These pictures were taken in 2002, which is basically the year I joined the Ski Patrol. (My first patrol was on Boxing Day so it's close enough.) It was an event packed year, with fun trips, tiring sports, and new stuff I tried out.

Sunday, March 3, 2002

[People with brooms.]

I got a call one day from Squishy asking me if I wanted go to curling. Apparently they needed another participant and my name came up. I had never curled before, and I figured that it would be an excellent opportunity to try out yet another winter sport since most of the people playing were neophytes. It was quite entertaining, and very tough as well. I can now appreciate the difficulty of some of the shots that I see the curlers make on TV.

The curling group. (It's a small picture though.)

Sunday, March 17, 2002

[In the spirit.]

To celebrate the end of the ski season, we had an end-of-season St. Patrick's day patrol party at the hill. It was serendipitous that we held it that day since the hill had just closed.

That's Betty with the shades and Erin.

[Burger up!]

Food was provided mostly through pot luck, but someone had brought along a BBQ so that we could serve some hamburgers and sausages as well.

Jason's manning the BBQ.

[Getting a beer bowl.]

At the beginning of the season we had a water cooler installed in the hut and had tons of disposable cups (many were leftover Tim Horton's coffee cups) stocked up. Vitually nobody brought their own mugs or cups to patrol because we had a few hundred cups lying around. It's no surprise that we ran out of cups halfway through the season. So by the time we had our little party, the only thing that we could use to hold our drinks were some leftover Styrofoam bowls. Hey, it gets the job done right?

Dave's filling the bowl.

[Happy to have a mug.]

A few of us had foreseen this cup shortage and kept a cup or two in our cubbyholes for personal use. I had also kept a cup in my cubbyhole, but one day I picked up my cup and noticed that someone had turned it into a dribble glass. (Yes, I think I know who the perpetrator is. I'll get him back soon enough. *laughs maniacally*) Anyway, Amanda was one of the few smart ones who actually brought a real mug to the hut.

Amanda's enjoying the brew.

[Breathe. Breathe!]

Considering the temperament of our patrol, I was very surprised that our fearful.. I mean fearless leader hadn't gone off the deep end long ago. One such instance led to a near-emergency situation.

Laurene's having a heart attack!

[Entertained by the carnage.]

There are times where you have to dive for cover, and other times where you just point and laugh.

Steve (in the back) is laughing in disbelief while Keith (Pez Boy), Dave, and Bill are surveying the damage.

[The crowd watches in awe.]

Due to the positioning of the patrol hut, all of the runs (but one) that headed towards the hut required the skier/rider/bladder to go uphill. This makes it difficult to make it to the hut at times, but it gives is a pretty good view of part of the resort from our vantage point.

Heads from the left: Betty, Karen, Steve, Lindsay (no head), Allison, Keith (Pez Boy), Amanda, Jason, and Bill.

Friday, March 22, 2002

[Team dinner at the arena.]

I was invited out to play for Waterloo at the USBA National Championships at Rochester by Mr. Broomball. Having not been in a tournament in a year and a half I jumped at the opportunity. It was being held in Rochester, NY and I got to meet a whole bunch of guys who I haven't seen since I left KW. We started playing the first day we got there, so we didn't really have time to settle in before hitting the ice, but we were given a free dinner at Centre Ice Restaurant which is situated at the ESL Sports Centre. (Where the tournament was being held.)

Left Side (front to back): Gregg, Riston, Starfish, Me, Mr. Broomball, (Hot) Karl, Derek, and Jaakko.
Right Side (front to back): Patrick, Roger, Grover, Erik, (Ultra) Magnus, and Denis.

Saturday, March 23, 2002

[Having drinks at Centre Ice.]

The ESL Sports Centre was a fairly new building which housed at least five rinks. (I only counted five it could've been more.) The restaurant in the arena was situated in the upper level overlooking two of the rinks. This was convenient since some of our (all three of our teams) games were being held at one of those rinks. So it provided an excellent venue from which to watch our other team's games without getting cold feet.

Left Side (front to back): Sue, Erik, and Patrick.
Right Side (front to back): Starfish, (Hot) Karl, and Grover.

[Waterloo Thunder - Rochester 2002 Broomball.]

The team I played for at Rochester was the recreational non-contact team from Waterloo known as "Waterloo Thunder". Beacuse of the way the tournament was set up, both our competitive (full contact) and co-rec (non-contact) teams had a championship match on Sunday, but we did not. Since we probably wouldn't get a team picture taken during the last day, I decided to take one before our last game.

Sitting: (Hot) Karl, (Ultra) Magnus, Erik, Patrick and Kyle (lying down).
Standing: Riston, Roger, Starfish, and Grover.
Missing: Gregg

[Waiting for the emergency to pass.]

The building experienced an emergency alarm while we were waiting for the last Waterloo game of the day (the Lightning). Coincidentally, this took place while it was snowing heavily outside. So, a bunch of us hung around the outer vestibule for the emergency crews to arrive and let us back in. While there, I decided to take a few pictures. Here's the one I kept.

From the left is Derek, Roger, and Patrick.

Sunday, March 24, 2002

[Waterloo Storm - Rochester 2002 Broomball.]

Despite one of our teams fairing poorly at the tournament (which just happened to be the team I was playing on - just a coincidence), our other two teams did very well. The co-ed Waterloo Storm was able to beat out their American rival in the Bettendorf match to take the game and the cup!

The Waterloo Storm.

[Full of gas at Lewiston.]

We were a little surprised as to the number of tolled thoroughfares we had to traverse on the way to the tournament (which manifested in our lack of change at each booth) and made a point to take the most scenic (i.e. cheapest) route back home. The path we chose took us through a lot of small highways through some tiny towns that dotted the lakeshore. The scenery was nice, although my passengers were asleep for most of that part of the journey (something about playing ten games of broomball in three days would probably do that to you). Before we crossed the border, we stopped off at Lewiston for some gas. I decided to take a picture at that point.

