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Argentina 06 Course Diary
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Saludos de Argentina…
Ed Archer - Course Leader 06 |
Our home for 2 months - El Retourno |
Luice Beim & Ed Archer (course Leader) |
Week 1 - Introduction
Welcome to the Peak Leaders Argentina 06 program.
To the family and friends visiting the diary pages, thank you for sending us this extraordinary range of talents, abilities and personalities. The variety of backgrounds and life experiences and the positive attitudes of these special people make it the most exciting program to date.
We hope you’ll enjoy following our journey through a very busy course in Patagonia. In week 1, the team members form three smaller groups, each represented by two group members who are responsible for organising social activities and taking forward any issues to their mentors (Tety, Cecilia, Lucie) and to Ed and Alvar at a weekly dinner. The group leaders are also responsible for producing a weekly review in their own style...
First up – Dr Tom (Tom “trust him he’s not a doctor!” Rathbone) and Stephanie Kaye… |
Alvar Puente (Course Co-ordinator) |
No sleeping in at El Retorno! Early start for 'work' on the mountain |
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Three Big Days by Dr.Tom & Steph |
Meat Feast - Tety and Dr Tom |
Wednesday 9th August
Another day of knee deep snow and the instructors were keen to test the skiers so much so that Tano sped off and lost all of his group.
Lunch gave an opportunity to regroup and dry off, some of the guys grabbed the shovel from the restaurant and built a small jump nearby, everyone who braved it agreed it was not the best kicker ever though this didn't stop Stew from pulling a tidy 360.
Once we'd re-grouped a combined Tety and Tano group of 18 decided on a forest adventure for the last run of the day. Suspect we were meant to fit in a bit more but 30 mins of digging for Max's lost ski and an impromptu forest photo shoot left us with 10 mins to get back to the base. Rather interesting trip through the bamboo left Benjy in a bit of a compromising position with one bush...
Ryan had his op today so Dr Tom and Jo combined dentist appointments with a visit to check in on him. They took him some chocolates and he told them that he couldn't feel beneath his waist - a comment that quite intrigued Jo.
Thursday 10th August - Stewies B'Day
Part 1 - 12am-8pm
Stewie's 18th b'day so time to celebrate - shame only a couple of the boys were up to help him see in the day with a dip in the lake. Hopefully helped him reduce the effects of a drinking session with Simon who was intent on making sure he started his bday with a hangover.
Late start to the day and a lot of reluctant skiers as once again the snow was falling hard and despite the thirst for fresh snow earlier in the week weary limbs were taking their toll. The delay gave us time to fit Stewie out with an 80's style one-piece outfit to match his hip swinging ski style
and an extended coffee break during which Dr Tom spotted Will's look alike on a chocolate bar - check out the photo of "Kinder Boy"...
Most of the morning was spent digging people out of snow drifts, well the skiers at least, the boarders boasted of enjoying a rather more floaty sensation.
Birthday celebrations gave the perfect excuse for apres-ski drinks at the base of the mountain and the opportunity to teach Stewie how to pop and pour champagne. After taking over Mute for an hour or so we headed back to the buses for a quick trip home - well so we thought... Muchas snow led to a slow drive back and the onset of early hangovers for a few of the group.
Part 2 - 8pm-5am
Dinner, dubious franfurters with muchos vino followed by cake in honour of wee Stewie coming of age. Sambucas, gins, cervezas and more wine consumed whilst awaiting the mini-buses to Bariloche.
Roxy's was the venue for much bad dancing to live reggae music and cheesy classics - perfect celebration of Stewie's b'day and plenty of comedy photos and video footage.
Friday 11th August
Day off! Much appreciated by all those who attended Roxy's the night before. Big fat lie-in followed by a brief meeting with instructors who told us to drink less and sleep more before taking us into town for a pizza and beer breakfast at a pirate themed restaurant, all OD'd on cheese and ham. Some brave souls then headed to the sport centre to play football!
Sat 12th August - Ed
After a restful Friday that had produced major snowfall during the day, there was more than the normal interest in Saturday’s free-skiing/riding - the prospect of another sunny powder day to be enjoyed outside of 'classes' was to good to resist.
The marketing team at Cerro Catedral (check out our mountain’s website on www.catedralaltapatagonia.com) weren't to miss a trick either on this one of the best days of the season so far. In the afternoon they staged Catedral's first ever on-snow polo match at the base. Whilst the game itself was a far cry from the pace of a turf match, the novelty value was well worth the watch.
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Steph takes it easy on the slopes
Stewies birthday suit
Tonight Matthew, I will be…Kinder Boy!
Searching for skis in waist deep powder…
Snow polo
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Week Four - Monday 14th – Sunday 20th August.
by Robert Benjamin and Stewart Mackenzie-Shaw |
Benji |
After very heavy snowfall in the previous weeks, there was finally some good piste skiing! Although a great deal of fun was had in the powder, all of the skiers certainly, enjoyed the groomed snow. The week started off with a lot of work on technique, both on long turns and short turns. Our dearest instructor Tety videoed us in the morning, and in the evening we had a very helpful video analysis session with Ivan. Advice on technique proved to be very useful as the end of the week arrived and we hit the head on head Giant Slalom course. Over the two days Louis fancies himself ... Achhheemmm, Louis fancied himself as the champion but was finally defeated by the mighty Tety (her second attempt) in the final race.
However the week wasn’t all fun and games, after Monday had passed it was back to basics! In the afternoons we spent some time working on both snowplough and snowplough-parallel turns. Then on Wednesday we were videoed again doing such manoeuvres on the nursery slopes. We all soon realised that more work would be needed on these basic principles of skiing.
On a more sombre note, Ryan left El Retorno for his home in Canada on Friday morning. We held a goodbye barbecue for him on Thursday evening and projected a DVD the group made for him after food.
