Tag: Ski

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Be The Best.

Ski lessons from an 81 year-old

Now technically, my Dad is not 81 until Thursday…and ski lessons from an 80 year-old has a nice ring to it as well, but in honour of the upcoming day we’ll go with 81!

I wrote a Valentines Day/Birthday post last year at this time about Dad and Mom and Dad’s 80th.

Then the world got very interesting for them.

Both Mom and Dad were very ill and ended up in different parts of the hospital at the same time.

Their recovery was equally amazing and although my Dad had a few more surgeries than expected and now lives with an ileostomy and Mom continues her chemo fight…you’d probably have a hard time figuring that out.

Why?

Well, Mom is walking around town to her appointments, hiking and volunteering at a local thrift store and Dad is speaking to groups of seniors and others about his experiences and oh yah, going skiing!

I didn’t hear this week’s report, but last Friday night after a layoff of over a year, the boards were slapped on as this soon to be 81 years young Great Grandfather hit the slopes.

Now that’s a ski lesson for all of us, whether we ski or not.

Mom and Dad, we wish you a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

And Dad…a very happy 81st on Thursday!!

Dec 29, 2010 at Blackie Spit. Video link above.
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Be The Best.

Skiing in June?

A closeup of the Grouse Mountain skyride
Image via Wikipedia

Max heard Grouse Mountain was still open for skiing and boarding.

Really?

In June?

Max came up with the crazy plan of hitting the slopes on his birthday (or 1 day before)…something never before attempted.

Sure enough, with an enormous base, Grouse is aiming to remain open on weekends till July 1.  Judging by the snow conditions today, they’ll be pushing it, but skiing on local mountains in June?  Are you kidding me?  What an experience.

So with my Canadian Hockey jersey given to me by Chris on the Christmas just before the Olympics, I joined Max and Kiera as we avoided a few rocks and a bunch of grass and had a great day.

Of course we had to shoot a little vid for proof!

We ended the day with dinner at the beach.

Only in Vancouver!

Happy 20th Max.  Hopefully the Nux will bring home the Cup for your birthday tomorrow.

I know your brother gives you the biggest virtual hug possible…and maybe a punch or two on the arm…you are brothers after all.

 

 

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Be The Best.

Silver skies and Silver stars.

Medical update: My sister Grace was discharged from hospital and is home. Great news! Dad continues in ICU. He had a stable day and Docs are cautiously optimistic.  Things will continue to be day by day.  THANKS for all the continued thoughts and prayers and connections as we travel these interesting roads!

I can’t come up to Vernon without thinking about skiing.  A couple of weeks back when we went up the hill before the medical issues escalated.  It was a fantastic time for a number of reasons.  I had a great day with Max and his girlfriend Kiera, I was able to ski on Dad’s skis and have them navigate the mountain on his behalf as he couldn’t be there in person this season.  The last reason was one that I haven’t written about before.

Remember back in the day when you had those wire things that held day passes that you would attach to your jacket?  I would wear those with honour, building them up 1, 2, 5, 10 of them to prove how much skiing had taken place and the mountains conquered.  I guess old habits don’t change too much as I took out my ski jacket for this recent trip and noticed I had a few tags still on my jacket.  The one that stood out was Jan 1, 2010.  We had gone to Silverstar with Chris and a buddy for a few days of snow activity.  It was an awesome trip.  I hadn’t skied since then.  This year’s trip was for Max (and Kiera!), Dad and Chris.

It was awesome.  Here’s a little vid action with a shout out to Chris included.

There will be much more on Chris and remembrance as we head towards next Friday which of course marks one year since he passed away.

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Be The Best.

Chair 32

We spent the weekend at Silver Star in BC’s amazing interior.

If you’ve never been, go.  It’s beautiful.  For families it’s amazing.  Skating ponds, tube town, all levels of boarding and skiing…the works.

Silver Star village centre

Max, his girlfriend Kiera and me spent the day boarding and skiing.  After lunch Kiera and Ingrid relaxed at the condo while Max and I explored the mountain.

We went up a lift we loved skiing in the past with Grandpa (my Dad), Chris and Max.

As we sat down, it was just the two of us on a 4 seater chair.  I’m not sure why, but I looked up at the chair number.  32.

The numbers 2, 32 and 41 are hugely significant for us.

They are all displayed on his jerseys at home.  The number 2 from Langley, 32 from BMS and 41 from the National Team.

Max and I rode that chair 4 more times and the numbers weren’t even close to any of the above.

Fluke? Chance? Just circumstance?

It could be, but these kinds of things happen with the most interesting of timing…and this isn’t the first time.

We ask fewer questions and just accept that in those moments we connect with Chris in a special way.

In this case, I couldn’t help but shoot some video.

Christian, we loved boarding and skiing with you yesterday, even if it was a bit different than before!