PK AND THE GOOSE MONTANA AND BEYOND

SILVER STAR TO VANCOUVER AND HOME

2008-02-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

The flights were totally uneventful thank goodness all on time in fact the London leg was early, our baggage arrived the same time as us which was a relief. I can't say I was thrilled to be back in England it's always nice coming home, but this time because we had such an amazing trip and the fact Lindsay and the girl's had joined us, so we weren't missing them, I did get a feeling of sadness that it was all over.

On arrival at the airport, I had to pick the car up from the repairers, which required me to get a taxi to Slough about 6 miles away, as I walked out of the terminal, taxi's were waiting on the rank I thought great, I told the driver where I wanted to go, "that'll cost you fifty five pounds mate", "what" fifty five quid for a 6 mile journey? "yep your outside the Met area so we can charge what we like", so with that I told him where to stick his cab as I was walking away a chap came up and said "I'll do it for twenty five", "twenty" was my response, "OK twenty" with that I was on my way, my thoughts in the car were the first person I've spoken to in England for five and a half weeks was that cabbie who was prepared to rip me off, what must foreign travellers think when the first thing they are confronted with is jerks like him.

All the motorways were clear so as a result we were home inside two hours, the dog "Dudley" went nuts he seemed so glad to see us.

Well that's it I can only say we have had the most brilliant time, now it seems to have gone quick, but in reality we've done so much, when I look back at that first drive on American soil up to Big Sky that does seem a while ago. I can honestly say we never met anybody in America that was anything other than a delight to talk with, we never heard the whole time we were there anyone swear or behave in a manner that could be deemed obnoxious. As I have mentioned before people often say in England we are becoming Americanised, well maybe that would not be an all bad thing they still have the respect for each other that we once had, how we have gone from the respectful society we were when I was a kid, to what we are today still escapes me.

Not to repeat myself but I'm so glad we've done it, Angus I feel has grown up a little and that he will remember this Adventure for the rest of his life as will I. On that note I would take the opportunity to thank everyone who has taken time out to read our blog and once again to all those that contributed to it, I shall miss writing it up.

Finally Lindsay thanks I love you very much PAK xxxxxx

GOODBYE ALL FROM PK AND THE GOOSE

SILVER STAR FINAL DAY

2008-02-22T08:38:00.000-08:00

So this is it, nearly the end of PK AND THE GOOSE'S fantastic trip, it feels our quest began in deepest winter, and is ending in bright spring sunshine. Since leaving England we have skied a total of 31 days, the surprising thing being is that we have not been ill or picked up an injury. ( not for the want of trying). We reckon that in the time we've been here we have skied in excess of 700 miles, (most of which in the upright position,) have met dozens of different people, visited four states within the USA, driven close to a thousand miles and by the time we get home, flown some 11,500 miles.

The one thing that hasn't happened which we expected, was to lose weight if anything, we've put it on, to eat healthily over here is very difficult and it's not got any easier since Lindsay Russ, Sue and the girls showed up. When I was just with Angus, I might of had one or two beers a day, whereas since their arrival it's beer,beer and beer so one of the first things I need to do when I get home is start a diet!!!!

Russ was suffering from food poisoning today surprisingly I've never heard of Stella, Long Johns Lager, Bulldog Lager and Budweisser referred to as food before, anyway after laying down for a few hours "a miracle" he's cured, he was so pleased he celebrated with a glass of beer.

We skied our last run about an hour ago I was filled with a number of mixed emotions, glad that we had done it, sad that it as over , and tremendously grateful to all the people that made it possible, of course without my wonderful Lindsay it probably would have remained a dream, but with her support it became possible, also I would like to thank everyone who works with us for all the extra time, effort and support they have put in since I've been away.So thank you very much to front of house Jaquie, Antonio, Hazel ,Michelle and the boys in the engine room Ian, Jamie, Joe thanks guys.

There is also all the friends and family who have contributed to the blog by way of messages and encouragement, it's been fun reading them all especially when stuck in a hotel room in places like Jackson Hole with a blizzard raging outside (that's when the advice from Uncle Buck kicked in) or when sitting on a lift in Utah where I could overwhelm my fellow passengers with inane facts about the state of Utah, as supplied by Mike Cochrane, by the way Mike those facts got 11 "oh really is that so's" on the trot from Trudy at The Chateau. Hearing from people always felt as if we were carrying a bit of home with us.

We went to dinner tonight at Clementines as a special treat, it's the only restaurant in town where they don't pile the knives and forks in the middle of the table, where the words Sub, Sandwich and Wrap do not appear on the menu, hence the chances of a fellow diner's first bite resulting in a squirt of mayo or mustard hitting you is slim. The meal was fine and over it everyone agreed that the holiday has been a good one.

I also heard from Jon Watts today who is back in Sauze Douix, I think it may be his second home, he loves to ski and this is one of his favourite places.

Tomorrow we head off for blighty so there will be no blog until Monday, which will be the concluding chapter, I hope to find the words to give our final feelings about the trip.

THE LAST RUN

KIDS ON LAST RUN

TOP AT SILVER STAR

END OF DAY HOT TUB

SILVER STAR DAY 5

2008-02-21T19:11:00.000-08:00

Not much to report today, the girls had their last lesson of the week, very enjoyable apparently, but for me skiing single and double diamond blacks all morning is not top of my list the of things to do, the odd one is ok for me now days.

Tomorrow is our last day skiing, so we have decided on a video shoot everyone has got to strut their stuff on the mountain, it should be interesting.

Its always a bit of a come down the last day especially as we all feel the last two weeks have flown, but the one thing to look forward to is the few beers after the final run.

The one thing Angus and I are not worried about is the packing five minutes and we're done.

Freya took a photo of me in the hot tub tonight, lucky you can see my hands, but what worries me if I was asleep fine, if not what!! was I looking at? (Any suggestions).

THE QUEEN OF THE GREENS WITH THE BRAT OF THE BLACKS

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SILVER STAR DAY 4

2008-02-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

The girls had a lesson booked, Sue and Russ were off doing their own thing, which left Lindsay, Angus and I , and as it happens we had a lovely morning together we skied some areas we hadn't been to as yet this time round. As I have mentioned before to get the perfect skiing conditions are rare, we haven't got the perfect conditions but they are good, no new snow , but plenty of sun with mild temperatures about -1c there is so much snow here, so a few dry days is not an issue in fact it's a positive bonus, the light is almost perfect, which to a degree makes skiing a lot safer.Again we met a whole load of different people, there are a lot of Aussies here and I have got to say much like the Canadians we do have a common bond with them. I personally find them to be "bonzer" ( a little Aussie slang I thought I'd throw in) people who are quick to laugh and enjoy life to the full.
There was a lunar eclipse here tonight I took a few shots their not great but it gives you the idea.
Angus and I over lunch were wondering how many miles we have skied since we left England we have worked out a formula for calculation ,it's not exactly it's not rocket science but we should have on answer for Saturday.
We were all pretty cream crackered tonight me included so the blog will be brief, a good day is forecast for tomorrow so early night, out up up and away sharp tomorrow.

SILVER STAR DAY 3

2008-02-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

The days seem to be galloping away for everyone, I suppose when your having fun time passes all to quickly, I can always remember being at party or somewhere and saying what's the time? and hearing 12.15, that's earlier than I thought! then what felt like 20 minutes later saying whats the time? 4.25 WHAT!!!! well that's how this holiday is going for us.

