I’m getting packed to head over to Europe with Nathan for a BNS ski picking trip, and also for meetings with the Fischer racing department guys regarding the testing program I’ve been working on with them. This is an opportunity to have skis picked at the source - I’ll be at Fischer, Nathan will be working with the Atomic racing department, and we’ll both take a quick swing up to Norway to work with the Madshus guys for a couple of days as well. Drop an e-mail (address to the left), or fill-out and submit this online order form if you’re interested. You ARE interested - I know you are. You just might not realize it because it’s June. But trust me, you’re interested and my family needs to eat.

Time to keep packing.

So I’m back from my Period 1 travels, and in spite of the photographic evidence of screwing around, the elves came through bigtime once again, and I’ve returned to a pristine shop. I’m headed out tomorrow for a grinder installation in Ottawa (aided by Gunnar). Back in the shop Monday, and no further work-related travel planned until March!

I’m about to start final structure on one final batch of around 100 pairs before I leave in four days. This is mostly a batch of team skis for the Callaghan Valley crew, and Erik and Pat can deal with the follow-up post-grind work and heatbox on these ones. If I take a four-week snapshot to include this batch It’s very possible that it’s the biggest four weeks I’ve ever done. But that’s because it has to be. I left for the second half of November last year, but it wasn’t a high volume year. This is the first high-volume year in which I’ve pulled a disappearing act at the busiest time of the season.

I’ll be back from Europe late in the day December 1st, and will be right back to work. With a large contingent of both US and Canadian skiers arriving in town for the Whistler Nor Ams December 12-14 there will be quite a lot of work to do at that point. After the Whistler Nor Ams I expect things will return to a normal state of chaos and I’ll be able to start training for whichever Whistler Toonie race Amy has the nerve to challenge me in.

Other news. It’s been wet. Typically rainy for this time of year, with a couple of really miserable tough-guy days. I finally finished the rollerboard that I started building this Summer because I figured it would be a good thing for the rainy days. So far Gunnar has been the most regular user, and he’s getting incredibly big and strong. Meanwhile the rain down here has been snow up high, and the snow level has come down enough for some decent early season rock skiing up near Callaghan Lake. Unfortunately it’s all currently getting wiped out by a “warm” rain. The only thing warm about the rain is that it’s liquid. Oh well - it’s almost ski season…

Now, to be fair, a bunch of these are team skis (CVTC) and test skis. This is not to say that I’ve got nearly 600 pairs in the shop for grinding right now. But also to be fair, the vast majority of these skis will be ground before they go on the snow.

Erik pointed out the truly absurd aspect of the situation. “595 pairs of skis is OK, but then you have to think that you have a personal relationship with at least 400 of them.” And he’s about right. I know a lot of these skis pretty well. I think I have more relationships with skis than with people.

Pat had made the error of thinking of caffeine as a tool to be used during exams. In fact, he seemed to regard it as something less than natural - a crutch, or even a “drug” in the most insidious sense of the word. He has, of late, come to the (correct) opinion that coffee (as distinct from caffeine) is a necessary component of right-living. If the regular comsumption of coffee must be described in terms as ugly has “habit”, or even “addiction”, by those who fail to see the place of coffee in a complete lifestyle, we might be forced to point out that exercise has a decidedly chemical effect on both body and mind. Regular sleep, food, exercise and coffee are all components of a lifestyle. Coffee is a quality of life factor.

I have been confident that Pat had the potential to be cured. I remain confident that Erik might also one day be cured. We once (temporarily) cured Amy’s sister of vegitarianism, or at least modified the definition to include bacon and sausage as quality-of-food enhancing ingredients. Persistance and availability are really all that’s required. The patient must be allowed to find the cure on their own terms in order to appropriately own the outcome. Without that sense of ownership the motivation to continue might fade with the removal of the supply. That’s why I never try to “push” a cure. Just allow nature to run its course.

This attitude toward cures has its place, to be sure. But it’s not a panacea. For instance, it hasn’t done a thing for Pat’s distance skate technique. That might require decidedly more interventionist measures. Talk about intractable…