Saturday 28 February 2009 - TGO Challenge Training - Austrian Style (1)

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

'A Ritzy Shack'

Also known as 'The Austrian National TGO Challengers' High Level Training HQ'.

It's our home for this weekend, at 1295 metres, 47° 22´ 06.07´´ N,
9° 49´ 51.86´´ E.

Our snowshoes are ready for action and we promise to report back on the rigours of TGO Challenge training, Austrian style, on our return next week.

Have a great weekend...

The View from Col Rosa

Following Nick's comment on the last 'Dolomites' posting, I've run out of time to search for a 2001 trip image of the man himself on Col Rosa's Via Ferrata Ettore Bovero, so you'll have to make do for the time being, Nick, with this more recent image, looking towards Cortina during the ascent of Col Rosa in 2007. 

A wonderful spot.

This image was included in last night's well attended slide show for Stockport Walking Group.  Thank you everyone for attending.  We hope you enjoyed it.

Tuesday 24 February 2009 - Chaophraya

Sue and I enjoyed an excellent meal here tonight, unusually for us in the centre of Manchester.  The mixed starter was really very tasty as well as being a good plate full, and Sue's curry and my prawn special were both tasty, washed down with a nice bottle of Chilean sauvignon blanc.

A strange day, really, starting with the sadness of John Shepherd's funeral, and finishing with the witnessing of an incident on the tram.

Walks and Via Ferratas in the Dolomites - an Illustrated Talk on Wednesday 25 February 2009

Sue and I have prepared an hour long talk for Stockport Walking Group this coming Wednesday evening.  It's at 8 pm at

Hazel Grove Civic Centre in the Norbury Room
London Road
Hazel Grove
SK7 4DF

Admission is £1 (and includes tea), free on your first visit.
After the meeting we adjourn to The Grapes public house.

We hope to see some of you there.

We take this opportunity to provide some links to places of interest to anyone wishing to visit this wonderful part of the world:

Visit Dolomites - a site for tourists
Cortina's website - it includes links to descriptions of individual Via Ferrata routes, as does
our planning page for a trip in 2007, at the foot of which is an entertaining diary entry from 2001
Our trip report from July 2003
Our trip report from July 2006

Collett's - an experienced operator in the Dolomites, with good accommodation

Italian railway information
More information on Italian railways

Cicerone Guides:
Walking in the Dolomites - by Gillian Price
Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites Vol 1
Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites Vol 2 - both by Graham Fletcher and John Smith
Treks in the Dolomites - Alte Vias 1 and 2 - by Martin Collins and Gillian Price
Shorter Walks in the Dolomites - by Gillian Price

Maps are available from:
Stanfords
The Map Shop

Providers of Insurance (essential):
Snowcard
BMC

The web cam from the ski jump just south of Camping Dolomiti (Cortina)

Weather Information:
Venice
Cortina

If you notice this posting, and are going to the Dolomites with Collett's in June (21-28), say hello to us if you happen to be in the Auberge at Arabba!

Yearning for Summer

After a rather grey week here in Timperley, the snowdrops are in flower and Sue has tidied the garden, trips have been planned, a slide show produced, business matters dealt with, and various projects have seen a little progress.

But we yearn for colourful summer days like the one (9 September 2007) when this image was snapped near Hartington in the Peak District.

Paul Skipper - Ironman (DQ'd)

No, this isn't an obituary, just something that appealed to me when we received it, as suitable content to brighten up a dull week in February, during which planning this year's trips has taken priority over actually going on them.

Sue has some interesting former colleagues.  We came close to one of them, Alan Judd, when we watched the Ironman event in Taupo on 1 March last year.  Sixty year old Alan had a relatively uneventful time when he completed 'Ironman Taupo' in New Zealand in 12 hours 41 minutes, about half way down the 1200 strong field. 

In contrast, another of Sue's erstwhile colleagues, Paul Skipper, pictured above [Picture - Chris Banks Photography] winning last year's Wilmslow Triathlon - a 400 metre swim, 23.8 km bike ride and 6.7 km run - in a record time of 1 hour 2 min 13 secs, had a rather more eventful 'Ironman Experience' at last year's big event in Holland.

It was Paul who gave Sue the nutrition advice that got her through our 'Italian Border Route' escapade last year.  She knew he had taken part in a big event whilst we were away.  Here's Paul's response to Sue's 'how did it go?' message.

Hi Sue,

Just got back from Holland.  Had an eventful race!

Was hoping for 10 hours 30 mins, maybe going sub 10 hours if all went well on the day. I set 12 hours as my bronze standard goal and just finishing within the 15 hour cut off time as the main aim as anything can happen in an Ironman.

The swim went well. It was around 200 metres longer than expected (around 2.5 miles) so took an hour rather than 57 mins.  I really enjoyed it; despite the mass start from a beach there wasn't too much argy-bargy.

The bike ride was 3 x 60k laps. I was hoping to take 5hrs 15 mins on the bike, 5 hours 30 mins if things didn't go to plan. I can ride 4 hours 40 mins pace but not run a marathon afterwards! Should be able to do 5 hours dead but thought a conservative pace was the way forward.

120k into the bike ride (two laps) I was feeling really fresh, the easy pace was paying off, nutrition strategy was working really well, and I was 1 hour 30 mins inside the 5 hours 15 mins pace, and feeling as though I*d easily hold that pace for the last lap.

It was all going too well!

As I accelerated out of a corner the next thing I knew I was on the deck. I didn't realise it at the time but my forks had snapped!