For Angus and I it's a bit different we were sitting in the hot tub tonight reflecting on what we have done so far, although Big Sky is a while ago it's still vivid in both our minds I think it will still take a long time before we both fully realise what a fantastic time we have had, and it's still not over.

Angus in ski camp has teamed up with two brothers from Seattle Sam and Dillon they are having a hoot, after skiing this evening he went round their place building a snow fort, the kids parents are really charming Charlie and Jane he's a writer, and she a lawyer yet more people we have met who have invited us to call in when ever we're in Seattle.

The girls had a great time at ski instruction they were in hysterics when we met up with them, they had an instructor they both loved, he was all the things teenage girls adore young, good looking, trendy and funny ( much like myself) so guess what more instruction tomorrow!

I met a chap today over a coffee and bun, he is a New Zealander and ski's for NZ in the nordic cross country his name is Nat Algram maybe another Olympian in the making, and a really nice fellow to boot.

One of the things that's been hard to chronicle in the blog is sheer amount of people we've met, when skiing travelling on the lifts is all part of it, therefore every twenty minutes or so you find yourself sitting with people you've never met before for the 10 minute journey up the mountain, and you would be amazed what your told, in fact by the end of the ride you often dismount the lift with a little more knowledge than you started with, that is one of the things that has drawn me to this sport for so many years.

We ended up at Long John's bar tonight with Steve Todd on keyboards, a good musician who can play practically everything , our friend Euan showed up so a good night was had by all.

THE MONASHEE RANGE

REFLECTING IN THE HOT TUB

SILVER STAR DAY 2

2008-02-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

Another lovely sunny day almost perfect skiing weather, Angus and I experienced our first day in four and a half weeks of temperatures above freezing (+1c) and very pleasant it was.

Russ and I took the kids tubing tonight , Russ done the runs with them brave chap, however the temperature plummeted Freya's face went blue, Steph's shoulders were up to her ears and Angus's teeth were clattering like a set of castanets, time to go. It's easy to understand at times like these how people are lost to exposure.

Lindsay and Sue made dinner tonight skiers penicillin, Spag Bol and garlic bread luverly. We all survived it to watch the dvd Die Hard 4 a load of old cods wallop but entertaining and the nice thing about American dvd's no swearing. The thing to spot in the Die Hard movies is how the shade

of Bruce Willis's white vest keeps on changing.

We took photos today but some Indian bloke kept pushing Russ out of the way and taking his place, and boy, was he fast we never managed to catch him.

Uncle Buck has been in touch in the commments again, he has certainly been around keep it coming UB.

Tomorrow another sunny day so spring like skiing hooray!!!

BX RUN

SAME RUN PANORAMIC

SILVER STAR DAY 1

2008-02-17T16:41:00.000-08:00

We had a prefect day in terms of the weather, sunny, blue skies and not to cold the downside it was very busy mainly because this is Presidents Day weekend, it's a bank holiday on Monday in the USA and as a result there is a great influx of Americans luckily most leave on Monday so the mountain will quieten down a great deal tomorrow.
Sue had a lesson today,she skied a few runs she certainly wouldn't of had she had been with us, she is having one more tomorrow which I feel will really boost her confidence.
Although they insist they told me, but when I don't recall when , I have learnt today that Jamie and Emma are expecting their second child I am really pleased for them, so congratulations to you both and see you when I get back.
It's amazing the run that I did in Silver Star last year which inspired my trip seems quite tame now, I ran it top to bottom as my first run back in Silver Star, it was still as good but this time I barely needed to catch breathe, the difference of being, nearly four and a half weeks on the ski hills is quite astounding.

A RELAXING LIBATION

SUN PEAKS TO SILVER STAR

2008-02-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

We had a very pleasant journey across The Okanagan, a lovely sunny day which gave us a great opportunity to take in the scenery. It took just under 3 hours and we managed to convince the driver to stop at Vernon shopping mall, in order for us to get supplies, there were a few Aussies on the trip and they were up for a stop as well so we've got wine, beer and oh yes food also fruit something Angus and I have really missed.
Our apartment is absolutely the Dogs, beautiful we are all really made up with it.
Tonight we went to the Hockey in Vernon the local team their nickname is the Vipers and they really bit the other team tonight, they had a convincing win although there was plenty of fights.
The kids are having lessons tomorrow for 3 mornings that's something they thoroughly enjoy, in fact we are all looking forward to going out tomorrow.
I see Uncle Buck has been in touch again and it's good to hear from him, rumour has it he cut his teeth on a branding iron, anyway Uncle Buck keep those comments coming we love them.

VEIW FROM APPARTMENT

A NIGHT AT THE HOCKEY

SUN PEAKS FINAL DAY

2008-02-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we're off to Siver Star it's about a two and a half hour drive across the Okanagan which should be an interesting run. The Okanagan area is where most of the British Columbia wine is grown as well as apples, cherries and other fruits, it's quite an odd place the valley has a number of lakes primarily, Lake Okanagan it's also designated a desert area, yet when you go up a mountain like Silver Star there is just heaps of snow.

This coming week or this "upcoming" week is Presidents week it's the American equivalent of a bank holiday and as a result Sun Peaks is filling up with Americans, the amazing thing is they are nothing like the people we met in America, maybe like the Brits abroad, they are not representative of their nation. The strength of the Canadian dollar however has reduced their numbers, which is obviously not good for business, and judging by the general credit squeeze here in North America I don't know how we in Britain can avoid a major slow down.

Russ and Sue are doing well, Russ skied two blue runs today that is the european equivalent to red runs, I have always thought the word blue here seems to cover a much too wider range of runs, they only have three designations Green, Blue,Black where in Europe we have Green, Blue, Red and Black I think European system is better as it " fine tunes " the runs as opposed to a more broad brush description, the one thing I have noticed having been skiing so many different mountains over the past month is the variation in difficulty that each resort perceives it's self to be. For example most blues in Jackson Hole would be blacks in most other places, whereas in Big Sky most greens would be light blues almost any where else.

Sun Peaks for me has been a kind mellow mountain it has'nt got any unexpected suprises if you ski a cruiser it's a cruiser, likewise ski tough it is tough. It's snow is not dis-similar to Whistler albeit a bit lighter, but the powder cannot be compared to Utah.

I am looking forward to up rooting again tomorrow Angus and I are now experts five minutes and we're packed, mainly because we never unpack that's the secret!!

We are all looking forward too Siver Star Long John's bar here we come.

