Fernie - week 5

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I PASSED!

Five weeks in and the fools have given me a license to teach people how to snowboard! YEAH BABY! But as rewarding as passing Level 1 is, I'm bloody glad it's over. No matter how confident you think your riding and teaching is, you just never know. The weather really helped - it stopped snowing and the sun has been beating down for the passed few days - perfect.

So, the week went roughly like this;

The first two days - Tuesday and Wednesday, were rider assessment days. We were taken around various terrain on the mountain by an assessor, and marked on our riding ability. Then on the Thursday we were split into groups of seven and told to teach two lessons each, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. My lessons were both turning lessons - "Falling Line Edge Change" (traversing across a slope on toe edge, then turning up hill and sliding back down on heel edge), and then "Basic Linked Turns" (leaning onto your front foot and sliding the tail of the board around to be on a toe edge, then repeating to be on your heel edge, and so on). You then have to explain to the students in an entertaining way how to do it, give them a clear demonstration, and then you have to analyse what they're doing wrong and correct it. Hard enough with adults but try doing that with a bunch of 7 year olds!

Anyway, the final lesson finished at around 3.30, and while the assessors retired to do their marking we hit the bar, hard. I figured that if I passed I'd be half way through celebrating, and if I failed it would numb the pain. So by the time I was called down and told I'd passed I was already well oiled. (I vaguely remember hugging the assessor and telling him he was my best friend...)

And that was that. At that moment I became a member of the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors. As well as free insurance, scholarship opportunities and foreign job notifications, I'm now also entitled to "Pro Deals", which basically means between 30% and 50% off snowboarding equipment from all the big brands! I guess as an instructor you're advertising their boards so it's in their interest that you use their gear. Fine by me! Keep it coming! The rest of the evening was, needless to say, very messy. And despite the blue skies and the positively sweltering -3ºC temperatures, Friday was pretty much a right-off. A few of the guys came round to practice in our park, but I spent the day with a young snow bunny called Andrea, eating cake, drinking smoothies and walking down by the river. Which would've been quite romantic if it wasn't for the fact that I was wincing every time I moved my head.

Saturday, and a few us finally felt well enough to crawl up the hill. (Christ, that sounds so lazy! I live at the bottom of a bloody ski resort and it sounds like going up it is an effort! Anyway...) The sun was warm and the sky was a perfect deep blue. It was one of those perfect snowboard days - long, groomed runs in our hoodies, riding the chair lifts with our eyes shut, and sitting slope side listening to a local band playing Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". Add to that the fact that I sit here now a level 1 Snowboard Instructor - I tell you, life doesn't get much better.

Right. On that note, I need to head into town and buy stuff. The only deodorant they sell in this town is Axe (Lynx) and I'm starting to smell like a frickin' teenager. And I need to get ready for our 'surprise' on Monday (rumour has it we're building a big kicker in the back country. Mmm, maybe I should add a flid lid to the teenage smell well...)

Lapster.

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Photos

Instructor Dan!
Under the critical eye of Steve the assessor, Dan teaches his students how do "falling leaf".

Soon to be instructors
Time to reflect before hitting the "Grizz Bar"

"You did it!"
Shaun our instructor celebrates with us as he hands out the good news.

Another pitcher over here!
Beers taste so much nicer when you've been told you've passed!

Ride that bus!
Crowd surfing on the bus journey home. (Oh come on, like you've never done it...)

Next morning...
A brave few ignored their thumping heads to come round and hit our park.

"Dropping in!"
For me, this was the best way to celebrate becoming an instructor.