The Finale

I arrived at John's house at about 8:00, and after thanking my chaufeur very much, my baggage from Invermere joined my baggage from Sunshine in the basement of John's house, and I began to sort out what I would take home. I planned to work through the night, however it wasn't necessary and I went to bed at 10ish. I had put aside 20kg of essentials (and laundry!) to take on the flight, and the rest was sorted int bags of priority, with duct-tape labels on each marking which order I would like them taken home in. I knew that Dad or John would be travelling to the UK a few times over the next 6 months, and obviously I wouldn't be needing my skis or boots any time soon!

On Thursday morning, John gave me a lift into Okotoks where I closed my bank account and withdrew my final $4000 in cash, to take back to the UK and sit on until the rate improves enough to sell them for £££! Interestingly, the only thing I had to present was my debit card- no ID, no confirmation. It seems I could have found any ATB card on the street and completely withdrawn all the funds! Perhaps it's a good job I end my agreement with them...

The next stop, my final destination in Canada, was Calgary International Airport. We unloaded my bag onto a trolley, and it was time to say goodbye. John had been such a support during my whole tour, if I hadn't have had someone like him living so close as my 'safety net', it would have been a lot more difficult to decide to go to Canada for such a long time. If anything had happened or I just needed to get away, John was always there just in case. Thankfully it never happened, but it was still a home I was able to relax in and get my stuff together on three separate occasions during my trip. I am very, very grateful.

Next I checked in- using the trick of resting a foot under the weighing scales with my bag on, and looking at the guage on the front, I could adjust the weight of my bag so I didn't have to pay excess, and then I was through to departures. I spent some of my last dollars on a chinese lunch, and read my book while watching the planes taxi around. Yet again, it was a beautiful soaring day, and I was going flying in a plane that really wouldn't appreciate it...

It wasn't too long before my flight was called, and after short sit in the lounge we were allowed to board to our designated seats. Once again, I was thankful that I had pre-booked a window seat- the in-flight entertainment wasn't working, but of course the window can entertain me for hours.



Beautiful spring soaring in Calgary during the departure...

On the great-circle route at this time of year (less than one month before the Solstice), it never really gets dark. Here is the eternal sunrise/set over the Arctic. This meant I couldn't properly get to sleep- I need it to be dark and quiet, yet many still had their window blinds open.

All too soon, as we ate our breakfast as the sun came back into view, we could see we were flying over the UK, covered in cloud as always. And we started our approach into Gatwick, through a thick layer of cloud with drissle underneath. As you might remember from my first flight out to Canada, it was dreary in London and soarable in Calgary. If I hadn't known better, I might have assumed the weather hadn't changed for 8 months...

So, I was back in the Motherland, the old Green and Pleasant, my Home. I collected my luggage, and waited in the arrivals lounge for whichever members of my family had risen at 5:00am to come see me... Eventually, I went for an explore at the same time as Mum and David, and we bumped into each other (since they had been waiting for just as long as I had...).

I was home.

...And Flight 3

Wednesday was a very good day for gliding- the sun was strong, the clouds were small and high, and there weren't many customers booked in for glider rides. One of the members went flying with Darren in 008 (007's twin), to try and break a national record (300km out-and-return in a two seater), however they returned pretty promptly when they realised that their GPS logger, required for proof of the flight, wasn't working.

I went up with Trevor again in 007, and had a good hour's very fast flight to the North of the club. This time, we hugged the sun-facing ridges, bouncing off the very strong (12kts+) lift and rarely stopping to circle. It was going great, however Trevor had a call from the base saying that some customers had turned up wanting a glider ride, so we had to cut short our adventure. However, I was still able to take some photos.



Windemere Lake from directly over the airport

Romping up the valley... And back down again.

You may have noticed that I can only take pictures out of the right side of the canopy- that's because Trevor insisted that all cameras are attached to the glider's camera mount, which is a very good idea in the choppy air of the mountains, and in the back seat where Trevor can't keep an eye on what's happening.

Sharn on approach in the Pawnee. The rope has just been dropped onto the undershoot of the runway- I think this reduces wear on the rope and decreases the turn-around time for launching.

I had found a member who was travelling to Calgary on this evening, and had offered me a lift back to Okotoks, so after he landed I helped put his glider away (in Invermere, everyone has hangars and don't need to de-rig their gliders all the time...), and then I said my farewells. Most regrettably, Trevor was still in the air with his customer but we had to leave, so I wasn't able to thank him face-to-face for what had (eventually) turned out to be an excellent trip. However, I bought a polo shirt so I've still got a souvenir, and I was still able to thank him as soon as he landed (by phone).

