Posted by Topher Donahue on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 @ 10:46 AM
If you’ve ever wondered how the CMH guides agree on what is safe enough to ski, or noticed that piece of paper (just right of the guide's elbow in this photo), covered with red, green and yellow words and taped to the inside of the helicopter in front of the guide seat in every Alpine heliski helicopter, you need to know about the CMH Run List.
For 28 years, the little piece of paper has been as much a part of the CMH heliskiing experience as good food and deep powder. To get an insider’s perspective on the CMH Run List, I caught up with Thierry Cardon, a French ex-pat who is working on his fourth decade of guiding for CMH.
TD: What exactly is the CMH Run List?
TC: It is the printed, color-coded outcome of the terrain hazard evaluation done at every morning guide's meeting.
TD: When did CMH start using a Run List?
TC: In 1982, in the immediate aftermath of the "69" avalanche in the Bugaboos.
TD: What does each color indicate?
TC: In theory:
- Green: No particular concern other than specific terrain features
.
- Red: Enough uncertainty to warrant closure of the run or specific line and terrain feature for the day. Can only be re-opened with thorough discussion, significant snow stability change and/or additional observations. (In other words, stability must improve dramatically for a Red run to be changed to Green.)
- Yellow: Enough uncertainty to warrant further information such as natural avalanche activity removing the hazard or unknown new snow amount or wind effect which can be way less than anticipated. A Yellow run can be changed to Green in the field by unanimous consensus of the guide team and documented. Yellow coding is NOT used with persistent weak layers and buried facets or mid-pack surface hoar conditions (Avalanche factors that are best assessed through long-term trends rather than last minute decision-making or observations in the field). Last winter (a season with unusually poor snow stability in the Columbia Mountains) taught us that reloaded avalanche bed surfaces should be given the same cautious treatment.
TD: How did guides make decisions differently before the Run List?
TC: There was only a general, cursory discussion on the snow stability but no terrain discussion or specific hazard evaluation. This was up to each guide's evaluation and that, of course, varied greatly due to experience, personality and operational pressure.
TD: How does the Run List help the guides?
TC: It prompts systematic, focused discussion at the guide meeting (accompanied by photos of every run in the Snowbase database) and the printed copy sits in front of the guide on the helicopter instrument panel. It is a binding product of the collective hazard evaluation process. Each guide has a power of veto to make a run Red if he feels that it is warranted. (In other words, every guide has the power close runs they are not comfortable with at any time.)
TD: How quickly does the Run List change?
TC: Typically the Run List is established every day at the morning guide’s meeting but it can be re-evaluated and changed if conditions change rapidly or are way different from what they were assessed at the morning meeting. To change runs from Yellow to Green, a guide's meeting in the field is required. However, to change from Green to Red, the power of veto exercised by one guide in the field is enough.
The CMH Run List is just one element of the standard-setting CMH safety program. Besides area-specific systems, CMH guide teams share observations between areas in a daily conference call; and snow professionals from ski resorts, other guide services, and road maintenance crews publish daily observations that are studied by ski guides across the region and used by avalanche forecasting services for public bulletins. This cooperative information network is a big reason for the increased popularity and safety of helicopter, snowcat, lift, and touring access to the thrilling world of backcountry skiing and snowboarding.
Photo of CMH Adamants from the helicopter by Topher Donahue.
Posted by Topher Donahue on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 09:05 AM
The CMH kitchens produce the kind of dining experience you see in the lefthand photo, in the kind of locations you see in the righthand photo. The juxtaposition seems kind of unreal to me, so to get a glimpse of how they do it, I asked Rick Carswell, veteran chef of heliski lodges, CP Hotels, Holland America Cruise Lines, the film industry, pirate ships and the food and beverage manager for CMH.
TD: What issues do you face cooking at a CMH Lodge compared to an equivalent restaurant?
RC: As a chef at CMH you have an incredible amount of culinary freedoms, and on the flip side lifestyle restraints that are different from your average restaurant job. There is no-one else qualified in the lodge to cover for you if you get sick or injured and that can be intimidating and all-consuming. I remember being sick once and I had a dream that I walked down the hall to the managers room and told him that I was sorry that I wouldn't be able to cook breakfast because I was going to die - and I was terribly sorry. He thanked me for telling him and said it had been a pleasure getting to know me, then I turned and walked toward my room were I was going to die.