Apparently I was out for a couple of minutes but think I was just a bit dazed and confused as there was no warning of the crash.
Luckily a mate saw the whole thing and rushed over to help.  At the time I wanted to clear my head and get back on my bike, not realising the forks had snapped.  We tried to get a another bike but with no luck, until a local lad came up and said he only lived 5 minutes away and I could borrow his training bike.

My knees were a bit swollen and I had a fair bit of road rash everywhere else. Cleaned myself up best I could and after about 30 minutes I was on my way. His bike wasn't quite the super light, super aero uber machine I was riding, but as long as it held up for 60k I was back in the game. All be it disqualified for outside assistance. 

I made it round, pushed harder than I should have done and still lost another 25 minutes because of the bike, but a 6 hour 15 minute bike ride still gave me 7 hours to complete the marathon and beat the cut off.

When I arrived in transition there were two officials waiting for me, informing me of my DQ and trying to persuade me to get myself sorted in the medical tent.

I knew I'd just seize up even more if I stopped, so I just thanked them for letting me continue, all be it DQ'd.

A quick stretch, knees were not looking good ... lathered the sun cream on thick (stung a bit!) as it was 29 degrees C, and set
out on the 3 x 14k marathon course.  I can run a flat marathon in sub 3 hours. (My original 10 hours 30 mins target broke down to 1hr
swim, 5:30 bike, 4hr marathon, but I needed 5:15, 3:45 for a sub 10 hour result, which is kind of  the holy grail for Ironman racing.)

All targets were kind of out of the window. I wanted to at least run half without walking; really 2/3 was the aim. The later you can stave off the 'death march' the better. It's so hard to get going again once you've stopped once.

You've lost the mental battle.

The marathon was tough; I had a good strategy with sponges on shoulders and neck to try to avert overheating. Forced the nutrition down even though the thought of another sickly energy gel was really not appealing.  The Extran energy drink on offer was horrendous so I had to go with plan B which was 3 gels with water rather than 2 an hour. 

Got round the first 14k without too much difficulty.  Achilles flared up at 18k. Given that I*d injured it 4 weeks ago and hardly run on it since, it had held up pretty well.  It felt like it was a rubber band about to snap but generally eased over the next few k's.  I'm not sure whether it got better or whether everything else just started to hurt more!  Made it around the 2nd lap too with out having to stop. Still keeping cool with 4 sponges wedged under my top & now on flat coke as well for the caffeine hit. 

My pace slowed a little on the last lap, running closer to 6 min k's than 5 min.  Had one really bad patch but managed to keep shuffling.  At 36k my quads were very close to cramp so I took the tactical decision to walk up the one incline on the course and have a quick stretch.  The first leg eased of nicely, but as I stretched the second my quad eased but my hamstring started to spasm. So I thought 'enough of that', and started jogging again. 

The final 5k along the dyke to the finish was pretty painful but I just about kept going all the way.  Crossed the line in 10 hours 54 minutes to a massive ovation.  It seemed like the whole town had heard what had happened and got behind me. 

I was given a finisher's T-shirt and medal for my efforts despite officially being DQ'd.  So lucky a mate was there to help and that someone lent me their bike.  Surprisingly didn't feel too bad.  Had some food in the recovery area, but decided not to sit down as I thought I might never stand again!  Then tried to see how the others had got on.  Brad aka the 'machine'  finished in 9:50 so it would have been a pretty close race between us if not for my crash. He was now in a bad way with heat stroke.  Rob B had to pull out on the run and Rob W was still to finish and when he did was in the medical tent for 3 hours receiving 2 drips.

Not quite sure how I felt so good. Managed a beer and a burger then set too getting all the gear packed up.

All in all a mixed day. Very happy to get round. Might have to do another one now as know if things go right a fast time is on the cards.

Been back a couple of days now, hard to tell what aches are from the race and what are from the crash! Everything still hurts but a little bit less each day.

Paul

Hopefully Paul will make an appropriate comment on this posting, and will keep 'Postcard from Timperley' (after all, he is a local lad) updated regarding his own version of outdoorsy exploits. 

Thank you Paul for this entertaining little interlude; regular readers will be grateful as they have been spared more 'Tales from the Bridgewater Canalside'...

Wednesday 18 February 2009 - An Evening Stroll into Altrincham

Last night we enjoyed the first of our evening walks of the year, an 11 km stroll from home, down the Bridgewater Canal towpath to The Swan with Two Nicks, through Dunham Park and the golf course, and back home via the Metro from Altrincham Station.

We didn't take a camera (it was dark), but this was a repeat of an oft frequented stroll, last walked on 7 November last year. Tonight the trees were leafless but there was lots of ambient light, so no need at all for any torches. The towpath was deserted apart from one dog and its surprised owner.

The Swan was quiet, with just a crisp tasting session going on in the background as, over pints of Timothy Taylor's 'Landlords' and a glass of cider for Sue, we showed Andrew [the 'Images from Ottawa' show was rejected on the grounds of being boring!] our plans for the walk to the east of the Maritime Alps in July that comprise the third chapter of The Famous Five's biennial expeditions. Around 62 km in six days, with just over 5,000 metres of ascent, subject to 'vetting'. More on this in a separate posting.

I wore my original Asolo Fugitive boots tonight. They are fairly 'bald' and a bit leaky, but remain supremely comfy, so much so that the my two pairs of new boots have as yet enjoyed very little use. Tonight these 'originals' passed the 1000 mile mark that any pair of half decent boots should easily muster.

Next Wednesday we won't be walking in the evening, but we will be with Stockport Walking Group at Hazel Grove Civic Centre with our 'Walks and Via Ferrata in the Dolomites' hour long presentation, starting at 8 pm, adjourning to the Grapes afterwards. We hope that some of you may join us there.