Patrick and (Hot) Karl.

Saturday, April 13, 2002

[Ski Patrol.]

Every year, there's an end-of-the-year banquet for the ski patrol to celebrate yet another good year of skiing (well, it was a pretty short season this year, but I thought it was good!) and recognize all of the hard work that some patrollers have put into the system. We had a moderately large contingent of patrollers from our hill show up at the banquet, and it was a perfect time to take a group photo.

(Some of) the ski patrollers from my hill.

Tuesday, April 16, 2002

[Forest Hill - Broomball W02.]

Every Tuesday night during the winter, I would go out to play broomball. I've been doing this for two years now and it's been a very good experience. I've met a lot of new people (albeit twice my age, but hey) and I've gotten to play good broomball. I'm planning to join one of the non-contact leagues next year (I didn't join this year because I didn't really have a car to drive me there and back.) so we'll see if I improve huh?

The 2001-2002 Broomball Crew.

Saturday, May 4, 2002

[JW and I in cahoots.]

Every year, JW has a big birthday party at his place where the entire clan is invited. There are always tons of kids and plenty of food to go around. Many pictures were taken this year thanks to girl's digital camera. I was apparently caught in the act of looking smug during one of the cameo ops.

JW and I. We know something you don't (apparently)!

Saturday, June 22, 2002

At the end of the broomball season, I (along with the rest of the broomball players) was invited out to SS's cottage up in the Muskokas. I figured that I take up that offer and visit the back country since I haven't vacationed up there in a long time..

[Overlooking Lake Vernon.]

The first thing one notices when you start wandering around the property was the view. There was a great view of the lake from the back of the house, and the lookout post situated halfway down to the water is an ideal spot to relax and enjoy the scenery.

This is a picture taken from the lookout point on the way to the dock.

[Midnight over Lake Vernon.]

I stayed up late the first (and last) night that I was up there. The weather was amazing, and the serenity (if you exclude the antics of a very energetic twelve year old) was refreshing. The moon was out and nearly full, so the lake and surrounding forest was bathed in the warm glow of the moon. My camera didn't have film that could take proper night pictures, I tried my best and this was the only one that came out.

This is a picture of the full moon over the midnight waters of Lake Vernon.

[The Crackling Fire.]

After most of us went to sleep, I hung out in the backyard with a couple of guys to watch and nurse the fire.

Here's a picture of the camp fire.

Monday, June 24, 2002

girl had asked me if I wanted to try out hang gliding, and when ET got word of what I was thinking of doing, she jumped on the idea and bounced around on it until I figured that I should try it out. (It was actually quite entertaining to watch all of that bouncing.)

[The girls in orange.]

When we (girl, JW, VW, and I) arrived at the site, ET was already there and the two girls got acquainted. What surprised me the most was the fact that their attire was nearly identical! The excuse that was given to me by girl was that orange was very easy to spot. I see. So it'll be easier to find the body?

girl and ET with the kite in the background.

[Some one-on-one volleyball.]

They had a (sagging) volleyball net set up as well as a (rather deflated) volleyball lying around so VW and JW started playing volleyball to pass the time.

VW and JW volleying the ball around. (Something doesn't seem right though.)

[The contract is struck and the soul extracting operation is explained.]

Before we were able to go up, we had to sign a number of waivers. Actually, it was just one waiver, but there were something like twenty places where you had to initial and it took a long time for us to go through all of the paperwork.

JW and ET are at the front (facing away) while L, girl and VW are at the back.

[Getting strapped in.]

Before going up in the kite, we had to get strapped into a harness so that they can attach us to the kite. They only had two sizes (small and large) so although originally ET and girl were to go up fist, I was volunteered to be the vanguard on this mission. The harness didn't have much to it, just some padding to make sure I didn't fall out. The addition of the helmet was extra insurance although I don't think it would help much if I fell directly on my head.

Kevlar? How fast are we going again?!?

[Ready for takeoff.]

We were brought over to the takeoff site via ATV. The ride was bumpy, but fun. The kite itself wasn't actually that large, and it didn't take too long to get strapped in. We were told to hold onto the pilot in a certain manner, which I guess allows him to control the kite without too much interference from us passengers. After everything was in place, we got ready for tension and takeoff.

Getting into takeoff position.

[Up, up and away!]

The initial tug was sudden and we lifted off virtually instantaneously.

Take off (eh)!

[Still gaining altitude.]

The way this tow rope operation worked required two consecutive passes with which the tow rope was used to pull the kite higher and higher into the air. By the time we were going up on the second pass, we were already fairly high up in the sky (near a thousand feet) and the view was very good.

The kite is still attached to the tow rope and still going up.

[Piloting the kite.]

After reaching our maximum altitude and going around a couple of times to look at the surrounding countryside, the pilot told me to let go of him and hang onto the bars. At that point, he let go of the bar and told me that I was piloting the kite. He then proceeded to tell me how to steer it, and I began to stretch out my flying legs!

Getting a handle on gliding.

[This is apparently a steep bank.]

While I was still steering, we ended up turning very sharply and I thought I was losing control of the kite. The pilot remained calm as he continued explaining what was happening:

"..and now we're going into a steep bank.."

His calm narration was encouraging, but at that point I wanted him to take over the controls again.

Banking the kite to the right.

[The hang gliding crew.]

At the end of it all, we still had some extra pictures that weren't used, so some group photos were taken. This one included all of the flyers and the pilot that took us up.

From the left: ET, VW, me, the pilot, JW, and girl.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 @ 20:20:56 EDT

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