TD: How do you get all that food in there anyway?
RC: It takes about a week per lodge to refit them in the fall for the coming winter with all their food and beverage inventory. I figure as accurately as I can the amount of food they will need for this coming winter, run quotes for those supplies from all our vendors and then drive it to the lodge by the semi load. If you are at a lodge early in the season ask to have a look in the store rooms. It's impressive to see the wall of Kokanee beer, or the 100 bags of flour. During the operating season, the fresh food is ordered weekly by the chefs, received in Banff from the 15 or so suppliers where it is then sorted by area, reassembled and shipped to the appropriate helipad to meet the helicopters for it's trip to the lodge. Quite an interesting journey if you're a fresh mussle from PEI to a mountain lodge in three days, one plane ride, three different truck rides, one helicopter ride, one ski-do ride and passing through about a dozen sets of hands to get there.
TD: What does a CMH chef typical work day look like?
RC: Long. At CMH workday begins at 6am and finishes at 9pm and goes day after day for two weeks before you get a break. As a chef, if I got out skiing it meant that I would work into the night to get pay back for my reward of skiing, but man is it worth it. I can work on six hours sleep if I can get a few runs in the middle of the day and I find that I work much more effectively if I get outside for a bit.
TD: If an experienced chef wanted to work for CMH, what advice would you have for them?
RC: This is a serious work hard play hard environment. But you need to have the experience and confidence to be able to pull it off. We look at chefs with about five years post apprenticeship experience and hopefully in the eight years of their work experience they have moved to lots of different places, worked different styles of cuisine and have some management experience. It's a hard position to fill and certainly we have taken the chance on lesser experience levels for exceptional personalities who mostly have worked their way up our ladder but team is sustainable because we manage to retain about 80% of our chefs from one season to the next. The average work/life expectancy for our 44 chefs is around ten years, which is pretty spectacular in this industry of nomadic pirate chefs. My best friends are CMH chefs and we go back 20 years with this company. They are a book of stories and talent.
TD: Anything else you'd like to add?
RC: Come, enjoy the mountains and the skiing, but when you get back to the lodge stop by the kitchen and visit the chefs, I'm sure you'll be impressed with my friends, ask them about the vegetarians who eat lamb when they are at CMH, ask them what wine they will be drinking with dinner, ask them about their greatest culinary disaster and how, as a good pirate, they pulled it off and nobody noticed. My friends tell good stories.
Posted by Topher Donahue on Thu, Jun 03, 2010 @ 10:28 AM
Sometimes we have guests who are unable to ski for various reasons, but who still make their annual trip to CMH. Nobody is surprised to find the skiing incomparable and highly addictive, but why go back if you can’t ski? The answer lies in the trifecta of the CMH Lodge Experience: One part remote alpine hut, one part mountain expedition, and one part luxury retreat.
The cornerstone around which this beguiling recipe is built is the CMH mealtime. Inspired during the mid-1900s by Elisabeth “Lizzie” von Rummel’s Assiniboine Lodge methodology of intimate mealtimes after long days together in the mountains, dinner with CMH is like nothing else. For a glimpse into how the CMH staff makes their mealtime magic happen, I asked Lianne Marquis, the Hospitality Services Manager and veteran of many years in CMH lodges, epic ski trips, and big grins.
TD: Your team provides some of the most remote fine dining on the planet. What do you tell your staff-in-training to get them ready for dinnertime at CMH?
LM: We tell the staff that dinner is just as important as the skiing and hiking programs - if not more! You never know what the mountains will bring, but one thing we know for sure, is that we can create a great dining experience every evening for our guests.
TD: Why do people eat at big tables instead of little restaurant-style tables?
LM: It's all about the family-style service that we offer. There are always two staff who sit at the head of each table and welcome our guests to their table and dine with them for the evening – often after skiing and snowboarding together during the day. Like a good family, all of our staff serves dinner; our guest service staff, guides, managers, maintenance, and our massage practitioners.
