleys.  You can tell that we like Tappleys.  So, myself, Sam, Pete, Jono, Toby, Dawn and Steve all headed out.  Again we all put in $20 and started the jugs of beer flowing.  Tonight however, the nice barmaid wasn't working, and instead we had a barmaid who wasn't very good at all.  Kept ignoring up, and even before we received our first order, made the bouncer come and check our ID's!  So needless to say, she got no tip!

We didn't spend the whole $140 in there.  We decided that we were going to hit cougar central, that is "Buffalo Bills".  There was a huge $12 cover charge, which was paid for with the remains of the kitty and Sam put the rest of the money in.  As soon as we got in, we noticed that it was packed, and there were loads of Cougars in there.  So, needless to say as the beer flowed so did the guy's into the crowd.  First to pull was Pete.  He managed to pull some young Mexican girl.  Then Jono managed to pull this young girl, who was very pretty.  Apparently, although I didn't see it, Steve either pulled or was pulled by this 40 year old Cougar.  It was so much fun watching all this go on.

it was getting late and I was getting tired, so after 2 am, I motioned to the guy's that I was heading off.  I then went and got a 'Pie' from the Pie shop and got the 02:30 bus.  When I arrived back home, I found Pete outside Sam's room writing Sam a note.  Apparently he had brought back the Mexican Bird and was "using" Sam's room.  Sam having the only single room.

Apparently Sam was not too impressed, so in the morning when he was leaving, he filled Pete's boots with watter, and was even going to leave them outside to freeze   Thankfully Sam did make it to his taxi on time and sent us an email from the airport.

After last night, we still managed to get up and out quite early.  I was about 15 minutes behind everyone else though.  However as soon as I got up and ready and caught the bus, I was off like a rocket.  It was everyones intention to hit the wind lip at the top of the Blackcomb Glacier, so I knew where to find them.  I was really moving and managed to catch up with Steve, Jono and Toby by the Glacier Express chair, overtook them by the top and was way ahead by the Showcase T-Bar and the hike up to the glacier.

Hiking the wind lip, I could see that Pete and Sam had only just got there, so I really made some good time.

You could tell that there was loads more snow here this time compared to the last time we used this lip for a jump.  Pete made the headway up the climb, whilst me and Sam started the work on the lip.  Did a couple of side slips, and it was clearly deep.  I then headed on up to help Pete.  We both side slipped the first time, and then flat lined it after that.  Initially as the snow was so soft and deep we only managed to get a couple of feet of air.

Then we started to hit it more.  For my self, I actually managed to take and land two 180's...Well, actually it was more like a 170   We did this for about a couple of hours, before we all started to feel the effects of last night.  So, we headed on down and grabbed lunch at the 'Glacier Creek'.  We were going to go and do 7th Heaven, but Sam had some shopping to do, as this was his last day here.  So instead we decided to go through the park and down.

I managed to somehow get separated from everyone at the top, before even getting to the park.  Don't know how, as I was between Pete and Andy!  I managed to get to the Terrain Garden though.  There were some nice rainbow rails which I did, spines, and a lot of big rollers.  Was thinking that I may head back and use these rollers to try and do some spins on some time later.

So, finished the terrain garden, and striped it down to the bottom of the piste and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.  Only waited about 5 minutes.

Visibility: OK
Snow: 1cm
Piste Condition: Tracked Powder.
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: +2 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

We all decided to go and have a night out, as Sam was leaving in the next couple of days.  So we headed on out to Tappleys.  That was myself, Pete, Sam, Dawn, Jono, Steve and Toby.  We all chipped in $20 each and got the jug's of beer flowing.  We were all looking at our waitress, as she was HOT!  I managed to be the one that she talked to for the beer orders, and other things.  Obviously nothing was going to happen.

After that, we headed off to Tommy Africa's.  Not before losing Sam and Dawn.  The light weights.  Anyway, after paying the $5 cover charge we all got in, and resumed the beer flow.  Within 10 minutes, Jono had received two warnings from the bouncers, one for jumping off the podium and one for doing and floor spin!  The night got more and more fun though.  Jono was on form and even got up onto the podium and danced with this 'cougar'.  He did scare here though!  Then some random cougar who was dancing with this big scary biker dude, came on over and grabbed both mine and Pete's ass and danced with us for a bit.  We were really getting into the spirit of it all.  Me doing my usual 'Club' dancing.  Pete was next to me and talking to this bird, who he eventually got some tonging action going on.  The night was getting late, so we all left and I managed to catch the 02:00 bus.