Thursday was also a celebration night for those group members who had just received the A-level results. On the whole, everyone was pleased with their results. That night we all went out into town and partied. The next morning a few bodies emerged into the daylight to attempt to tackle the mountain. This for Stewart, Louis and myself involved going to the terrain park with Mauricio and nailing the box with some fat looking switch 270 to box grind to 270 off!
Well that was Louis and I... As for Stewart it involved more rolling around in the snow complaining about his headache and how he shouldn’t have drunk those last few tequila shots! After lunch Max joined our group, replacing Stewart whose A-level celebrations had coaxed him to more sedentary activities. Our little jumps became bigger jumps with Mauricio leading the charge over a few fences - resulting in the odd minor bail! That evening, we all headed off to meet the rest of the group at a restaurant half way up the mountain. All tucked into pizzas and beers while watching the sunset over the incredible mountains of Patagonia. As the sun was setting, Louis and I, inspired by our intense session with Mauricio in the park, built a kicker next to the restaurant which got the attention of almost everyone in the group and before we knew it we were all giving it go with Louis throwing down some massive 360’s only to be topped by Benjy’s Insanely huge, switch inverted cork 720 all tweaked up with an iron cross! (These skiers have amazing imaginations! Editor)
After the snowboarders had got bored of falling over time and time again, we all got prepared for our descent down the mountain in the dark! The ski patrol escorted us down the mountain with only a few torches and the moonlight to guide us. There were a few falls, all of which came from snowboarders of course, but we all made it down the mountain in one piece.
A few of us this week were brave enough to take on the lake in Tety’s kayak! However, after enjoying his first trip in the kayak so much, Stewart decided to try it once more the following day. Once in the kayak and pushing away from the pier, a slight mishap involving the oar being stuck under the pier resulted in him capsizing! Benjy was close by and managed to get some pictures of him struggling to recapture the kayak and making sure it didn’t sink!
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Stewy at Intermedia
Night Ski
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Week 4 by Freya Jenkins and Emily Underwood |
Freya (swiss chic) |
The week started off with the self-election of two blondes as Group B’s leaders. Monday was a recovery day after a great weekend, with good snow and weather and for some lucky ones, a truly musical Spanish lesson.
The great conditions kept for Tuesday so that it was possible for us to work on our much-desired goggle tans at lunch. On of the day’s highlights was Ivan’s presentation/history lesson about South America and Patagonia, followed by an impressive but rather scary video of a life-threatening draglift in Bolivia.
Wednesday brought along nerve-wracking tension for some of the younger members of the group as the A-level results were on their way. Some stayed up half the night in order to call worried relatives and friends and also to calm their own nerves ASAP.
Many tired but happy faces turned up for breakfast on Thursday morning and we were all very pleased to hear that everyone had done well. On Thursday evening, after having feasted on a great celebration “Asado”, Ryan was given his goodbye-souvenir: A homemade DVD about the past weeks of the course accompanied by the Canadian National Anthem and “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”. We all wish Ryan the best of luck and hope he is able to hit the slopes again soon! Many went to celebrate their well-earned success, others used the A-level results as an excuse to go out. The ones who had stayed up half the night decided to normalise their sleeping rhythm and went to bed.
Good effort to everyone who made it up the mountain on Friday morning although some were delayed and others gave up after lunch, not being able to cope much longer! The fact that nearly nobody made it out “properly” on Friday evening proved that Thursday had been a great (and long) night! Luckily, it didn’t stop a big group of us heading up instead of down the mountain towards the end of the day; thanks to Mark, pizza and beer were waiting for us at one of the Piste-bars. This was followed by a night-run down with the ski patrol. To pass the time before sunset some of the guys showed off their freestyle skills, hoping to impress the ladies. (Did it work?)
Saturday’s free-skiing saw some attempts to be part of the opposing team for a day by trading in boards for skis and vice versa. To prepare for the coming race clinic in Esquel we held our own Boarders vs. Skiers slalom race. Needless to say, the Boarders got RINSED (according to the skiers). In the afternoon, a group of us led by Bex decided to take a supposed short cut. After having waited for 25mins for Freya to walk about 25 metres (it was very tiring), Jo and Freya reached the top of a rather terrifying slope. The supposed shortcut ended with a walk to the medical centre as Jo had unfortunately landed in a tree and “luckily” only broken her hand and thus became the third member of the group cultivating the fashion of cast wearing. She will be out on her skis again soon but probably won’t be tackling that dreaded tree-run.
People split up for dinner in the evening but reunited in QuVe to carry on to a typical Argentinean bar (for once not full of tourists). The place was way beyond cool and we even bumped into some of our ski/snowboard instructors who were demonstrating one of the great advantages of the “cool” business befriending random Brazilian girls (“There’s no business like snow business”).
We spent Sunday morning packing and eating “Mac El Retorno Burgers”. Luckily only a few were hung-over as windy (as in bendy) and bumpy roads led the way to Esquel where we are now at the time of writing this great diary entry.
Emily Underwood & Freya Jenkins |
Emily (with the girls, a-level celebrations)
Ivan’s class
Making Ryan’s DVD outtakes
Jo in cast
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Sunday 13th August 2006 - Week 4 by Ant Letmon and Will Goodwin: |
No Ant you the man! |
After another hard week on the mountain it was great to have the weekend off and people took full advantage of their rest and recuperation time in some of Bariloche’s finest nightclubs on the Saturday night.
Monday 14th August 2006
After a weekend of ‘rest and recuperation’ or more like ‘fun and inebriation’ the bleary eyed instructor trainees headed for the mountains with thoughts not of hitting the snow hard and perfecting their techniques but of beds and another few hours sleep. As usual the instructors were waiting for us to crack on with another hard week on the mountain.
Tuesday 15th August 2006
After the recent abnormal weather conditions and the waist deep powder of recent weeks the weather is more consistent and its time to really crack on with developing our techniques. Some are finding it harder than others but the camaraderie and friendships developed over recent weeks are proving incredibly useful with plenty of help, encouragement and teamwork on show.
