School of Pain

Another great day today. In the morning the gang went to the Bombardier museum to learn about this company which is a Quebec institution and a Canadian icon. It is a company started by a young 19 year old, Joseph Armand Bombardier, who began the company tinkering in his father's garage - a little bit like Apple Computers.

In the afternoon, we met at Mont Orford to SKI!! The kids were pretty excited to get on skis. Mt Orford is a provincial park and very different from our own Mt Washington but equally fantastic for skiing - beautiful rolling terrain winding through the forest on nicely groomed skate track. Half our group were on skates and the other half on classic. We divided the group up accordingly. Tim headed off with Gilles and a  mix of Orford and Strathcona Nordics athletes for an exceptional technical skills session led by Gilles on offset technique. Berend headed off with Audree for a classic session and Cheryl headed off with some of the Orford mums for some personal ski time in the forest around Orford. My gang did really well with the offset technique work -- and it is clear now that Orford coach Gilles and Strathcona coach Dave B both attended the same School of Pain - having the kids do repeated circuits of off-set up some steep terrain.

After the afternoon session, the kids headed home with their twins while Berend and I headed off to Orford coach Gille's next training session with Sherbrooke University students. There, he inflicted more pain on Berend and I where we did more offset work pulling someone up a steep hill. It was beautiful to ski right in downtown Sherbrooke on the university campus in the semi-darkness.

At dinner Gilles told some great stories of our own Strathcona Nordics coach Dave Battison. In 2006 Dave was driving a truck in northern Italy near Bergamo with Gilles as his copilot. They were working at the Under 23 World Championships in Slovenia. As they approached an overpass, Gilles casually commented that the overpass looked a little low. Dave said 'Nah, no problem'. Below, I've inserted a photo which is a recreation of the description that Gilles provided of the ensuing aftermath.

Sorry no photos of skiing just yet. It was snowing heavily and I didn't have my iPhone out but some of the Orford parents have promised to send them to me so I'll post tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we are up early (5am!!) for a trip to Quebec City. Stay tuned....

More video from Glissade Normand

Here are some more videos from our tubing afternoon and La Tire sur Neige

Glissade et Sucre

This afternoon we all met at Glissade Normand, a spot similar to the Mt Washington tubing park. We had great fun screaming and tubing before retiring to La Cabane a Sucre - the sugar shack - for something called La Tire sur Neige. La Tire is where they pour hot toffee on cold snow and the kids take a 'baton' - a wooden stick - and roll up the hardening toffee on the stick. Snow + Sliding + Sugar = Fun! A great way for Morgan to celebrate her 14th birthday...she got birthday songs in french and english on the bus. The kids all seem happy and seem to practising their french with their twins. Berend and I have retired back to Gilles and his wife's Anne's country estate for a well-deserved outdoor sauna and a nice home cooked meal.

First Day in Magog

We woke up this morning to a beautiful and sunny but cold day here in Magog ( -20 ). The kids are off to school with their buddies (Connor's twin dad sent me a shot of him setting off to school with Jules) and so Berend and I took advantage of Orford coach Gille's private sprint track that he built in his farm field across the road. Berend wanted to race the horses. This afternoon we are are meeting up with the kids to go sledding and to visit a Cabane a sucre.

Total Length of Subway eaten today

The kids asked me to post the cumulative length of Subway sandwiches
we've eaten today. In case you're on the edge of your seat wondering
-- it is 9 feet! We are on the bus about 30 minutes from Magog. The
kids are behaving themselves except for one brief outburst where they
shouted out their respective love interests on the team. And Berend
and I thought this was just about skiing. I promise to post more
riveting details tomorrow. Oh...and the temperature outside is -17

Touchdown

Waiting to get off the plane in Montreal 8 hours later! They're
getting squirrelly - they need to get off the plane.

All aboard

All aboard and ready to go! 7am aboard West Jet flight 880.