Part 7 of the Odyssey:

Ski Seattle!

In the last episode, we made a run back to Seattle from Banff in a hirecar (yes, hire cars really are the best cars for all those well-known reasons), the Evil Van having carked-it in Invermere, destroying our plans to cruise up the Icefields Parkway and view/ski Jasper.

So, Friday April 4 saw me waking in a cellar in Seattle to a lovely warm sunny day (why weren't we skiing!!!).

TB did the host bit by decanting his Dodge rag-top from the shed and taking me and Doggie for a spin. Perfect car for a gorgous town; Seattle really is one of the lovliest towns I've ever seen, with water and mountains everywhere, pretty houses (no front fences allowed), trees, sun, the lot.

We then took the hire car into the CBD to return it, met a bunch of mad young chaps from Rhode Island who were in town for a wedding, and went to see Steven Speilberg's new entertainment centre (I was carrying a new set of skis...). This place is really worth-while, very family-friendly, with lots of keen young explainers and some of the most incredible machines and games!

TB had a go on the Alpine Racer, and winning the intermediate version, tried Advanced. I got quite seasick watching him crash through fences, off cliffs...ugh. A small crowd gathered to view the carnage, and wanted to know about my skis. "Well, you get these for winning...he's not getting any though"...These people had a Canadian sense of humour and chuckled happily. We then went to a state-of-the-art toyshop, which specialised in teddy bears, right up to couch-sized ones; TB bought a rather small one.

Spent Saturday in similar fashion - lovely warm t-shirt weather - exploring the bit of town with an "N" in front of all the street names, which are actually numbers...There's a little lake, with the name Green, surprised they didn't give it a number.

Sunday April 6: We had intended to wake up early and ski Steven's Pass, a "local hill" (this being a Bad Thing, apparently). However, after I got up, had shower, breakfast etc I realised that either TB's alarm had failed, or his snoring had drowned it out.

So I bravely ventured into the Cave of Hope, where an enormous bedlump snored and snuffled. Grabbing a supply of teddy bears, I fired them at the lump, but to no avail. Some balls of socks followed, nothing.What to do? Suddenly, the alarm clock went off and I beat a hasty retreat! He'd forgotten to turn his clocks forward for daylight saving!

We drove up to Steven's anyway, and it was a lovely drive, past one of those turquoise-coloured rivers, with hordes of kayakers lining up to play in the rocks. Steven's Pass was actually a very nice ski hill; the runs were rather short, but there were lots of them, and the back area in particular was a lot of fun. I was back on conventional skis after 4 weeks of parabolics, and TB was hoping I'd fall over (they were 195's and he didn't approve); he even tried to facilitate the process. I discovered that you can do those lay-over snowboarder turns on conventionals, and failed to fall over. (see pic of TB harassing Doggie in the carpark).

We both became toast at 3pm - TB was worn out from yelling abuse at kids. He'd arranged $12 tickets for us, so we'd got our money's worth.

Monday and Tuesday were the usual; gorgous sunny warm days. I saw Mt Rainier!!! The hugest, most ridiculously big mountain ever. It looked as though some Hollywood producer had viewed the pretty jagged mountain ranges flanking Seattle and said "I want a Really Big Mountain,twice as big as those ones" and got it, just plunked in the foreground.

TB also Vailized his Olin Apex's, which he'd begged and pleaded and crawled to Stu for (see pic). TB spent his days beating the Seattle Men's Knitting Group back into shape ("we'll have no more of that circular needle crap, and it's 8-ply and under ONLY, cheaters can get out now...") while I explored a bit more, found some beaut shops and Doggie showed me the Leash-Free zone near Green Lake.

Wed April 9: Up early to pick up Bert (head Knitter) and ski Crystal Mountain (another Local Hill). I took the new Olin DTSLs out for a spin, in the hope that merging The Greatest Ski Ever Made with parabolics would rescue parabolics from parabolic-ness.We were skiing for free, cos Bert was a shareholder; it was foggy and a bit icy and cold, and poor old Bert took a shocking fall off the cat-track down into some very spiky trees. Typical cat-track fall - he was a good skiier.

I found the DTSLs just the same as the other shaped skis, a bit easier to ski, not much faster, couldn't detect any difference from the lifters under the bindings, quite floppy ends, no rebound (though there was a little something in the tail).

The people from TB's favourite ski store were there, skiing on next year's Olins like us - TB loudly announced behind them that in his opinion, the people at Sport Mart knew more about skis than those idiots at Sturtevent's. There were many shocked eyes turned our way before they twigged.

Thursday April 10: My last day in Seattle before heading for Whistler. Stu Rempel of Olin had offered to show me around the Olin/K2 factory onVashon Island; we put the car on the ferry and punted across.Apparently they used to do factory tours, but didn't any more, so this was pretty nice of Stu (see pic).

He told me the history of Olin, and then took me through the factory in the same sequence as skis are made. The complex was very big indeed, people running around everywhere. I've recounted this before, but Stu's little joke will be aired again...As we passed a pile of rusty old steel girders in a yard, Stu commented that they were trialling a new ski for people TB's size, and these girders would form the cores.

I got shown how skis are made, from design stage right through the whole process to completion. They were making K2s the day I was there, but Olin stuff was everywhere.The graphics studio was amazing, with snakeskin-like ski tops hanging up and the graphics we are all so familiar-with on sketch-pads.

I was stunned by how much trouble and care goes into making these skis! They use a lot of machines, but every step has a person driving it, very hands-on. They are fanatical about quality control; you'll not buy a pair of "factory seconds" K2s or Olins; they burn them.

My favourite bit was the weaving-thing that spools a specific mixture of fibreglass, Kevlar and other technical stuff to make the ski's cap; this affects the ski's behaviour as much as (or even more than) the ski's core. Olin are still using laminated wood cores (a good thing), but Stu waved a handful of floppy black things at me, saying how wonderful foamcores were...Edges were a worry. I never realised how thin they are. Hell...

Back in Stu's office I received lots of Olin stuff, including the Sacred Smooth Johnson Toothpicks, and then we were home again, where TB carefully packed a big bag for Whistler (and left it on his bedroom floor when we left for Whistler) while I posted rude things to rsa.

The drive to Whistler would have been uneventful, but for a vigilant cop getting TB for speeding as we hunted for a duty-free.We found ourselves in a rather salubrious apartment in the Holiday InnSunSpree resort, above the Hard Rock Cafe, with views of both gondolas. After smuggling our skis and Doggie inside, and weathering the storm when TB discovered his lack of luggage, we went SHOPPING.

Thus ends the penultimate chapter of the Odyssey.

Sorry, I piked on the Exploding Whale...couldn't find the "before"picture of the all-you-can-eat buffet owners blanching as TB walked in...

	TB in carpark at Steven's Pass, suggesting to Doggie that she either do a poo, or wipe her feet. Those are the famous Skiing Tights, by the way.
	Scott Vailizes the free Apexes, after Stu relents and lets him have the darn things.. He's pretty happy about it.
	Stu Rempel (and TB) in Stu's office at Olin/K2. (Stu is the good-looking one). The ski TB is smooging up to is the Apex avec graphics. The picure above TB is of the blokes who founded the factory on Vashon.

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