LAST RUN AT SUN PEAKS

RUSS ON HIS FIRST DARK BLUE (IE RED)

SUN PEAKS DAY 5 ( VALENTINES DAY)

2008-02-14T16:41:00.000-08:00

Guess who forgot Valentine's I am putting it down to the time difference,unlikely to get away with it but you can live in hope.
Without doubt there are some fundamental differences between us and the North Americans apart from the language. For a start when eating, everything on the plate must be cut up to bite size pieces, in order that the fork may be transferred to the right hand thus enabling the diner to spend the rest of their meal stabbing at the food on their plate, also the minute you finish regardless of anyone else on the table, your plate is whisked away, ultimately leaving one poor soul to finish all on their own ( this has never happened to Angus). Finally when asked will there be anything else and you say no we're fine thanks, within a millisecond the bill is presented, in no way would they wait for you to ask for the bill, all very strange. Also choices are endless we went for breakfast and " The Engineers Breakfast" looked the closest to a good old British fry up, so three of us went for it, now the questioning how would you like your eggs sunny side up, over easy , scrambled or omelette? umm over easy please, bacon do you want maple, smoked , unsmoked or green? umm unsmoked please, sausages do you want pork, beef, cumberland or buffalo (buffalo!!!!) umm pork please, toast white, brown ,sourdough or rye? oh dear white please, coffee, juice or water? coffee please,decaff or regular? regular please, and two juices with pulp or without? for crying out loud just bring us a regular breakfast!!!!
Russ on the mountain today wanted spaghetti with meat balls, so sir you want spaghetti bolognese with meat balls? no I just want meat balls no bolognese ok sir what pasta would you like? spaghetti please, with bolognese sir? no with meat balls, Spaghetti bolognese with meat balls coming up sir "sigh" ok fine, and what salad would you like sir? I'm ok thanks I don't eat salad, but sir you have GOT to have one it comes with the meal, OK a green salad please, what dressing would you like sir? "sigh" your choice, you've got it sir.
All said we are having a great time the weather is good, hotel is top hole,apart from the menu interrogation the food is fine, and the beer "hic" luverly.

SUN PEAKS DAY 4

2008-02-13T22:18:00.000-08:00

We have had a good day but the internet is really playing up I keep loggoing on only for it to fail, so I am leaving it today with just a few photo's.

3 PHOTO'S SUMMIT OF MOUNT TOD

SUE AFTER A HARD DAY ON THE " PISTE"

SUN PEAKS DAY 3

2008-02-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

Sun Peaks is turning out to be a very nice resort, there's not loads to do at night, but thats never much of an issue on a skiing trip because nine times out of ten most evenings everyone is dog tired, much like tonight. There are two mountains here Mount Tod and Mount Morriesey the latter being mainly unpisted and gladed it's very nice, I spent the afternoon there.

Although it's snowed here and it's very good, the quality does not compare with Utah ,they claim to have the best snow in the world, and I'm inclined to believe them. Going to Utah has'nt done me any favours for I can't see myself going any where else in future, there are so many great mountains cheek by jowel there, your spoilt for choice, although Canada still offers an awful lot.

We ate out tonight in a Thai, Japanese and Chinese restaurant their menu is not laid out any where near like ours are at home, so it, always difficult to make a choice, so like true Brits abroad we went for safety and ordered the set meals. The one thing that really irks me here is the waiting staffs expectation to get a tip regrdless of the quality of service. I have decided from tonight all my tips will be based on the quality of service, bad service=no tip, regular service=an ok tip, good service a big tip.Ironically I can see myself saving money.

I am absolutely knackered tonight so it's a short entry,but I'll try to do better tomorrow.

VILLAGE BASE AREA

MOUNT TOD

SUN PEAKS DAY 2

2008-02-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

This is hard to believe but it snowed all day put down a good 10".
The kids went off for lessons this morning Freya and Steph to adult classes, Angus to morning ski camp Lindsay, Russ, Sue and I headed off up the mountain although very snowy it was'nt cold we were out for a couple of hours, having fun but then the snow became more intense, it was time to pick the girls up, that we did, whereon we decided to head for the refuge of the nearest bar for refreshments and lunch,we waited for Angus's lesson to finish and we all had a a nice lunch discussing each others day so far.

After lunch Freya and I went back onto the mountain, in our absence a considerable amount of snow had fallen, so we chose to do one of the more difficult runs where the snow was particularly deep it was a good bit of fun and I am very proud of Freya for she has become a extremely proficient skier, we did a few more trips up the mountain before finally calling it a day.

One of the bits of skiing I really look forward to is the hot tub after being out for the day, to relax in a tub is ecstasy , and quite surreal when the temperature is -8c. We all had a very enjoyable hour or so in the pool and hot tub with the odd beverage to keep us going.

I heard from number one son Brad a couple of days ago, and I would hope that he, Sue and the girls will join us one time on one of these trips. I know he is off skiing with a load of chaps from his local pub, he's a good skier and I'm sure they will have a great time.

There is a good day in prospect tomorrow with promise of sun, so fingers crossed lets hope it happens.

HOT TUB FUN

RUSS AND SUE

FREYA ENJOYING HOT TUB

SUN PEAKS DAY ONE

2008-02-10T22:58:00.000-08:00

Luggage still has not arrived Lindsay, Russ,Sue and the girls fully equipped for the mountain Goose and I still in cargo's and jeans. Have tried ringing Air Canada several times keep ending up with someone in Dehli or Bombay very nice people but don't seem to understand colloquial English, like I said can we bottom this out, who's bottom are we talking about sir? I'm not talking about bottoms! oh I thought you said bottoms? yes I did mention bottom but not in the sense of rear ends! rear ends? yes backsides! backsides? rear ends! rear ends? stop lets start again do you know where my luggage is? who's luggage ? my luggage! you mean Mr Bottoms? no not Mr Bottoms! who's do you mean sir ? Mr Killin! ah are you and Mr Bottom travelling together. At this point before I go completely gaga I hang up. Walk round hotel Angus following some what traumatised by all this talk about bottoms, Right!! decision made we will go out buy new gear and stick it too Air Canada, great idea however nothing in the stores our size or liking. At that moment mobile rings, Hello, is this Mr Bottom ? no this is Mr Killin, are you a friend of Mr Bottom? I was'nt but I am getting to know him by the minute! is Mr Nohim a friend of Mr Bottom ? (in one of those moments you breathe out whilst talking) Yess!!, w0uld you let him know his luggage will be with him inside the hour , yes of course ,is Mr Killin on on tour with you? yes, would you let him know all being well his luggage should arrive tomorrow, ok. It arrived tonight thank the Lord,
We ski tomorrow!!

CALGARY TO SUN PEAKS BC

2008-02-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

It's 8.15am and the temperature in Calgary right now is -29c. Lindasy and co do not arrive until around 3.00pm so there is a few hours to kill Angus is still snoring his head off, the maid disturbed me crashing and banging outside, she's gone now so I will try to get another hour or so. The forecast for Sun Peaks is much warmer -5c almost balmy in comparison to what we have had over the past couple of weeks. I've checked their flight on the internet and its on time, in fact due to arrive 15 minutes early marvelous thing the internet saves so much hassle and you can virtually find out anything you want within seconds, like who won gold at Eddie the Eagle's games well it was Matti Nykanen from Finland who won gold on both hills I thought it only fair to give him a mention as we seemed to have been pre-occupied with the loser.
Everyone arrived in Calgary safely we had a few drinks before catching the flight to Kamloops it left a bit late, however we are all now safely ensconsed in Sun Peaks, the hotel is fine,it's great to see Lindsay and the girls they are tired but looking good. The bad news is Air Canada have lost Angus and my baggage we have absolutely nothing only the clothes we stand up in hopefully it will be good news in the morning.
We are now 8hrs behind England so adding to the blog in date order will be even more difficult.
It will seem strange skiing with everyone tomorrow having only us two for so long , I am really looking forward to it.