Wednesday 16th August 2006
Techniques are being developed both in terms of skiing technique but also in more ‘social aspects’ of mountain knowledge as word spread of the international ski teams practising grand slalom. There was specific interest amongst the male trainees of the American and Slovakian Junior Female ski teams, apparently their interest was of a purely technical nature and many took the opportunity to take the highly uncomfortable ‘T-bar’ in a vain attempt to discuss the ‘technical aspects’ of skiing with some of the international teams.
Thursday 17th August 2006
Thursday was a big day in the camp with the news of the A-Level results. It is clear that many of the trainees will have plenty of career options after they graduate from ski school as the results across the board were incredibly impressive. The celebrations were taken from the mountain and into Bariloche’s finest establishments and thoroughly deserved.
Friday 18th August 2006
From an incredible high of yesterday and the A-level trainees came a rather more sad day with the departure of Ryan from the team as he returns to Canada to work on getting himself back to full fitness. He departed with all our thoughts and well wishes symbolised by a wonderful DVD directed by Ed and produced by Louis and with the cast of the Peakleaders trainees. It was an emotional moment and we all wish him the very best of luck in his recuperation and fingers crossed he will be a full instructor by the year end.
Saturday 19th August 2006
Was another day of rest and recuperation with some recuperating from a previous night of excess and others resting for a night of excess. We work hard during the week on our skiing and it can be intense at times but at the weekend it great to take a break from skiing and let our hair down. |
Will Goodwin
Ryan and Ant, roomies say farewell
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A word from Ryan |
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"I have called the Sports Medicine Clinic at McGill University here in Montreal where I will be seeing a Sports Med doctor about my knee this friday morning. I had been a patient there a few years ago when I first had my knee operated on. I'll let you know how it goes...
To everyone else: take it easy out there. you still have several weeks of great skiing left. don't get relegated to the sofa! no killer line or jump is worth it. In particular I should mention that a couple of extreme skiers in videos that Louis, Mark, Benjy and I had been watching injured themselves quite severely last season. Specifically, Marc-Andre Belliveau (a fellow Canadian from my home Province of Quebec) perhaps one of the best all around skiers in the world was paralyzed bellow the waist after falling in the backcountry in the province of British Colombia here in Canada last season.
There are two websites I would recommend to learn more about his accident and the fund that has been set up to help him. I personally have donated some money to his re-hab fund and bought a few t-shirts and stickers to show my support. It's a small thing, but it's all I can do for him. I may even send him a letter... You can read more about it at:
http://powdermag.com/features/news/marc-andre/
http://www.standstrongagain.org/
Also, there is Jerremy Nobis. An American who blew out his knee when catching a huge air in Alaska arround the same time last year. you can see the video at:
http://www.tetongravity.com/viewer/CRASHES.aspx
Moral of the story: the human body was just not meant to take certain trauma. Keep yourself safe. don't ski beyond your ability and have fun.
Here's wishing you all the best. keep me updated on the happenings!
wishing I was there...
Ryan Howard |
Week 5 - Sunday August 20th by Ed Archer |
La Hoya. Rising out
of the Valley of the Bandits |
La Trochita |
Esquel
300km south of Bariloche, in the province of Chubut, lies Esquel, a unique, non nuclear settlement, nestled in a dusty valley. The town cuts a distinctive grid pattern - wide one-way streets and low-slung buildings – a pleasant surprise on the long road south to Ushuaia; relaxed and friendly; a small frontier town with a warm heart that has recently defeated international corporations who wanted to mine the gold in the region. The people of Esquel understand the wealth of their valley lies in its Patagonian beauty and wanted better than to watch their land be systematically carved up for ore.
In the north-east corner of the valley, the road crosses Patagonia’s most famous railway line – the 750mm narrow gauge rails of “La Trochita”, a steam train that still puffs in and out the Esquel station. At the rail crossing the tarmac gives away to a dirt road that winds up to our real reason for being here this week – the winter sport playground of La Hoya, a snow-covered bowl that rises out of the Canyon of the Bandits, allegedly the place that witnessed the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
This remote region, a place of Wild West legends, makes for an exciting backdrop to the groups’ five days of race and freestyle clinics. |
Alvar, Sosi and Dr Natalia
in La Trochita |
Patagonia by steamtrain |
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Week 5 (Monday 21st August - Sunday 27th) by Joe Crabtree, Chris Kwiatkowski, Phil Jenkinson |
Crabtree Air |
Trip to Esquel
As we were preparing to board the coaches it became apparent that the girls had packed for what seemed like a month rather than the week that we were going away for to Esquel. After many pointless police stops we finally arrived at the Ski Residencial Hotel which bore more than a resemblance to faulty towers.
Monday
Race training started in earnest for the skiers with a slalom course testing our skills. Marcello’s expert race coaching soon had us all crashing through the slalom poles with professional accuracy. But we were all put to shame when Ivan and his kids showed us how to do it! The day was rounded off with a run down the mountain and stretching.
Tuesday
An excellent day for all as the skiers were given the chance to take on the Giant Slalom course again expertly coached by the usual team headed up by Ivan and Marcello. After many practice runs we were timed and the competition heated up, but all was kept friendly and many of us felt that it was one of the best days skiing we’d had in our time here in Argentina. A bunch of ecstatic skiers left the mountain that day. The day was rounded off with the usual run and stretch however as we returned to the hotel in the buses it was realised that Louis had been left behind practicing yoga in the stretching area. He had a long walk back through Esquel to the hotel!
Wednesday
Today saw the end of the race training with a morning of dual slalom runs which saw skiers going head to head down a course of slalom poles. Again competition was fierce and a few falls were the result however everyone was suddenly looking rather professional compared to the racing runs early on Monday morning. As the afternoon arrived after another tremendous lunch in the slalom club it was time to take on the freestyle park with expert coaching guiding us through the rollers and the rails. That evening much Tequila was drunk headed up especially by Joe Crabtree in the town until everyone was too tired to continue and crashed out back out the hotel ready for Thursdays intensive freestyle day.
