Skier Bio: Kim Lamb

Ms. Kimberly "Kim" Lamb is a second-year Ski Holiday varsity, joining the group from Boston where she works as a Research Contracts Manager for Merck. A native of MA, she did a stint in the Midwest for grad school that extended into 13 yrs of living the good life. Missing family and the pace of the East coast, she moved back in 2005. Hoping to truly earn varsity status this year, Kim is actually planning to ski a couple of times BEFORE the trip. She's even contemplating the purchase of some skiboots to call her own. What will be next?!

Boarder/Tele-Skier Bio: Denise Abdoo

Ms. Denise Abdoo is no stranger to the Ski Holiday circuit. She hails from Denver, Colorado, where she works as a pediatric nurse practitioner in Emergency Medicine and Trauma at The Children's Hospital. Denise owns a Vizsla mix, which by the way was used in development of other breeds including the Weimaraner and German Shorthair Pointer (thanks Wikipedia!). Denise is a flexitarian which means she only eats flexi, a fibrous breakfast cereal foodstuff which I think is made by Kashi and sold at places like Whole Foods.

Tele-Skier Bio: Marc Oettinger

Mr. Marc Oettinger is the marketing director for this year's Ski Holiday. Marc is a Scorpio who enjoys fine dining, dancing, art history, sunsets, water polo, equestrian polo, Ralph Lauren’s polo, arroz con pollo, and delightful conversation. Marc has drawn upon the good and the bad in planning this ski adventure, and he hopes this will be the best snow trip ever.

Skier Bio: Robyn "Beena" Avery

Ms. Robyn "Beena" Avery is a second-year Ski Holidayer. Robyn lives in Boston, where she works as a Sr. Recruiter for a large pediatric hospital. When she's not recruiting and hiring, she spends her free time globe trotting and seeking adventures. Some of her favorite places to visit have been New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and soon-to-add Canada. On the weekends she enjoys spinning, running and singing karaoke. You will also spot her at the après-ski with a glass of vino in hand.

Boarder Bio: Elliot Reed

Mr. Elliot Reed is back! Elliot was the driving force behind the amazing 3 Vallées France trip March 2006. He had a strong but injury-prone showing for the 2007 Verbier Switzerland trip. And he flexed his karaoke muscles (I WANNA ROCK) at Holiday 2008 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Elliot was born in the Netherlands, raised in Phoenix, and currently hails from Cleveland. Elliot currently serves as the general manager of VasoLux MicroSystems, a start-up medical device company. Fun facts: in 1993 Elliot was a pineapple picker in Maui; he is also color blind and routinely buys purple things believing them to be blue.

Fun Facts, Eh!

• Canada is the world's second-largest country (after the Russian Federation), covering almost ten million square kilometres. A quarter of this is the Inuit homeland of Nunavut.
• Canada extends across six time zones, and shares a border with the US of 8900km. The highest point is Mount Logan (5959m).
• The population is almost 33 million, with an average life expectancy at birth of 80 years. Almost a half claim British ancestry, a quarter French ancestry and just under a million (3.3 percent) claim aboriginal ancestry.
• Canada is a confederation comprising ten provinces and three territories. It has been self-governing since 1867, but retains ties to Britain: the Canadian head of state is Queen Elizabeth II.
• Canada's colossal natural resources help put it among the world's top-ten richest countries. Almost two-thirds of its power is hydroelectric, and it's one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy.

Exercise #1: Isometric Power with TV Sits

With your back against the wall, lower yourself down until your legs form a 90-degree angle. Try four sets of one-, two-, and three-minute intervals twice a week. Increase the duration of intervals as you gain strength.

Canadian Loonies to 1 USD

Run $US run!

Help Me Help You

1. Alert me to other skier and boarder email addresses that I may have missed.
2. Alert me to any deals on Canadian resorts, hotels, planes, trains, automobiles you might know of or come across.

And a few gentle suggestions for those who are already committed:

1. Take advantage of summer sales & buy more gear today.
2. Renew subscriptions to Ski, Skiing, Freeskier, Snowboarder, Powder, Transworld, Backcountry magazines.
3. Join and/or review your frequent flyer mile programs. Consolidate if necessary.
4. Establish a budget and start saving for this trip today e.g. use double coupons, open a 6mo CD, bring your lunch to work, quit smoking, use rechargeable batteries, eat McDonald's $1 menu, make your own coffee, unplug appliances not in use, set up automatic deductions, walk/bike to work, buy clothes at thrift store, go to matinées, avoid ATM fees, cut your own hair, sell your pet, sell your plasma, sell stuff on eBay....

Early Planning

I know we're just getting to the dog days of summer. However, in thinking cool I have started reviewing suggestions, inspecting ski journals, searching the internet, consulting with the gods, holding interviews, forming steering groups and informal committees ... towards Ski Holiday 2009, the best snow trip ever!

For those new to this list and experience: we pick a world-class destination (domestic or international) and go there for a week of winter fun. Last year we had 17 people and the year before about a dozen. All ski/board levels are welcome. Our past blog sites give a nice picture of what we're all about:

http://skiholiday2008.blogspot.com
http://skiholiday2007.blogspot.com

Budget time and ~$2,000 towards airfare, ski tickets, and 7 nights lodging.