I wouldn't classify myself as a very patient person, and when you are in an airport for 7 hours extra than originally scheduled... well you can imagine how anyone would feel. But I'm also not one for complaining so I tried to keep entertained. This was the start of a very long day of travelling and it had only just begun... "For Dreamers, IMPATIENCE IS A VIRTUE" Our first of 4 flights to Quebec was at 5:45am we arrived on time, checked in our bags and long ski bags. (I didn't get charged for any of mine - Bonus!) and waited for our zone to be called. I already had snacks but I got some water and some headphones before we boarded our plane. Once boarded, it looked like everything was ready to go, I was right next to the wing and noticed something with the propeller, it would jerk every few seconds interrupting the blur of the blades. It turned out something was up and we were asked to leave the plane and that we would have to re book. This was just the first of many things that shall we say.. astray? When we arrived at our first stop over, we had little time to dilly dally but I had just enough time to grab a book for our next two flights. On our way from Toronto to Quebec we were all beyond exhausted and our journey was far from over. Thankful that I the seat next to me was empty, I fell into a deep sleep only to wake up for the announcement of arrival. The lights from below were busy, which were ever changing shades and speed. It was Quebec City. With heavy eyes we collected our luggage and loaded the two rental vans. Lets just say I don't remember much of driving to Mont Sainte Anne apart from stopping at a Tim Hortons and trying our best to order in French our breakfast for the following day.. Oh wait it was breakfast for that same day! Zzzz..... Skiing on 3 hours of sleep was not as bad as I thought it would be. Groggy as I was, the cool breeze from mountain air soon woke me up. It was -3 and cloudless skies that was several shades of blue. We had two days of training with the Redefining Limits camp before the races. The camp was held by two former members of the Canadian Para-Alpine Team. Both days were enjoyable and followed by meetings in the evening talking about the many off-snow topics of ski racing. Including a quite bizarre 8 minute relaxation session in which when we eventually drifted back into the room it had felt like half and hour had passed! The 4 days of racing or in my case 2 days of racing and 2 days of forerunning (I was too young for two of the events) had amazing conditions and the visibility was constantly clear so you could see the stunning view. It definitely rose my mood slightly than if it had been foggy. For the days I were racing, both went very well, skiing some of the best I had all year and it felt excellent to end the season on a good note. I brought back some hardware, 1 gold for GS and 1 silver for Slalom both in the junior category. Its funny to think that I am the Junior Champion in GS, I had worked all season for this and the medal gleamed with it. Oh to see the sights! We were lucky enough to have time to sight-see in Old Quebec City and a team-mate and I decided to walk up 18 flights of stairs to get a photo of the vast, icy river. Here was the outcome.. Im glad to say that my trip back was a lot smoother, our 4 flights had no delays and I was able to grab some thai and a David's Tea for lunch at Toronto. It was great to relax and recover from our busy 9 days away.
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Entering the Canada Winter Games I really didn't know what to expect, but from Day one I knew it was big. On 12 February 2015 I arrived at the Vancouver Airport where I was met with a packed room filled with Blue jackets. This was Team BC. I checked in my luggage a few minutes later and it turned out that I had the heaviest bag (that was my ski bag), but I had the lightest combined weight of luggage. As everyone waited for the planes to arrive, I tried to guess which sport everybody was from since no one had received their accreditation yet. Time dragged on but eventually they started calling sports to start loading the plane. My stomach was doing flips, this was it!- My first ever plane ride on my own, not to mention it was a charter; I could definitely get used to this. Alpine Skiing was called first since they were doing it in alphabetical order so I swung on my backpack and headed to the entrance. On the flight, I slept, played sudoko, slept, and then arrived. Im not saying i’m superstitious but skiing was cancelled on the first day since Purden mountain was in downpour, the date just so happened to be Friday 13. Would this be the conditions for the next week? Luckily it wasn’t and I think everyone was thankful for that! We did however have to then wait for the buses to be available again and that meant waiting for three hours on the hill. To keep warm we went into the day lodge. Once we got back to the hotel, we were soon bustled to the pep rally that was held for Team BC, there we were greeted by cowbells, flags and lots of noise! You could get blue face paint, Team BC tattoos and photos with a selection of props. The Hockey girls also taught us several cheers that was used constantly through out the week. But that wasn’t all the grand excitement for the day still to come were the opening ceremony… How do I begin to explain what the opening ceremony were like? They know how to put on a show! It was just so spectacular and amazing to walk out as an athlete where we were paraded around in the blinding lights with the home crowd. It was such a