After nearly 8 months abroad, I began my journey home.

Packing and Leaving

Wednesday was my final day in Invermere, and also my final complete day in Canada. After packing up the tent in the morning, I got another lift to the Gliding Club from Trevor, this time will all my luggage. I also made a 'hanging rock garden' for the next inhabitant of my camping spot (below)



And here is the view of the Hoodoos:

More Flight 2 pictures

Flight 2!

No sooner had I settled my stomach with yet another bagel (I had eaten myself through numerous during the week), Trevor came back in the Duo Discus, and offered me the back seat. Of course I accepted!



007, the Duo Discus

This time, I did much less of the actual flying, and concentrated on learning how Trevor was soaring the different mountain environment, as well as taking photos. Another tow from Sharn took us up to 2000', where we gained some good height before crossing the valley to go explore the mountains on the other side.

This time we got very up close and personal with the mountains, and even though the cloud had filled in above, the wind and the remaining warmth was enough to provide plenty of lift. We explored the various valleys, and Trevor showed me two famous glaciers- Farnham Glacier where the Canadian National Skiing Team train during the summer (they use Cats to get to the top, then race all the way back down a giant, giant slalom), and the other where the film Alive about the Uryguayian Rugby Team, whos plane crashed in the Andes and they had to survive the cold and the snow until help came, was filmed. He also showed me where the Jumbo Glacier Resort, Canada's summer skiing resort, is planned to be built.

I also got to see Panorama from the air, which was very interesting- it obviously had a lot less snow than Sunshine at that time of year! However, you could still see where the runs were, and I could recognise some of the places I had skied about 3 months ago.

I took control for some ridge-running in the mountains, which helped settle my stomach which had started to protest again! Then we flew out into the valley, for some more aerobatics for a total flight length of just over 2 hours and 130km.

This means that, in one day, I had flown around 3 1/2 hours, and covered more cross country distance than ever (my previous best is 212km). Although it's hard to compare between my 52-year-old single seater, in tame british conditions, and the sort of flying I experienced on this day.

After packing everything up for the day, all the pilots were treated to a huge barbeque arranged by Kathryn. This would have been the perfect night to stick around at the club after dark with a campfire...

Flight 1. At last!

FINALLY, on 27/05/08 (my log book says so), we woke up to find the sun had broken through the clouds above, and the forecast was for good soaring conditions. This was supposed to be the day where I take the Greyhound back to Calgary to start the long journey back to the UK, but I allowed myself another day in Invermere with the promise from one of the other pilots that he would drop me back at Okotoks on his way home to Calgary the next day. Double win!

Trevor was pretty much fully-booked with glider ride customers, who invariably returned to the ground rather queazy, but having had an excellent flight and some good photos. So most of the day I helped the general operation of the club, running wings and rigging private gliders. Halfway through the afternoon though, I was grabbed towards the club's other two seater (a metal ship called a Lark), with Darren getting ready in the back, and told that I was going flying. Great!



C-GXML, my steed.

This glider has a very long stick and some perculiar characteristics, and even though I hadn't been in a glider for over 7 months, as the tow rope pulled tight I was reminded 'you have control', and off we went! I managed to keep the wings level during the ground run, and then we were climbing behind the Pawnee piloted by Sharn. I was off the ground!

We took a tow to about 2000' above Invermere, and headed into the mountains to find a thermal we could use to climb up to cloudbase which was a little under 10,000'. It occured to me that this was nearly double the altitude I'd ever been before, and usually oxygen would start being considered if this were England. However, living over 7,000' up for the whole winter obviously gave me good resilience to thin air so it wasn't a problem.

I flew us south towards Hoodooville and the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, happily bouncing from cloud to cloud as I would in the UK. However, as we approched a wall of mountain at our level and the clouds, the lift vanished and I was forcibly reminded that this is not just a soaring playground, as Darren hauled us back up to cloudbase and handed over again.



We turned round Fairmont airport and headed back to Invermere- strange to think that we'd flown 40km, the distances at this height are visibly shortened, and in this medium-performance glider and strong lift, ground is covered very quickly. No wonder so many lengthy flights take place from Invermere...



Is it comfy in the back, Darren?

