Received this email today:
“Congratulations! Ski Here! was determined to be one of the best blogs to learn about your topic, and has received our 2010 Top 25 Skiing Blogs award!”
“…The ratings are then compared for each site within a category and awards are given out to blogs in the 99% percentile (meaning the top 1% of blogs receive awards).”
As you can tell if you’re a follower, this blog is a labour of love for me, and when you do something you truly enjoy, it shows. Again, I thank all of our contributors and readers for making this one of the best. Can’t wait for the snow to fly!
(If you google “Ski blogs,” there are 17,500,000 results.)
Hi Bob:
Congrats are well in order, it’s been a long time coming.
Many years ago I recall meeting you on daytrips with the Calgary Ski Club, later you attended one of our first track-skiing co-coordinator workshops, for which Ski Here now embellishes. You have taken the work of many co-coordinators from various ski clubs across Calgary to the next level. It is now gives novice skiers in the Bow Corridor and skiers new to the area, the ability to get out and enjoy Alberta’s scenic wonderland in a manner which is safe and enjoyable.
Track Skiing is just one step in a multi-tiered program allowing skiers the opportunity to progress either by taking lessons and fitness development similar to that offered by the Calgary Ski Club. Alternatively they can progress into backcountry activities, at an entry level, on valley bottom trails, progressing at a rate that they desire to trails at higher elevations, eventually into alpine meadows and ski mountaineering.
Work first began at a multi club level just over a decade ago, following a serious avalanche fatality at Burstall Pass. Many of the outdoor clubs in the Calgary area now use the same trail classification under various guises. The Rocky Mountain Ramblers, Bow Waters Canoe Club, The Noresman Ski Club, and of course Calgary Ski club adapted the classification to meet their needs. As chair of the trail classification committee I had the privilege of working with senior co-coordinators from the various clubs as we hammered out the initial classification.
A decade later some tempering to the backcountry portion would be in order to encourage ease of use, and easier to understand terminology. By doing so it would be that much easier to shape and develop ski clinics and skill modules better suited to the needs of skiers as they progress into more serious terrain.
As both Calgary and Edmonton are evolving into a more metropolitan outlook, travel patterns for skiers are bound to change. One only has to look at the ski clubs in Toronto and how they have utilized public transit as a means of travel. With this the 60th year Anniversary of the Calgary Ski Club, one can but ask: are the ski trains of the past and distant memory’ a possibility in the years to come.
Sincerely
Greg G Grundberg
Thanks for the comment Greg. The public transit idea is something that should be explored. -Bob
Congratulations Bob!! On Receiving the “Top 25 skiblogs award”. A job well done! Tessa and I are very proud of you and your “SkiHere” Blog and love sharing the skiing and your joy of the blog. Believe me fellow skiers, I am truly lucky to get the first hand account of ski and trail reports by skiing with Bob and watching him so accurately and enthusiatically prepare his daily update report. Love Cheryl and Tessa the skiing Springer Spaniel!!
Well deserved Bob! Congratulations!!