We use an old calendar from 2007 to record birthdays (it can prove confusing). This month we have the pleasure of looking at the image below, taken on 1 February 2006 on trail 36 by Lac Meech in Gatineau Park, with Helen returning down the trail after passing the boathouse.

Sunday 15 February 2009 - Mudfest at Alderley Edge

Back in the real world of the gloomy UK, at least it didn't rain, and we were able to catch up with our good friends, the inmates of Hale Towers.
We soon passed the Engine Vein, the 100 metre long fissure featuring bowl-like opencast pits where Bronze Age man mined copper ores around 4000 years ago.  Until recently this was a heavily eroded scar, but having been fenced off by the National Trust the bare earth is starting to recover.  No doubt in a few years' time working parties will be called upon to clear the vegetation!



It seems no time at all since A and K needed frequent 'carries' and other mechanical aids to get them around on walks.  Nowadays they are more into racing down woodland paths, and since they understand their own sophisticated handicapping system, for some reason Al and I always seemed to vie for 5th and 6th positions, at the rear of the field. 
These days there's less time to stop for the view - here a scene of typical Cheshire countryside in winter.  Any snow in these parts (there was none at all in Timperley when the rest of the UK seemed engulfed by it) melts within hours.



It was a dull day, but green and warm compared with Canada. These Canada Geese, on the same pond that Sue and I admired from a log back on 7 October 2007, must today have been thinking 'stupid humans' as they watched groups like ours floundering in the mud, though I think A and K really enjoyed this bit.



For the record, not that A and K are counting, today's excursion was all of 3 km with about 100 metres of ascent.
'Good times today' - as Hazel has already commented.
The whole album for today (only 12 images) is here.
This blog has visited Alderley Edge on some earlier postings:
28 September 2008
28 October 2007 and
7 October 2007

New Shoes

This is possibly our final 'Canadian' post for this year, subject to occasional contributions from Summitboy, our Ottawa correspondent.  It shows Sue, exactly a week ago, on a final stroll around 'Woodroffe Park' before we embarked on a smooth journey back to the warm green gloom of Timperley.

The week's blogging efforts all went into the previous post, which is intended as a resource for anyone wondering about what the CSM is like to take part in.

Last time we left Canada, two years ago, I made the impulse purchase of a new pair of shoes at the airport.  I'd been admiring the very light footwear during the course of our visit, and I hadn't seen it in the UK.  Ideal for river crossings, I thought.  There was, at Ottawa airport, a choice of one colour.  Orange.  That's how I came to acquire the orange crocs that feature in my 'profile' photo with the Phreerunner tent.

This year we eschewed the snowshoeing tracks, partly due to the minor hassle of hiring snowshoes.  It would be good to do a bit of snowshoeing without having to resort to hire shops.

Bushtukah, and some money that I didn't have but was nevertheless burning a hole in my pocket, provided the solution. 
New shoes!  Very smart!  Sue's laces are particularly striking...

We brought them home, with the vague intention of using them in Scotland.  It seems they are similar dimensions to those being debated on Chris Townsend's pages (6 February 2009), so they may be too small to deal well with deep, fresh snow.  But we hope they may work where the snow has consolidated a bit, and we know they will perform well when they return to Canada.

They may also come in handy for our forthcoming visit to the TGO Challenge High Altitude Training Camp.

The Canadian Ski Marathon 2009 (CSM) – A Tale of Three Halves (part 2)

Well, we are back in the UK, time flies past, there is post to open, people to chase up, people to visit, things that need to be done, trips to be planned, bookings to be made. 

If I had not started this blog, the record of our CSM attempt this year would disappear, like the previous three, into the library of A6 diaries and maybe never see the light of day.

But the blog is here, followed assiduously by my mother, and thanks to her even now noticed by my daughter....

.....I'm afraid you'll need more time than normal for this entry.

1650 hrs, Sunday 8 February

Helen waits anxiously, having optimistically installed herself at a table for 10 in the CSM banqueting hall that usually masquerades as a giant school gymnasium in Buckingham, Quebec.  Claire joins her, having skied just a couple of sections today.  Helen explains:

"It was so icy on Section 6.  Michael had gone ahead.  Martin and Sue had passed me.  I got about a kilometre up the trail - as far as the narrow ice bridge.  Even the waxless skis were difficult to control.  It wasn't at all enjoyable.  I saw that other folk were turning back.  I didn't think that was allowed on the CSM.  I thought to myself 'if I see five people turning back, I'll join them'.  I did, and I did turn back.  On the way back into Montebello I had to walk down the hill that I had struggled up a short while earlier.  I met a first aider.  She agreed with my take on the conditions, and with my decision to stop."

There ended the 'Scrabbled Skiers' team leader's exploits for the weekend, with a desultory total of one section skied.  But she had survived, and had brought the car to the finish to collect others under her management.

Helen is a better skier than either Sue or me.

So, who would be first to appear from the icy conditions and the gathering gloom outside?

0550 hrs, Sunday 8 February 

Ken had been up for nearly two hours at the Gold Camp, in the wooded hills above Montebello.  It had been a relatively warm night with some light rain.  He was glad he had taken his tarp, and that he had spent quite some time the previous evening laying out his bed of hay.  He was still elated from having achieved yesterday's 77km objective, including the infamous section 3 with its huge hills, with a good half hour's leeway at the final checkpoint, but it had been a smoky night.  Ken worried that his possessions would smell of wood smoke for aeons to come.

He set off in confident mood.  Tired, but fueled with adrenaline for today's 81km stint over undulating terrain in icy conditions.

0750 hrs, Sunday 8 February, Montebello

Michael had set off in a flurry of ice particles and sticky wax in a bid to double the 4 sections he magnificently achieved yesterday.

Helen had ambled on ahead.

Sue and I were about to apply the infamously awful, sticky, klister wax that Ken had so thoughtfully provided for us.  We were however standing adjacent to a 'waxing station', so why not let those nice people from Swix do our waxing for us....

We pondered our experience of this year's CSM thus far.

We had set off from home much earlier than usual on Friday, so as to drive the 180km to Lachute, to drop Ken off at the 'Gold Dorm' - a school gymnasium in which all 250 Coureur des Bois 'Gold' entrants would spend the night.

The dorm wasn't there!  We toured around Lachute, using the CSM's large scale map that pinpointed the dorm's position in the town.  We investigated and eventually located the school. It was indicated in completely the wrong place on the CSM's map.

Composure was recovered with coffees at Tim Hortons, where 'The Two Steves', with whom Ken had practised bivouacking at -30°C a couple of weeks earlier - turned up, bemused about how to find the Gold Dorm.

Leaving the masochists to their cosy accommodation, Helen, Sue and I returned to Montebello, half way along the 180km length of the CSM course, to join Michael in our room for four at the Auberge Montebello.  Our previous experience of the place was that whilst it has a rather un-funny Fawlty Towers air to it, it can't be matched for value in Montebello.  Helen had got a very good deal this year.  I had listened to the telephone call in which she had confirmed everything.

It was nevertheless no great surprise to find that we had no booking - well, we had, but it was for the following month.  I won't bore you with the rest of the story, just picture an excerpt from Fawlty Towers, with Basil and Sybil in good form at reception.  After some 'ducking and diving' all round we eventually got a room, and there was much negotiation on price as Helen had been quoted the much cheaper March rate.

The nearby Bistro (we have learnt from bitter experience not to dine in the hotel) provided a hearty meal, though I was very fortunate not to dislike too much the soy sauce from which my chicken had failed in its bid to escape a 'death by drowning' verdict.

The following morning (Saturday) Michael had left to get the early bus to Lachute, where he started with many other 'Tourers' at Section 1.  Kerry also started here, but Michael zoomed ahead and completed 65km on the day - 4 sections, missing the 1515 hrs cut off time for the fifth.  He is a good skier, if not as fit as usual this year.

Meanwhile, Helen, Sue and I had 'lain in' until 0630 and after a good breakfast from Helen's cool box had caught the 0740 bus to the start of section 4.  The CSM hires school buses for transporting people from place to place - there is no room for private cars.  There was a jolly crowd on the bus, including a teacher and five children from Dublin School in the Adirondack - "I'm feeling chipper this morning!" said the teacher, who builds canoes in his spare time.

 
We set off in a group of 50 to 100 folk soon after 0830 on a vaguely sunny day that was destined to cloud over during the morning. 

Here we are, waiting for the 0830 starting gun, after which we passed one by one through the canopy, our numbers being recorded and our bar codes being 'swiped'.
Sue and I soon found ourselves going more quickly than most, on lovely, freshly groomed trails in the excellent snow conditions we had become accustomed to on this trip.  Note the lovely pristine trail. Section 4, 20km, was completed in 2½ hours.  Half way along we enjoyed this refreshment stop. At the end of the section there were lots of goodies to nosh, and very few people, so we applied a bit of dark blue wax (good for warm conditions - it was about -5°C) whilst munching chocolate covered peanuts and bits of banana, and soon set off on the 18km section 5.  For the first time since arriving three weeks earlier, we were skiing in a single pair of gloves.  The trail was easy, given the conditions, and we had no significant incidents.   Even the 'downhills' were easily negotiated. We were 'breaking trail' - almost leading the field, albeit having started at kilometre 46.  It's not surprising therefore that none of the speedy Coureur des Bois contenders caught up with us before we passed their turning to the 'Gold Camp'.  In fact, just 4 people passed us today:

• a lone youth of about 12, going along very professionally at about twice our speed
• a fast, athletic, man
• a man who effortlessly glided past whilst we were double-poling energetically near the finish.  "You've got motors in those skis, you cheat" I accused...."No" he replied, "my good friend waxed the skis...."
• a man who flew past just as I was judiciously negotiating one of the final bends.  He missed the turn and landed in a heap.  I don't know why I apologised and let him get up and continue ahead of me.....but it's not a race.

It had started to spot with rain as we passed a marker showing 2km to go, so we were pleased to finish before the rain started properly.  We'd done the 18km in about 2 hours, our quickest skiing of the whole trip.  The sweeping downhill runs into Montebello were a sheer delight.  This was a lovely section to ski.

Pasta soup and other goodies sustained us for our 20 minute walk back to the hotel, where Helen was waiting to guide us to our new room.  She had done the first section, slowly, and got the bus back.

I was happy and warm on this 20 minute walk, probably relieved at having come through a CSM day without injury (it's a rare event), but Sue recalls it being 'unpleasant, with rain freezing onto clothes and skis and my hands being extremely cold'.

Dinner was booked at the Bistro for 1830.  Michael arrived back from completing 4 sections just in time to join us, albeit unwashed, for dinner, with Claire, Kerry, Sophie and Tim joining the four of us tonight.  The four of them had each completed two sections, in Sophie and Tim's case one of those was the 'killer' section 3, incorporating the infamous 3 km descent known as the Bobsled Run - so well done to them.

