Steeps, bumps and Park
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:27 pm

Post CASI/CSIA level 1 success for all of the Peak Leaders Banff group has been about steeps, deeps and park.

The riders have been hitting the park daily.

Billy J hitting the boxes and big kickers…..

The skiers used their big 3 lift passes for a day of steeps and bumps at Lake Louise Ski Area with their bump slaying trainer Kenji.

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Skiing the steep back chutes at Lake Louise

The early morning crew of Tony, Billy B and Andy got the first lift up and fresh tracks in the Sunshine Village powder.

Banff is in the middle of one of the most beautiful national parks in the world. And some times it is not only the humans who use the pedestrian crossings to get across Banff Avenue!

Thursday was freestyle training day for the skiers……. after a bumpy start the guys were loving it!

Moral of the story is …….. don’t lean back when sliding on a box!

Once you find the “Gorilla centred stance” all is good…..

Rob “rocking” it

Anna riding the rainbow box

Emily laid down the most stylish 180′s of the day. Here she is half way round on the ‘star trek’ kicker

Level 2 training is being cranked up and everyone on the course are showing what 6 weeks of training can do to their skiing and riding.

Week 7 here we come…..

Everyone is a WINNER!
Posted on February 12, 2012 at 7:47 pm

HUGE week for the skiers & riders on the Banff 2012 course.

Level 1 CSIA & CASI exams dominated the week with everyone working on their technique and delivering lessons under the watchful eyes of the course conductors.

Charlie Valentine who is now a level 3 instructor and originally did his level 1 with Peak Leaders in Argentina several seasons ago was one  of the course conductors assessing the Peak Leaders skiers.

Day 1 on the CSIA level 1 course – meet the course conductors

Weeeeeeeee Billy being assessed on his beginner snowboard teaching

Billy ‘the big face‘ B and Andrea ‘you guys’ teaching snowploughs and developing the art/skill of bending double whilst skiing backwards.

Grace working on her balance and posture

Judgement day came for the riders on Thursday and the guys nailed it with a 100% pass rate.

Judgement day 2 came on Friday for the skiers and matched the riders with a 100% pass rate.

The pass rate is down to the amazing training the guys have had from the Sunshine Ski School but mostly due to the hard work everyone put in on all the sessions.

A celebratory meal at the Elk & Oarsman….. “umm ribs” followed by several lemonades brought a perfect 48 hours to a close.

One of the highlights of Peak Leaders Banff courses is the chance to go and watch a live NHL ice hockey match.

Saturday was national ice hockey day in Canada and the crew were not disappointed in the fierce rivalry between the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks in the Olympic Saddledome Arena in Calgary.

In a game that had goals, big hits and fights (which are allowed in ice hockey) the Flames won in a shootout after the scores were level after fulltime and overtime.

Everyone in Canada skates ….. Banff public skating rink on the way to the game.

On the bus to the game

Scott and Rob soaking up the pre game atmosphere

Get your hot dogs and pizzas here……….

The fastest team sport in the world

fight fight fight…… whilst the refs and other players watch on!

Two of the flames newest fans….. Jonny and Anna

Now that everyone is a Level 1 snowsports instructor the training begins for the Level 2 exam.

Bring it on!

Banff F.T.T.P & Q.R.S & AST1 !!
Posted on February 2, 2012 at 4:11 am

This week the Peak Leaders Banff trainees have been honing their technique & teaching skills.  For the skiers it has been F.T.T.P (fast track to parallel) and for the snowboarders it has been  Q.R.S (quick ride system).

Working on posture – “Am I in centred on my skis?”

Snowploughs as far as the eye can see…..
With both the Level 1 ski and snowboard exams starting next Tuesday everyone is on top of their game and all the hours of training are about to pay off!

Kenji using Andrea to demonstrate on the need to have a strong body position

On Saturday and Sunday the guys on the Big Banff programme had AST1 (avalanche safety training) after a day of theory the Sunday was all about transceiver and probe training and how to dig a snow pit and test the snow structure for stability.