BACK TO CALGARY

2008-02-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

I am now convinced the snow gods are with us, we have just left Utah after days of snow with a forecast of calm milder and sunny weather, only to turn up in Calgary with -15c temps and loads of snow, Sun Peaks our first destination in Canada has just had half a metre of the white stuff in the last 36 hours so it all looks pretty good.
Lindsay the girls Russ and Sue arrive tomorrow and we are both really looking forward to seeing them.
There are some things you do in your life that you feel are almost guided by a sixth sense, knowing Lindsay and co had to be at Heathrow for 9.00am and having to park and so forth I felt just in case the car played up or the weather was bad, why not go for hotel and park deal that gets them there the night before and no rushing in the morning, seems like a good idea.
Guess what the bloody car broke down, fortunatley only a few minutes from their final destination, was booking a hotel a good move or what!!
Our journey was less traumatic in fact boring, it's hard to believe that getting into an aeroplane and travelling at 600mph could be less stressing than driving to the airport.
The hotel we are in is having problems with it's internet connection, this short entry has taken best part of 30 minutes all ready, so I will conclude for now but be back tomorrow.

UTAH FINAL DAY

2008-02-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

As this was or last full day in America we felt a visit to the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics was a must it was helped by the fact the weather again was snow, but forecast for sun in the afternoon, with that we were off. The Olympic site is only about 8miles from Park City. and the area we were visiting was where the Ski Jump, Luge , 2 and 4 man Bobsled and Skeleton. I must say when the Americans do things they do it well, the tour was well organised and all for $10 how bad. Whats surprising is how well known Eddie the eagle Edwards is after all these years, the minute they knew we were English he was mentioned not bad for someone who won nothing, and the joke was when I asked who won gold at those games nobody knew including me. Having now stood at the top of those jumps it takes real guts to do what these fella's do.
We skied this afternoon and of course it snowed, more powder! in fact its 10.15pm and it's just stopped there's a couple of photos just to show how much we've had in the last couple of days.
One of the daft little games Angus and I play is spot the 20 year old suit, these are people who swear by the old 1 piece very popular in the late 80s we've included some photo's of our spots also a size 24 for Uncle Buck.
Well the American leg of our is at an end, I am so glad that I could, and have done it, although I do feel sorry to leave we've met so many nice people from all over the country and they have been a delight, self effacing, humorous, polite nothing as I imagined although the women do have a tendency to shout. The one thing I have never come to grips with is tipping like who to tip when to tip and how much , it's strange the Aussie chap I met in Big Sky said the same. I suppose we must of got it about right because no one has hurled any insults at us yet. I will some day come back in the summer if only to satisfy my curiosity as to what it would all look like without snow and the locals constant urging to return in the summer. At no point have we been bored it's just been the most marvelous time and it's not over yet tomorrow Canada, where we can't wait to meet up with Lindsay and the girls , in the meantime thanks America we'll be back.
I don't think at this point in his life that Angus is totally aware of where he's been or what he's done, it's just been a great adventure to him ,but I'm sure as the years go by he will realise what a fantastic experience this has been.

120 METRE HILL

A SKI WITH ANGUS

ALTA

2008-02-06T16:52:00.000-08:00

Alta is one of the best we've been too, loads of different terrain, something for everyone I can highly recommend it. Alta is also in the Cottonwood Canyon the same as Solitude however today was nothing like yesterday snow, wind and cold but even so Alta came up trumps definitely worth a revisit.
Tomorrow will be our last day skiing in America so it will be back to Park City which since we've been in Utah is our local ski area and in my opinion the best of them all.
Big Sky seems a long while ago now, probably because we've seen and done so many fantastic things, tomorrow evening Angus and I have decided to sit down and write up our final thoughts and feelings on America, it has been such a great experience I think we are going to find it hard to find the words to sum it all up.

SOLITUDE

2008-02-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

Every time we travel to another ski area I never tire of the scenery its absolutely breathe taking, especially on a day like today with sunny blue skies. The journey to Solitude takes you through Cottonwood Canyon it's twelve miles of magnificent vistas, that cannot be in any way captured by camera the photo's can only give a feel for what it's really like.
Solitude in Utah terms a small ski area but we found there was plenty to do there it has a challenging back bowl as well a good selection of strong black and blue runs it's probably the prettiest place so far and everyone was ultra friendly we spent 10 minutes chatting with the guys in charge of the car parking, although one thing they told us was a bit shocking, Warren Miller makes films on extreme skiing , they were filming there yesterday with one of the guys cliff jumping it appears he miss judged his speed and failed to clear the bottom of the cliff and was killed instantly I know these guys are a bit crazy but it's never nice to hear of such a tragedy. Solitudes major drawback is slow lifts it's only got two high speed chairs, because we were only there for the day it was no big issue for us, but I do feel it would be irksome if you were there for any length of time. Our arrival started well, no sooner than we arrived I was offered a lift pass for $30 what a result, that was lunch paid for. Speaking of lunch we we got talking to a really interesting couple he was English a retired taxation barrister and she French they live in Brittany and come out here for 6 weeks every year, they base themselves in Salt Lake City and were very knowledgeable about the area so we had a pleasant half hour with them as well as a lovely day on the mountain All things considered Solitude was well worth the visit.
Something that has surprised me here is the Americans lack of driving skills they drive these enormous 4x4s and such like, but seem to have no judgement as to the width of the vehicle, in a street situation you keep getting these standoffs where one waits for the other to pass neither wanting to make the first move, it's quite amusing.
Tomorrow we are off to either Alta or Snow Basin the weather will dictate which one.

COTTONWOOD CANYON

SOLITUDE VILLAGE

SOLITUDE BACK BOWL ANGUS AT 10265 FT

HOME RUN

POWDER DAY PARK CITY

2008-02-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

The sun was shining and we were out, left our digs at 8.30am returned at 4.45pm knackered, but we've had a great day the snow was up too the gunnels and we really toured the mountain. We had a great laugh on one run it's called Tycoon a double blue,I would say this run has not been pisted for months the snow was waist deep there were more bodies on this area than you would get on boot hill people were throwing themselves everywhere, to such an extent there were whole families writhing around in the snow, watching them all slowly getting to their feet brushing themselves down preparing to go, only to be wiped out by another Kamikazi family, great fun. Not that we fared any better on another area I was skiing along when I saw all this untracked terrain I thought thats for me, as I turned into it my ski's stopped dead I could hear my bindings releasing as I sailed through the air head first into 3ft of powder snow it must have taken 10 minutes for me to get re-started, later on Angus was boasting how he had skied a black run with only fifteen turns well done I said and with that he turned and fell flat on his face. ( how the mighty fall ). We met a nice bunch of guys on the lift today five of them similar age to myself all farmers from Washington state asked how the old country was doing, all had been to Britain and were thinking of coming next year if the dollar was stronger not to miss a sale I gave them the pub details.