ThursdayThursday was spent in the freestyle park with switch 180’s and grinds flying around left, right and centre. The big air jump was opened up and many successful attempts were made with huge airs being pulled. A local photographer was snapping away and many of the skiers and riders were responding with huge 360’s and grabs. After we retired from the mountain there was time for a quick rest before the Peak Leaders football team were to take on the lift maintenance crew form the resort in Esquel. After a tense game where the lift crew were for the most part in the lead our team managed to triumph with stunning late goals from Phil and Joe. Then we all went to an excellent asado held by relatives of Ivan where a whole lamb was roasted over an enormous fire as we stood and chatted to the lift crew about the game and shared many bottles of the local tipple. Afterwards we all went to celebrate James’s birthday at Mo’s bar.
Friday
We said bye to Esquel with a morning in the park and then headed back to the hotel to pack up and head off in the coaches to Trevelin where the Welsh had settled in Argentina a couple of hundred years ago. In Trevelin many of us were given self catering chalets to stay in and Will, Chris and Phil decided to hold there own asado (barbecue) at theirs. Many people turned up including local Argentines and much meat was on offer including intestine and throat glands as well as the usual awesome Argentine steaks. It turned into an excellent night under the crystal clear Argentine night sky with everyone stood around the glowing warmth of the dying embers of the asado’s fire.
Saturday
Today we were given a tour of the town in Trevelin and told all about it’s history by an expert local guide who gave us some fascinating stories about the Welsh settlers. We ate lunch in a gorgeous restaurant in the centre of Trevelin before leaving to visit a gaucho range back towards Bariloche. That night was spent in a village on the road back to Bariloche where we ate in a restaurant being serenaded by a local guitarist who played us many folk songs from all across the world. |
Air Max!
Louis - Rail series 
James Bourges 
Stewie 'Condor Air' Mackenzie-Shaw  |
Sunday
We returned back to the El Retorno today much to the delight of everyone as it now feels very much like home. It was a generally restful day as everyone was unpacking and getting their things together in preparation for the BASI course, which was to start on Monday. All the groups met their BASI instructors who turned out not to be the monsters we were all dreading but genuinely nice guys. All went to bed straight after dinner to prep themselves for Monday mornings start to the BASI trainee instructor’s course. |
Week 6 by James O'Carroll |
BASI Stef shows the way... |
BASI trainee instructor assessment week!
After weeks of intense training and preparation, the BASI instructors finally arrived.
Steph was in charge of us boarders and did a great job of taking us through the various disciplines of the course. The week was pretty hard work with five hours on the mountain plus a further couple of hours of lectures (more with video analysis). At least Steph brought the Sun with him. It was a great week for enhancing those Panda eyes! Could do with a bit more snow now though…
At the beginning of the week we concentrated on the ‘Central Theme’, covering body management, and the basics from selecting the correct equipment to completing simple turns. In pairs we then had to prepare and deliver a lesson to demonstrate to the rest of the group. It has to be said that despite being on his own, Adam clearly excelled in enthusing the rest of the group to do yet more basic turns.
On Thursday and Friday we concentrated on carving, freestyle and navigating steep and variable pistes.
On Saturday we got our results, congratulations to everyone that passed! We also received feedback on what we need to improve on for the next phase of assessment to become a BASI instructor.
Joe and I as Group B leaders organised a celebratory night out at a Mexican restaurant in the centre of Bariloche on Saturday night. It was so popular that many other members of the other groups also joined us. It has to be said that Joe didn’t disappoint when it came to entertaining everybody (even if they didn’t really want to be party to his antics).
The meal was followed by drinks in the now regular pubs, South Bar and Pilgrims’. Sunday as always was truly a day of rest apart from those few that found the Ice skating rink and pool/bowling alley, which came with it’s own personal skittle man and ball returner! |
Snowboard video analysis  |
by Joshua Egerton and Tom Abraham |
Sean's skiers warm up |
Monday 28/08
An early start – the most people at breakfast at half seven since the first day. Smiling too. Weren’t we good, all trying to make a good impression!
We’d been introduced to the BASI ski leaders the night before, but we’d never seen them ski. To tell the truth they were pretty good. Sean was the group A ski leader he was very nice and pleasant to look at... Will liked him too, but secretly he was taking sneaky peeks at Stef the board instructor over dinner we Will might swing both ways (loves skiing, but secretly wants to be a cool boarder). The stress started to show – 5 hours of skiing and boarding, and then 2 hours of lectures in the evenings is very hard going – this was only the start though, we had no idea how much tougher it was going to get.
We’d all thought that the BASI instructors may be a little uptight before they arrived – Sean did his best to disprove this by telling us that we were going to do some basics in the afternoon… which we were going to do right up until he saw what looked like some lovely spring snow. And so it proved to be - a lovely long run from the top to the bottom of the mountain. Awesome, and a fabulous way to finish the first BASI day. |
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Tuesday 29/08
Another early start, and another good turn out at breakfast. How long will this last? The skiers had been tasked the night before with doing different parts of the warm up each. Does anyone know what the small joints are??? A sneaky question to Ed, but no, he doesn’t know. But cunningly he asks the BASI guys, and lets us know – hurrah for sneakiness. Just about get away with it too, but everyone seems to think that the ankles are part of their exercise regime. We had the absolute joy of learning the central theme. Does anyone remember how painful it is to hold the snowplough position. Apparently that means we’re not doing it quite right, but we’ll get there. We’ve got another few weeks to practice. The evening lectures were quite tough, and the skiers got split in to two’s to deliver a lesson the following day – how scary is this. This is a new level of stress not experienced in the last 4 weeks. Lesson planning is a new challenge for most of us, and we all have to remember to KISS – keep it stupid and simple. An early night for most, this is tough going. As a side note, Tom had a very bad day. A big thanks goes to the rest of the group for helping him pull his head out of his derriere.
Wednesday 30/08
Slightly fewer people at breakfast this morning, think the pressure may be getting to people. How nervous are we before delivering our lessons to the group? Going up the mountain the gondola was rocking. Not sure if it was us shaking before delivering the lessons or the wind. Once we got out of the gondola it was clear it was the wind. Phew. It was blowing a gale and bitterly cold. Lovely conditions for delivering your first lesson. Up the chair we go. Not fun, but always nice to get your face exfoliated on the cheap. Nearly hit one of the pylons on the way up – about 6 inches in it
Delivering the lessons turned out to be far more fun and relaxing than most of us were expecting. Josh was depressingly natural at delivering lessons, and Louis did some great demonstrations, including demonstrating how important eye contact is in communicating with your pupils. He and Mark were lucky enough to have a nice sheltered part of the mountain to deliver their lesson in too. That’s the advantage delivering the lesson on snowplough turns – you get to use the nursery slopes. Back up the slopes for the next couple of lessons, and by the time we were all at the top of the chair everyone was frozen again. Learnt that weather conditions and how your pupils are coping them is an important aspect of teaching. Bex was shivering, and neither Josh or Tom noticed – black marks against our names. Damn!
Thursday 31/08
Yay! It’s snowed. Boo – it seems a bit patchy. On the bright side it means that we get to practice skiing in variable conditions. Slipping on ice and then ending up in powder always makes for an interesting and challenging experience. Some of us in Group A got to see that the instructors are fallible too. Not Sean of course, but Andy, the Group B instructor. There we were, sitting on the chairlift, and we see the other group bouncing down through the bumps, and then, suddenly, there’s a big puff of snow. Andy’s gone down! It would appear that he’s teaching his group well though, as they all followed suit and wiped out with varying degrees of style too. Group A on the other hand were skiing perfectly, well, when we were with Sean anyway… well nearly… Hang on. Where’s Mark? Hmmm. Up we go on another chairlift. There he is, standing at the side of the slope. Doesn’t look overly happy. We ski down to him, and it turns out he’s fallen. He’d found some nice snow on the other side of the mountain, but not finding us there, he’d come over, and as soon as he got to where we were he slid on some ice. He’s told to ski down and rest – it doesn’t look good. Can we really have another major injury? Looks like Louis’ trying to make sure – every time Sean whips the video camera out Louis does a wipe out. A fine effort. We need some footage for the group video at the end, and Louis’ probably just provided half of it. Best crash of the day goes to Katie, but courtesy of Tety – so nice of her to push Katie over the cornice! A good laugh skiing through the off piste – nice to practice variable conditions. Everyone wiped out, and Ant managed the freestyle trick of the day – a switch snowplough vertical 1080. Sure he meant to leave the snow when he did it though! Tom may have gone slightly too far… gets told to stop the smut on the lifts. He’s definitely got over the bad day on Tuesday. Back at the hotel in the evening looking at the footage, Louis learns the cause of his crashes. All of his wipeouts stem from the same issue. This is a good thing – it’s easy to correct when it’s just one problem. Bad news on Mark though – he’s got a fracture in his shoulder. Could be out for a bit, but there’s nothing that can be done. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed that he’s not going to be out – especially Alvar – he can’t believe how many injuries there have been… Everyone’s feeling a bit tired now, and it’s showing in their eyes – well, not so much the eyes, but the suitcases underneath them. Can’t wait for the weekend, but first we’ve got the final day, and the final numbers… will we all pass… can we be any more nervous??? Andy our group leader disappeared
Friday 01/09
This is the last day of our trainee instructor course; it was going to be a long day as we would be skiing from 9 till 2 to make sure that we get everything in that we needed to do and so that Sean would be able to make an accurate assessment of our abilities.
After lunch we had a quick meeting about the following week and what we should be concentrating on, as that week would be self tuition. Following this meeting we were spoken to individually and given two sheets which identified clearly our weaknesses and our strengths from these two sheets Sean informed us on what we should be practicing the most such as posture, carving…. Unsurprisingly the whole of group A passed which just left the completion of the instructor course for all of us to become full BASI level III instructors. |
Argentina 18/09 by Paula Ade and Jay Robertson |
Mark & Ed Crosscountry |
Monday 4th September
Today was our first ‘free’ day without the instructors, which everyone spent working on their snowploughs and plough-parallels (exciting stuff!!).
Tuesday 5th September
After another day spent working on central theme, the evening was spent answering nasty pub quiz questions which Simon had spent the last 2 weeks researching eg. What element does W represent on the periodic table? (It’s tungsten in case you were wondering!!) The winning team, made up of Jay, Crabby, Ally, Neil and Tom A and imaginatively called “Crabtree’s Clitorisallsorts”, was awarded $124 pesos; money which was soon spent in the hotel bar on celebratory drinks J
Wednesday 6th September (Paula’s 21st birthday!!)
Woke up this morning to find that we couldn’t see the mountains across the lake because it was snowing!! After a couple of runs (and quite a few hot chocolate breaks!) we made our way up to ‘Refugio Lynch’ for steak sandwiches and chocolate cake (or in Jo’s case, a candle and a paper box- amazing what people will do for $80!) We then skied down to Mute and drank some celebratory bottles of champagne, before returning to El Retorno for first aid training with Ramon. Dinner and a couple more bottles of champagne later, we headed to South Bar (where ‘gay chicken’ got a little out of hand!) and then onto Roxy (where Paula managed to fall asleep in a corner…)
Thursday 7th September
Today was a free day, which some people spent on the mountain but which most people spent recovering in bed. Impressively, Ed and Mark managed to make their way over to Cerro Otto for a riveting museum visit and some cross-country skiing.