buzz and be there, I think thats when I really realized what Canada Games was and it was then that the excitement really built up in me. Two days of training were followed by the GS race, that was a whirlwind, and hurray for clear skies! I was fourth to go and once I had gone down the very rhythmical course, the scoreboard showed that I had the fastest time! The hardest part after that was definitely waiting for the rest of the racers to come down. The suspense was building up and fast, but I quickly had to tame it to focus on the second run, which in turn went very well. I loved the atmosphere at the top we were all having fun but we knew when to settle down and focus. We weren't just competitors, we were friends and it was great to get to know everyone a little better. After going all out on my second run and then seeing that my combined time was the fastest came with a lot of mixed feelings the biggest being joy, followed by relief, surprise and excitement. Next were the medal ceremonies, behind me on the podium where the medalists provinces Bronze (Ontario), Silver (Alberta) and Gold (BC). We all got cuttings of trees as well as the shiny new medals that had a very intricate pattern on either side. It was all quite surreal. The athletes lounge was definitely the place to be when you weren’t competing or watching other sports. It was the place where everyone chilled and I was in there more than our hotel room by far. The lounge sparked new friendships within the provinces and was a big spot for pin trading which is a whole other story. On our rest day we spent some time there as well as watching a few other sports. In the morning we watched a ringette game that was BC vs Sask, as my first ringette game I ever watched, it was very fast paced, Sask ended up winning 6-5. After lunch where we also got bombarded with pin trading offers, we headed back to our room where we then planned to have a 20 minute nap before meeting up with the teams sport phycologist. I woke up three hours later still with my hand on my book, I had ended up falling asleep reading… obviously I needed more rest than I knew! Later on we went and watched our third Wheelchair basketball game of the week (we ended up watching about six in total) where BC got slaughtered by Sask, it was a very intense game- a lot more than usual.
After a rest day (which we really needed) we were back to a 5am start, it was race day number two and this time it was Slalom. Purden was quite a bit icier than the first couple of days but luckily it was still a bluebird day and there was no trouble with the visibility. The Slalom that they set had quite a few spots to really look out for, I took the first run a bit cautiously than I had liked and it showed on the scoreboard, I was in second place. But I was going for double gold since I had already done it once, I was going for another. For my second run I left nothing at the start gate, I went all out, yes Slalom isn’t my strong suit nor my favourite out of all five disciplines but I got into my rhythm and just skied. After that run I was still in second but I was still immensely happy about my performance over the week. Thank You Prince George for hosting a highly enjoyable games and welcoming Canada! WE ARE…. BC!! I think its safe to say that I have now transitioned to Summer although maybe not got used the heat yet. Yesterday I was melting in the 32 C Sun rays. Anyway recently I have taken up a new sport; Track Cycling at the Velodrome, I have been really enjoying it the six times i've gone and will continue every Monday and Thursday though the Summer, so that will keep me busy. What I really like about it is the speed (surprise surprise) :D and once you get going it does cool you down.
The weather is mean't to be rising still but it seems to be a little cooler today. Hope you're all having an awesome Summer so far, I sure am! 5am the alarm goes, off.. Apparently but, I didn't hear it. Thankfully my mum woke me up to get ready for one of our last trips . Well, I say get ready but for me at that time meant rolling out of bed and buckling in the car. By the time we both got ready it was 6 and we soon were setting off for Swartz bay ferry terminal.
By 8:30 we were on the mainland setting off for Sun Peaks,BC. Our GPS got very confused so we decided to turn it off and go by the signs. We arrived just in time for lunch in which we went Nando's in Kamloops and had frozen yoghurt at Tutti Frutti Yum! We got to the of Sun Peaks and I'm not kidding, a few minutes after we arrived it started snowing! I'm now having Japanese speaking of which better get back to eating it! So after all the time on the road, it's surprising that I am actually on Mt Washington. On the clear evening we drove up, we got there just in time to get ready for the Mount Washington Ski Club year end banquet before arriving at 5:30. The year before Maja and Sylvi had both said that the next banquet I should wear a dress, so there I was in a blue dress I got for christmas that year.
It was wonderful to see everyone after weeks of non-stop travelling. The first days of Podium of Life Ski Academy were clear blue skies and a warming sun, time for some hoodie skiing! Corey, I, and a small group of racers who were also in the academy, set a course on Whiskey Jack. We only got a few quality runs in before the snow or slush said otherwise. Well got to dash! :) |
AuthorBeing a ski racer, one of the many perks is that I get to travel all over, My name is Mel Pemble and this is my blog. Archives
April 2015
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