Actually, it wasn't an issue actually. Other than my butt being sore from 10 hours on the flight home, it was great.
After getting a full nights sleep on Friday night and a quick breakfast, Randy and I decided to meet so that we could get in a few more runs in the morning. Just like everyday that week, we woke up to a beautiful clear sky and no wind (Thursday was windy).
I had not been to the West side of the valley at all, so we headed that way as that was were the Sun was. 1 chairlift ride up and then we picked up the Roca Jack lift to the top. This is a 5 person poma lift that you sit/stand side by side with 4 of your other best friends. It isn't like a normal lift, as it just goes up and comes back like a large gondola. But, it is FAST. You can get air (jump) on your way up. Some pretty good hang time to boot.
Once up at the top, Randy decided that he wanted to climb higher. We are already over 3000 meters, but the goal was to get a good view of Aconcagua, which we did. Shedding clothes, up we climbed maybe another 200 vertical meters (it felt like Everest).
Now, this is a stretch for me. Before I left, with about 3 weeks notice, I was worried that I would not be able to survive and be functional at that altitude. Exercise helped, but so did my good friend Dr. Penny Kendal-Reed a great Naturopath. Some key additions to my vitamins seems to have really made the difference. In fact, it was funny watching TV and seeing her working with the stars at the Toronto Film Festival.
We then skied down as low as possible. There is a wide crusing run that you can really fly on and it ends at about 2800M ASL. The chairlift back to the hotel crosses the road (switch backs) in many places. As you ski down, you actually ski over the road on the structures designed to save the road in case of an avalanche.
We also tried to fit in one last trip to Tio Bobs for lunch. With a bus that was leaving at 1pm SHARP, it had to be quick. After making the trip back up, we found out they didn't start serving food until 12:30. 1 beer (Randy) and 1 water (Mike), later, we flew back down (even found some powder), packed and had a Portillo Burger in the cafiteria.
Saturday is 'change over' day at the hotel. It took us almost 20 minutes to get out of the parking lot. Much worse than a Friday afternoon on a long weekend going north on the Don Valley Parkway. Even if you throw in rain or snow and maybe a mudslide (that has happened on the DVP).
One of the things I tried while I was on this trip was some HF ham radio. I have been a Ham operator for longer than I have had my drivers license. I decided to try a Flex SDR-3000 on 20M while I was away. It is amazing what the mountains do when you are surrounded on all sides by them. I could not hear a thing as the radio waves did not seem to make it into the valley, which was too bad. It was a good experiment anyway.
The Alpine Canada team is all top notch. I had a blast working with them and getting to know all the racers. There were lots of race cancellations going on in South America that week. We hit all our targets and got the job done. I really have to thank Alpine Canada for inviting me down there.
The photo gallery has been updated with some new pictures from Saturday. Gallery Link
The always cool "Map This" really shows were we are.
There are 2 movies worth watching. 1 shows how we discuss a wiring issue in both English and Spanish (sometimes it is as confusing in just English). them.
And, the view from Tio Bobs
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