Shock of the year... Jethro got skis!

Yes, tis true readers. Jethro has switched to the dark side and purchased himself a pair of skis. He is now endeavouring to learn the way of the two planker! (Which is most amusing to watch, I can tell you!).

In all seriousness, he got a bargain. We heard they were selling off all the rental kit at the hire shop on the mountain, so we skidaddled (geddit!) up there in the van with a bunch of people and went on a bit of a spending spree. Well, they all did. I refrained, being lucky enough to get free ski hire as a perk of the job at Fernie Sports. Snowboards and skis were going for the paltry sum of $80 (£40) and Jethro got a really spanky pair of ski boots for $40 (£20). Enough to make you sick really! He now says he has a great deal of respect for skiers as he finds the boots are pretty clunky! A few of our friends who ski also bought boards, so we had a fun afternoon messing around on the baby slopes, doing some haphazard teaching, being watched, laughed at and applauded by the staff who are making all the preparations on the mountain for opening day.

Having had enough of the skiing for one day, he went back to his beloved board on Wednesday and went for the LONGEST of hikes ever - all boys this time. They fully invited me along, but to be honest, I'm not fit enough to go as far as they wanted to and there is nothing worse than feeling like you're holding everyone up (not that they would ever make me feel bad, you understand!) I stayed at home in the cosy warm, planning on catching up with all my correspondence, but as is the way here, I had a few friends call round and ended up making tea and oatmeal cookies and watching snowboarding DVDs! Larry the plumber also came around to install our new humidifier which looks fab and works really well, and Frank popped by too, so I had myself a full house!

Back to the hike: Jethro decided to try and hire some snowshoes, as they make the going a little easier in deep snow, so he popped over to see Karen, my boss at Fernie Sports. Five minutes later he was back, looking very pleased with himself, clutching a pair of snowshoes. Karen is such a lovely lady that she let him have them for the day free of charge - seeing as he's the boyfriend of a Fernie Sports gal!

I waved them all off as they went on their merry way, hoping that they would steer clear of trouble. From the injuries sustained on Sunday's hike I couldn't help but worry a little, but hey, that's me! Well, I needn't of bothered. Jethro came home a few hours later, full of beans to tell me that they got about half way up the first slope before a large snowCAT drove past and they all stuck their thumbs out. Guess what? They got a lift on the back - RIGHT TO THE TOP! JAMMY JAMMY JAMMY GITS! (This rarely happens as it's a firing offence to carry randoms on the back of your CAT but this guy was obviously feeling in a generous mood that day.)

So he had no aches and pains whatsoever the next day, but Hammo did dislocate his finger yet again, and popped it back in AGAIN... nutter.

We went christmas shopping today in Kimberley and stopped by at the Walmart in Cranbrook on the way home. It's much less daunting when you've been there once already. It only took us about two hours to find everything we need and buy a lot more stuff that we didn't need! Oh well.

Tomorrow is hockey night - after a two week drought we need some stick and puck action. We're all getting withdrawal symptoms. But I gotta work on Saturday so it won't be the usual anarchy in Fernie on a Friday night for me...

(For those of you who are missing Choccy, have no fear. He has not been made into moose burger just yet. The journey over was terribly traumatic for him in the hold of the plane, squashed against my snowboard, so he's in recovery until his shape returns! He's looking a bit 'flat' shall we say!?)


The boys prepare for the hike of the century with their new guide, "Doggie"


Tony and Hammo hold onto the back of the CAT for dear life!


X marks the spot. This is how high they got. I told you... JAMMY!