Westerns - Day 1

Hi from Grand Prairie!

For those of you unwilling to read the entire synopsis, we've made a short summary video. Enjoy!

 

Day one started with an uncomfortably early morning, as many of these trips do. 4:00 came far too soon for most of us. Elora, however, embraced the sunrise with her usual grace.

Wow I am so excited to wake up at 4am wow!!!
— Elora Adamson (@eloraadamson) February 21, 2013

After arriving at the airport and amassing the gigantic pile of stuff that is essential to these trips, we fought a long and particularly irksome battle against Air Canada's new baggage regulations. On previous trips, each person has been allowed two checked bags, (one clothing bag and one ski bag,) that do not exceed 60 pounds each, and a carry-on. For reasons unfathomable to me, however, the new regulations ask for only one checked bag that does not exceed 50 pounds, and allow two smaller carry-on bags. Everything extra costs $$$. While I'm sure this makes perfect sense for the jet setting executives that form the majority of the customer base, it's a pain in the butt for skiers.

And so, we spent a good 45 minutes hopping on and off the scale with various combinations of ski bags, looking for the magic arrangement that would get us through the baggage check.

The flight to Edmonton was uneventful, except for Corey's run-in with the low ceiling. While the rest of us slept, Corey nursed his goose-egg. 

 

A two hour layover at the Edmonton airport was spent generally goofing around...

couldn't resist, guys. absolute blogging power corrupts absolutely.

Arrival in Grand Prairie:

 From the airport, we went straight to the Wapiti Nordic Centre, to preski the course.

the clubhouse

sorting through bags

"where the *@#% are my poles..."

can I...help you?

 The course is gorgeous. The 2.5 km consists of mostly long gradual uphills and long, fast downhills. The snow is very icy, due to temperatures hovering around zero degrees, so balance and riding a flat ski immediately become concerns. All said, though, it's a super fast, very fun course, and I think it's  going to be a great race tomorrow.

- SEAN

All photography by Elora 

(note to parents: for privacy purposes, the youtube video can be viewed solely by those people with the link. however, all pictures are viewable by anyone who accesses this blog. for this reason, please don't hesitate to contact me at s_carter@mts.net with any concerns, and I will immediately remove the pictures.)