Avalanche Safety Training

There are many great things about the NonStop Programme.   One of my personal favourites is the additional activities they organize.  There is a long list you can choose from, or you can do them all.  I particularly looked forward to doing the AST (Avalanche Safety Training) course.

Being from South Africa, I had very little exposure to snow and therefore avalanches while growing up.  Since we started skiing regularly, I have always been fascinated by the amazing power that avalanches have, but have never really gone to any effort to learn more about them.

The Avalanche Safety Training gave me a great introduction about avalanches.  We learned some very basic tools to help start the learning process in order to travel safely in avalanche terrain.  Avalanche risk has three basic elements: unstable snow, suitable terrain and people or property.

We learned a bunch of tests to help test the stability of the snow including: Burp test (Shovel tilt test), Compression test (tap test) and Rutschblock test.  The interesting thing about snow stability test is that are a good indicator of instability but not really a good predictor of stability.

Our Instructor Mark prepares for some of the test on our Avalanche Safety Training field day

Our Instructor Mark prepares for some of the test on our Avalanche Safety Training field day

From 1997 to 2007 there were an average of 40 fatalities among recreationists in North America.  In Canada the average fatalities are about 14 per year. Avalanches are classed from 1 to 5, with 5 big and strong enough to destroy a town or forest of 40 hectares and would run for multiple kilometres.

The New York Times recently did an amazing multimedia production about a fatal avalanche that happened last year at Tunnel Creek next to Steven Pass ski area in Washington State.  It shows how even some of the best skiers in the world with loads of experience can make mistakes that kill them. Here is one of the videos:

In western Canada about a million destructive avalanches occur every year.  Luckily most of them happen away from property and people.  The amazing thing is that people trigger most fatal avalanches.  This is usually either the victim or somebody travelling with them.

Backcountry travel seems to have grown over the last decade, and I can see the allure it offers.  Skiing fresh powder that is thigh deep, away from the crowds, in the peace and quite of the backcountry must be amazing.  This week we are planning to go on our first backcountry trip.

There are three basic tools that you must have for a backcountry trip to do self-rescue: shovel, probe and transceiver.  Airbag backpacks that help you float on top of or near the top of the avalanche is gaining popularity and report up to 98% success rate in surviving a avalanche.

The experts say that trips like these are never 100% safe, and it is really about mitigating the risk and finding a safe way to enjoy yourself, based on your level of experience and knowledge.  A big part of the challenge is that many of the slopes that offer the best skiing are prime terrain for avalanches.

This Avalanche Safety Training Course was just a first step for me to learn much more about this fascinating subject.  There is a second level of Avalanche Safety Training that I can hopefully do soon!

Whitefish Mountain Resort

We had a great time filled with fun and adventure at Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana last week.  Whitefish is about 175km from Fernie, and if all goes well with the border crossing it takes about 2 hours 15 minutes drive.  The ski resort is about 15 min drive up the mountain from the town.  A big part of the resort is located in Flathead National Forest.  Part of the resort closes on 31 March every year to make sure the Bears residing in the forest are not disturb when they start to wake up from their winter nap.


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The resort is great for intermediate skiers.  There are 15% beginners, 35% intermediate, 40% advance and 10% expert runs.  Whitefish Mountain Resort has three main parts: Front Side, North Side and Hellroaring Basin. Three of the ten lifts are very fast quad lifts that serve the front and north side of the mountain.  The Summit that offers spectacular views has an elevation of 2078m and the vertical drop to the base is 717m.

The view at Whitefish Mountain Resort are spectacular!

The view at Whitefish Mountain Resort is spectacular!

We managed to do a substantial amount of distance at Whitefish Mountain Resort, thanks to the many nice long runs and fast lifts.  After a tasty lunch from the restaurant on the summit, we went to do one of the free mountain tours with a Snow Ambassador.  But just as we were about to leave there was a huge amount of commotion at the summit.  Somebody had a heart attack, and all the staff was needed to secure an area for the helicopter to land.  Another Snow Ambassador skiing with his family on his day off, offered for us to tag along.  Everything happened really fast, and the helicopter came and went while we did one run on the North side.

More great views from the Summit of Whitefish Mountain Resort

More great views from the Summit of Whitefish Mountain Resort

Overall we found Whitefish Mountain resort excellent.  We had a great lunch, we quickly got orientated on the mountain after the help from the off duty ambassador.  The views on most part of the mountain are really spectacular! The terrain offered great intermediate and expert terrain, including a few mogul and many open ski areas among the trees.

If you ever find yourself in this part of the world it is well worth a visit. If you have ever been to Whitefish Mountain Resort, tell us your experience below:

The Founder’s Dilemmas – Review

Founders Dilemmas

A few years ago I read an article in the Harvard Business Review that asked: Do you want to be rich or king?  After reading that article I thought my answer to the question is obvious and that I would rather be rich than king of the castle.  So when Amazon recommended The Founder’s Dilemmas, I was immediately intrigued to read the book.

==>Click Here to Buy: The Founder’s Dilemmas <==

The author Noam Wasserman is a professor at Harvard Business School.  Although The Founder’s Dilemmas reads a little like an academic article, I found it fascinating.  The data used as basis for this book was gather by Wasserman over more than a decade. It included more than 10 000 founders, in the technology and life science industries.

The Founder’s Dilemmas analyzed many of the reasons that people tend to start businesses. Although there are many, the primary motivators are either wealth or control.  Wasserman the goes into great detail into many of the decisions that founders make through out the life of the business that they start.

Some of the most critical decision included: Founding on your own or as a team, taking investment or bootstrapping, when to replace a founder CEO, hiring people.  For example control motivated founder will tend to: remain solo founders, hire inexperienced people and keep control of decisions, self fund, and choose to remain CEO through all stages of the business development.

I found this central theme very insightful, and it really helped me understand my own motivation better. I have no doubt that it will help me make better and more consistent decision when I start my next business.

I also loved the real live examples of founders and the decision they made. One of the case studies were Evan Williams, through founding and selling blogger and then founding Odeo which eventually led to starting Twitter.  Interestingly another case study was Feedburner, who was founded by Dick Costolo (among others) whom later become CEO of Twitter when Evan Williams stepped down.

==>Click Here to Buy: The Founder’s Dilemmas <==

When starting a business the founders make key decision very early on that they will have to live with for the life of the business, The Founder’s Dilemmas offers great guidance to make sure you make informed decisions.  It will also force you to properly examine your own motivations.

What are your motivations and how have they effected key decisions when you started a business?

Best Ski boots in the World

From day 1, the Non Stop instructor course added value to my skiing experience!!  After the technical session with Jens Mende, I realized that my ski boots were not ideal, and it was causing unnecessary knee pain.  Topshelf was recommended to help me out, and boy did they just do that!  These guys specialize in building custom ski boots called the TS1.

Donny and Ryland evaluated my 8 year old ski boots, my feet and lower legs;  I could tell from the look on their faces that my feet and leg dimensions did not match up with my current ski boots at all.  Luckily I didn’t buy boots of the shelf on our arrival in Fernie, so the option of getting customized ski boots was open.  I grabbed it with both hands!!  After a short negotiation in our native language, and Justinus getting new powder ski’s out of the deal, we agreed for the process to begin.

They have all kinds of machines and tools to custom fit a boot, and lots of experience in the field.  Pointing out that I have a bunion on my right foot, they just smiled and said “no problem, we have a tool for that!”.  I thought they were joking….they do not joke about feet problems, they only have solutions!  If they have all the ingredients available, it will be about a day or two to get your boots out the door for testing, but you don’t want to rush it anyway.

Raptor 115 RS Race Ski Boots - The Shell of my new boots!

Raptor 115 RS Race Ski Boots – The Shell of my new boots!

The first step was getting the right shell for my feet.  They had a look, consulted and decided on Head Raptor 115 RS Race Ski Boots.  Here the client doesn’t have a lot of choice, but to trust the experts.  The next step was customized foot beds.  The foam injection was the last step before testing and tweaking, here I had a say on the colour of the socks that I prefer.  I appreciated the fact that Ryland prepared me for the process, as it was a bit uncomfortable to stand in the boots while the foam was compacting my feet within.  Throughout the process, Ryland’s experience and expertise on boots and skiing was making me more and more comfortable with the process and I knew I was in good hands.  The glass of smooth French red wine welcoming me to the TS1 gang was the cherry on top!

Having a nice Red wine while fitting the best ski boots in the world!

Having a nice Red wine while fitting the best ski boots in the world!

In the days to follow the main focus points would be comfort and alignment.  I needed to work out the air in the foam and my alignment would be tested continually.  The alignment is tweaked by sticking strips of wedges with duct tape. Ryland said that I should keep on coming back, until I am of opinion that it is the best ski boots that I’ve ever worn.

The next week, Ryland worked somewhere else and Donny continued the process.  Monday afternoon Donny tested the alignment intensely and the results started to become consistent, by the next day we had the best stance!  The duct tape were taken of the final result was made permanent.

I walked out with the best ski boots in the world!

If you ever need custom fit ski boots, look them up in Fernie!

5369 Fernie Ski Hill Rd  Fernie, BC V0B 1M4, Canada

http://www.top-shelf.ca

 

 

Curling Rink – Ice, Rocks and Brooms

While watching the last few winter Olympic Games, I was fascinated by Curling.  This week Ankie and I had the opportunity to experience Curling first hand.  There is a Curling rink in Fernie, with a club running drop in evenings every week.  At first glance the game definitely seemed to be related to bowls, which we are more familiar within South Africa.  I must say we had great fun playing about 4 ends. I guess, like many other sports, it was a little trickier than it looked.

Curling in Fernie - Ankie is clearly better with a broom!

Curling in Fernie – Ankie is clearly better with a broom!

As usually Ankie and I were a little early, so we started chatting to some of the club members hosting us at the Curling rink.  They were very friendly and helpful.  The Fernie Curling Club has about 8 teams that play regularly.  The city of Fernie also supports the club to keep this popular sport in Canada in Fernie.

As we chatted we quickly did some research on the game of Curling. It originated in Scotland more than 500 years ago!  In the last Olympic Games in Vancouver the Canadian teams won the Gold in the men’s and silver in the women’s competition. There were only 10 countries competing.  What was very interesting to me is that the team that represent their country at the Olympics is not the combination of the best individual players but rather the team who won the national championship. For example: 4 club players from Edmonton won the gold medal in 2010.

Another of the club members gave Ankie a little help learning the game before the other NonStoppers arrived.  The sliding to release the Rock was a lot trickier than I expected.  We had to put on a special plastic slider underneath one foot to help with the sliding.  The power control was not easy as I tended to slide the rock to fast, which would make it go over the target.  Sweeping the ice to help the rock go further did not come as naturally to me as to Ankie.

If we ever find ourselves in a country where they play curling, I might well take the time to learn to play it properly.  With only ten countries competing in the Olympics the odds are better than most other sports once you get in. Have you ever gone Curling? Tell us below: