Friday, October 31, 2008

Farnham Glacier

I just recently arrived from Farnham Glacier, located by Radium. It was one of the most exciting summer ski camps I have been to. In order to get up to the camp, you have to load up all your belongings into a large truck while we ride an old school bus. On the bus we have to drive for two hours on a bumpy and narrow logging road, untill it gets too steep for the bus to transport us any further. Then we have to hike for another hour up an arduous hill just to reach Camp Green (base camp). Camp Green is consisted of several dome-shaped huts, varying in size. There are several sleeper ones that have enough beds for five people, one for washroom facilities, one filled with gym equipment, and one for dining in. You're completely secluded in the mountains with no distractions, so you can truely focus on your skiing. A tipical day would be as follows:
Arise at 6 AM (which is really feels like 5 with the hour time change),
Do a warm up eat breakfast at 6:30 and get prepared for the rest of the day
Load the passenger cats at 7:30 and ride for 15min to the base of the galcier, unload your packs and continue scaling mountain
Once at the top, the sky is just starting to wake from its darkness, you do your warm up while you watch the amazing sunrise
You train for 6 hours, then return back to Camp Green. Once you're back you do an hour dryland and a video session; to analize your skiing
Get ready for dinner, and head down to the kitchen tent and eat a delicious meal
Then you have 3 hours of 'quiet time' in which you have to attempt your homework, get your skis tunned for the next day and have a team meeting so that you know what to bring for the next day
Then repeat.
The weather is unreliable so you have to be prepared for all conditions. When I was there it changed from icy cold and clear, to windy and foggy, to a foot af fresh powder.
This camp was by far my favourite because of the beautiful scenery, intense setting and it was virtually distraction-free. However, it was nice to get back to society and sleep in my own bed.

No comments: