April 16th

6.30pm: A busy morning of work in Vancouver followed by a pleasant flight back eastwards to Alberta. From the sky, the mountains looked so beautiful & sunny that I made up my mind to take the family out for dinner. We headed to Banff & the wonderful Juniper Hotel. Perched at the foot of Mount Norquay the hotel/bar/restaurant is an upscale place, but casual enough to take the kids & it's blessed with a fantastic patio. Obviously there is going to be a wedding tomorrow, what a place to get married. The kids enjoyed themselves, it did get a wee bit nippy when the sun went down but by then we were well finished!

March 28th

2pm: We're off & it's Dads vs Kids in the slalom at Norquay. I thought I would have to hold back a little, to let Tabby beat me - I needn't have worried, she absolutely flew down the course & it was all I could do just to keep level. Tabby is wearing a Hawaiian Hula Hula skirt - it was the final day of the season for her racing club & there was all sorts of stuff going on - barbecues, prizes & lots of fancy dress. Really enjoyed the racing, we went at it a few times, she won every time. Her day was complete when she won a trophy at the end (all the kids in her class did) - she got a faultless, glowing report - a proper little ski racer. Most importantly she said at the end as we drove home, I am really going to miss my classes..........

March 14th

11.30am: Tabby during her first ever ski racing experience at a balmy Norquay. She was a ghost rider, meaning that she raced head-to-head with much bigger/older kids who needed a partner to race against in the slalom competition. Tabby skied beautifully, crashing only once in her 3rd race & winning her 4th against an older boy. I think she really enjoyed the experience, racing in front of a large noisy crowd. It was especially nice when she crashed, that upon getting up & sking out the course she got a massive cheer! I think that boosted her confidence. Also a bit of a landmark day for Charlie boy as he skied his first chair lift run at 2 & 1/2 - I had him on reins & he fell over/sat down about 20 times but he made it down!!

March 7th

1.30pm: So another, amazingly glorious summer's day in The Rockies. Today was Tabby's second set of ski racing lessons & she out ski-ed me by some considerable distance, seriously at 5 years old she is 10 times better than me!! How can that be? The group skied double black diamond moguls all day, I had to take an easier route down & meet them at the bottom - luckily she is too young (for now) to realise the humiliation this entails....still I had time to stop & take in the scenery, I love this view of the Rundle range beyond the beautifully symetric sloping mountains in the foreground.

February 28th

3pm: Tabby spent the day at her first ski-racing coaching camp at Norquay, she is for a 5 year old a truly amazing skier. Confident on any terrain, fast & very stable I cannot ski as well as she can. A future Olympian - who knows?! Talking of The Olympics I really have to admit I had very little interest in the final of the ice hockey, in which Canada beat the USA in extra-time. I know it is not very Canadian of me, but I simply cannot pretend to be that taken with the sport. I definitely like it more than Gridiron, Basketball or Baseball - and I was pleased for Canada as a whole - but (the real) football is my sport, as is cricket and to pretend otherwise is just faking it.

January 23rd

2pm: A full day at Norquay skiing in the morning with Tabby prior to her lesson & then just messing about with Charlie in the snow. A beautiful sunny day that culmiated, on Tabby's insistence, in a visit to The Drake for an apres-ski pub dinner - perfect!

January 9th

Self portrait - halfway up the Mystic Chairlift at Norquay, an insanely warm day on a hill I haven't ski-ed in 3 years. Tabby started her ski lessons today, I had plenty of time to explore the slopes. Doing it all again tomorrow!