Cougar: Definition = Older lady looking to pounce on a younger 'boy' in a ski resort!

Visibility: Fair with periods of poor visibility
Snow: 12cm
Piste Condition: Powder.
Wind: Moderate.
Temperature: +2 at the base to -8 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.

Last night, what with all of the snow, we all decided to use the 'Fresh Tracks' option.  This did mean however, getting up at 05:30!  *Ugh*  I managed to get probably about 2 hours sleep!

Anyway, we all got up and out the door and on the bus on time (myself, Will, Pete, Dawn, Andy, and Sam).  You have to take the bus to the Blackcomb base and line up for the "Whistler Village Gondola".  We got up to the Roundhouse at about 07:30, where we had breakfast.  I do have to say that the breakfast is fantastic.  It's a full help your self.  Cereal, pastries, fruit, scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, pancakes, juice, coffee, everything.  The fresh tracks cost me about $16, but I managed to get it for a 2-4-1 deal.  So, a full breakfast for $8, which is about 4 quid!  Fantastic, and well worth it.

Whilst we were eating breakfast we were looking out onto the slopes and you could see that there was a very, very strong gale.  So, we took our time and eat and drank loads, until it was time to really go.

We all got ready and headed on over to the park.  Since my ankles have almost totally healed, I've been feeling better and better about jumping and jibbing.  Just off the Emerald chair is a small jump which is next to the half-pipe (which is closed).  It's not a great jump though.  The first thing in the park, was a tap-up rail.  Surprisingly, I was the only one in the group to reach and tap!  This didn't last any further than that, as the visibility improved and all of the park riders in the group started to really hit it.  Next after that is large box.  It was actually a good box, and I think that I'll go back to it some time in the future and try and session it and try and get some spins.  After than, we headed on over to the left trail of the park.  In here there are 3 medium sized jumps in a row.  The first jump is really, really good but the run out is sketchy and then has loads of powder fluff to try and throw you.  You are then lead straight into the second jump then the third.  Unfortunately, the second jump isn't great and it is very difficult to not hit the knuckle on the third jump as you cant get enough speed.  After that, there is an unofficial jump further down the park to the right which we all hit.  We then rode through the trees for a while then get onto the Emerald Chair again.

We did that quite a few times.  However, each time through we started to get a little more and more 'mad'.  So we started doing fun things like, seeing who could do the gayest jump.  I think Pete managed to win, often.  I do have to say that my ankles are holding up quite well, and getting better.

We then decided to head on over to the Garbanzo chair.  On the way over I managed to miss the turn, and decided to head on through the trees over to the run.  I somehow managed to end up at the top of a cliff, with no apparent way out.  The first way down was about 20ft and had a log going down it, which I actually say someone later use as a rail down the cliff...massive.  Anyway, the way down for me was between two trees and a drop of about 10ft, which I'm quite proud of my self, I managed to straight line.  We then went up the Garbanzo lift again, and this time we rode the line under the Garbanzo chair.  Now this is a cliff area and is out of bounds, but very good, steep and varied.  I do recommend that advanced people who are intermediate riders and above do this run!

After that, it was getting on into the afternoon and it was a long day.  So, some people started to flag and decided to head on back.  It was left to me, Pete and Sam to do some more riding.  We headed on up the Peak chair with the intention of doing the 'Khyber Pass' as the view was much better.  Sam took some photo's up there as it was an amazing view.  Sam has a proper SLR camera and takes his photography quite serious.

At least this time the run was so much easier and faster as we could see.  On the way down through the trees we really made a good effort and somehow ended up coming out much, much further to the right and out of the tree's near the run out.  Pete nicknamed the tree run as 'The forest of Overon' as the trees suddenly seamed to stop!  It was actually a difficult line out of the trees to the cat track out, and involved the drop off a cliff.  Nothing major though, but still intimidating.

After that it was a ride down the icy cat track down all the way to Bayshores!

Visibility: Fair with periods of poor visibility
Snow: 14cm
Piste Condition: Powder.
Wind: Light with some strong periods.
Temperature: 0 at the base to -9 at the top.
Crowding: Light.
Lift Lines: Light.