Day 5

Well we've come full circle for the first period of OPT Big Dawg cycle. From what I've gathered we'll complete days 1-3 again improving upon technique and loads, apparently we should be able to increase the strength loads by 2-3% and increase the number of reps on the handstands and pull-ups.

Day 5 Results:

a1. 155/8 175/8 185/6 185/6
a2. 185/7 205/7 225/7 245/7
wish I had loaded these up a bit heavier, wasn't around for last weeks episode.

b1. 25/8 25/7 25/6
b2. consecutive

c1. 20lbs through and through
c2. all static and sets were broken.

I had given myself a mild case of food poisoning the previous day but I seem to have gotten over the worst of it. My gut feels awful though and energy levels aren't where they should be, I wonder how long it'll last for.

Christmas Cranes

Above: Just as it began to snow we started stringing up the Christmas lights along the boom.

This past saturday I found myself 300 feet off the deck of a residential high rise stringing Christmas lights along the boom of a very large crane. To say the least it was exhilarating but throw some snow, 30km/hr winds and a 3 inch walkway, well you make for an unique and intense experience.

Above: Alright, it's time to start work.

Above: Halfway along the first side.

Above: Phil resting easy in his little bucket.

Above: Down on the deck Doug, Brad, Aymen & Seungjoo were preparing the Christmas lights that were going to be strung up the mast.

Above: A closer view of the light preperation.

Above: It's about 300' to the base of the crane.

Above: By this time i'm ready to come down. You can see the 3" rusty rail i'm walking along, not much fun in snowy & windy conditions.

Above: Vancouver all snowy, that's the Cambie Street bridge.

Above: Looking west along False Creek

Man am I glad Christmas only comes once a year.

Ski Day 9 & 10

I headed up Cypress Mountain to get some quality time in with mother nature and it was fantastic! She puked snow all day and made skiing off of the top of Strachan fantastic. After Strachan I headed across the hill and skied up to the top of
Black Mountain, this run was definitelly way better and I met a very friendly park ranger named "Simon".

On Thursday I headed up Mount Seymour with Jay and we skied into the back country till we had a great view of Vancouver from a little rise. It was a clear and beautifull night. We skied down to the base of Seymour and waffled on whether to skin another lap, in the end we did

All in all the last week of November was a fantastic month and I managed to get my 10th ski day in. I must say that I'm very satisfied.

Above: At the top of the Sky Chair on Cypress

Above: The stump that saved Jay's life. Its the ~3' stump in the middle of the photo. Imagine hitting that at about 30 km/hr with nothing but your ribs to stop you. So we took our pain magnet to the hospital after.