June last year I returned to Canada from my first trip to
Asia. From that point forward, I was in the gym 4-6 times per week. Personally
the gym is an oasis for me. The airdynes, the battle ropes, and the plates of
steel relax me and make me happy. Results reinforce the activity and the
actions reinforce the results, this continues forward.
In Canada we have been blessed with a large dynamic
landscape with varying climate. Climate has provided an excellent source of
exercise than people in many countries never experience and those that live in
high rises cannot appreciate. Of course I am talking about snow. That beautiful
white powder; coated over the landscapes makes everything elegant. With snow
comes a little work. In the past 3 days I have easily spent 2 hours shoveling
snow. This is an excellent form of exercise. While light and fluffy, the
accumulation and repetitiveness of the duty leaves you in a big ball of sweat
even in negative twenty-degree weather.
With all that said I come to my absolute favourite form of
exercise known to man. Snowboarding! For me the cool breeze of mountain fresh
air, coupled with the rush flying down the mountain at 80 + km/hr leaves me
with a feeling of enrichment. A shot of champagne powder as you kick up a
rooster tail while laying fresh tracks down a flawless slope. It may not sound
like much using gravity to float down a mountain but the amount of work is
enormous. At minus twenty I wear little
more than a shell and a long sleeve t shirt and find myself sweating more often
then not. Of course it comes down to intensity. The steeper the pitch, the
deeper the powder, the crazier the run the harder I work, likewise the happier
I am.
Notice the trend here? Cold weather and sweating perhaps.
Not all Canadians, as a matter of fact there is likely very few that share my appreciation
of hard work in cold weather. At the point of exhaustion however, the cold isn’t
even recognizable.
Of course if cold wasn't enough. Here are a few shots from January Luel Magazine.
