Objective of the Season

To recreate this photo:























It will all be worth it if I do this.

Annextra Happy Christmas

*DISCLAIMER: Awesome Title Pun ©Dan Skilbeck*

Today is probably the first day in about a month where I haven't been either working or snowboarding, so I am currently making full use of walking around in my underpants and drinking litre after litre of Sun-Rype's Strawberry Banana juice. The Christmas period has been a mixture of long, stressful working days and excessively heavy drinking, so it is starting to take it's toll on everyone. Luckily we still have New Years to celebrate the end of Banff's busiest week of the year, and enter the new decade with a big messy bang.

To update on Christmas itself, I was unfortunately working during the day, which was neither merry nor good-willed. Norquay had the extraordinary power of sucking the Christmas spirit from anyone who entered - the blow up snowman wasn't fooling anyone. Luckily, when I got home an amazing xmas feast was in preparation thanks to LJ, Shaun, Neil, and Dan. We had the 'B-team Annex' crew over and played a ridiculous drinking game - making this my first boozy Christmas. And I liked it.















I'm falling ever more in love with Snowboarding. It still smacks me around a bit like a mildly abusive husband, but for some reason I keep come crawling back. Bought new bindings the other day which have met both approval and ridicule. Approval because they're an amazing make of bindings - Ride Beta, and ridicule because they're bright pink. I know they respect me really.

Hope you all had a very happy Christmas where ever you are, and have an amazing New Year. Stay Classy 2009.

The Beginning of the End

I turned 23 on friday, so I'm slowly coming to the realisation that I'm definitely NOT a teenager anymore. This did not, however, stop me from acting like a 14 year old kid who just found his dad's liquor collection in the cupboard under the stairs. The plan was simple: Centurion then Hoodoos. For those who are unfamiliar with Centurions, its basically 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes. This proved much easier than first anticipated, so far more drink followed, including a funnel full of about 7 different drinks. I would go into detail about the rest of the night but it gets a little hazy from then on. All I know is 3 facts. 1) A wrestling match ensued after drinking, resulting in my now infamous Rudoloph cut across my nose. 2) A good old fashioned birthday stripping in the middle of Banff, which meant I had to hop down Banff Avenue in just my top and boxer shorts. 3) I Walked around Hoodoos trying to attract the attention of the ladies, forgetting I had a full blown Herbert Kitchener moustache drawn on my face. I will have to try very hard to beat that next year.

It was also made extra special by the fact I received very generous cards and presents from home and plenty of alcohol from the Gap Year Canada peeps. Not much else to report apart from the fact my job mainly involves staring into the black abyss that is Station 2. I actually spent half an hour today assessing the best technique for loud clapping. I believe you have to position your right hand at a 90 degree angle to your left, then use the four digits of your right hand to slap (not slam) onto the palm of your left hand. I'll keep you updated if I find a better technique, but I seriously doubt it.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the new Iron Man 2 trailer yet, please do. It combines the magical elements of Scarlett Johansson and red hair. My life is complete.

Parents Come to Banff and Casual Racism

The week started with the arrival of Mr and Mrs Turner, which was awesome, especially after 9 days of working. They brought plenty of news from back home and, more importantly, Empire magazine - oh how I missed thee. Took them to both Sunshine and Lake Louise (not Norquay, because quite frankly, it's dire), and spent a lot of the time trying to catch up with my ski pro of a Mum. My boarding is coming along - I can actually turn on my toe edge without feeling like I'm going to die. I also did my first kicker thanks to a bit of encouragement and healthy dose of peer pressure - was ace.















On Wednesday we had the Gap Year Canada Christmas Party, which was held in Noel and Nancy's garage. The theme was Naughty or Nice, so obviously I chose to dress up as a naughty french man - mainly influenced by the fact I had a beret and a stripy top lying at home. The result was a somewhat cliched impression of the french (see above), and would prove to be fatal, when I inadvertedly got involved in a french bread battle with fellow gappers. Not to mention my painted moustache ended up making me look like a Mexican porn star.

The main attraction of the party was the Beer Pong, which involved throwing ping pong balls into the other team's cup to make them drink, whilst 30 or so people crowded around shouting incoherent trash talk to each team. Annex had a team. All I will say is; we did not take the world of Beer Pong by storm. Ended up at Wild Bill's which had a local dj playing some amazing D'n'B (from what I remember anyway), so I inevitably strut my funky stuff.

Back to work, which sucks. I work with a German guy called Chris who has been joking that I'm Australian for about 2 weeks. Apparently this joke doesn't get old.

Obligatory Bragging Photos: Part 1

My view in the morning at work. Nice.