Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Full Conditions

I was out training (walking up and down with a big pack) today at Blackstrap, our local ski hill. It was very windy. One of the staff said the wind at the top was 110 km per hour (70 mph). I'd believe it - the last 10 m to the top is steep and icy and you had to be careful not to get blown off your feet. I could have used my crampons. On top it felt like you had to lean about 45 degrees into the wind to not get blown over. Luckily it was only about -5 c (20 f). If it had been much colder the windchill would have been brutal.

Of course, this is the prairies so the ski hill has a whopping vertical of about 90m. Still, it's more realistic than running up and down stairs in an office building.

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