making a global impact on the local level?

Two days in Canmore. Thats how we spent thursday and friday of last week. Well we didn't spend the whole two days, just a couple hours out of each day. We had been displaced from our normal ice surface due to an invasion by all of the worlds speed skating nations for a World Cup. Obviously we don't like to get bumped out, but hey as short trackers we were happy to give up our ice for a couple days for the chance to grow speed skating (any publicity is good publicity even if it is long track) in our country and around the world. And while we were at it we would get a chance to skate in beautiful Canmore and as it turned out, even grow the sport a bit in our own little way.

On each of the two days in the mountains, we did our own workout, on ice which I must say was very very good for a rink that mostly sees hockey and is also quite cold, and then were joined by an enthusiastic group of skaters from the Banff/Canmore club. At first we weren't sure if the kids from Canmore were just happy because they were missing school to skate with us both days, or if they were actually pumped about skating with some National team members. Turns out these kids just love to skate and really got into it. But really, who can argue with missing some school right?

So on the program was some fun relays, slalom races and even a few drills to show them that yes, even when you train like its your job, you still have to do drills.

Dustin and I about to launch Cassidy and Siobhan

Yasu trying to get his team back to the front.

Even though we had to drive near white-out conditions and evade a massive six car pile up to get back to Calgary on friday afternoon, it was worth it. Maybe we didn't grow the sport on a global level like the long-trackers were busy doing, but we had alot of fun, and I think the kids did too. Mission accomplished.

While we are on the topic of crazy weather and growing a global awareness, how about this. I was reading the blog that my good friend Andrew Matthews writes, and ran across a post that he did about the United Nations Climate Change Conference that started today in Copenhagen. As a snowboarder, he was most appalled by a UN report that warned all downhill skiing could disappear by 2030. As a winter enthusiast myself, my interest was also piqued. So far it seems this year is a good snow year which will probably make people push the potential consequences of climate change to the back of their minds. But that doesn't mean that we can forget about it. Continuing to plagiarize from Andrew's blog check out the first part of Age of Stupid, and interesting movie made to open the world's eyes to the effects that climate change is having on our one and only planet earth.

Trials are this weekend. All prep leads to the races on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

(insert guitar solo here)