Our digs here at Park City is called The Chateau Apre's the sort of name Benny Hill would have dream't up, it does us but it's what you'd call utillity, it has rooms such as we have and also mens and womens dorms which houses some of the strangest people I have ever met, they all seem to love talking to me and Angus but don't give each other the time of day. There's Joe from New Orleans ( I didnt leave till the water was up to my chin) who seems to spend the whole time sitting in the communial area with ice packs on his knee's telling me it's all down to the Vietcong. There's this other guy Francis ( but you can call me Frank ) from New York who is an absolute ski nut, if it's not steep rough and scarey I don't wanna know he says, he also talks as if we are standing fifty yards away and says things like Yea well we all know Hilary Clinton's a dyke that's why Billy boy keeps playing around with all those young chicks imagine a dyke in the white house, at this point I could feel myself trying to resist the urge to turn round to see who was listening, the only person was Trudy ( yes you've guessed it) who's reaction was oh really is that so, most of this of course went straight over Angus's head. Combine these two with the many others who seem to come and go by the hour it makes for a fascinating experience.
The "Chateau"as they like to call it has been owned by the same family for over forty years and it shows, It's not exactly Fawltey Towers but I am sure if John Cleese was here he would be getting some great material for a script it's run primarily by three people the father, the mother and the son.
The fathers prime directive is cleaning the rooms and towel replenishment on which he continually carps on about how many towels get used, but given that the biggest towel is only about 20" x 20" it takes three to dry oneself. Although in terms of towel usage if Angus had his way he'd be the fathers perfect guest.
The sons prime directive is breakfast and snow clearance his pet thing is the mess people make when pouring out the cereals, the cereals are stored in containers that dispense a given amount at the turn of a handle, one turn about ten cheerios or bran flakes appear in the bowl, second turn a veritable avalanche of cereal emits from the machine spraying cereal everywhere hence the mess, when I pointed this out to him, his response was, it's not the machines it's the people they don't know how to use them!!!!!!. He told me he has never known any work other than the "Chateau" he played here as a kid and has worked here since leaving college I thought maybe it's a good job the machines don't work properly.
The mother she is there to nag the other two and nag she does, there's snow on the steps, need more coffee in the breakfast room, where's all the towels did'nt you get them laundered last night? leave the snow get the towels sorted out, what do you mean we're out of muffins I told you to order them, it's snowing again get the steps cleared. The son wears oversized boots which he drags along with his shoulders slouched (just like a kid does when having a tantrum) every time she barks out an order.
All this is making for an interesting stay.
No photos today camera playing up again.
Tomorrow we are definitely going to Solitude.

ALL DRESSED UP WITH NO WHERE TO GO

2008-02-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

Snow, snow, snow, it started at 10.30pm last night its now 8 pm and it's just stopped snowing close on 22 hours there was no chance of getting onto the mountain, so we have spent the day doing mundane things such as shopping etc at least we bought some fruit, we have been suffering from fruit depravation as we eat loads of it at home.
It has'nt been to bad today at least we've had a rest, and we watched the Superbowl final which was played this afternoon The New York Giants against The New England Patriots The patriots started favourites as they had'nt lost a game all season well The Giants won, just like the FA cup it's hard to go in favourites.
We always say at home one bit of snow and everything stops while other countries cope with it, don't believe it stops here just the same, 500 flights cancelled over the past 18hrs, roads closed and car crashes it seems the storm is over so we should get on the mountain tomorrow we have decided to stay at Park City because of the roads.
Glad to hear your back without injury John and Sally and the ski's worked well. ( modern technology eh).

10AM THIS MORNING

THE CANYONS

2008-02-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

Not much to say about The Canyons it was very crowded and there are to many cat tracks the runs tend to be narrow and not all that long, the snow was good, and the Hamburger and Beer deal was excellent , our overall opinion was that it's no doubt a better place when less busy but it's not somewhere we will be rushing back to. Unfortunately for most of the mountains we will be visiting, they have to match up to a Park City that was full of powder after an overnight storm a bit unfair really.

We managed to do our laundry this evening something Lindsay will be very pleased about Angus's socks and underwear put up a good fight, but we finally managed to get them into the washing machine. What I can't understand is why when you feel clothes in the dryer you think their done and when you get them home they feel damp!!!!

Something thats been making us laugh most evenings is the lady who sits on reception in the evening her name is Trudy, she is retired and comes from New Jersey with an accent to match. She loves to talk and ask questions like where do you ski in England and when told we have no mountains she said oh really is that so, (she uses that expression for everything) I thought it was the English that started down hill skiing? yes your right I said but in Austria, is Austria in Europe? yes Trudy, oh really is that so. I'm sure if you came in and said hey Trudy there has been a terrible disaster in Asia and a million people have died, oh really is that so, and how was the skiing today?

We went to see the freestyle moguls and ski cross tonight it was equally as good as last night but it got bitterly cold so we decided to leave before the end prior to hypothermia setting in.

Angus was really pleased to get a comment from one of his best mates James O'Hare thanks James.

THE CANYONS

BACK TO PARK CITY

2008-02-01T16:29:00.001-08:00

We have had a superb days skiing, it snowed practically all night so Park City was full of powder. It has taken a little while to learn how to ski powder properly, today seemed to be the turning point for both of us, although Angus did some spectacular face plants, at one point he dissappeared from view only to emerge covered head to foot in snow. I must say the training we did with Tim Dudgeon has paid off, Tim skied free style moguls for Great Britain in the Nagano winter Olympics which is no mean feat. In my whole life I have only known two Olympians one being Tim and the other a very dear friend of Lindsay's, Lorraine Baker she competed for GB in two Olympics as a 800m runner where she made the finals in one and the semi's in the other an outstanding achievment , if you consider the Worlds population is circa 6.5 billion people and only 10,000 compete in The Games it only serves to prove how exceptional you must be to get there.

We went out early this morning and went all over the mountain, we even took on some of their strongest blacks and survived one was called The Widowmaker I wondered why their were so many wives at the top urging their husbands on. It was busier than previous but the minute you get off the beaten track it soon quitens down.

Tonight we headed off to Deer Valley to watch the world cup aerials for both men and women, these people reach heights in excess of 50 feet, it was the finals and a real spectical there was a live band (plenty of 10s and 24s out) and a party after the event , all in all a good night.

Tomorrow we head off to an area known as the Canyons they have a deal running 1 adult, 1 junior pass $80 to include 2 beers and 2 burgers can't be bad, and with all the powder that is around it is shaping up to be a fun day.

THE AERIALS COURSE

TOMORROWS MOGULS COURSE

DEER VALLEY

2008-01-31T14:05:00.000-08:00

We decided against Solitude today instead we went to Deer Valley. The resort is spread out over four peaks its very pretty and has been voted the best ski resort in America to me it is a bit to well manicured almost every run is groomed to perfection, not much of a challenge but nice nevertheless. It boasts some of the most expensive property in the USA some homes as much as $24 million hence the size 10s were out in force and of course his and hers matching skis.

We are dead lucky,being held here this weekend are the world championship Aerials, Freestyle Moguls ( what Tim was into ) and Ski Moto this is when 4 skiers barrel down the same track simultaniously great fun, most of the events are in the evening so we will get a chance to go, we watched them today practicing they must be barking mad, but they have got a good excuse their young and it keeps them off the streets.

What we never seem to get used to is the portion sizes in America, tonight we ate in a Mexican restaurant not being over hungry ( living at altitude kills appetite) we ordered chicken fajita for 2 the amount we got was unbelievable apart from at least one and a half chicken breasts there was mex rice, black beans,onions,peppers,re-fried beans,lettuce, soured cream, guacomole, cheese and salsa all on a hot skillet accompanied by six tortillas now here's the killer we had one each!!!!!! needless to say we barely dented them.

Its now been snowing for 7 hours, it is highly unlikely that we shall travel tomorrow so Park City here we come its a good ski area and with this much powder should be fantastic.