Friday 8th September
Another day on the slopes. In the evening, we all went to Alberto’s for dinner in celebration of Jay’s birthday, followed by drinks in Pilgrim (which Jay, apparently, doesn’t remember!), more drinks in South Bar and even more drinks in Roxy….. Hmmm… maybe that’s why Jay doesn’t remember!!
Saturday 9th September (jay’s birthday!!)
Everyone got up early to take a 2 hour bus ride to Pampa Linda in Nahuel Huapi, which some people found more enjoyable than others (not those sitting near Adam!) In the afternoon, we went for a walk and found Alvar-the-drama-queen lying in the road, pretending to be injured after being run-over by an imaginary car. Luckily, after being taught the basics of first aid, we were able to help him out of the road before being hit by a real bus… The rest of the day was spent warming-up and dying-off in front of the fire and playing poker.
Sunday 10th September
Some of the girls (and James O’Carroll) went horse riding in the morning, while the rest remained in bed. When everyone finally got up, we did some more first aid training followed by a trek (during which Jay fell in the river and ruined his gloves!) to the nearby ‘Saltillo las Nalcas’, a 50m waterfall. After drying off in front of the fire (again), we practised some more first aid and then took the bus back to El Retorno, ready to work with the BASI instructors again on Monday morning. |
Birthday Boy and Jo 
James in the waterfall
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Argentina 6th September - Week 7 by Cathy Harris and Tom Abraham |
Group C |
Monday
The first day of free skiing and riding, the trainee instructor course is over, we’ve got our numbers, and we know what we’ve got to work on. We know the drills that will help, so up to the mountain we go, minus group C who are having a well deserved day of rest as they only finished their course yesterday. Let’s walk gently so as not to wake them or make them realise they may have had a few drinks last night. Wonder if anyone got crabtreed?
Looking across the mountain was a strange experience. People were in two’s and three’s, and going really slowly… where were the tricks and high speed carving you’d expect when free riding? Looks like everyone’s practicing their central theme – that would explain the robots coming down the nursery slopes (and we’re not just talking about James O’Carroll), but with equipment you rarely see on beginners… what’s happened – have we turned in to people with all the gear but no idea?!!
Tuesday
Hmmm, more of the same. Looks like we really are dedicated to the idea of improving our performance. Seems to be slightly less of us about today though – rest is good, as well as practice.
Wednesday
Paula’s birthday tonight so a good turnout on the mountain, even if it’s only to facilitate après ski, and the potential for a lack of skiing on Thursday. It’s her 21st after all. Somehow we’ve all got to be prepared for an introductory lecture on first aid tonight too. This could be a tricky balancing act, so to prepare ourselves many of us arrived at the top of the Lynch Chair at lunch time and indulged in Steak Sandwiches and the most fantastic chocolate cake. It was a touch on the chilly side, rubbish visibility, and mighty windy, so that chocolate cake was really needed. Shivering uses a lot of calories don’t you know!
Everyone looks in a ‘reasonable’ state for the first aid lecture (to prepare us for the weekend practical), which is probably a good thing. Turns out that all you need to know is ABC – Airway, Breathing, Circulation. It’s not that simple, but telling you the whole lecture would mean you don’t need to come on the course, and this is supposed to work as an advert as well as a diary ;-)
Paula’s birthday evening – well what can we say… some things are best left unsaid.
Thursday
Slim pickings at breakfast this morning – wonder why. Consequently a quiet day on the mountain, although there were still several robotic skiers (and boarders) about. There was an option to go to a museum, try some cross country skiing, and have afternoon tea. We’d tell you all about it, but frankly we’re both deeply disturbed (this wording saves editing!) by the proximity of the next part of the BASI course, so we went off to join the other robots.
Friday
Our last free practice day before we start with the BASI instructors on Monday. Even though Monday isn’t going to be a part of the course it still feels like the pressure’s on. So what to do, try and nail the central theme, or make the most of it and have some fun…
Using the instructing principles of Safety, Enjoyment, Learning from the BASI manual we’d best go and have fun. An afternoon of off-piste seems the only way to go. Hephzi seems to be having fun and nailing the off-piste too, even when a slight route planning issue sees us heading off through the trees. Good effort.
And so to the evening. We’re off to Pampa Lindas tomorrow morning, which is apparently in the middle of nowhere, so we’d best go out for Jay’s birthday tonight. Just a quiet steak, seeing as we have to be up early. There seems to be something about going out for a quiet steak in Argentina though – it always seems to mean a late night – a 4:30am return from Roxy’s, with several people Crabtreed (including the originator of the term) seemed a fitting way to celebrate, and Roxy’s appeared to be hosting a talent spotting competition – always a bonus!
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Cath and Bert
First Aid Course(Pampa Linda)
50m of Saltillo Las Nalca
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Saturday
Everyone made it up, and there was a surprise in the form of a big green bus. Off to Pampas Linda for the first aid training, with lots of people wondering why we needed to leave the comfort of El Retorno at all. The drive seemed very long, and the majority was on dirt roads so was a touch on the bumpy side – not necessarily good for those with a constitution weakened by a Friday night out, eh Adam?
And so to the purpose of the journey – talks and demonstrations of how to carry out emergency first aid. Interesting, but we’re still asking why we had to come out in to the sticks. Nice to see a bit more of Argentina though. We truly are in the middle of nowhere – those who smoke who didn’t prepare for this, well, it could be a long couple of days. The nearest shop is 31km away. Hmmm… Not a great deal to do in the evening either, so a few people learn how to play poker. Many matches were lost that evening.
Sunday
The dawn of a new day. But we’re still out in the sticks, and it’s raining. After a few more demonstrations, and a couple of practices at first aid (including how to make a stretcher from rucksacks and ski poles which was quite cool) we have a quick lunch. Milanese sandwich – who came up with that concept??? Best go for a stroll to work that delicious lunch off then. At the start everyone was trying to keep out of the mud, and not walking in the little streams that were forming in the footpath, and still questioning why we were there. The bamboo was quite tough too, and so many of the little boys started thinking they were in a Vietnam movie it was kind of surreal… Once we got to the waterfall things changed though – it was awesome! About a 50m drop – apparently Alvar has stood under it in the summer, brave man, hope that isn’t his only shower each year. Strangely everyone seems a little less bothered about stepping in streams and puddles on the way back, especially Jay, but then he did attempt, and I stress the word attempt, to jump over the river and shortcut the walk back from behind the waterfall. The trip was feeling a lot more worthwhile, and everyone seemed to be feeling a little more upbeat. I guess there’s something about having nothing to do on a Saturday evening that helps people rest.
A few more first aid practices later and we’re on the bus. Always nice to get back to El Retorno, feels like coming home ? |
Week 7 Free practise and Pampa Linda by Neil Shepherd and Bert Schelterns |
Wand Rules! |
After the intensive week of the Trainee Instructor course, week 7 was a chance for everyone to relax slightly whilst working on those areas which they needed to improve in time for the Instructor course which starts in week 8.
Monday was a free skiing/riding day for most, apart from Group C who rested after only completing their Trainee course on the Sunday. For Ant and Max however it was a chance to burn off the previous nights “Two Steak Challenge” on the slopes. Meanwhile Katie Baddams recovered from being pursued by unsavoury gentlemen in Pilgrim…
BASI trainers Stef, Andy and Sean used their free time to head off on a road trip across Argentina to Peninsula Valdez whilst Julian caught up on family time with his girlfriend and 11 month old daughter.
Tuesday was again a free skiing day for all – the disciplined ones worked on their Central Theme whilst others made up excuses about needing to practice bumps, jumps and steeps all day.
Paula’s 21st birthday fell on Wednesday. This fact together with the white-out weather conditions meant that many of the group shared a 3-hour lunch at Refugio Lynch before continuing down the mountain to Mute for après-ski. Champagne in Mute was followed by champagne at dinner before moving on to South Bar for drinks (and “gay chicken” for some…). Paula was reputed to have ended the evening “comfortable” in the corner in Roxy’s, but sadly her magic wand did not see the night through (thanks Louis…). Will never made it to Roxy’s though – he was distracted by the 32-year-old Steffi Graf (‘s brother?) lookalike in South Bar.
For those who made it up the mountain on Thursday morning, they were rewarded with lovely snow conditions after the previous day’s snowfall and again excuses were made to practice more exciting strands than Central Theme. The evening’s entertainment was provided by seeing Bert minus his trademark goatee – 10 years younger!!
Friday was the last day’s free skiing before instruction with the BASI trainers starts next week. Unfortunately late on Friday afternoon Louis took a big fall in the terrain park and injured his shoulder – however after a quick visit to the medical centre the diagnosis was not too severe so he will only be off for a few days rest.
Friday evening provided a chance for a slightly early celebration of another birthday – Jay’s – with dinner in Alberto’s followed by another trip to the old favourite Roxy’s. Of course Crabby remained resolutely sober all night…
The week was rounded off by a two-day trip to Pampa Linda in the Nahuel Huapi National Park. This remote outpost was the scene for first aid training, as well as poker training for Stewie, who then proceeded to clean up against all his poker teachers. Two days of constant rain in Pampa Linda meant a lack of stunning views, which was made up for by a very wet hike to a stunning waterfall set in the depths of the forest. However two days of rain in Pampa Linda meant there had been two days of snow in Cerro Catedral, so everyone was raring to get up early and hit the powder on Monday morning. |
Bex, Neil and Jo
First Aid - Any old splint will do... 
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Final Days by Hephzi Bayliss and Ali McAllister |
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After our wet and wild adventures in Pampa Linda I think a lot of us were slightly worried that this week of BASI central theme may not quite live up to the hardcore way of life we were becoming accustomed to. The instructors also may have been thinking the same way, as Andy managed to return from their weekend away with an impressive gash on his forehead, and no real explanation of how it came to be there. However, despite our worries, the week turned out to be an interesting one, both on and off the mountain.
On our return we all did as Peak Leaders do and “manned up,” covering every available radiator with sodden shoes and heading out to the mountain again, ready and willing to sacrifice our bodies in the name of BASI.
Luckily for Simon, he no longer had to worry about his Eskimo style facial beard growing any further up his face, as the weather was gorgeous with blue skies and sunny days, and even fresh snow fall to play in. Even luckier for the rest of us, within a few days of central theme practice, we were no longer being mistaken for beginners on the nursery slopes and so were released for two days to go off and terrorise the rest of the mountain, all in the name of practice.
Predictably, in true Peak Leaders ’06 style, two days off work just meant two days to play as hard as we possibly could. Wednesday saw a few decidedly sheepish faces moping around El Retorno. Surprisingly, most of these belonged to the BASI instructors. That evening also gave group B a chance to keep up their tradition of constant eating competitions. This time it was Emily who took one for the team and braved the mighty “Empanada Challenge” (whilst Paula became suspiciously absent for the evening.) Sadly, although Emily did group B proud, she fell one and a half empanadas short of the 15, losing 200 pesos to Jobby, and gaining some rather dodgy meat sweats.
Then, after our riotous few days, it was time to get back to business and Friday morning marked the end of playtime and a return to the mountain. After a few days working on technical performance again, and throwing ourselves, sometimes reluctantly, down steeps and bumps, it was time once again to return to the nursery slopes. This time, however, we were there as teachers. Our lessons all went well. Group B, as always, relished the chance to do some more role-play, (eh eh!) with Crabby especially loving the chance to practice being fawned over by 13-year-old girls. After some entertaining and scarily realistic acting from every member of the group, we were all half way towards passing our teaching element (and teaching Paula how to be “proper common”.)
The following day saw some more serious teaching practice go on, with each person having to teach a lesson to improve the whole group. Luckily we all passed with flying colours, boosting our confidence for that night’s written exam. This too was widely successful and so we celebrated, in the best way we could, with mountains of chocolate and Willy Wonka on HBO.