On the way back, we flew one ridge back from the valley, and got up close with the mountains, which was more than a bit of a rush, since they look very very hard when you fly right next to them... By this time we'd been in the air for over an hour, and my desensitisation to flying, along with hard thermals, intense concentration (and an uncomfortable seat!), I was starting to feel a little queazy myself. So we headed out into the valley, and did what aways takes my mind off my belly- some aerobatics. We looped, chandelled and stall turned our way 5000' back down towards the valley floor, then I took responsibility for the circuit and landing, both of which I was very chuffed with! After putting the glider to bed, I went to find something to eat.

Out and About

When there were no jobs to be done on the airfield, we went for an explore.

One afternoon when we retired from the airfield early, Darren, Trevor and myself went to the springs at the Fairmont Hot Springs in the same valley. This is a Hot Springs resort (as you might guess), where hot water gushing out of the mountain is used as bathing in the main pools, or just cascades down it's self-made rock formation of mineral deposits. There's also some old Indian baths there, looking very inviting with water at about 40 degrees C.

I'd been to Fairmont Hot Springs Resort before, with my family about 6 years previously! And was reminded of a very large and painful paint splinter I got stuck under a big-toe-nail of mine as I was crawling (?) around the bottom of the pool with my brother standing on my back...



F.H.S.R.

Darren and Trevor. Identical attire, both wearing sunglasses- they'd have to be pilots, right?



The Hoodoos, as seen from the springs. The campsite is to the left of these as you look. The Hoodoos are a large rock formation, I'd guess made of limestone, which look almost like a giant termite mound, that has probably been formed by water or by wind.

We also amused ourselves in the evenings, mostly by eating. Usually, the club would have a big BBQ and a relax around the fire on the airfield, however with the new Indian guidelines and the rubbish weather putting any pilot off coming to the club, we found alternate places to go.

Darren, Trevor and I went to a fantastic Greek restaurant near the hot springs, where I had one of the best foreign dishes I can remember! Lamb kebabs, rice, tzaziki, salad, cheese and pitta bread was delicious, and a very refreshing fruit smoothie accompanied. The only thing marring that meal was the constant conviction I had that I'd left the clubhouse door unlocked... A conviction which stayed with me all night, even driving to the club the next day- but on arrival, with a sigh of relief, I found out I'd been wrong...

As a complete group, we also went out to a fellow pilot's house about 10 minutes further from Hoodooville than Invermere, where we were treated to a very well-presented and delicious 3-course meal laid on by Ian and his wife. I got the chance to meet a lot of the other regulars from the club, and throughly enjoying our evening out before heading back to the tent very content and very late...

Workin' for Flyin'

The routine went like this- every day, I got up at 8:00-ish, and got a lift with Darren and Trevor to the gliding club (for they both live in RVs), and I'd go to the clubhouse and make myself some porridge for breakfast, before reading or browsing until Darren and Kathryn turned up. We'd then mope around until Trevor and Darren pronounced that there'd be no flying on account of bad weather- this happened 6 days in a row! Then we'd either find/be given some jobs to do on the airfield, or explore the local area (as is the natural behaviour of glider pilots who have been 'scrubbed'). Most of these jobs involved gardening...



Crazy, manic grin. Armed with a spade...

We relocated a load of trees which had been living in the old RV park, to the new RV campsite. Many hours of shovelling, grunting, levers and ropes did the trick, and we moved 3 trees which looked tiny on the top but were actually huge underneath... Then at the campsite, we cleared away the gravel from the top before using a pickaxe to clear a tree-sized hole we could then plant the b*gger in. We nearly messed everything up by placing two trees at the entrace to a drive-through in between two RVs too close together to accommodate a car, but we were lucky...

We also cut the lawn, replanted and watered some plants, weed-sprayed around every single hangar, and generally kept ourselves busy while the weather was an ominous grey above us. Every now and again, a shower would come through and we'd (usually) run for cover. But we didn't see the sun for days...



On the second day, I'd woken up in a puddle (not for the first time when camping while gliding!), so another layer of tarpaulin was needed to waterproof my tent. For means of consistency, this picture was taken a few days later when the sun had finally emerged from hibernation!



I also went for an explore round the campsite, and the river which ran very nearby (above, you can see some RVs just on the other side of the levee). My walking boots from Banff had advertised themselves as waterproof, and although many hikes though the deep snow had proved that they kept the snow and the cold out, I had yet to prove that they'd keep out actual, liquid water (which I hadn't seen for so long!). See the island in the centre of the river? I hiked out to that, over an ankle-deep 'ford' which was really jut a wider bit of river. I tried to build a bridge/dam back to the other side, but no luck there other than a large splinter from an even larger log that I was trying to manhandle over the gap... So I waded back. And yes, the shoes worked completely....

Arrive at Invermere Soaring Centre!

After waving Danny and Sam off, I headed around the gliding club to look for signs of life, and found a couple of people with their heads underneath a bashed-up pickup truck. I introduced myself as Colin; they introduced themselves as Darren and Sharn, both Kiwis who'd recently arrived in Canada with the onset of the New Zealand winter, and the rather rubbish soaring conditions that brings.

They showed me to the clubhouse, where I met Kathryn (Sharn's girlfriend), and waited for Trevor (my contact) to arrive, while I admired the view:

Once Trevor arrived, he showed me round the club, then we all sat down for lunch which Trevor had gone to pick up. Well, I munched on some of my jerky, anyway.

There was to be no flying today, so I helped around the clubhouse a little bit, raking some flower beds and watering some plants (little did I know that gardening was going to be a very common theme over the next week!), and had another look round the hangars. The club is very well-equipped, with the pride of the fleet a Duo Discus, registration 007, along with another 2-seater in the form of an IS-28B Lark (which is older and from the USA, in fact this one re-built from a writeoff). There was also a PW5 and Astir single seaters, all belonging to Invermere Soaring Centre, and available for use by the club members as well as any visiting pilots who are licensed to fly Canadian single-seaters (I am not).

Invermere Soaring Centre is the siamese twin of the Canadian Rockies Soaring Club, which also has it's own (wooden) gliders. They share the runway, the clubhouse and even a lot of members, however it is Invermere Soaring Centre which is able to sell glider rides, and Trevor is the CFI of this club.

Anyway, next thing we needed to do was sort out somewhere for me to sleep. Usually, camping is done on the airfield itself and there are a number of berths for RVs and tents- however, not this year. The airfield is on Indian-owned land, and the local chief decreed that no-one would be able to stay overnight this year. Understandably, this has caused a lot of bitter feelings among the club; however, everyone has relocated to Hoodooville, a campsite (with a great name!) by the hoodoos (rock formations) about 20 mins further down the valley, and it is here we headed with a borrowed tent and some tarpaulin as protection from the wet weather that was forecast.

One tent-building session later, and here is my home!

Darren, Trevor and myself had dinner in Trevor's RV (very nice curry), before watching a bit of TV then retiring after what had been a knackering day for me which had started in another province (although, with the added energy that comes with descending 7000' from your last bed!).

The End...

...of my time at Sunshine Village, anyway...

After waking up on Tuesday and feeling rather funny, I decided to wake up the others and see if they felt the same. They did... So we wandered over to Staff Cafe for our final breakfast together. With plates of sausages, hash browns and egg etc etc in front of us, we signed each others' Canadian flags, and when Steve and I went back to Sunburst we said goodbye to Georgie and Jeremy for the last time.

One speed-pack later and I was in HR signing out for good ("Have you hoovered your room?" "Erm, George said she'd do it for me." "What about posters etc?" "Well, she wanted to keep them up to remind her of me..." "Oh."), before running (tumbling) down the slope to where the bus was just about to leave to travel back down to the car park.

Another rollercoaster ride later, I was helping Danny and Sam pack their car for our journey to Invermere, on their way to Osoyoos. "We'll need a packer of epic proportions" said Danny, while observing the pile of luggage, food, bedding and longboard that needed to be stuffed into the small Honda.

I stepped forward, and one pack of 'epic proportions' later, everything including the 3 humans were stuffed in the car. I told Danny exactly what would kill him if we crashed, and he accepted his fate with a chuckle...

So we set off onto the open road for our 2-hour long trip to Invermere. If Danny and Sam hadn't been routing via Invermere on the way to Osoyoos, they would have travelled along Highway 1- and met a mudslide on the way. Lucky I tagged along, then...

As we headed west, the sky was looking very soarable, although the air in the valley was gradually filling with smoke. Various theories tried to explain this but just as the smoke reached its thickest, we passed a sign proclaiming 'Perscribed burn in progress'.

But an hour and a half later we were entering the Columbia Valley, the long open space in the centre of the Rockies where Invemere and other towns are situated. And 10 minutes later, I was waving Danny and Sam off, while standing in the entrance to Invermere Soaring Centre.

Beach Party!

Shortly after finishing work (forever!!) and getting changed, I went back to the office to pick up Shannon and Dayna (pictured below) to hop on the gondola and head down to the parking lot, where the end of season staff party (beach theme...) was taking place.

We, and the other 800+ employees of Sunshine queued in Skier Services until 6:00, when we were granted entrance to the back room to be checked off a list and given a wrist band, drink tokens and souvenir 'May Madness' T-shirts. While queuing, we were kept entertained by those in the front of the queue with Mexican Waves, Crowdsurfing and a large beach ball that we were trying to hit the fans with...

After picking up a couple of drinks, we went to grab some food and sat down for our 'Last Supper' with our friends. There was a huge hog roast, along with various party foods in unlimited amount, and some giant cake which was soon demolished.

With Steve, Danny, Sam, Jan and Georgie for the last time...

Where there's a hog roast, there's a head to be played with...

After the food, there was lots more cheap drink, a dance floor and a DJ, and later on a fire pit. From 9:00 onwards buses started leaving for Banff and back up the hill, so virtually the entire night everyone was saying goodbye forever to one friend or another.

Eventually, it was time to catch my bus back to the hill, and soon the old schoolbus was rattling (and speeding!) its way up the very bumpy, twisty and muddy access road that used to be the ski-out. I'm sure that the bus driver was drifting it round the hairpin bends...

And Finally, the Slush Cup

After a fairly uneventful Sunday, with most of us going to bed early after Sam's party the night before and the End Of Season party the day after, we woke up to Monday May 19th, the final day of Sunshine Village's season.

I was working at the base in the morning, so duly went down the gondola as I had done every week since the beginning of December.

As one might imagine, not many people who were visiting Sunshine Village on the final day were here to ski, let alone take lessons. And the instructors weren't that motivated to be teaching them, either... however, I was able to sell a couple of beginners' lessons to those who didn't quite understand what the Slush Cup is all about. For the rest of the time I helped the guys at Guest Services sell tickets, and at 12:30 I rode back up the gondola for the final time...

On reaching the top, I could instantly see that the village was jam-packed full, and that it was also tipping it down with rain (I really felt for those poor Brazilians who I'd just sold an afternoon Discovery lesson to!), but I fought through the crowd to the Old Sunshine Lodge to see Shannon and Dayna.

Our mission on Slush Cup, while at the top, is to tell people where the lockers are, change money for the lockers, remind them that all the ATMs in the village are broken, prompt them about what time the Slush Cup kicks off, act as a lost property centre etc etc. We duly did this until about 1:20 when the slushing actually began, then we started taking it in turns heading out to watch.

This is how the Slush Cup works- 60 competitors, male or female, skiers or snowboarders (or even a monoboarder) take it in turns to slide as fast as they can down Pandemonium (where the BOZO Cup took place), hit and small jump, then try their best to skim across the surface of an icy pool trying to reach the other side. There are prizes for the Best Costume, Excellent Enema and of course, prizes for the few who succeed in staying (relatively) warm and dry.

The first gentleman to take the plunge was this guy, who is in his forties and has been doing the event for 21 years... Still, he's obviously not practiced enough (or maye drunk too much) and he still ended up in the drink... You can also see the Ski Patrolers as temporary lifeguards.

Snowboarders have a much harder time than everyone else, partly because they look stupid since they are going sideways, but more importantly they've got a much smaller base and less control once they hit the surface (as this guy is about a millisecond from doing). Normally there's a huge splash, everyone in the front row of the crowd gets wet (a bit like the pantomime really!) and they emerge looking sheepish not even half way along the pool. Then get dragged out by ski patrol and make their way (illegally!) to the hot tun.

Kyle Armstrong, one of our most qualified and youngest ski instructors (and also one of my Level 1 course conductors), took the plunge in a very unusual way. I imagine it would be no difficulty for him to skim across the top just like everyone else, but this year he decided to do it switch (backwards). It was a great disappointment when he ran out of speed mere feet from the end, and despite '9s' from the judges he didn't win a prize. Above, he is looking suitably annoyed...

So the event went on for a couple of hours, with the crowd kept partly by the excellent DJs, but the copious amounts of booze seemed to help ignore the drenching rain. On the desk, we were taking it in turns as we gave people change and watched others get soaked. But it was soon over and time to pack up the desk (and the rest of our stuff) one last time. We signed out at HR, and then we were no longer employees of Sunshine Village...