JW in NZ

Not too much news, but by far and away the most exciting is the new addition to my fleet of skis (don't tell dad!). I bought some K2 Public Enemies (159cm) which are 50% park, 50% big mountain skis. They're twin tips and I've found them to be great fun right from the second I first put them on.

Teaching has generally been pretty good. I have a stack of Starbucks gift cards, so if anyone fancies visiting for a coffee, feel free. The ski school had a particularly nice email, very long, explaining how great an instructor I was!

Have taught tots a few times which never fails to scare me, but some of the stuff they do is so funny. It really is amazing how quickly they learn, particularly given that you can't explain anything to them. Everytime someone mentions tots, I picture them sliding backwards down the magic carpet because they're not heavy enough for their skis to grip it, and crashing at the bottom! I also really enjoy skiing through their arch which is made from colourful foam bricks.

I was due to go to Whistler a couple of weeks back so woke at 4:50am, in order to get a 5:50am bus, but since there was 35cm of snow by my house, it didn't turn up which was very disappointing. Still, I'm due to go in the next couple of days.

For each lesson that we teach, we have to complete lesson cards, part of which is an ability record going from 1 (basic mobility) to 9 (decent parallel turns). I should make it clear that basic mobility doesn't mean turning or even stopping, so really is quite basic & something that most people get pretty much as soon as they put skis on. Nevertheless, I've had several people that have not made it, including people that are unable to stand up, even without skis on. Often it can be due to people being obese or just unfit, but occasionally its that people are entirely uncoordinated. For these people I often write '0', and if particularly frustrated with them will add '0' to the scale along with a relevant, not normally polite description.

I was given some valentines sweets and halfway through a pretty typical conversation with someone on a chairlift, I asked the person sat next to me if they wanted a kiss. I found it pretty funny.

Got a bit carried away skiing today, and did a small jump between some branches at the side of a run faster than usual and landed on a waist height, vertical branch between my legs. There are some brown marks in unwanted places on my ski trousers now. Reminds me of injuries. Haven't had to deal with too many. Certainly nothing serious, with the possible exception of a kid that fell of a chairlift from its highest part. The safety bar was down, she just decided to adjust her boots, though I'm not sure why she bothered - she didn't ski again! Amazingly, despite a 10 metre fall, she only suffered minor bruises. I didn't see her fall but was at the scene within seconds which was initially a distinctly unpleasant feeling. Some of the accidents that I see are funny from every view though, normally more so when a greater number of people are involved. No-one has yet brought me down. Except myself, and kids always love to see it, real or not!

I've recently had to admit to the fact that my boots need replacing which is bad news since I only recently bought new skis. However when bits of plastic start breaking off your boots and they start moving around in bindings there's little you can do!

Am planning a trip with some other instructors for when our work finishes that should include skiing Big White, Silver Star, Sun Peaks, Revelstoke, Kicking Horse, Fernie, Lake Louise, Sunshine and Norquay. Any comments?