Transceiver search
We have had new snow almost every day and to ski and ride fresh powder has been amazing.

Cameron riding in the powder

Billy J “twinkle in his eyes”  and Andy “anyone coming for a drink” have been this weeks leaders on the Banff apres ski tour. Come to think of it Andy is always the leader of the apres ski tour!
Not only known for their nocturnal habits Andy and Billy J can also ski and ride with style and nothing phases them….. as you can see from them dropping in on the Eagles Gully trail.

Bring on the Level 1!!

Banff week 2 – the big chill
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 3:57 am

After the warm weather on week 1 of the course. Mother nature came back with vengeance……. with day time temps of -31 for 3 days running.

In fact for 2 days Sunshine Village could not run the lifts for 2 of the days as it was just toooooo cold.

Most of the team stayed indoors. However, Tony, Natasha and Andrea braved the cold and went to Lake Louise and enjoyed some awesome snow. With wind chill the temp was -47 at the top of the gondola!

Look into my eyes….. it’s cold out there.

With Sunshine Village shivering in the big chill several of the group went to Norquay and had a deserted hill all to themselves

Thursday was 1st Aid training and after a day of learning everything from dealing with a heart attack to someone who has had a stroke the guys all successfully passed the exam.

Billy Bob about to begin CPR practice

Banffs top ski shop- Soul, Ski & Bike ran a ski and board tuning clinic on Thursday night and the guys learnt how to p-tex, edge and wax skis and boards….. no blaming equipment when falling over from now on!

wax on wax off

Friday morning was SNOWPLOUGHING with Kenji for the skiers….. amazing how difficult it is to do a snowplough with the correct technique and make it look natural (Kenji has no problems with either).

snowplough, snowplough, snowplough

Its the weekend……. late breakfast, perfect snow, time to catch some air …….

Cam grabbing it

Emily going loooong

Old skool trick but Andy is going big

Banff 2012 week 1
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 5:13 am

The Peak Leaders Banff 2012 group arrived to find Banff and Alberta having a mini heat wave…… day time temperatures in Banff were above freezing….unheard of for January.

Banff 2012 crew

This seasons base is the Rundlestone Lodge Hotel with its huge rooms, swimming pool and hot tub and breakfasts and dinners of Canadian size portions. No slumming it for the Peak Leaders trainees!

The group is made up of people from all over the UK and Andrea our USA import (she is getting to grips with the Glaswegian and West Country accents!)

The legend that is Sunshine Village Ski Trainer Kenji is training the Peak Leaders ski instructor trainees again this season and has been working his magic, already transforming some ‘interesting’ skiing styles.

Kenji wearing his new Zaini beanie

Rob was having some equipment issues on the 1st day….(Kenji thought it was down to ‘operator error’) but Rob has now mastered the art of skiing with a ski attached to each boot.

Grace has fallen in love with moguls….. not!

The snowboard trainees are in rotating each week for the first 4 weeks with different trainers. Each trainer will be working on different aspects of riding.

Umm….. what was that the trainer wanted us to do?   Cameron loved riding black diamonds switch all afternoon.

Billy J dropping in

The snow has been either been powder or groomed light & grippy snow…. perfect to get the body back into either skiing or riding mode.

On the apres ski front Andy has been leading the charge to the Dancing Sasquath. Throwing down some very bizarre moves on the dance floor (please see below)

“Look at my guns”

This season the guys who signed up for Peak Leaders Big Banff get the Big 3 lift pass which includes Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Norquay ski areas.

Sunshine Village living up to its name

So this week we had a tour around…. Thursday Sunshine, Friday Lake Louise and Saturday Norquay….. variety is the spice of life!

Perfect snow

The temperature is dropping and more snow is forecast, bring on week 2.

Working Holiday Visas Canada 2012 Program
Posted on December 23, 2011 at 12:38 pm

The 2012 International Experience Canada Working Holiday Initiative is now open! 5,350 places have been released for UK participants and at the time of writing this, 5,276 places are available.

