Showing posts with label skiing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skiing. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Montreal!
The GPS indicated 40.5 miles skied on Day 1, and 43.9 miles skied on Day 2. I will try and post the GPS track soon. In the meantime, browse the photos.
And then on Sunday night, Sarah and I had the great misfortune of traveling internationally to the United States. We got dropped off at the airport 5 hours before our flight as that's how the travel schedule for everyone involved worked out, but at least we didn't stress too much. Sadly, the entire process was one miscommunication after another. The Delta check in clerk told us no carry ons were allowed except a camera, a bare laptop, and a woman's purse. I showed a different Delta agent my camera bag, and they said it would be okay, but when it finally came time to check in, the first agent said the camera must be around my neck and the bag would need to be checked. We also had to argue to get our formerly free carry-on rollerboards checked for free. She also told us our neck pillows wouldn't be allowed, but acquiescedto allow us to ask security -- who felt up the pillows but said they would be allowed.
After an hour or two of packing and re-packing, we checked our four bags -- one ski bag with accompanying (but free) boot bag, and our two rollerboards (including one with both the laptop and the camera lenses inside protected by a dinky lock -- more on that later). We proceeded to the security screening where they promptly told us Sarah's "purse" was too big. I say "purse" because we had taken a small bag and put her real purse inside it, along with some other small things (like books and magazines). Of course it was very subjective and personally distasteful as women with ginormous bags got through just fine -- as long as it looked like a purse it was okay, but if it was small but not a stereotypical purse it was bad. Seriously, some of the purses could have held my rollerboard.
Fortunately we had coats, and despite size, as long as everything could be pocketed, it was okay so we didn't actually have to re-check anything. At x-ray Sarah's heated boot caused much interest. Sadly not because it had wires and batteries inside the lining, but because all the Canadian security staff wanted to know where they could buy one. Whatever, at least that wasn't too much hassle. Then onto US customers (in Montreal?!) which had a bona-fide US CBP guy who looked at us sternly but didn't really say much. Then we thought we were through when we got dumped into the duty free store just like you get dumped into the museum gift shop on the way out of a museum. But no! A secondary screening (tertiary, perhaps?) consisted of 8 tables of 6 security people each. They proceeded to rifle through everything even opening the lipstick. But the seal of approval was a highlighter X written on your boarding pass. Then to leave the screening area you had to show another guard your X'd pass. Of course, despite their diligent checking, the security folks X'd both of my boarding passes and neither of Sarah's (they had failed to actually look at the departure airport on the passes). We went back, got the requisite X, then went on to eat and browse for 3 hours before our flight.
The flight itself was fine, and at least we got to move around and read if we wanted to. A flight to New York was told they wouldn't be able to get up at all. However, if you have a chance, please write your elected officials and let them know how idiotic these new travel restrictions are.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
International Travel
Last weekend Sarah and I had the great pleasure of traveling to Quebec to stay with our friends at their condominium at Mont Tremblant. This is the highest-rated east coast ski area, and while it suffers from the stereotypical East coast ice (which is really an artifact of artificial snow anywhere), it was actually quite fun. Not only was the nightlife in town very decent (as seems to be the case in most Intrawest resorts) but the skiing was good. Though I'm told the snow levels were somewhat below normal (and honestly, an extra foot to bury the occasional rock wouldn't have hurt), I did manage to find sufficiently challenging terrain.
The GPS indicated 40.5 miles skied on Day 1, and 43.9 miles skied on Day 2.
And then on Sunday night, Sarah and I had the great misfortune of traveling internationally to the United States. We got dropped off at the airport 5 hours before our flight as that's how the travel schedule for everyone involved worked out, but at least we didn't stress too much. Sadly, the entire process was one miscommunication after another. The Delta check in clerk told us no carry ons were allowed except a camera, a bare laptop, and a woman's purse. I showed a different Delta agent my camera bag, and they said it would be okay, but when it finally came time to check in, the first agent said the camera must be around my neck and the bag would need to be checked. We also had to argue to get our formerly free carry-on rollerboards checked for free. She also told us our neck pillows wouldn't be allowed, but acquiesced to allow us to ask security -- who felt up the pillows but said they would be allowed.
After an hour or two of packing and re-packing, we checked our four bags -- one ski bag with accompanying (but free) boot bag, and our two rollerboards (including one with both the laptop and the camera lenses inside protected by a dinky lock -- more on that later). We proceeded to the security screening where they promptly told us Sarah's "purse" was too big. I say "purse" because we had taken a small bag and put her real purse inside it, along with some other small things (like books and magazines). Of course it was very subjective and personally distasteful as women with ginormous bags got through just fine -- as long as it looked like a purse it was okay, but if it was small but not a stereotypical purse it was bad. Seriously, some of the purses could have held my rollerboard.
Fortunately we had coats, and despite size, as long as everything could be pocketed, it was okay so we didn't actually have to re-check anything. At x-ray Sarah's heated boot caused much interest. Sadly not because it had wires and batteries inside the lining, but because all the Canadian security staff wanted to know where they could buy one. Whatever, at least that wasn't too much hassle. Then onto US customers (in Montreal?!) which had a bona-fide US CBP guy who looked at us sternly but didn't really say much. Then we thought we were through when we got dumped into the duty free store just like you get dumped into the museum gift shop on the way out of a museum. But no! A secondary screening (tertiary, perhaps?) consisted of 8 tables of 6 security people each. They proceeded to rifle through everything even opening the lipstick. But the seal of approval was a highlighter X written on your boarding pass. Then to leave the screening area you had to show another guard your X'd pass. Of course, despite their diligent checking, the security folks X'd both of my boarding passes and neither of Sarah's (they had failed to actually look at the departure airport on the passes). We went back, got the requisite X, then went on to eat and browse for 3 hours before our flight.
