Sun Up My Nose

Have skis will travel.

We had a good chuckle over the fact that apparently the Swiss have figured out a way to get nature out of the gas pump!

Two days ago we were able to catch a ride with George and Andy to St.Bernard Pass for a nice day tour. The sun was unrelenting and there was quite a bit of activity all around us so we weren't able to ski the face that we had hoped.

It was a spectacular day, nonetheless.

John trying to pick his way through the crowds.

George ascending.

We stopped frequently to sunscreen up. Despite the fact that I put 30, 45, and 60 SPF all over myself several times, some was sweat off and in some places (like my armpits and inside my nose) I just didn't think to apply sunscreen. Yowza! I am paying the price. Yup, burned the inside of my nose and posterior axillae. Let me tell you how pleasant that is every time I blow my nose or put on a backpack/bra/shirt.

It really was this hot.

Not such a bad view for the lunch break.

Spring is Springing

The last few days have certainly felt like spring. I have been having deja vu from last fall when I'd wake up in the sweltering heat due to the fact that my completely windowed south facing wall gets barraged by the sun from the second it pops over the horizon.

The noticeably longer days and mild temps here in K-town have given me a bit of hope...soon winter, ergo winter semester, will be over. I've been running a fair bit to keep the insomnia and SAD syndrome at bay. Running has been my treat/healthy procrastination activity. I can't believe I just put the words "running" and "treat" in the same sentence---usually the pair would have been more in the context of "I am running to buy a treat". But really, lost toe nails, tight IT bands, gouges in neighboring toes from adjacent nails, shin splints, medial tibial stress, be DAMNED! At least I can sleep at night and I am lessening the number of "underground parking lot" moments as I like to call them. I ran about 100kms last month and my goal is 120kms this month. We'll see.

I recently discovered a fun blog called The Long Road to Medical School which to most people would be a major bore I am sure. But I had to laugh when I saw the name. It certainly would be a more appropriate name for my blog than "ohtanninbound". When I made this blog last January I was really getting into wine (I mean in an educational sort of way not in a high functioning alcoholic sort of way). And at the time I envisioned this blog as a way for me to keep a journal of things I was learning about wine and tastings, food I'd discovered or made, maybe throw the odd cheese or beer tasting in there. Yeah, not so much. I think the only mentions of alcohol so far on the blog have been "I got drunk last night" or "I am not drinking on this cleanse".

The 'Long Road' blog has been good for me though, because obviously I can relate to that statement. And I enjoy her humor and insight. Plus it gives me a little extra reminder of what I am doing all this for...I'll feel like quitting physics so I'll go to her page and read about how she got to assist in the OR that day, or about how she knew her stuff on rounds, or whatever and it makes me go, yeah, I want to be here. I want to do this.

It was tough yesterday though I will admit. It was a gorgeous 7 degrees and I couldn't help but think that I enjoyed last Saturdays views

only slightly more than this Saturday's views...

Sigh. Hoop #238985 here I come.
Back at it, from the well sweat/teared on desk of A. Blackbear.

School Schmool

Well well well, how much reading did I do over "reading week"?

Other than avalanche reports and weather forecasts, not much. I can't help the guilty feeling that is hanging about in the back of my mind over the fact that I had planned all sorts of reviewing, reading ahead, and prepping for the last push to the end of the term. And it all went down the drain. Well actually my good intentions didn't go down the drain, they just went up the mountain.

After a great day with Verena et al, and a great day with Anna, my friend Craig from Kelowna came up for a visit. It may have had something to do with the emails I was sending regarding the quality of the powder and the blueness of the skies in Rogers Pass. We skied Connaught Basin with Troy and Jenna (who was encouraged by Troy's frequent "C'mon MANITOBA!" shouts as we skinned up).

It was beauty out so after not too long we were stripping down and sunscreening-up.

Connaught Basin

Though the weather was welcoming, the tire sized boulder that rolled past us made Craig and I slightly unnerved. Plus the baking rocks to climbers right just seemed to loom in a way we weren't comfortable with. So we only skinned up another couple hundred meters from where the above pic was taken.

Part way down the Basin.