If you are planning on spending time in Canada this year and want to work whilst you are visiting Canada, you will need to apply for a working holiday visa. If you are planning to qualify as a ski instructor, a snowboard instructor, or a mountain bike instructor and then hope to stay on and work -this is for you. But if you are going on our Banff ski or snowboard instructor course, and just want to stay on as a holiday, then you don’t need to worry.

If you are joining us on our Mountain Biking Hiring Camp in Whistler or our ski instructor course in Banff, or our snowboard instructor course in Banff and are contemplating working- keep reading!

There are 2 routes to apply and gain your working holiday visa that you can consider. Either applying direct to the Government of Canada or via BUNAC. BUNAC will hold your hand through the paperwork process; however it is more expensive. Going through BUNAC will cost £254 plus the visa price of $150. If you go direct to the government of Canada it will cost you $150 only.

Here’s the link to BUNAC

Here’s the link to the Government of Canada

Good luck and just ask us for advice! Or comment below with your experience of applying for a visa.

Life in Canada after leaving the RAF
Posted on August 19, 2011 at 3:14 pm

Andy Garnham took an active resettlement course with Peak Leaders in Banff,  Canada, training to become a ski instructor. Here is his story..

 I served for just over 20 years in the RAF as a logistics officer.  During my time in the RAF, I was fortunate enough to have 3 years as a liaison officer with the Italians, based near Milan and an hour or so from a ski resort in theAostaValley….

 Can you outline why you considered taking a 3-month ski instructor training course in Canada for your resettlement?

 My wife had lived in Canada before I met her.  We had always planned to move to Canadawhen I retired from the RAF, but the immigration offer came earlier than we expected.  We had about 8 months to organise retirement, pack up in theUK, find jobs and somewhere to live in Canada. Fortunately, we’d already done a lot of recce work and knew we wanted to live inSun Peaks, British Columbia and we had looked at the job market in Kamloops, the nearest city.

 I’d skied for over 20 years and was hooked.  Our plan forCanadawas to live and work in a ski area.  We found Sun Peaks almost by accident at the London Ski Show.  A lady called Nancy Greene told us Sun Peaks was a 4 Season resort and the perfect place to live.  She should know, as she lived in Sun Peaks and was a former Olympic Champion.

 A ski instructor course in Banff fitted perfectly and gave me 3 months in Canada to do job hunting and complete the immigration processes.  At least that’s what I told my wife!  Three months skiing for someone who’s always wanted to be a ski bum, was too good an opportunity to turn down.

 And why did you choose Peak Leaders in Banff in particular?

Peak Leaders was registered for Enhanced Learning Credits, so I could use these to cover some of the course costs.  They also had an excellent reputation and understood the processes associated with resettlement from the armed forces. 

You’ve finished the course successfully, could you outline the qualifications you got, the experiences you had, and maybe some of the highlights of your time in Banff?

The final week of the course was the CSIA Level 2 ski instructor assessment, which I passed.  The training leading up to the assessment was outstanding and all delivered through the ski school atSunshineVillage. 

It was interesting being a 45 year old on a course largely drawn from pre or post university gap year .  They were very inclusive and great fun to be with.  I never felt left out.  The highlight had to be a day at Kicking Horse – you get the measure of the place from the sign at the top of the gondola that simply says “Warning Cliff.”  No fence, no out of bounds.  Ski it if you can!

You have moved out to Canada full-time now, could you tell us your plans for the future?

 We’ve just bought a house in SunPeaks– it’s not quite ski-in ski-out, we have to walk about 50 metres.  It’s a great ski area, with loads of glade skiing and whole areas that are just left natural.  I had my first day on the slopes the Sunday after we finished the course and last Saturday we woke up to 40cm of fresh powder.  Suffice to say I fell out of bed and onto my skis.  

 My wife and I both work inKamloops, about 40 minutes away – I got a post as an analyst with the British Columbia Lottery, based on my experience in the RAF. I still commute to work, but 40 minutes down the valley dodging the wildlife, beats the 7.35am from Wandsworth toWaterloo.  Next season I plan to ski instruct part-time and make the most of my resettlement qualification.