Durrand Glacier Lodge - WOW

Just got back from an amazing trip in the Selkirks.

There was an amazing group of fit and fun people to hang out with during the daily 7 hour tours of the backcountry. We did daily 9500 plus feet summits with some epic run s down the mountains.

Slide show up soon.

Christmas in January

Tomorrow morning I receive my Christmas present from Malaika: A week of backcountry skiing with M at the Durrand Glacier Lodge at 6000 feet in the Selkirks. www.selkirkexperience.com

It should be incredible. The snow levels to date have been massive; so, there should be lots of runs in the fluffy stuff.

The week is going to be perfect for launching my base aerobic training to get ready for the Tucson training camps and Solvang Camp with my former training buddy Chucky V.

more Air Nootka photos

10 hours on a Beaver

It's Friday night and I am on a huge High! No not from any products; but, from real West Coast flying in a deHavilland Beaver.

A few weeks before Christmas I sent an e-mail to Brad Koop of Air Nootka asking if he would be interested in training me on the Beaver. He called and said - no problem. All I had to do was show up in Gold River.

I showed up last week and we were flying Monday.

I now have 10 hours of flying on the most incredible machine. This is what I want to do! I want to fly the Beaver as a commercial pilot. Working for Air Nootka would be a dream job but it's challenging flying and they generally don't let low timers like me fly for them. Landing with ocean swell, low visibility and tight docks are a standard. Ther aren't too many easy places for them to fly.

I was lucky to do some flying with Mike who is one of the younger guys at Air Nootka and was blown away with his flying. He made the machine as part of his body. I was able to do this a few times in my career as a pro triathlete on the bike. The bike felt like it was part of the body. Mike and Brad both fly this way. I have a long way to go before I can call myself a good pilot after flying with them. UNREAL! You guys are rock stars!

2007 finshed with a bang

My brother Dave and his incredible wife Petra welcomed a new Reid to the world on December 31st - Griffin Peter Reid! I am extremely proud to be Uncle Pete.

Air Nootka

A few weeks ago I was in Courtenay doing some small lake training with Mike Seib in his Cessna 182. Mike pushed my limits and taught me how to fly in tight situations. I enjoyed this type of flying. Next to Mike's hanger was a flight maintenance operator who seemed to specialize in deHavilland Beavers - my dream machine. One day there was a beautiful Beaver in the maintenance shop. I had never heard of the operator - Air Nootka. I did some research and WOW! Air Nootka does some great trips for surfers, hikers and the classic remote mail run on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island. Check out the site: www.airnootka.com

Learning from the best

This past weekend I spent all my time at a three day seminar at the Boundary Bay Airport close to the US Border attending an excellent seminar on Instrument Flying. My instrument rating is not high on my priority for flying at the moment – getting a float job is. You don’t need an Instrument Rating to land on a lake – you need it to land at an airport with low visibility and low ceilings. So why did I spend all my time sitting in a classroom or driving 2 hours to and from the lecture for something I don’t really need. Well two reasons:

1. One of the best in the flight training business was giving the lecture.
2. It can only help my flying.

The more I learn the better I get.

One of the best ways to learn is to ask the best and listen. I was very fortunate to be able to ask two of the greatest triathletes (Paula Newby Fraser – 8 time IM champ and Mark Allen – 6 time IM champ) questions about training and racing. Each one had many great tips based on experience. They never preached – they just shared a tip based on experience. I could find out through trial and error or learn from them.

I am trying to do the same with flying: ask and learn from the best.

This week I am doing a presentation for StarCite in Florida then it will be back to flight training.

The timeline for the new job is April when I get back from the Solvang training camp with Chuckie V. A few resumes have been mailed but the real push will be April when I drive from operator to operator in Canada’s North hoping to land that first job flying floats.

So, Thanks Todd for the great tips this weekend and to Paula and Mark for helping achieve my goals in sport.