I am so fed up of having to get up and go snowboarding every day… said nobody ever.
Hi I’m Jaymez Clark, you might remember me from week one, two, three, four and five of the NBS diary. Join me as we explore what happened in week six of the course.
Monday started the week off with a bang. As the day before had been another eventful Sunday doubles, I classed the morning what is known as a rot day, quite simply a day where you wish to rot in bed due to yesterday’s said partying encroaching on the activities of the new day. We did have the day off, so I wasn’t missing out on any instruction, don’t worry I’m a good student! However with a few of my fellow Snow Pines crew, we made our way to Tellus Park to assume the position of Park Rats for the day. With the expert tuition of Jamie Riddell I learned a few new moves, including board sliding, which is always a bonus to be able to add a new trick to the bag. Being a park rat does have its benefits, as it highlights where you can improve even just for general riding. Even the skiers were shredding with us, and I have to say, Ravi and Sam were killing it. Both hitting some good features and getting some good spins off of rails. We may even have the next (insert famous skiier’s name here, as being a snowboarder I have no clue who is a good skier…come to think of it I don’t even think skiiers know any really good pro skiiers…weird) on our hands. We all took a few spills and tumbles, but hey, chicks dig scars right?
So Tuesday was technically the start of the week and we had Jess as our new instructor, but unfortunately for everyone we had no new snow. Now don’t get me wrong I am not complaining because any snow is good snow, but a little more fresh snow wouldn’t be too much to ask for would it? I guess I’m not praying hard enough to the snow gods. So we hit Gem Lake for the first time in what seemed a while to me, but due to the bad conditions, hitting steeper pitches would prove a problem. It’s pretty hard to carve on ice on a 90 degree drop, but somehow we did it. Now I don’t want to toot our own horns here, but were pretty much becoming a big deal on snowboards at this stage. The snowboard elders would be proud.
Wednesday was pretty much a re-creation of the events of the day before, except with one exception…we went for some wings. WINGS WEDNESDAY RETURNS…and somehow it turned out into another night out in Sam’s. The details of how escape me, but it was a good night none the less. Jez somehow seemed to have acquired the name Russell. The story of how still confuses me, but he was talking to randomers under the alias, and going along with it as if the name was his own, which made for an interesting night. Later on in the evening we returned to the house to find cougar prints around the house! No, not a local Kelownan (if that’s the word) but in fact a big cat! However the situation is under control, NBS offer some of the best customer service I have ever seen. Ant and Joey went down to Walmart and brought all the necessary gear for cougar hunting. Some high quality service right there, however I think that I will in fact be the one to solve the cougar problem, as I’m going to use Cheetos to lure it and tame it. You know the saying right, cougar is a man’s best friend.
Thursday was pretty informative, as we got some really good video feedback and to play with the board a bit more. Thursday became one of the best days of the week in the evening. Due to the snow conditions all week being…well terrible is the only word to describe the snow conditions, so the week was getting a slight bit frustrating. But we held a snow ritual Thursday night, and our wishes were answered! SNOW. SNOW. SNOW. SNOW. SNOW. Such a magical word to us snow bums. Which meant Friday our first experience of the level two material in the form of a lesson was a pretty cool experience!
The weekend offered a very different experience! Due to my recent visa application being accepted I needed a photo for my application, so my cousin, his fiancé and their newborn visited for the weekend, which was awesome. I got to experience Kelowna and eat some awesome Canadian food! So lots of poutine for me! In addition to this the hotel that I stayed at had an epic slide! To finish off the week I got to have a sweet pie at Blarney Stone and hit the tubing park.
An epic end to another epic week
Stay Rad
Jaymez