Guests can ask for serving requests and can even get up and help themselves to seconds if they would like. It's a very casual setting conducive to storytelling and laughter - with fine dining cuisine.
TD: What kinds of conversations does the setting encourage?
LM: It's very common to see an entire table toasting another table after a great day in the mountains. Glasses of wine are being raised in celebration of the day’s events. It's all about getting to know people from all over the world, what brought them to CMH, and how they found the mountains in the first place. But it’s much more than that. You usually get into some great conversations about everything and anything!!!
There are so many languages being spoken around the tables, you might not understand everyone, but you sure know when someone has had an epic day. It's pretty easy to see by their ear-to-ear grin!
TD: How much has the magical ambiance at alpine huts, what the hüttenzauber, influenced the CMH mealtime?
LM: I believe that Hans Gmoser mirrored the hut dining experience that he was used to on his own mountain adventures when he first opened the Bugaboo Lodge. It was a far cry from the comfort of our lodges today, but it was all about the family atmosphere, enjoying each other’s company at mealtime, sharing stories and getting to know one another in such an incredible and unique setting.
Join us for mealtime at one of the 11 CMH areas and we’ll go helicopter skiing and helicopter snowboarding together during our spare time!
Snowboard and Sushi photo by Topher Donahue
Posted by Jane Carswell on Tue, May 25, 2010 @ 11:56 AM
By Becky Tannar of Suitcase.com
Heli-skiing...what an adventure! What a sport! What a let-down if your luggage doesn't arrive with you and you're left plowing through fresh powder on borrowed equipment (if it's even available) or chilling in the lodge while your friends are having the trip of their lives. When you are travelling to CMH's amazing remote locations, and your luggage doesn't make it with you, getting it to you can take at least a couple of days, and that could be a waste of a trip. Here are a few tips from Suitcase.com that will help you ensure that your luggage makes it with you (besides the obvious of carrying your ski boots with you!):
- Check out the current rules and regulations before you travel.
Be aware of extra costs for additional baggage. Fees can be incurred with both oversized and overweight luggage. Make sure you are aware of this so that you do not have sticker shock at the airport. Also, every airline, airport and country has different regulations. Make sure you check into all of those factors before your flight. Keep in mind that the atmosphere at the lodge is casual so you don't need to bring a lot with you and CMH asks that you pack light as your bags will be flown into remote lodges by helicopter.
- Properly tag all of your bags.
It cannot be stressed enough how important it is for you to put tags on your bags to WHERE YOU ARE GOING, not just your home address. We have many customers who actually have special tags made up and laminated for their trips with multiple locations. These tags have the specific dates they will be at each location. Consider using bright and easily identifiable tags or invest in custom embroidered luggage tags, such as the tags found at TagsForBags
on Suitcase.com.
- Consider shipping your luggage in advance.
Another option to getting your bags to you is to use a luggage shipping company, such as Luggage Free, which will send your luggage to your destination ahead of time. With this service, you do not have to worry about your luggage arriving with your airline flight. Luggage Free will pick up your bags at your home or office, and then ship them to the CMH office in Banff where their Navigation department will ensure it is sent to the lodge to which you are headed. It is advised that you plan in advance and allow extra days for shipping and getting items through customs. See CMH"s shipping guidelines for more info.
What we all fear: You finally arrive at your destination and your bags are no where to be found. Then what? Kindness and patience. When you are at the airport, a little patience and kindness goes a long way with ticketing agents and airline personnel. In the event that your luggage is lost, do not panic and take a deep breath before you speak to a representative. Remember, the person who is going to help you find your luggage is most likely not the person who lost it, so keep your cool and give all the pertinent information you can, where you will be, and the fastest and best way to get the bags to you. CMH's guest service experts at the Calgary Airport will help you with the paperwork and will work with your airline to get your bags where they need to go when they arrive. And the lodge's shops do stock most of the ski gear you'll need so be sure to ask the airline how much you'll be reimbursed for the lost items.
So in short, the old adage of "An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure" speaks volumes when you are planning on packing and transporting your gear for your next Heli-Skiing adventure. Just remember to read the Trip Preparation section on CMH's website and take these necessary precautions to help avoid any potential stress or disasters on your ascent up to the mountains.