MAIN STREET PARK CITY

DEER VALLEY

CHAMPIONSHIP COURSE

OVERVIEW OF COURSE MOGUL RUN ON LEFT

PARK CITY

2008-01-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

The snow stopped for a while today the sun came out and we had a fantastic days skiing we went all over the mountain, everywhere there was fresh powder snow ( 32" in 3 days ), uncrowded slopes, no queues something a skiers dreams are made of. There is a great variety of terrain much of which is ungroomed. We have another 5 or 6 first class resorts within a short driving distance and it is our intention to visit as many as we can I think Jon, Trevor, Bill and Mick ( Skiing nuts like us especially Jon ) would love this area.
Park City is so different from what I imagined the ski area and mountain are much as I thought, but the town is much bigger and certainly more sophisticated, it has some top quality restaurants and shops as well as the usual bars and fast food establishments. We ate last night at The Wasaach Brewhouse their beers are actually brewed on site and very good they are, combine this with a menu full of choice it made for a nice evening out.

The one thing we have noticed out here is certain types of American women most are like you would find in any country dressed and presented well, but there are two types at either end of the spectrum and they appear to come in two sizes 10 or 24.
The 10s generally seem to have more brilliantly white teeth than they can actually fit in their mouth , they are able to talk without one part of the face moving including their lips, wear top designer clothes, and are accompanied by a male who insists on wearing his Bogner all in one ski suit that was bought 20 years ago inVail, has a tan as false as his hairpiece, and obviously visits the same dentist as his wife.
The 24s however seem to favour blue jeans the sort that are hiked up so as the waist band ends up half way up their back and seem to have an urge to dress up as cowgirls at every opportunity,
their men without exception wear base ball hats, old Nevica ski suits and drive a pickup with an over size cab. All joking aside we have had great fun just people watching, but what I would say I have found the Americans we have met to be nothing less than charming and courteous.

No photos again today camera seized up as a result of the cold so you can all breathe a sigh of relief.
Its snowing again now our plan is to visit Solitude tomorrow weather permitting.

WYOMING TO UTAH

2008-01-29T17:23:00.000-08:00

Today started badly first it was still snowing and the prospect of a 300 mile drive seemed a bit daunting I checked the national road conditions most of the route was designated slick oh oh !!

Well I thought we've got all day take it easy and all should be well.

After breakfast we had all the gear packed I went out to the car started it up closed the door went to the back to load up but the back door would not open I thought it was frozen then I realised the car had self locked with the keys inside and the engine running, What a day for this to happen the very day we are moving on, I contacted the hire company who said they could guarantee getting us going by 8pm that was a 12 hour wait you can imagine how I felt, then out of the blue a chap that works at the hotel contacted a locksmith friend (bearded of course) who arrived in flash and within 5 minutes we were in, and 15 minutes later we were on our way $60 bucks lighter.

The trip I'm glad to say was uneventful but once again we saw some fantastic sights this really is some country mountains, plains. small towns we passed a train which was pulling 97 trucks ( The Goose counted them) best part of three quarters of a mile long. We must come back someday in the summer I am sure it would be equally as breath taking.

What is suprising is the last 2 states we visited have populations of 900,00 and 500,oo0 respectively, Utah has a population of 2,500,000 and you notice how much busier it is the minute you cross the state line its as if there is an invisible wall that only a few will cross.
We arrived in Park City at 4.30pm and yes it started snowing looks like good skiing tomorrow Park City was were the 2002 winter Olympics were held and has got a fantastic infrastructure which we shall be exploring over the next week.
Finally thanks to everyone who has left comments its nice to know that there is someone out there, and Peter yes you should do it.

THE LONG TRAIN

LAST MILE OF WYOMING

HOORAY

FIRST SIGHT OF UTAH

THE TRUCKS ARE BIG

NEARLY THERE

JACKSON HOLE FINAL DAY

2008-01-28T05:09:00.000-08:00

A bit of an anticlimax today the snow was that bad the mountain was closed as was most of the roads so no skiing or anything else.

To sum up Jackson in a few words would be impossible, first impressions as I said early is what is this? but after a while the spirit of the place seems to come through. Its name Jackson comes from a trapper who lived and worked in this valley the word hole equates to glen or valley, its hard to imagine living up here alone through a winter the isolation and cold must have been hard to bear, but I suppose what those early pioneers had which we still have today is the beauty of the place, the scenery changes daily on a sunny day fantastic, a day like today and yesterday menacing. After being here a few days I can understand why people came and stayed even today its still wild with all our technology its barely tamed.

Jackson has been a good experience and I am glad we came here. Tomorrow all being well we are off to Utah.

GRAND TARGHEE AND THE TETON PASS

2008-01-27T17:27:00.000-08:00

We were not going to ski today but getting up this morning and seeing a beautiful clear sky with a forecast of snow late afternoon we thought Grand Targheee, we must go we may not get another chance so off we set.

It has amazed me the sort of towns you pass through like Wilson population 850, Driggs pop 1068 it always seems there are more properties than people and how is it they have their own post office,gas station,general store, restaurants!!!! and bars!! we keep saying in England we have become Americanized we have'nt we have become Tesconized or Sainsburynized the difference is these people still have a great sense of community something we are in great danger of losing.

That said our trip toTarghee, a nice mountain small challenging in parts, but not somewhere you could ski for week but OK for a day or so. We had a good day until about 2.oopm when we noticed the sky changing dramatically it was apparent time to go. To get back to Jackson we had to negotiate the Teton Pass this is the highest part of route ID 32 and WY 28 and it is seriously high and prone to closure with that in mind we made for the Jeep the drive off the mountain was slow which only increased the anxiety to the question will we reach the pass before they shut it, and if we do get there in time are we up to the crossing.

You know in America when driving conditions are bad when the locals stop trying to overtake you, today was one of those days. We arrived at the pass and it was still open I am not sure now weather that was a good or bad thing however on we went. To say it was a tough drive would be an under statement the photos may give you some idea, once over the peak there is the feeling your on a home run in fact thats when the fun starts going down hill on ice is a great deal harder than going up anyway we made it, we were one of the last over, on arriving at Wilson we found the pass had been shut.

Once back in Jackson the first port of call was the Wort Silver Dollar Bar 3 pints of Bud made the journey a piece of cake and making us local hero's for getting through.

I have posted a photo of one of the bearded locals and to say his was just average gives you some idea how popular facial hair is here. This phenomina could be that you can collect enough food from over stuffed sandwiches in them ,so if your ever stuck on the Teton Pass you would be able to survive for a good few days.

We're now off to Bubba's for our evening meal ,waitresses with every thing a man wants, broad shoulders and a big moustache lap dancing is definitely out of the question I'm not sure anyones knees could take it.

LULL BEFORE THE STORM

HALFWAY UP TETON PASS

TOP OF TETON

BACK AT JACKSON

JACKSON

COMFORT OF THE WORT

A WORT REGULAR

JACKSON DAY 2

2008-01-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

More snow today, the skiing conditions are superb all it lacked was sun and that turned up this afternoon to put the final touches on a great days skiing, the mountain endeared itself to a bit more to me today I was'nt sure about it yesterday, but with the sun this afternoon I have been won over. It is a skiers mountain you cant take anything for granted, once its realised that you have to think about every move the mountain then opens up to you.