Today things were definitely more serious as the course draws to a close and everyone put 110% into proving their ability. However, the 8 weeks here have proved two things: 1) all work and no play has disastrous results on Peak Leaders members and 2) We can find trouble anywhere. I think the Argentinean groups were rather amused to see Benjy, Louis, Stewie and various other guys, stripping whilst skiing and maybe even a little bit perturbed to see Benjy riding a drag lift in only his boxers. On the other hand, I think Andy found it a bit too intriguing, as tonight we found our video feedback being cut with various shots of Benjy being quite naked. Luckily for him, the course doesn’t finish till tomorrow and I think we’re all a little too worried to mock him too harshly at this stage.
Tomorrow will tell if we are new found ski instructors or not, and so until then I wish everyone here the best of luck. Most of all I want to thank everyone in this course for making the time here really fantastic, and say that whatever the outcome, I know I’ll enjoy getting well and truly “Crabtree’d” with you all in the next few days, and that I’ll miss you all loads.
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Final Days by Kathryn Gunter |
Pety and Kathryn Gunter |
Although the end was in sight, the pressure was mounting during the last few weeks, with the final part of the BASI course taking place. The two days off during the instructor course were spent practicing up the mountain by most. Those less stressed took some time off to relax and rest the legs. Others took the opportunity to get back to practicing their eating and drinking skills with the Empanada Challenge. Joe Burton had bet Paula and Emily that they couldn’t eat 15 empanadas (all meat filled!) in 1.5 hours. The story goes that Paula supposedly couldn’t find the greasy spoon in Bariloche and went for Chinese instead….strange. Emily, on the other hand, managed an impressive 10 empanadas in the first hour but then struggled, and only made her way through 13.5 empanadas in the end– a fantastic attempt but she still had to pay out!
It was back to work for the group on Friday – a great time to start the second part of the course – which meant there would be no partying this weekend. The skiers seemed to be spending a lot of time bashing the bumps - in particular after lunch, with little time for the food to digest. The snowboarders worked away at steeps and their attempts to leave cleaned carved lines in the snow, although not neglecting their efforts to become freestyle kings and queens. The final morning of the BASI course was greeted (by the boarders at least) with some unexpected powder – a great way to end the course. Group C skiers, however, decided to make the day more memorable by undertaking the challenge of (nearly) naked skiing.
To celebrate the end of the course, we all hit Bariloche for some food and drink. The South bar and Roxy had its weekly residents back. The snowboarders had their tequila forfeit – according to James everyone needed to drink 5 shots but thankfully he lost count after 3. Our final night in Bariloche was celebrated with a party organised for everyone involved in the programme. Awards and presents were handed out before we all indulged in the freshly made, somewhat alcohol, cocktails. Not put off by an early start the next day and eager to make up for the lack of partying over the last few weeks, South Bar and Roxy’s rare mix of music were calling for some. The next morning the evidence of the previous night’s partying was clear to see on tired faces franticly packing before we left for Buenos Aires. We said what was to be the first of many farewells to a fortunate few staying on in Bariloche.
It was definitely a shock to the system arriving in the bustling and somewhat warmer city of Buenos Aires. An amazing journey had come to the end, but not before one last steak and one or two shots of Sambuca to toast the end of the course and wish everyone the best of luck for the future.
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La Ultima Fiesta,
Pety's Strawberry Daquiris
La Ultima Fiesta, Freya and Jo
La Ultima Fiesta, Lou and Max
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Course Review Thursday September 28 2006
by Mark Madden and Katie Bamber |
Señor Mark Madden |
“Well this is it. This is the road to the main event. We are now one. One group with one soul mission. This is the time to bond, rest and prepare. We are PEAK LEADERS '06, Instructors in Training. We are the ones for whom the snow falls. We are the ones for whom the mountain beckons” Mark Madden August 2006.
This extract from a blog that sums the start of a commitment of time, energy and personal investment by each member of the group. The outcome, of which, will entirely rest on the individual and, unfortunately, the effort may not reflect that outcome.
So, after two months in one of the nicest locations possibly conceived to run a Ski Instructor training clinic, the last two weeks have been a composite of fun, intensity, study, performance, analysis, culminating in assessment and rating.
Oh that Dreaded Rating System (DRS). Awareness, Practice and Acquired (APA). This to be engrained into our very being and now how we measure all those that stand before us.
With the Traineeship out of the way and all of us pleasantly pleased that we all passed this section of the course, it is now 10 days at the ‘business end of the stick’. Each group, with their respective trainers, have settled into, what is required and pointed in the direction of where to go to complete the Ski Instructor (SI) course.
The ten days had a familiar routine. Bus to mountain. Skiers – 8.15am, Boarders – 8.30am. [General rule No1 = don’t be late for the bus]. Warm up on the slopes around 9am. Practice and guidance before lunch. [General rule No 2 = Don’t lose your instructor or group] Lunch at Viento Cero. Then for the skiers it was always an afternoon of ‘BUMPS’. For the Boarders, I don’t know, I’m not a Boarder. They just do what Boarders do.
Evenings are filled with a combination of “warm down”, lessons/lectures to plan the next day’s activities [General rule No 3 = don’t miss your class] and dinner, with a dash of wine thrown in for each table [General rule No 4 = it’s two bottles of wine per table not per person]. Bed, oh that lovely bed. Awake, routine starts again, see above.
Ultimately the DRS has to hit all of us, after all, this is why we are here, to be rated as a Ski Instructor or not. The result……… Peak Leaders 2006 success rate is a success in itself, thanks to the perseverance and persistence (PP) of the BASI Instructors.
I had Awareness, I Practiced, I Acquired, I am now a Ski Instructor.
Or,
How I became a SI through APA and DRS thanks to the PP of the BASI.
ADIOS
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Katie Bamber and Chris K
End of the road -
waving goodbye in Buenos Airies
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