The flight itself was fine, and at least we got to move around and read if we wanted to. A flight
The GPS indicated 40.5 miles skied on Day 1, and 43.9 miles skied on Day 2.
And then on Sunday night, Sarah and I had the great misfortune of traveling internationally to the United States. We got dropped off at the airport 5 hours before our flight as that's how the travel schedule for everyone involved worked out, but at least we didn't stress too much. Sadly, the entire process was one miscommunication after another. The Delta check in clerk told us no carry ons were allowed except a camera, a bare laptop, and a woman's purse. I showed a different Delta agent my camera bag, and they said it would be okay, but when it finally came time to check in, the first agent said the camera must be around my neck and the bag would need to be checked. We also had to argue to get our formerly free carry-on rollerboards checked for free. She also told us our neck pillows wouldn't be allowed, but acquiesced to allow us to ask security -- who felt up the pillows but said they would be allowed.
After an hour or two of packing and re-packing, we checked our four bags -- one ski bag with accompanying (but free) boot bag, and our two rollerboards (including one with both the laptop and the camera lenses inside protected by a dinky lock -- more on that later). We proceeded to the security screening where they promptly told us Sarah's "purse" was too big. I say "purse" because we had taken a small bag and put her real purse inside it, along with some other small things (like books and magazines). Of course it was very subjective and personally distasteful as women with ginormous bags got through just fine -- as long as it looked like a purse it was okay, but if it was small but not a stereotypical purse it was bad. Seriously, some of the purses could have held my rollerboard.
Fortunately we had coats, and despite size, as long as everything could be pocketed, it was okay so we didn't actually have to re-check anything. At x-ray Sarah's heated boot caused much interest. Sadly not because it had wires and batteries inside the lining, but because all the Canadian security staff wanted to know where they could buy one. Whatever, at least that wasn't too much hassle. Then onto US customers (in Montreal?!) which had a bona-fide US CBP guy who looked at us sternly but didn't really say much. Then we thought we were through when we got dumped into the duty free store just like you get dumped into the museum gift shop on the way out of a museum. But no! A secondary screening (tertiary, perhaps?) consisted of 8 tables of 6 security people each. They proceeded to rifle through everything even opening the lipstick. But the seal of approval was a highlighter X written on your boarding pass. Then to leave the screening area you had to show another guard your X'd pass. Of course, despite their diligent checking, the security folks X'd both of my boarding passes and neither of Sarah's (they had failed to actually look at the departure airport on the passes). We went back, got the requisite X, then went on to eat and browse for 3 hours before our flight.
The flight itself was fine, and at least we got to move around and read if we wanted to. A flight
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Bend and Beyond
We drove down to Bend, OR (see Sarah's pics) with the trailer last weekend to see Carrie and do a bit of exploring. We didn't end up spending much time in Bend(see Michal's photos) itself, except for breakfast on Friday morning before hitting the slopes. (We highly recommend the Ocean Roll for tasty goodness.) Michal and Carrie hit the slopes of Mt. Bachelor while I relaxed with a book in the lodge. Then we packed up and hit the road for another two hours to Umpqua National Forest, just north of Crater Lake. We went in search of hot springs, but found several other things as well: snow in the pass, an awesome campground, a fun canal and an incredible waterfall. After spending the better part of Saturday in the hot spring quest and enjoyment, we drove back towards Bend.
The combination of snow conditions (in April!) and the Beetle kept us from both the lava casts and tube, so we detoured to the High Desert Museum for a couple of hours. They had a desertarium, which made it way cooler than most natural history museums. We then spent some time on the loop around the visitor center (which was still closed for the season) of Lava Lands National Monument.
To wrap up our trip, we made one final stop on the return ride at the Crooked River Bridge not too far north of Bend. At the gorge there, three bridges cross the river: one old highway bridge that's now visitor friendly, one new highway bridge, and one railroad bridge.
Not bad for a long weekend. Thanks for hosting, Carrie!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
2009 Freestyle Skiing World Cup
The reason we bought the trailer, or at least a large motivating factor, was the fact that I am spending the week in Vancouver living in it. I volunteered for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and in the meantime, I was given the opportunity to volunteer as a ski patroller for the 2009 World Cup Freestyle at Cypress Mountain in Vancouver. There are three events that are a part of the freestyle skiing discipline -- ski cross, moguls, and the aerials. The photo at left was taken tonight at the men's aerials qualifications, where the field of 37 athletes was narrowed to the top 12 who will go on to compete in the final (which is either Friday or Saturday -- I can't recall). Anyway, if you see this on TV, keep an eye out for me!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Weekend in Whistler
We just returned from a three day weekend at Whistler. It was early season, and the Pacific Northwest hasn't had much snow yet this season, so there were only a few lifts and only a few runs open. I ended up skiing two mornings and snowboarding both afternoons, with Sunday being a relaxing day with a late lunch in Vancouver.
We had a great time ice skating, shopping, eating, hot tubbing, and watching Coupling.
See the photos here.
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