I have added some photos of Jackson just to show what a diverse place this is how so many buildings so wildly different stand cheek by jowel and are not unpleasing to the eye which makes you question the term not inkeeping, in fact if you look at many of the fishing villages in Cornwall they are not disimilar

Something I had never noticed before out here was that if you are on foot and are waiting to cross the road vehicles stop and wave you across no matter if your on a crossing or not, all very civilised.

Did'nt make the Wort tonight they finally sussed that Angus was there after 6pm so all very sad but it was a no go.

We are having a day off skiing tomorrow and going up to Yellowstone Park (no thats not where Yogi lives) weather permiting, if not there the Elk refuge.

JACKSON HOLE

2008-01-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

It snowed again today its great to have this much snow but it is better if comes in overnight.
We skied the mountain at Teton village today and it is a real challenge certainly somewhere you would'nt bring a new skier on the whole mountain there is less than 10% beginner runs most of the terrain is advanced and I have never been anywhere in America or Canada where they have double blues( a blue being equal to red in europe) never the less a good place the only drawback is that Jackson town is a 16 mile drive , I did not realise this at the time I was organising where to stay if I had known I would probably have ended up with something at the bottom of the slopes and missed the uniqueness of Jackson I am glad I did'nt know.
Jackson is a fascinating place it would make any english council planning department wake up in a cold sweat, its as if someone took all the properties pieces on a monopoly board shook them up then threw them down and where ever they landed a property was built to suit the piece, hotels next to breweries, houses stations shops pubs car parks town hall restaurants all thrown together combine that with every building being different it makes for a an interesting perspective and somehow it works. At first I thought this is awful but now having walked round and had a good look its not awful its just not what i'm used to and thats strange coming from someone who was brought up in London where practically every building is different. Unfortunately my camera seized up today as a result of the cold so I can't show any pictures maybe tomorrow.
We ate this evening in The Wort Hotels silver dollar bar which is legendary locally and has a history nearly as old as Jackson itself, the place was packed with people wearing stetsons, cowboy boots, bootlace ties, Roy Rogers shirts and full beards ( only a few of the women had beards). We had'nt realised until the band struck up that Friday night is music night we were treated to an extravaganza of country & western from Tammy Wynette to Kenny Rogers and back again culminating with dueling banjo's the Whooping and Yeehaaaing really got going at that point to, a degree that I could'nt resist the odd whoop and yeeehaa myself. All in all we had a great evening and I just can't wait for the line dancing tomorrow!!!!!!!!. My brother in law would have loved it.

BIG SKY TO JACKSON HOLE

2008-01-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

Big Sky is in Montana and Jackson Hole Wyoming although both states have common border the quickest way for us to get there was to go via Yellowstone park and Idaho we were hoping to go to Yellowstone but it was closed due to the snow although highway 191 passes through it, and that in itself gives you some idea of the whole magnificence of the place. Given America has a population of circa 260 million whats suprising is that in the entire state of Montana the population is only 900,000 which would explain that apart from the towns we saw no more than 30 cars the entire way maybe the weather had something to do with it the roads were real skating rinks especially going over the Teton Pass.

My first impression of Jackson Hole is that if you don't wear a cowboy hat and have a beard and moustache that you could stuff a mattress with, your underdressed, it seems every American takes on the persona of the old west the moment they arrive we've heard plenty of whooping already, I'll be interested to see how they cope with the sandwich fillings given the amount of facial hair there is about.

Just before we arrive in Jackson I fueled the car it took on a tad over 16 gallons ( approx 72 litres) for $48.35 ( about £25.00 ) makes you sick does'nt it.

Well we are off out now to get fitted up with our 10 gallon hats or in Angus's case a 7 gallon we've also booked for whooping lessons so eeyaaa later.

CROSSING INTO IDAHO

YOURS TRULY DRIGGS IDAHO

MOONLIGHT BASIN & BIG SKY FINAL DAY

2008-01-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to Moonlight Basin a nice place some good runs but it is north facing no sun and today was really sunny so we only stayed a couple of hours before we made our way back to Big Sky.

The weather was so good we decided to go up to the peak. the only way to get up there is via The Lone Peak Tram in Europe we would call it a cable car. The ride up is spectacular almost vertical for the last 100 metres the views from the top are breath taking well worth standing in the only queue we have seen this week unfortunately the photos don't give you the full impact however they give you the idea of scale.( getting down was the hard bit)

We skied our final run at Big Sky this afternoon and I have got to say this is a really great resort and I am glad to say it has lived up to all its publicity,and has some of the most challenging terrain I have seen, so this one will go down as good choice.

The nice thing about having a car is that packing becomes less important so we should be off sharp. Tomorrow we are hoping to stop off at Yellowstone Park but I am not sure because of the weather any way we'll see.

So this is the end of my mutterings on Big Sky thanks for a great experience B S.

LONE PEAK TRAM FROM THE BOTTOM

LONE PEAK TRAM FROM TOP

ANGUS ON THE EDGE

VEIW FROM PEAK TOWARDS TETONS

FINAL SHOT OF LONE PEAK

BIG SKY DAY 2

2008-01-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

Guess what it snowed all day today, the skiing has been superb its been warmer about -8c much better than minus 17c yesterday we decided against going to Moonlight Basin as the snow was bad on the mountain roads we will probably go tomorrow.

Its been a great day one of the wonderful things about skiing is the amount of different people you meet. Today whilst having a hot chocolate we met a chap from Sydney who is a pharmacist and owns a whole chain of discount pharmacies around Australia he is the same age as me and it turns out he is doing much as I am he's still got 23 days to go and is off to Colorado tomorrow. We had a good chat Cricket he boasted, Rugby I boasted, Football we both looked at one another enough said, now any time I'm in Sydney I've got somewhere to stay. Amazing I've only known the bloke half an hour and we exchanged our details ( not a bad bunch the Aussies).

Later riding a lift we met an old couple from Oregon who asked what we were up, to when told they could'nt stop telling us what we should see and where to go in the places we are off to, did you know that in Jackson Hole at this time of the year there are 1000s of migrating Elks (one for you Mike).

Tonight we popped out for something light to eat I decided on a pulled pork sandwich(what ever pulled pork is) with all the fillings anyway after taking the first bite I was wiping the mayonaisse off my left ear lobe and I noticed the chap opposite cleaning cranberry sauce off his glasses, eyebrows and wifes jumper this got us all laughing they were from Florida and after chatting for about half an hour we now have somewhere to stay the next time we are in Florida.

The one thing I always forget about when you live at altitude there are a few side affects sleeping is difficult, there's loss of appetite (which in my case is not an all bad thing) and your nose seizes up but the plus side is you must take on plenty off fluid so on that note I'm off to the hydration station COME ON ANGUS!!!!!!.

ANGUS ON A CRUISER

ANGUS ON A STEEP

BIG SKY

2008-01-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

We finally skied today and it was great Big Sky is one hell of an area, today was cold but beautifully sunny the locals were telling us that they have not had so much snow over such a short time for many years lucky for us. It seems every where we have been so far people keep saying the last time it was like this was 1963 etc I hope it keeps up. The photo's below show how cold it was but also how beautiful check out the view from the restaurant window.
We ate out last night and I have come to the conclusion that within the next 10 years the Americans will have forgotten how to use a knife and fork. Virtually everything on a menu is designed to be picked up and is generally so big that the moment the first bite is taken 50% of the contents shoots up towards your right ear down the chin and fills the palm of the hand. The only places that offer a proper sit down meal seem to be very expensive, but overall the food is good albeit a bit samey( is this a real word).
The one thing I could'nt beleive is that I can't use my mobile here there is only one mast and my provider and their partners are'nt so I am relying on email and this blog to keep in touch with Lindsay and the girls .Tomorrow we are off to Moonlight Basin hopefully it will be it bit warmer.
Just read Mike's message very interesting can't wait to get to Utah and let loose all those facts in a bar somewhere your right about Janice maybe me and the Goose could get her out for a drink.

SERIOUSLY COLD

LONE MOUNTAIN

EASY GREEN

VIEW FROM MOUNTAIN BAR

CALGARY TO BIG SKY

2008-01-20T01:39:00.000-08:00

So this is the final leg from England and you would think to be the quickest and simplest so did I but what I over looked was US customs, immigration, homeland security and finally the weather. The first three were a real pain, forms you really had to start on the last question and fill them in backwards, but they were nothing in comparison with the weather a two hour delay in the flight and when we landed in Bozeman snow up to the gunnels with sixty mile drive in prospect. Fortunatley we had picked a good car to hire and that really got us to Big Sky tonight with no hassle, however it is seriously cold here but the forecast is sun tomorrow.

So now we start to do what we came for ski , Angus and I cant wait now it really gets going.

Its hard to believe that the journey we have just taken took up to four months for those that came here to pioneer the West and that does.nt include their passage from Europe ( stout hearted folk) amazing.

HIGHWAY 199 ROAD TO BIG SKY

BOZEMAN AIRPORT

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

2008-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Well the big day has arrived after a week of gales rain and plane crashes not that we were nervous of take off and landing, although when we stopped next to the stricken plane at the end of the runway waiting to go, a few things crossed our minds. As can be seen by our photos you can see we were pretty cool about the flight, our 1st stop is Calgary overnight and tomorrow we head down into Montana to Big Sky the weather here in Calgary is very cold and snowy hopefully we will get off ok. A short entry tonight cos I'm cream crackered and we have an early start.

THE START OF THE DREAM

2007-12-10T01:51:00.000-08:00

Where to begin?

My love of skiing started in 1969 in Mayrhofen Austria in the days when the snow fell in the valleys ,boots were designed to the specification of a medieval torture device so as to cripple you the minute they were put on, skis and bindings that could snap a bone in the blink of an eye, lift systems that wrenched arms out of sockets bruised legs and back better than any front row of the All Blacks, instructors obssessed with bending ze neez and lift attendants trained at The Marque de Sade college of compassion, but somehow I got hooked and I have been ever since.

In the last 38 years I have gone from being a novice skier to an OK skier to a pretty good skier to an OK skier, skiing is about going down hill, maybe my ability is sliding in that direction as well but I still love it.

In 1990 I was jogging through life quite merrily when I met someone who was to change it beyond what I could ever have imagined LINDSAY!!!!

Lindsay and I became an item and one of our 1st holidays together was Vail at Christmas and New Year she loved to ski as much as me albeit she injured herself and spent new year in a wheel chair.

We got married in 1992 although it was never said we both felt the chances of having children were pretty remote and with that our ship cast off on the sea of matrimonial bliss.

In1996 our third child was born ( can you believe it 3 bloody kids under 3, Freya, Stephanie and Angus) as challenging as it was with them all so young , given the chance I would change nothing. For the next few years skiing holidays were not on the agenda although thanks to my mother in law and sister in law, Lindsay and I did manage to get to Whistler a couple of times and at one point came within an ace of emigrating to Whistler (that's another story)

The one thing I really wanted my kids to do was ski and to that end when Freya was coming up 5 we and another family (The Edwards) whose kids were born practically the same time as ours sallied off to a LUXURY CHALET in Les Gets (why do the tour operators use such descriptions for places in France) with a gourmet chef, and wine that would flow like a mountain stream .

Well the rooms were marginally larger than the beds with the head room of a Welsh coal mine, the gourmet chef and the child minder turned out to be 2 Aussie or Kiwi girls (who were really nice but constantly prefixed everything with Alright Darling) who's culinary skills may have been fine if you had just returned from the bush after 3 weeks living off the land, the wine supply was inexhaustable primarily because it was undrinkable although Madelleine never gave up trying. (Dunkirk spirit).

We also shared the chalet with 2 brothers who had just happened to have booked a CHEAP!! holiday it had cost us an arm and a leg.
These two were odd, we introduced ourselves and we were told they liked to be called Bruv and Adge and were not over keen on kids they were one of the tightest pair of old farts I had ever met after breakfast they would purloin all the left over rolls, cheese, ham and coissants for their lunch ( this really had Phillip and me muttering away under our breath)

We put the two eldest girls into ski school but as can happen in europe there was very little snow that year however we thought they would be fine.
When we returned that lunch time we saw these two little girls sittng all alone on this concrete bench covered in mud wet through looking thouroughly depressed. It was at that point I felt if Freya spends any more time with this ski school she will probably never want to ski again and that I just did not want, when I reckoned on what we had spent we could have easily gone to Whistler.

The next season we went to Whistler all 3 kids went to adventure camp it was fantastic they loved it the ski instructors were great they left us at 8.30am had lunch on the mountain and we picked them up at 3.30pm and over the next few seasons that's what we did. We made some good friends their Jody Wilson (Jodyco) Lisa Fernandez they all helped to make our kids good skiers.

After many times in Whistler we decided that the kids had done all they could there so it was time for a change so off we went to the Canadian Okanagen and whilst there I realised that maybe I have'nt got that many years left in me where I can ski as well as I do right now. What really clinched it for me is when looking out of our bedroom window early on our last day the sky was gin clear about 6 inches of powder had fallen over night I said to Lindsay I'm off out, she said you must be mad I took the 1st lift up there was nobody around, a deep breath and I set off the snow was sort of whistling under the skis and I did not stop until I arrived back at the bottom of the lift, in all the years I have skied I have never had a run like it.

When I met Lindsay for coffee I told her about it and said maybe next year I will set off 1st and ski mountains and areas in North America that I have always wanted to do but never found the time,
I could meet them in Calgary for our family holiday to which she replied if that's what you want to do darling just do it .I could not have met a better person in my life than Lindsay she is very special and I love her dearly without any supposing this or supposing that she just said do it ,she is truly a beautiful and unselfish person.

So this is where I am, on the 19th January 2008 I set of with my son Angus ( how did he get involved?) he said can I come? I thought he's 11 I'm 61 why not at the age I am it is difficult to predict how fit you will be 1 year on, its not something you can delay so we are off.

Our 1st stop Montana then Wyoming on to Utah and from there up to the Okanagan we are away until 24th February and I will be using this blog for friends and family to track our progress. I am still working on how I can pass Angus off as the worlds smallest giant or tallest midget to get into the bars state side any suggestions.

Oh and by the way, why "The Goose" we were once going through security in Frankfurt (crummy airport) when a female security guard was calling out our names when she got to Angus it sounded like this Angooos hence with Top Gun showing that year as well, Angus's nickname The Goose was born.

Also a big thanks to the guys and girls at Ski Safari (good company) for their help and advice.

To be contnued: