2010/2011

Hello girls and boys!

It is time to say so long to 2010 and haylo to 2011! It is hard to believe that it is already 2011, I feel like the new millennium was just yesterday. Oh and I turn 23 this year, only two years until I am 25 and I am a little concerned, a quarter of a century is kind of a big deal. Less musings, more talk about me and what I have been up to!

The last post found me in the midst of actual legit school work. I survived that, got stellar marks and have a special place in my heart for the wireless lab. After finishing up classroom work, most of us first year adventure students found ourselves in a Wilderness First Responder (wfr, pronouncer woofer). It was an 80-hour first aid course and I really enjoyed it. It also reinforced my back-up plan if tourism does not work out: paramedic! After the wfr course we found ourselves at Sunpeaks where I stepped my feet into some alpine touring skis and was sent down a hill. The first day on skis was rough but I am slowly picking up speed skis in anticipation for ski touring in January. Also it helped that my roommate Christian has a place at Sunpeaks. A soak in the hot tub and a cold beer with friends sure helped ease the aching muscles! Thanks bud!

Upon completion of the intro to ski course, it was time for holidays! Not that life is not like a holiday already. Holidays started with Chris and I packing up the Volvo, dropping our roommate Justin off at the Kamloops airport and heading East to the promised land, Alberta. Upon our arrival in Alberta, Chris and I decided that a visit to Nana's and a few days of ice climbing were in order! Over the next three days Chris gave me his ice climbing 101 course and by day three we completed Rogan's Gully a WI2 route up Cascade Mountain. Ice on Cascade have avalanche danger and we were lucky that conditions were perfect with little avi risk for us to climb. After three days it was time for us to head to the plains and back to our immediate families! Central Alberta here we come!

Day2- Chris and Taran walking out Grotto Canyon

Rogan's Gully, WI2

Chris, Rogan's Gully, WI2

Chris, Rogan's Gully, WI2, final pitch

 Christmas season had now begun and it was busy. I spent a few days in Lacombe with family and friends before my family packed the cars again and headed back to Banff for Christmas. It was the first Christmas in a few years that we actually spent in Banff and with parts of the family that we do not normally do Christmas with. Uncle Alan and Auntie Michelle and my cousins Ally and Brendan joined our family there and Uncle Gord came on Christmas day which was nice. Boxing Day started a whirlwind of travel as my cousin Drew came to Calgary and Edmonton to play hockey. The whole extended family comes together when Drew plays so it was good to see everyone in one place!

Kelsie, Kyle, Brendan, Ally and Nana, Christmas 2010

Aunt Bea (AB, the name my Uncle Dean gave my Volvo) also had some grand adventures this holiday season and I am very thankful for AMA. Upon returning to the car after Rogan's Gully, AB needed a little boost. Then not even a week later on our way to the Black Prince trail she ended up in a snowbank. A second call to AMA but some nice standard Alberta truck pulled us out sooner. Same day as the snowbank, after the Drew's hockey game, at 10:30pm on MacLeod Trail in Calgary, Aunt Bea decided to die. A third call in one week, and a second call in one day to AMA for some road side assistance. Aunt Bea and I arrived back in Lacombe at about 2am after a lovely tow by Cliff. Turned out to be the alternator but all is fixed and I can get back to Kamloops!

Before I knew it, New Years had arrived. It is now tradition to spend New Years in Banff for me, so Janice picked me up in Lacombe (this is why we are best friends) in order for us to spend a few days riding and celebrating in Banff. It was great to strap on the snowboard again! I did not realize how much I missed it. The conditions were close to terrible, there were a lot of crazies out and about and Janice who is acclimatized to the temperate winters of Colorado now found the -20 a bit cold. However we had fun and got sad about the fact that not only do we not live in the Rockies any more but we also live a bazillion kilometers and a bazillion dollars away from each other. It is going to be 9 months before we see each other again...sad...I think so!

New Years was chill. Colin, Jackie and Jestine came to join Janice and I for some amazing Mexican food at the Magpie and Stump, some drinks and some crazy Dutch Blizting! It was definitely not a repeat of last New Years as I was able to successfully make scrambled eggs for them the next morning. Mid-night also found us Banff's main street to watch the fireworks and view the crazies from the bars! Taran and Simon two friends from school also joined us for a few of the festivities.

2010 has been a very eventful year for me and it definitely ended on a high note. When I look back to where I was at this time last year, it seems so long ago that I was dealing with those struggles and strifes and relishing the joys.

So what is up for 2011? The next four months finds me back in school. I will start the year off right with ski touring for eight days. Then two classroom course throughout February. Then water activities start again. The stoke is high! I will be taking the swift water technician course, along with kayak 2 and then a rock climbing course which I am looking forward to a lot, finally some formal instruction! The month of May I will find myself on a 21-day sea kayaking expedition. Beyond May, who knows what will come. Fingers crossed a guiding job on the west coast. Oh and of course an adventure with Janice on the Juan-de-Fuca trail in September!

In conclusion, I wish you and yours all the best in the upcoming year. If you find yourself in Kamloops please let me know and we can enjoy each others company!

Cheers,

K

Janice, Brendan and I; Mt Yamnuska, March 30 2010, 0200; Challenges overcome, lessons learned and stoked for the future!