The 'Scrabbled Skiers' literary contest was later won, as usual, by Michael - he is undisputed champion.   Here, Helen and I practice in vain.Michael is also king of section 3, though his means of control is perhaps suspect..."I couldn't make all the corners on the Bobsled Run" he reported, "I had to bale out a couple of times."  'Baling out', in Michael's book, involves launching oneself into a snow bank beside the trail by way of a bizarre braking technique.

1700 hrs, Sunday 8 February

Sue and I spotted Helen at her 'table for 10' in the banqueting room.  She reiterated her tale of woe at having turned back after just 1km.  We commiserated, having found the morning's first stage (section 6) tough ourselves.

We located the car, stashed our skis for the last time this year, and changed in the car whilst Helen resumed her search for the missing warrior, Ken.

Sue and I reflected on our day.  We had achieved our objective, but had skied for over 7 hours, excluding stops, to cover 49km, whereas yesterday we had covered 38km in 4½ hours.  It had been a tough day, especially at the start, where the route was icy, and

the skis had seemed to be too wide for the tracks and kept sticking, or the track had collapsed in places, leaving us with awkward moves.  Our poles frequently disappeared far into the crust of badly compacted snow.  We wondered whether this 'post-holing' was due to the weather, or had the trail just been inadequately compacted by the grooming machine?  Or had all the people who had gone before us simply left the trail in bad condition - we were at the tail of the field today.

It was slow going.

We are not quitters.  By the time we finished section 6, some 12km and 2 hours after our 0800 start, the weather had brightened and the snow had softened a little.  Sue had damaged a shoulder in a fall, and had followed that up with a spectacular 'head plant' into a snow bank (see below for a similar contemporaneous incident in the Alps) after following too closely and having to avoid me when I fell.

She took some time to extricate herself from the deep snow, with skiers flying past around the tricky corner and me shivering in wait at the bottom of the hill.

We abandoned our battered skis to the nice Swix people, who waxed them with something quite sticky whilst we refreshed ourselves with goodies (volunteers serve hot Gatorade, honey water, soup, cookies, granola bars, peanuts and chocolate-covered nuts at all the checkpoints) and made use of the ubiquitous portaloos - they must hire hundreds of them.

Setting off on section 7, Sue had problems making her skis work, and she walked down the hill from the start.  I'd put the precious camera away today and was being very careful, but I started to find the downhill sections easier, especially a long back country sort of trail through a wood, after which I had a long wait for Sue.  She is usually much more confident (and more skilled) on the skis, but today I was managing fine whilst she was walking.  After the slow first section we knew we couldn't make the cut to ski the fourth section of the day, so we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves at the back of the field in the sunshine.

We came across one of the occasional 'unofficial' support points, where local people lay out trestle tables outside their homes and provide coffee and cakes etc to participants. Here we encountered a man with one pole, its broken twin perching like an antenna in the top of his rucksack.  Disconcertingly, he kept repassing us at speed, but he did retire at the end of the section.

Both pairs of gloves were needed today, and the head wind was very strong in open country.  Luckily it diminished whenever we got into trees, so we weren't constantly debilitated by it.  Great care was required, even when walking, to avoid punching deep holes into the snow crust and getting stuck in these 'post holes'.  The 20km section took us around 3 hours.  The chap who chattily waxed our skis at our final checkpoint commented "you can tell the Brits - they all have Lowe Alpine Mountain Caps and RAB jackets", kit which is not available in North America (they are jealous).  We didn't meet any other Brits this year - the participants from the UK can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Our speed quickened on our final 16km section, which took a shade over 2 hours.  It was a lovely, if uneventful, ski beside rivers and lakes and through scenic woodland. 
We finished at 1535 and just missed a bus so had a long wait chatting to folks from Massachusetts (they have a 2½ hour drive to New Hampshire to train for the marathon) and various more local places.  A man arrived with a very bloodied face - embarrassingly he had fallen near the end of the section and bitten quite decisively through his lip...

We waited here: It was 1700 by the time we reached Buckingham, and the banquet, and concern about Ken's fate.

1730 hrs, Sunday 8 February

Fresh from the privacy of our Subaru changing cubicle, Sue and I headed back towards the banqueting hall in the gathering gloom of the evening.  Who should we meet in a corridor?  Ken, elated with success, having finished the whole course with nearly half an hour to spare at the last cut-off point.  A fantastic achievement.  Well done Ken.

This set the mood for a very jolly time at the banquet, where Kerry soon arrived, having done the last 3 sections today.  It was her first CSM, and she was lucky to have avoided today's first tricky section.  She, like us, had completed five sections, entitling us to a bronze 
'pin' which we all duly collected.  It was a good hour before Tim and Sophie arrived, having also completed the last three sections and gained their bronze pins - they had been delayed by having to return to Montebello for Tim's car.  The final two at our table for 10 had just beaten Tim and Sophie to the table - Lynette had done at least 5 sections and her partner, Lester, who is one of Ken's training pals, had done the whole course as a Coureur des Bois silver participant - meaning that he had to carry at least 5 kilos, but unlike the 'golds' he could stay overnight in a hotel. 

The 'silver' participants have to carry ballast - they don't need camping gear, so there's a tradition that they wait for their mates who are doing the 'gold' at the turn off to the gold camp.  Bottles of scotch are duly handed over to alleviate the pain of camping out on bales of hay.  The two Steves, who both also finished, benefited from this act of charity from a friend of theirs, unsurprisingly named 'Steve'.  Ken duly benefited, but as Lester hadn't kept up with him he didn't receive his own bottle.  [The Steves all work for 'The Government' - identified by their Blackberries - I think 'Steve' must be their code name.]

The food at the banquet used to be great, with huge sides of beef, but these days there is no main sponsor for the event and costs have been pared, so outside caterers supply a rather average buffet.  At least there's plenty of it, and the mobile bar didn't run out of beer.

The formal business of the banquet involves all the successful Coureur des Bois participants going onto the stage and introducing themselves.  Special mentions are made - the 12 year old who skied the whole course, the 70 year old who skied the whole course as a 'Tourer' (very hard) [well, he did take part in the bobsled racing in the Innsbruck Olympics], the family who have around 100 compleations between them, the elderly granddaughter of a 'founding father' Jack-Rabbit Johansen, who gave up skiing at the age of 108!  And so on.

After the Coureur des Bois awards come the Hat Trick Awards.

To qualify for a Hat Trick Award you:

• Must have completed the CSM as a Coureur des Bois;
• Must have run any marathon in under five hours; and
• Must have completed any "double century" cycling tour (two 100-mile tours or 160 km in two consecutive days) in an official event 
• The three events must be completed within one calendar year.

Ken was one of the dozen or so folk who had achieved this accolade, the trophy for which he received rather in the manner of a cyclist taking the Yellow Jersey. 
Here's his trophy:
  
He and Helen enjoyed the moment:

And the rest of us enjoyed the banquet:

From left to right: Lynette, Sophie, Ken, Helen, Kerry, Tim, Martin, Claire (taken by Sue, with Lester absent at the bar)

So ends our tale of three halves

• a fine day's skiing on Saturday
• a horrible first section on Sunday
• followed by a relaxing afternoon's skiing and a most pleasurable banquet.

There are many more tales being told of this and other CSM triumphs and failures.  The links from the CSM website are here.

Here are two opposing reports:

This first report is by way of a video, taken on the descent of the steep and narrow hill on section 3 - the 'Bobsled Run' that is far too hard for us to tackle.  Who says cross-country skiing isn't an adrenaline sport?

Looks easy, doesn't it!  Oh to be able to parallel ski, let alone do it down a narrow track...

Here's another take, extracts from a report on this year's event by Sheri McCready:

"In a nutshell:
So the CSM was a beautiful, painful, and expensive nightmare. But don't let me dissuade you from entering and doing the training for this out-of-this-world, fantastically organized, and fun event.
This year, Steve and I decided we were going to get out of our comfort zone and take our physical, mental and emotional challenges to the next level by doing the infamous CSM.
Friends warned us that many people don't make it to the end because they miss the cut off time to start the fifth section of each day. Apparently, 'making it' boiled down to nailing endurance, technique and time management.
Regarding endurance, we were going in with a half Ironman, an Ironman, 2 half marathons, and 2 full marathons under our belts during the 2008 ski off-season. We'd skate skied for five years completing four, 53km skate ski Keskis and one 29km classic Keski. We knew we were fit.
Regarding technique, we had a long way to go? They said the conditions for descending very technical down hills, especially, were always very difficult by the time the last wave went through, with a combination of ice and destroyed tracks. They could not have been more correct, and there was NO WAY we could re-create the conditions in training. But I get ahead of myself?
Event weekend came and off we went to Montebello: Steve, Nancy, a friend of hers, Evan (also a first timer) and myself. We stayed at an inn (Domaine Montebello) down the road from the Chateau, which was affordable, well-equipped and close by. Perfect. There was a lot of trepidation about the weather because it was going to be really warm and maybe wet. Damn, we had never even used red or purple wax before! We appreciated a little 'clinic' Nancy's friend Ed gave us about klister binder under layers of cold wax that progressively got warmer. Scary! There were heat guns, degreasers, scrapers and gooey substances inscribed with foreign language all over the place. By the way, the wax, at least for Saturday, was exactly right. We added purple along the way and had no trouble with that part of the plan all day.
Event day. Ahhh! It was dark at 6:00am so I had a head lamp, but it was so crowded. It was surreal, like penguins, there were hundreds of us on two tracks sliding along, opening up every so often on little descents. Bamm! Fifteen minutes in, I stutter-stepped over to change tracks to get back in the slightly slower track and I fell, stepping on my carbon pole, breaking it about seven inches from the end. Weirdly, I didn't notice right away. Once I did, I had no choice but to shimmy backward along the side of the track to look for a silver pole end in the dark! It took awhile and lots of crying out, "Have you seen a pole end???" Eventually, someone saw it. I stuffed it in my pocket and off I went. I asked at a road crossing, manned by the military, for duct tape. Eureka, they had it, but my MacGivor skills are terrible. It didn't really provide any resistance for poling. I asked at the first section checkpoint if they had spares. None. Steve offered to take a turn with my misery sticks while I used his "man poles". Better, but not ideal. At the second checkpoint they did have a spare alpine pole. Whoo hoo! Let's let it rock!
The third section is famous for its insane descents. It lived up to its reputation! Unbelievably, there were line-ups at some hills more than forty people deep! On one hill, in particular, I was really freaked out. I decided to follow a Gold (someone who has successfully completed multiple events) down the hill to learn the etiquette for walking hills. There were a few disgruntled snowplowers jeering at us that we were more of a hazard walking, but I called out that I was more of a hazard falling in the middle of the trail taking others down with me. We walked in the very deep snow switching sides to be on the least hazardous side for the skiers. It was the right thing to do when you saw the aftermath of other big wipeouts. I should say that we took Lise and Dave's downhill clinic, but it would have worked better if someone had taken a bulldozer to the hill.
Somewhere on that section the second mishap occurred. My boot zipper had slipped down spontaneously a few times in training. I had meant to go back to the store to ask about the boots because they were only a year old. I didn't. Somewhere on section three, the zipper failed and the boot got packed with snow, only to ice over. I couldn't clear the boot or un-freeze the open zipper. I was stuck with an ice pack that provided no support for the rest of the day.
Oh well, I completed Section 3. Nancy had passed me on a hill, even though she'd started 2 hours after us! Meanwhile, Steve's binding had frozen, unbeknownst to me at the last checkpoint, so he had unfrozen it with lighter fluid. He was slow starting and had some trouble, like I'd had, on the down hills, so I never saw him all of Section 3.
Reunited at Section 4, we knew we had a real chance to make the cut off! We were skiing well, especially on climbs and flats. We were nailing time management, minimizing breaks and moving with urgency. Endurance was holding up. It was possible.
That's when the third and most crushing blow hit!! Approximately, 10km from the end of the section, after more falling, I realized the tip of my ski had snapped, almost right off. I say approximately because I don't know exactly when it happened. The ski wasn't 'working right' so I kept trying to adjust, or there was a climb, so I didn't notice until I took it off to inspect. At that point I tried to hold back tears and begged Steve to go on without me. He refused because he's just that kind of guy... We carried on, with me pushing and grating in the track for the rest of the section, missing the cut off by 20 minutes. We got on the sweep bus as it filled with others who had had their own versions of disappointments for the day.
We might have made it if one or two things went wrong, or if I was a better descender, but there was too great a cumulative effect to overcome everything.
Later that evening, we found out that I could rent skis from the Chateau for the second day. Starting late, after the store opened, we set off on an extremely windy, rather icy trail. In contrast, with Saturday, there was almost no one around. The skis were waxless and wide so the grating was very slow in the icy, narrow tracks. My ski would jam in the track and haul me down to my knees at random intervals. The uphills were sheer ice, so the sliding was brutal. Again, I offered to cut Steve loose, but he wouldn't go? We completed two sections of the five when I decided I'd had enough of going nowhere slow.
We learned a lot over the weekend about classic skiing, waxing, technique, nutrition and character. I know I was a little naive to think I could achieve a Bronze level given my skill and experience. Others made it. Evan was very successful and I heard other newbies celebrating, but I have a deepened respect for the challenges the CSM offers. I also have to add to the list of elements for success at this event: endurance, technique, time management and ? equipment. Sounds a little like an Ironman, huh? I've done five and I can attest that the CSM is way harder.
Sheri McCready"

This does all sound a little melodramatic, especially as after all their training they only managed a similar mileage to us.  I think our kit is more basic, for example we have cheap poles and skis that are very flexible (my poles have recovered from a right angle bend in the past).  But our shoe zippers are fully functional!

I'll end with another video that actually provides a good overview of the flavour of the CSM:

The Canadian Ski Marathon 2009 (CSM) – A Tale of Three Halves (part 1)

This, our final posting from Canada this year, is just to let you know that we had a (‘Mostly’, and as AS would say ‘the capital M is important’) great time on the CSM and all returned (we think, Michael hasn’t reported in yet) safely to Ottawa, our various objectives having been achieved.

That means Ken was star of the show. He completed the entire 160km route, carrying a pack and spending the night on a bale of hay under a tarp. He now has his Coureur des Bois Gold Medal, and was also one of the few people who received a Hat Trick Award, about which more later. Here he is receiving the award at last night's banquet.


Well done Ken.

As expected, cameras stayed in the rucksacks for this trip – just as well as there were a few tumbles. Sadly that means there is a limited photographic record. So for this entry the header shows skiers enjoying their first refreshments stop after about 10km on Saturday’s section 4. The footer shows me, in the middle of section 8 on Sunday, having skied about 80km over the two days up to that point.

All that remains for now is for me to welcome a new reader to the blog (albeit only occasionally, when she wonders whether her tea will be available at Dad and Sue’s house). Hello Kate! You will not be going hungry next Sunday.

A fuller report on the CSM will follow. Here it is.

The Canadian Ski Marathon 2009 - Prologue

The CSM, or Canadian Ski Marathon, takes place at this time every year. This is its 43rd consecutive year. Quite an institution.

Sue and I usually join Helen and another friend, Michael, and make up a mixed touring team. In 2007 we completed 23 sections (out of 32 that year) and actually managed to win a bronze medal in our category! That year the course was altered due to a paucity of snow. This year there is plenty of the white stuff, so the course is the more usual 10 sections, 5 each day, over the coming weekend, heading over 160km of trails from Lachute to Buckingham (over the river in Quebec).

So we leave after lunch today to install ourselves at the half way point and overnight halt on Saturday - for us a small hotel in Montebello.

Ken will be trying to do the whole course, with a rucksack, bivviing overnight with the Coureur des Bois Gold contingent - around 100 of them.

We will be amongst the 2000 or so 'others', starting from different places at different times, most of us just aiming to complete part of the course.

Whilst Helen will be content to do one section each day, Sue and I aim to do the last two sections on the first day (38km) and the first three sections of the second day (49km). We are not expert enough to do the middle (3rd) section of the first day, so that hampers our ability to treat this event as a real challenge, but it does provide an excellent opportunity to ski trails across private land that are available only to CSM competitors. Michael will probably do 6 or 7 sections - he's quite expert.

The possible downside to all this is that following the three weeks of superb skiing weather we've had in Gatineau Park, the forecast for the weekend is dire. Rain is forecast for Saturday afternoon, then a moderate night, and then warm again on Sunday. That means it'll be icy, so we will be doing quite a bit of walking on the gradients.

Ho hum - it may be more of a challenge than we were anticipating, or we could reduce our aspirations. Waxing is likely to be quite interesting, with horrible gooey wax being needed in the warm conditions. Some may even choose waxless skis, normally very slow but suited to these conditions. We have no choice though. At least our hands should stay warm!

Regardless, it is unlikely to be as exciting as my first attempt at this marathon, in 2004, starting in the other direction. The report on that is recorded for posterity here. This will be my 5th attempt, and Sue's 3rd, and we don't plan to repeat an earlier performance in which various bits of my kit were destroyed in a fall - but the broken kit did save me from a broken hip!

Don't expect much of a photographic record! The cameras will be placed under tight security in the middle of our bags!

This will be the last posting until Monday, at least, when an interim report on this year's experience of the CSM will be posted, before the composition of a fuller document, perhaps on the flight home - so ciao until then. Hopefully 'summitboy' (Ken) will also post a report.

Thursday 5 February 2009 – Our Last Day in Gatineau Park

Until now we have been skiing in the central and northern sections of the Park. That is because they have convenient cabins at which to enjoy a break and some tea or lunch. The southern section of the Park, whilst only a ten minute drive from home, is bereft of cabins. However, it does hold some excellent trails, so today we felt we couldn’t leave without visiting some of them.
From the southern edge of the Park, P3 at Gamelin, we took Gatineau Parkway for 10 minutes before turning onto the excellent trail 5. It was sunny again, but very cold – similar to yesterday.

As was the scenery….

Trail 5 heads off to the north near Pink Lake, so we took trail 15 to P6 at MacKenzie King (across the road from another of our start points, Kingsmere). Trail 7 from here was an excellent ski, leading eventually back to Gatineau Parkway for a gentle potter back to P3, to conclude this year’s visit to Gatineau Park.

On the way we passed the Lookout above Pink Lake. The lake is named after the family who settled here in the 1830s. It turned green in the 1960s and has been found to have no oxygen below a depth of 13 metres. It was thought to be polluted, possibly due to a mica mine from the early 1900s, but it has recently been established that erosion is the problem. Remedial measures are being taken.

Pink Lake is white in winter.

Here's one of two huge grooming machines that were lunching on the Parkway.

As we approached Gamelin, we gained a clear impression of how close this ski area is to the centre of Canada’s capital city.

Having carried a flask of tea all around this 22km route (10.00 to 13.20 including 15 minutes of breaks), we finally got to enjoy it from the warmth of the car before travelling the 10 minutes home for bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon.

Wednesday 4 February 2009 – Around Lac Philippe

My first day of retirement was celebrated together with Sue on a neat little circuit of Lac Philippe – P17 (Wakefield) then along trails 52, 50 and 53, stopping at Renaud Cabin for lunch.

Unfortunately Sue wiped out quite badly near the #50 junction. I lounged on a bench whilst she adopted a ‘recovery pose’. She was later coaxed back to life with a hot bath and some ice; now how is that supposed to work?

Renaud Cabin sits in delightfully open surroundings.

We were the only visitors today, which meant that toasting our sandwiches was something of a long job.

I photographed our 'typical lunch' whilst we waited.

Today's tracks were easy but fast, with very few people out (we saw seven all day) as it was cold (-14°C + wind chill taking it to about -30°C), but hands stayed reasonably warm, especially on the delightful final section, with some open countryside, along #53.

Back home by 3pm, we later enjoyed a lovely sunset from the second floor balcony:

Then we all enjoyed an excellent meal at ‘Chez Woodroffe’ - champagne, fine wine and BBQ'd (Ken seems to like barbecuing in frigid weather) pork tenderloin with lavish accompaniments, and thank you, Kate, for your ‘phone call, and for all the contact from other well-wishers.

We enjoyed 24km today, taking from 10.15 to 14.15, including 1 hour of breaks.

A Life of Riley: The End

It's over!

My Life of Riley is at an end.

After a year with no income the time has come to end the pain that others have endured in funding my obsessions.

I have an income again! Not much, but enough to just about get by.

My thanks go to all (especially Sue) who have contributed to make my 'Riley Period' so enjoyable.

And even though that period has ended, it seems I don't need to go to work, and I get some free medicine and travel and other concessions. So my expenses are down and I have (or hope I will have, anyway) some funds.

Cheers, the next pint's on me!

[You'll have to remind me of that, 'cause I'm a bit deaf y'know.]

Tuesday 3 February 2009 – Fun in the Sun

Sue and I enjoyed a sunny ski from Kingsmere, quickly reaching Shilly Shally cabin, pictured below.

From here, back-country trail number 12 undulated its way for a kilometre across to trail 3. It took all of 30 minutes. (We average a good 7kph on the normal tracks.) Sue enjoyed it. She is more expert than me. Here she is on the narrow trail.

I kept falling over. I don’t think I’ll be doing any more back-country trails without some tuition! See me struggling up this minor hill. It’s harder than it looks. I certainly seem to make it harder than it should be!

It was a lovely day, however, and once on trail 3 I could enjoy the scenery, the snow glistening between the trees, and the views from Ridge Road, which we joined near Huron Cabin and headed along towards Western, before taking #1B to the Lookout. I’m happier now, despite the ice at this point.

We descended to Keogan Cabin for lunch. It was full when we arrived. Empty when we left. Perhaps Sue’s merino top that she has been testing needs a rinse!

With no fresh snow for a few days the trails have quickened, though they can hardly be said to be icy. This was however enough to make me walk down the steep section of #1 just before we turned onto #30. Whilst previously on this trip the corner (shown in a video a few days ago) has been quite easy, discretion was the better part of valour for me, here, today.

We swished and stumbled (me only) along for another 21km today, taking from 10.35 to 14.10, including 45 minutes of breaks.