Since 1951, Bretts Luggage & Gifts has provided suitcases and accessories for everything travel, from luggage collections and backpacks to briefcases and computer bags. Then, in 1996, Suitcase.com was launched - one of the first in the luggage industry - to offer its products on a global stage. For additional information on Suitcase.com, check out our blog, blog.suitcase.com, visit our online store, www.Suitcase.com, or find us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/c1pgyS.
Becky Tannar is the store manager of Bretts Luggage & Gifts, a contributor to Suitcase.com, and is a certified Travel Goods Specialist. She has been in the Travel Goods Industry for the past 10 years. She has experienced extensive travel for both business and pleasure and is eager to share insights into her customers and personal experiences. Her goal is to visit a different country every year to become a better citizen of the world!
Posted by Topher Donahue on Mon, Apr 12, 2010 @ 04:44 PM
Lift lines and ski bars the world over have witnessed the soft vs. hard shell debate; however, like the snowboard vs. ski debate, the best answer is probably a resounding: both. Waterproof breathable fabrics are better than they have ever been, but even the best gets wet inside if you are pushing it aerobically. A soft shell will become a frozen mold of your body in wet, near-freezing conditions like these at CMH Revelstoke:
For the opinion of someone who spends most of her winter days in the snow, I caught mountain guide Lilla Molnar during a week off - on a ski tour in Whistler, British Columbia - between shifts heli-ski guiding at CMH Bugaboos.
TD: Can you explain what happens to soft shells during multi-day outings in
wet/cold environments?
LM: Wet and cold is not so bad but wet and warm is when the fabric starts to absorb water.
TD: So then is old-fashioned hard shell outerwear still better?
LM: On wet days. Either in rain or wet snow, when the freezing level is right around zero. A Gore-Tex shell is a key piece of equipment in coastal snowstorms - which I am now experiencing here in Whistler. Even Gore-tex eventually gets wet, but then it dries faster than soft shell with body heat and or wind.
TD: So what is the ideal environment/trip for soft shells?
LM: A ski touring trip in the interior ranges of British Columbia or the Rockies is the ideal environment. Ski touring is as much about the uphill as it is about the downhill. It is an aerobic sport and sweating is inevitable.
- Soft shells breathe well while you work hard going uphill - so that you are not too sweaty and cold when it comes to the downhill.
- Soft shells shed snow in a cold environment as long as temperatures are well below freezing.
- Soft-shells are quite wind resistant, and I find when the wind is blowing it helps to disperse the moisture which is accumulating on the jacket from outside moisture and also perspiration.
- Soft shells have a nice feel and move well with your body. It is generally quite soft, pliable and not as noisy as Gore-Tex.
TD: So what do you recommend people bring for outerwear on multi-day ski tours?
LM:
- Start with a good base layer; a wool blend is good for those who don’t sweat too much, polypro (or a similar synthetic material) works better for heavy sweaters.
- A soft shell layer should go above this.
- A lightweight hard shell can be stowed in your bag skinning up, and thrown on for shedding face shots on the descent.
- A light down or synthetic insulated jacket should also be packed. Who knows what the day brings...
TD: Would you use soft shell on a ski tour without a hut or lodge to dry out in?
LM: I would only use soft shell on that kind of a ski tour if I anticipated that the conditions would be fairly dry. Generally, I would take a soft shell on the trip but would have a Gore-Tex along, no matter what, in case of nasty weather.
TD: What about hard vs soft shells while helicopter snowboarding and skiing?
LM: Definitely hard shell.
Generally, heliskiing is very snowy. Seems obvious, but what I mean is that your clothing is constantly touching snow in one way or another. More so than with ski touring. In a heliskiing environment the snow is either falling from the sky, billowing up against your chest or being blown around by the helicopter. Another reality is that inevitably you will be digging yourself out of the snow after a good wipeout. Inside the helicopter, the snow will melt on your clothing and turn to water. Heliskiing is more anaerobic than aerobic (for most people) therefore you are less likely to sweat as much as if you were ski touring. But, no matter what the ads say, if you over-dress and overheat you will get wet from the inside out . On a deep powder day it is hard to stay dry, even with a brand new cutting-edge Arc'teryx shell, but you probably wont care.