The next day we were 'advised' by a certain Parks Canada employee to give Ross Slide Path a go. It is a permit area that is blasted regularly so we felt a bit more comfortable skiing there. The treed uptrack was a bit gnarly in spots but we were entertained nonetheless by things like John's hairdo, witnessing Craig getting 'familiar' with a pine tree, and me pulling some sweet gazelle-like moves whilst kick turning.

The before shot, once we found the right uptrack...

Our lunch spot, with a pic of John wishing he was at home, reading his book...

The final push to where we dropped in, so nice to get out of the trees and enjoy the views.

Can you spot John patiently waiting for me to get my skins off?

John choosing his line while I say a few Hail Mary's.

At the bottom, in one piece.

As always, John and I attempt to emulate Lord and Lady Black.

Life is Good

Anna and I had one of those perfect days at Rogers Pass yesterday. Bluebird skies, great snacks, good conversation, fluffy snow, warm sunshine. It rocked. We went to the "toe" of Pearly Rock and did two mellow loops and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sun.

After I slid backwards, slow motion style, into the tree well Anna took over the trail making part of the excursion. The new bib pants paid for themselves already, kept me nice and dry despite the 'face shots' which were in fact, ass-over-tea-kettle-shots...though I did find pine needles in my underwear and bra at the end of the day...not sure how they made their way there...

Anna patiently letting me take her photo before dropping in...I asked if she wasn't afraid of losing her sunnies in the snow--only then realising that Anna probably hasn't wiped out since 1995. Not everyone goes halfway down the fall line on their ass like you do Sullivan...

These guys poached our line while we were snacking....that's what you get for making most of the sweet uptrack I suppose...well I suppose there were still a few acres of freshies to be had...

Woot! So I can stay upright after all!

Sullivan Eats It

I like how my ski comes over the top of my head. Style points baby, style points...

NOW I get it!!

We were lying in bed yesterday morning when the phone rang...for a moment I thought that staying warm and under the covers was definitely a better idea than hauling myself out of bed to go skiing...but Verena is just so damn enthusiastic it is contagious. Besides, the sun was shining, powder was waiting, and I promised myself I would go skiing as many days as I could over reading week.

Thus ensued the usual "find the neck warmer make coffee eat breakfast pack skins make lunch try to get out the door while John sits with the car running in the middle of the street to go skiing" routine.

It was already a gong show because we ran out of milk and anything that would be suitable for a picnic lunch so we had oatmeal with whip cream for breakfast and John attempted to smuggle the figs for chicken marbella into his pack, along with some crystallized ginger and dried cranberries. The best thing about skinning up a mountain is knowing that at some point you get to stop, put on a warm coat, and eat delicious things before getting back to the grind. I knew that a handful of dried cranberries would not be an anticipated snack to look forward to, so we decided to stop at Tim Ho's and get some breakfast sandwiches to pack for our lunch.

So I ordered two regular breakfast bagel sandwiches and one without meat, all on whole grain bagels. A simple enough order, one would think...

Much to my chagrin they made us a blueberry bagel with sausage and egg, and as I discovered about 2000ft up McPherson, a cinnamon raisin, sausage and egg bagel for lunch. BLECHHHHHHHHHH! I was so hungry I didn't care. Well, I cared enough to curse a blue streak about IQ levels and passive aggressive tendencies of Tim Ho's employees.


So we carried on. It was a challenging uptrack as kick turns are not (sorry--were not) my strong point. I like to listen to my ipod whenever doing anything physical that invokes shortness of breath and lactic acid occupying my thighs. I find a little White Stripes really gets me through the tough times...so it was not so bad trailing behind the speedy gonzales triple action of Verena, Corey and Simone. Then though a break in the trees I saw this little slope of heaven...and suddenly the shin rubbing no basket on my ski pole reality seemed to melt away into the excitement of knowing that some sweeeeeeet turns were headed our way.

We had skied at the resort yesterday, but the lift lines were atrocious, and the heavily chopped up snow had been only mildly enjoyable...it was obvious now that the advantage of the "flying couch" up the mountain was far outweighed by the fact that at the Fingers we only saw 4 other people (our friends) and got fresh tracks ALL day for the small price of a few thousand calories.


The people waiting in line at RMR are too small to see, but you can see the only 'lines' we dealt with all day...SUCKAHS!!




So the down bits...well lets just say it was the best day of skiing I have ever had in my entire life. The snow was phenomenal...I finally got the groove of powder skiing figured out, and we had beautiful sun and great company all day. Pure entertainment also with John and Corey bushwacking...John's butt looks so cute when it is high-centered in a throng of alder! Everyone was on fire, rippin' through the pow and all you could hear was shrieks of laughter and woots! the entire way down.



We finished it off with some delicious beer a la James, right from the source at Verena's place, then ate our faces off at Spaghetti Night in Canada at Marney and Pat's. We were home by 8 and sleeping by 10. Sigh. A perfect day here in the Interior of Paradise.

So not jealous afterall...

After seeing the photos from the ski day at the Gorge I realized I hadn't missed out at all. All that time spent working on chem and physics wasn't for not. I mean, look...they were obviously having a crap time...

Jealous? Why would I be jealous?

When the sun is shining and everyone around me got up early with the frantic excitement of a day of skiing ahead. Coffee's are hastily prepared, skins, peeps, helmets, boots, poles, skis are gathered up in a flurry and are clunked out to the car. Silence descends upon the house and I grudgingly pad my way upstairs, suiting myself up and psyching myself up for a day of studying in the attic.

It's not FOMO (fear of missing out) it is pure MO.

Why would I be jealous when all my friends are skiing fresh pow and I am learning :

"Predict the relative boiling points of propane, C3H8 , and dimethyl ether, CH3OCH3"

Well, let me tall ya...

Both molecules have 26 electrons and are expected to have nearly the same polarizability.Propane is essentially a nonpolar molecule (μ = 0.084 D), because of the low polarity of C−H bonds. Dimethyl ether has a Lewis structure similar to H2O, with two methyl groups, CH3, replacing two H atoms. The molecular shape is angular around the O atom, and the molecule is polar (μ = 1.30 D). In this case, the dipole-dipole interaction is the determining factor, because the London interactions are expected to be similar. The boiling point of dimethyl ether is expected to be greater than that of propane. The actual boiling temperatures are −25°C for dimethyl ether and −42°C for propane.

Who needs skiing when you've got dipole moments?

Because really, I can see the direct correlation between this and me becoming a good doctor. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time dipole moments came up in the emerg department! Whew! I'd be a rich woman....

Revelling in Revelstoke

Back in the Southern bits of the world, a nice change again. Moved into a wicked pad and just going through the slow process of unpacking and organizing my so called life. The boxes have been collecting dust from past 6 months to 2 years.
Today I found my Braun hand mixer and actually squealed with delight. Such pathetic things excite me these days.

But on to non pathetic things...

Anne Marie and Ryan finally had their baby! Shheeeesh! It's already been nine months of waiting!!

So great! Wee Tobin Gill burst onto the scene on Valentines Day at 7lbs and 2 oz. He's such a cutie! Thatch of hair and high ape index, the child will surely be the design of all the new baby girls in this town.

Have managed to tear myself away from Physics (ahem!) a couple of times to create havoc on the ski hill at kicking horse, and by havoc I mean weaving about like an old lady whose lost control, ever widening turns with arms circling wildly behind me.

Well, it is no quite that bad...the AT gear has improved my downhilling somewhat. As some might say to my former Tele venture, "fix the heel, fix the problem". But I say DAMN them! tele just looks sooooo much cooler (except when I am doing it, granted).

So for now I busy myself bopping around the house, cooking, drinking champagne (that's right, Champagne, not sparkling wine--okay the odd sparkling wine), stoking the fire--ohh yeah--my new favorite activity. I feel so primal splitting kindling and lighting stuff on fire. And doing Physics from time to time. I have noticed an inverse relationship with amount of people I meet to hours spent doing physics.

Which brings me to Saakje and Heenke. Oh how my liver quivers when I mention their names. Many good nights already filled with Saakje's stories from around the world and Heenke's Finnish perspective on everything. Great laughs and equally good wine drinking skills. Hope to be uploading photos of Heenke in his Manties soon. Either that or the leather thong he claims to own.

Lucky for John I didn't have my camera handy after our apres party from two days ago! A mistake I shant make twice. A jovial man when he's heavily imbibed, yet strange sleeping patterns under his desk curled up with a paderno pot under his arm.

Who said small towns are sleepy??