Mr Silent Kay

The last 2 years of our lives have been stalked by a shadowy figure. Although his only trace was a small scar, his influence never left us and for a while he was the most important character in our lives. He became such a fixture of our conversation, particularly those back home, that he assumed his own identity. Recently he's become a less frequent visitor but he can still make his presence felt. Mr Silent Kay is never far away.

Two years ago Mary's knees were equally noteworthy - and only for their aesthetic appeal. All that changed in the instant of a bad fall in Alaska, and Mr Silent Kay entered our lives.

Mary underwent reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee. The procedure replaces the damaged ACL with a piece taken from another ligament in the knee. It's a very clever procedure performed by arthroscopy - a minimally invasive keyhole surgery using a type of endoscope. Still, it meant we were out of action for an entire summer while Mary was first immobile and then on crutches. Mary missed last years ski season, but she's back this year. Mr Silent Kay is here too and perhaps even enjoying himself a little.

Tip: click the grey play button in the center of the video to play it in this page (clicking outside the play button will take you to the youtube website and play the video there).

Ski Movie!

Silent Kay productions, in association with picotrip is proud to announce our first microcontent-length feature.

On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of all-mountain skiing and to ensure that the handful of men and women who graduated could make parallel turns in all conditions. They succeeded. Today, the Navy calls it Ski School. The flyers call it: TOP FUN.

Ghost Rider, this is Strike. We have unknown aircraft inbound Mustang. Your vector zero-nine-zero for bogey.


Tip: click the grey play button in the center of the video to play it in this page (clicking outside the play button will take you to the youtube website and play the video there).

Ducking the Rope

If you want to ski fresh, untracked powder and lay down the first run in a freshie, you've got 3 choices:

1. Get up at the crack of dawn after a big storm at a resort.
2. Go heliskiing.
3. Go backcountry.

Option 1 might be the simplest, but you'll probably only get one or two runs before everything is skied-out. Anyone who knows Mary and I will also realise, this is not an option available to us.
Option 2 guarantees a lot of runs, but is hellishly expensive.
Option 3 involves a lot of hiking up for each run down, and sometimes camping out in the snow. Unless...

Ducking the rope at the edge of a ski area and skiing out-of-bounds gets you backcountry skiing, with a lift at the end of each run. Fresh, untracked powder every run, all day. You may loose your pass, but for conditions like this, isn't it worth it? And ski patrol have to catch you first ;-)











Name the skier and win an invitation to our 'lil ski cabin in Tahoe!

Competition Time!

To mark our arrival in Tahoe for the ski season, picotrip is pleased to announce our first competition! Try and spot the weather-related difference between the 2 pictures of our 'lil old ski cabin - one taken in the autumn and one taken this afternoon. Every correct answer wins an invitation to come and stay in our cabin and ski with us in Tahoe! Look closely and good luck!

Gulmarg, Kashmir

A day trip to Gulmarg in the Pir Panjal mountain range turned into a real highlight. Gulmarg boasts the world's highest gondola, rising to 13,500 feet (4400m). Although it was late in the season, there were still a few days skiing left and I managed to sneak in a couple of runs. Just when I thought I'd skied the last run of the season! The skiing was way better than I imagined - a decent of 1100m into 2 open bowls above the timberline. The snow at the top was surprisingly good, preserved by the altitude.

My guide Tahir and I were the only ones on the mountain! Indian's don't ski much it seems, instead amusing themselves by taking sleigh rides around the Gondola mid station. There were some skis and poles available, but these were used only as props in photographs. People would stand in their Wellington boots above a pair of angled skis for that perfect holiday snap. In reminded me of those painted scenes you see at English seaside resorts, with holes cut out to stick your face through.

3500 feet of India vertical await! said the actress to the Maharaja. I hope the day-glo boots distract you from the mincing pose.

You don't see one of these at every ski resort! The Indian Army is everywhere in Kashmir, every village, every road and even every ski slope. The Pakistan border is not far from Gulmarg.

Tahoe with Dave

Our first week 'off' was filled with our annual ski trip - Skipalooza 07. This year 17 people filled a monster house in South Lake Tahoe - 8 bedrooms and 6000 square feet!

(Un)luckily Dave was among our house mates (Dave is infamous Dave's husband). Dave has an encyclopedic knowledge of drinking games which meant our days were filled with skiing and nights filled with Mr Freeze, championship arse-slapping (to the strains of Motorhead) and the appropriately named Dave Game.

All the Dave's reported having a terrific time and we're already planning to do it all again next year in Utah. Email me to reserve your spot!

Tuesday's ski team works hard for a living. Front row: Dave (goggles and hat), Dave, Dave, Dave, Dave (silver helmet) and Dave. Back row: Dave, Dave and Dave.

Tradition and nervous system demand an imbibing ritual before each round of championship arse-slapping.

I ski with Derek Zoolander.

Alaska heliski video

Here's a video I took of a flight back to base from the ski zone in the Chugach Mountains in 2006. Our pilot is Nick - the guy in the Union Jack helmet. Nick flew Jaguar jets for the Royal Air Force in his younger days. We bought Nick a bottle of single malt to say "thanks" for his effort and skill on our first fly day. He reciprocated with this roller coaster flight following the course of a river across Nelson Bay.

When we landed, I asked Nick how far from the ground we were flying, expecting it not to be nearly as close as it looked. "Oh, we were never closer than 5 feet" said Nick. :-|

Tip: click the grey play button in the center of the video to play it in this page (clicking outside the play button will take you to the youtube website and play the video there).

Alaksa heliski photos

Mary and I went heliskiing for the first time in March 2006. Helicopter skiing is a fabulous experience, but excruciatingly expensive, so I'm not sure we'll be going again very soon. We had a great time and skied more first runs in 3 fly days than you might get in years of resort skiing. Unfortunately Mary blew her knee on the final day and it's taken a long time to heal. Almost 12 months later, Mary's ACL is still "undergoing changes in histology" (according to the terrific Dr Atkin). Still, we'll be back at some point for sure. If you're thinking about helisking yourself, Alaska is definitely the place to go. Here are our photos of the trip.