Like the sound of pushing your equipment to the limit? Check out the world's most diverse backcountry ski programs here.
Posted by Topher Donahue on Fri, Mar 19, 2010 @ 04:12 PM
I had a simple question: Can I learn how to ski powder while skiing in-bounds on hard pack (on piste) at the average ski area?
For the answer, I tracked down Roko Koell, inventor of the CMH Powder Masters program, a third generation mountain guide, and former coach of the Austrian women's downhill team. Here is Roko's answer, pulled from his vast collection of cutting-edge instruction methods:
Learning to ski powder on hardpack? It doesn’t seem right, does it?
Skiing powder, floating effortlessly down the virgin powder slopes of majestic mountains, riding the ultimate high of the nirvana of the “king’s class” of skiing. Down and up, in and out, the act of penetration bottomless - this is freedom and the stuff skier’s dreams are made of. This is skiing powder.
It is also an unfortunate fact among skiers that this is a feeling most people think they are too inexperienced to master.
If you are one of those people, one of the millions of skiers who think they can’t ski powder-but don’t know how easy it really can be, then you are a perfect candidate to use the tools below to become a member of the club of powder enthusiasts.
Skiing movements, for both hard pack and powder, have to be established, refined and perfected. But new movements are learned best in an easy and consistent environment: on familiar hard pack, wide open slopes, and consistent snow and weather (visibility) conditions. Staying with what you know will allow your mind to be free, uncluttered and focused solely on the movement instead of worrying about terrain obstacles like trees, dips, bumps and the various forms of deep snow.
Skiing well in deep snow requires experience, but it is experience in ski technique and in motion patterns. The basic skiing techniques (like traversing, side-slipping, side-stepping, snow-plow, stem turns, kick turns, getting up after a fall etc.) need to be established, and automated.
It is crucial for skiing powder to be able to perform short turns, and solid pole plants as they automatically promote the equal weighting of both skis, giving you rhythm and enabling you to link a series of turns together. Bad habits need to be eliminated BEFORE you wonder off beyond the groomed slopes. Bad habits just result in frustration, a loss of skiing self-confidence, fatigue and misery. CAN YOU RELATE? Bad habits are responsible for the nasty myth that skiing powder is only for expert skiers.
You can PRACTICE this on hard pack!
In a days worth of skiing in a ski resort we make about 3000 turns. We prefer a certain turning radius, comfortable (similar) speed and familiar skiing movements (personal technique). We ski very one sided, too much the same almost all the time. To elevate your skiing to the next level you need to change your rhythm, your turning radius and your skiing speed. Practicing this on hard pack makes you a much more versatile and “ready” skier and establishes motion patterns within your brain and muscle memory, which pay dividends in fun when you venture off-piste.
Here is one exercise that perfectly prepares you for skiing powder: Short turns on hard pack!!
Make short turns with strong pole plants, get out of your comfort zone, refine the vertical up and down movements (this is your platform when in powder) and rhythm, and is an excellent way to establishing more equal weighting of both skis (balancing). The shorter the turns (Slalom turns), the more both skis are weighted equally!! The more equally both skies are weighted, the easier it is to balance in deep snow and to build solid platforms at the end of every turn.
Then add pole plants too your short turns. A proper pole plant acts as timing for your turns, promoting the linking of turns and makes your skiing rhythmical and harmonious.
If you have established these rhythms on hard pack (piste) your transition to skiing powder will be much easier and faster. Your muscle memory will remember these motion patterns, and after a bit of practicing these movements get more and more established and eventually automated within your skiing movements.
And finally, this will help your powder skiing:
Walk instead of drive for shopping, errands around town. Is a great and efficient way of training in daily life. Instead of using elevators or escalators, walk the stairs. Don’t overdo it and wear proper footwear for the exercise.
Then, get off the piste and join us in the world’s powder skiing epicentre!
Photo by Topher Donahue/www.alpinecreative.com
Posted by Topher Donahue on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 @ 02:39 PM
To access backcountry powder stashes, snowboarders first used snowshoes or tiny skis, but modern splitboards allow riders to tour uphill like skiers and then clip their two halves into a single board for the ride down. For some tricks in how to efficiently use a splitboard, I tracked down Theresa Clinton, Sales Manager for Prior Skis and Snowbards. Her splitboarding experience includes tours to areas such as the remote Brian Waddington Hut on the eastern slopes of British Columbia's Coast Range.
TD: Can splitboarders keep up with skiers during the uphill/downhill transitions?
TC: I find that splitboarders can do the changeover as quickly as the skiers as long as they have had a bit of practice and have a systematic way of doing the switch. You need to have a 'routine' way that you do it every time and you just become more time efficient with each transition.
TD: Are there tricks for changing uphill/downhill modes easily?
TC: A couple of things that make life easier:
- Make sure the setup is in good working order (pucks mounted properly with screws tightened down, slider tracks go on and off easily, etc) the night BEFORE you go out on a trip.
- Make sure the wire of the pin is attached to your binding properly so you don't lose it!
- Put some wax in the grooves of the slider track so that it glides on and off easily.
- Stand your board up on its side when putting binding/slider tracks on/off pucks for better leverage.
- Keep your de-icing tool handy (comes with the Voile hardware kit) in case you need to remove ice from inside edges when reconnecting the board.
- Use plastic 'cheat sheets' between your skins for easier/faster separation.
- Mark your collapsible poles at the height you like.
TD: Are splitboards better than using tiny skis or snowshoes for the uphill?
TC: Splitboards are better than small skis or snowshoes since:
- Your board is under your feet, not on your back when skinning uphill and you don't have to carry the snowshoes/skis on your back when snowboarding down.
- You have more surface area with the splitboard for better purchase/traction and floatation on the ascent.
TD: What kind of skins would you recommend for a splitboard?
TC: Voile skins are specially made for splitboards - they are wide enough and don't have the tail clip which is not required for splitboards.
TD: I see Prior just launched the world's first freestyle splitboard. That should shake up the backcoutry a bit! Are there things to consider with what splitboard is best?
TC: Of course I'm biased and believe that Prior splitboards are the best, but there are several models to choose from and the best one depends on the individual rider and their riding style. My personal favourite is the Khyber split with the Hybrid Rocker since it has a wider nose for extra floatation and the taper allows it to turn on a dime in trees and chutes. The All Mountain Freestyle split has a twin shape for easy switch riding and landings.
TD: Are there any tools you take with you in the backcountry?
TC: Philips screwdriver and plyers (small Leatherman is great since it has these among other things), but more importantly, carry some extra parts:
TD: Wow, Theresa, you've obviously had some awesome times riding in the backcountry. Any other suggestions?
TC: Here are two:
- For ski mode, switch the board halves so that the sidecut is on the inside and the straight edge is on the outside so they behave more like skis while touring.
- If you are riding in undulating terrain, don't put your poles in your pack, just ride with them in your hand since they can come in handy when you need to push along the flats!
No snowboarder has yet done a CMH heli-assisted ski touring week in the Bugaboos, Monashees or the Adamants. Now that would be a fun first! Better yet, rock the boat, enter a splitboarding video in the
What Inspires You to Ski Tour contest and win a week of heli-assisted ski touring in the Adamants next April!
Posted by Jane Carswell on Wed, Dec 23, 2009 @ 12:26 PM
I remember my Mom used to cook a mean turkey. We loved those holiday long weekends where Mom would spend hours in the kitchen and produce this amazing golden, juicy turkey. I can't re-create that turkey magic to save my life so I asked David Weslowsky, CMH Valemount's Executive Chef if there's any hope for me. He assures me there is and suggested these four turkey saving tips.
1. Thaw
Be sure to thaw your turkey out a couple of days in advance so you're not chipping ice off it at 5am Christmas morning. The meat benefits from a slow thaw and then being slowly brought to room temperature before preparing and putting it in the oven. This will result in an evenly cooked and much more tender turkey.
2. Brine
Brined meats are all the rage these days, David assures me. Prepare a lovely bath for your turkey with lots of salt and a bit of sugar, herbs, garlic, onion etc. and let your turkey rest in there before the final prep. David suggests the last half hour to two hours of thawing can be done in a room temperature brine.
3. Bacon
Every chef tells me the secret to good food is either butter, bacon or beer (the 'B vitamins' they say). This process used to be called barding. In this case, David suggests covering the breast of the turkey with really good bacon. This will add flavor and juices to the breast meat while protecting it from the direct heat of the oven. You can remove the bacon to brown the breast meat during the last stage of cooking.
4. No Peeking!
Once you put your turkey in the oven, resist the temptation to check on it. Don't worry - it won't run away or get into trouble like my toddler. Start and finish the bird with direct dry heat for half an hour at the start and half and hour to finish but during the middle cooking time cover the bird with tin foil to allow it to moist heat cook. Every oven is different and you can play with the temperatures, David likes to start the bird at 400f then turn it down to 300f for the remainder of the cooking time. When using this method will your cooking time will be approx. 20 minutes per pound of turkey. (ie a 20lbs turkey will need to cook for 6hrs). After 6hrs in the oven the meat has worked hard and it is very important to remember to let the turkey rest for up to one hour before carving to allow it to hold it’s juices in the meat. If it is too hot when being carved it will push out it’s juices as the meat constricts from the heat.
So, there you have it. Add a little cranberry sauce, some mashed potatoes, yams, and roasted veggies and you're ready for a Christmas dinner even better than what Mom made.
To sample Chef David's cooking first-hand, gather some friends and join him for a week of private Heli-Skiing at CMH Valemount Lodge. Small group Helicopter Skiing in BC based from an exclusive private lodge with access to some of the world's best powder.
Have a Heli of a Holiday from all of us at CMH.
Posted by Jane Carswell on Thu, Nov 19, 2009 @ 04:18 PM
This article by CMH's Director of Powder Introduction Roko Koell, first appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of CMH News. We received great comments on it and felt it was timely to re-post it here as fall turns to winter and our thoughts turn to Heli-Skiing in BC.
Most of us do not have the luxury of "extra time". Family, work, computers, blackberries and the rest of the burden of other evil media, overflows our daily time schedule. There never seems available time to train or work out. This does not mean we can not get ready for skiing. Waking up and shaping the skiing muscles and increasing the aerobic volume are the things to focus on at this stage. Forget the image that you have to push weights like Schwarzenegger at his best, or train like an Olympian.
There are a of couple of exercises we can do at home, when shopping or at work. Stairs are an excellent tool. Walk them up and down at all times, maybe a few extra laps at shopping malls or other high rise buildings; this will address both strength and stamina. Also lots of walking instead of driving (20 plus minutes per day) transports valuable oxygen through your muscles and lungs, and after work or on weekends religiously run or bike or use the aerobic equipment in your gym or at home, again 20 plus minutes 2-3 times a week will do. Also walking and/or hiking on steeper and uneven ground will strengthen your muscles and ligaments in your ankles and allow you to better initiate and carve turns.
Approach it easily but steadily and increase it gradually after a few weeks. Slow and steady wins the race! Later after you established a good base, you can work more ski specific. If you are able to keep up with some of the above mentioned exercises, you will feel fit and sexy when it is time to click into the bindings and put you signature on the nordic snow.
If you are one of the lucky ones who religiously finds the time to train on an almost daily basis and you are in good shape throughout the year, and you don't know about it already, you should look into the #1 Technical Ski Conditioner in the world, the SKIERS EDGE. There is no professional ski racer out there who does not use this equipment, and it is becoming a household item for many recreational ski enthusiasts. Most modern fitness gyms are equipped with it. If you find one in your gym, ask the professional staff or trainer to introduce you to the procedures and exercises, as it is very challenging to begin with and needs coaching and support for safety. It is the closest movement to skiing and one of the only tools that allow you to best train your skiing muscles, without being on the snow. It is serious and strenuous, and trains balance, skiing movements, muscle memory, rhythm, timing, reflexes, strength and stamina at the same time. 10 minutes, 3-4 times a week can get you in incredible skiing shape.
Have fun getting ready; see you on the slopes......