Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s “Tempting Providence” on Provincial Tour

by Keith and Heather Nicol

  

       This is a big year for Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s “Tempting Providence” as it celebrates 10 years of performances around the world. “Tempting Providence” tells the story of Myra Bennett, a dedicated nurse who practiced on the Northern Peninsula. I recently got a chance to speak to Gaylene Buckle, Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s general manager. “When we developed this play we purposely created it so that it could be performed in a variety of “stages” around the province, from church basements to school gyms. Now 10 years later we are doing just that with a provincial tour that will see the play performed in over 70 locations.” Gaylene told us.

A scene from the play "Tempting Providence"        

         If you have not seen this play you don’t know what you are missing. The story is first rate and although people from this province can closely identify with it, it has attracted attention in England, Ireland, Australia and California. “We have performed the play in every Canadian province, except Quebec and this winter in London, Ontario it celebrated its 500^th show! For anyone that wants to see this show at the  Gros Morne Theatre Festival in Cow Head they can see it on just one date-June 1. We premiered the show on June 1, 2002 so that promises to be a special 10^th anniversary show. “ Gaylene said proudly. For the provincial tour dates see:  http://www.theatrenewfoundland.com/  and click the “Tempting Providence” Touring icon.    

The simple set means that the play can be performed in many locations

    

              

Humber Valley Hikers start a new season

by Keith and Heather Nicol
       The Humber Valley Hikers has started its 2012 hiking season with a fine hike to Cedar Cove near Little Port in the Bay of Islands. Judie Gushue is an avid hiker and coordinator of the Humber Valley Hikers. She lives in Corner Brook and we chatted to her while walking the 1.8 km (1 way trail) to Cedar Cove on Sunday, May 13. "I am pleased that we had 16 hikers out for our first hike of the season" said Judie. 

Starting out on the Cedar Cove trail through the woods

        "We have an extensive series of hikes planned for this coming season. The plan is to have weekly hikes from now on until mid October and local residents and visitors to the area are welcome to join us on any of our hikes. These hikes range from short hikes like this one to Cedar Cove to longer treks like the 16 km hike the top of Gros Morne Mountain. And we have some of the best coastal and mountain hiking in Newfoundland right on our doorstep in the Bay of Islands and we enjoy showing this landscape off to anyone that wants to come along. For more information people can email me at: judiec@hotmail.com." Judie told us.

Descending off the raised terrace to the beach at Cedar Cove

     For walkers wanting to do the Cedar Cove hike simply drive from Corner Brook to Little Port at the end of the south shore highway. Park in the large lot but be careful not to block areas used by local fishermen. At the end of the parking lot you will see some stairs which leads to the start of the trail. For those with at GPS the coordinates of the trail head are: UTM 21 0396295E  5440174N.  The trail is fairly level and well marked to Cedar Cove where the wide beach is surrounded by steep cliffs and loaded with drift wood. Here is a video of the hike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDVdVVd6il8   

GPS courses in Corner Brook, Newfoundland

by Keith and Heather Nicol

          Corner Brook, Newfoundland has lots of good wilderness sea kayaking, hiking, ski touring and snowmobiling within a short distance of town. But every year there are cases of people getting lost in the Blow me down Mountains or Lewis Hills. So to "stay found" it is advisable that people be competent with a topographic map and a GPS. This is especially important in the winter when cloud may form quickly and obscure the terrain ahead. If you are not familiar with how a GPS, map and compass works then you might want to look into a Greencheck GPS course.

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The Greencheck GPS course has an indoor component

         This course has an indoor and outdoor component and shows how a topographic map, compass and GPS work together. I taught the latest course on April 28, 2012 and the people involved had a variety of reasons for taking the course. Several people needed it for work- we had a hunting guide, wildlife biologist and geologist take the course to help them with various aspects of their job. We also had  snowmobilers and hikers take it so that they would feel more comfortable traveling off the beaten track. This is one comment from one participant - Stephanie Rheault. "Thank you very much Keith! It was an excellent course and I have learned a lot! I will recommend your course for sure!" Take care,Stephanie. If you are interested in taking a Greencheck GPS course then contact Keith Nicol at knicol@grenfell.mun.ca or phone 709-639-1770 to sign up for the next course.

Navigating with GPS, map and compass on April 28, 2012

Downhill balance exercises for cross country skiers

by Keith and Heather Nicol

Try crossing your skis as you descend a hill

        The Achilles heel for most cross country skiers is balance. I don't think I have ever hear a skier say that they have "too much balance". When I give lessons or CANSI ski instructor courses I tell skiers not to "waste a downhill". By that I mean that instead of just letting your skis run down an easy downhill, try doing some balancing exercises instead. There are all kinds of examples from simply lifting up one foot as you glide down the track to more elaborate drills which will challenge even the best skiers.

        For instance, you can try crossing your ski as shown in the adjacent photo and be sure to alternate feet so that both your right and left leg get to be the "balancing" ski. Do this on easy downhills where the speed you are building up is not intimidating. The following you Tube video shows more examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMrxZn-Eq78
Thanks to Rossignol skis, boots and bindings for their continued support of my skier improvement blog posts and You Tube videos. They can be reached at: http://www.rossignol.com/

Havana, Cuba at the last minute

by Keith and Heather Nicol
       While in Varadero, Cuba on an impromptu last minute trip (see previous post) we decided to do one of the tours offered by Sunwing to Havana. They had 2 trips offered while we were there- a day tour and an afternoon/evening tour which included the famous Tropicana Cabaret show. We opted for the second one since we thought the music-dance show would be a very different experience. We headed out around 1:30 pm and enroute to Havana we stopped for what are claimed to be the best Pina Coladas in Cuba. "They are made with the freshest ingredients which is why they are so highly rated" our guide told us. Once in Havana we made several stops to see Revolution Square, the old town, a cigar/rum/coffee shop, and the Capitol building.

One of the oldest churches in Cuba in the old town of Havana

        We were taken with the great architecture of Havana and it is nice to see some of it being restored. This place must have been very impressive in its heyday. We were there on a Saturday and so the parks and squares were teeming with people and everyone seemed to be out walking and talking. After a quick visit to the Hotel Nacional, which has hosted lots of entertainers and politicians over the years, it was off to dinner and the show at the Tropicana.

An open air second hand book market in Havana

        We got our only rain of the week just before the show started which must have had the show organizers anxious but the downpour ended after 20 minutes and then as they say "They show must go on" so out came the squeegee crew to clean the water off the stage platform and then the show started. The show has been running for over 70 years and is a spectacle with amazing costumes and a lots of good music. The only downside was that we didn't get back to Varadero until 3:30 am, due in part the summer time change that occurred at the end of the show.

Dancers at the Tropicana Show

        

Varadero, Cuba at the last minute

by Keith and Heather Nicol
      
      We had decided to have a look at trips to Cuba on March 24, 2012 and picked up a couple of booklets dealing with accommodations from our local Legrow's travel agent. We then had another discussion the next day about her recommendations and she said "If you can go on short notice we often get last minute cancellations that we then try to fill as quickly as possible. "Would that work for you? " she asked us. "Sure" we replied. But little did we know that 3 days later we would get a call asking us if we wanted to go the Playa Caleta Hotel in Varadero, Cuba for a great price and it didn't take us too long to say "Yes, please". And we were leaving the next day early in the morning so we spent the day getting organized and before we knew it we were on a Sunwing 737 touching down in Cuba.

The beach was lovely and the water perfect for swimming

       We spent most of the time at the resort since the beach and water were amazing for swimming and we could go snorkeling and go for sail when we wanted a change. We expected to see the old U.S. cars but certainly did not expect to see so many of them. They were everywhere and in generally great shape. We did do a double decker bus trip around Varadero to see the main road and stopped to do some souvenir shopping downtown, but the heat quickly drove back to the beach at our resort. Temperatures were typically in the high 20 C's so and we had only one short down pour of rain in the week we were there (March 28-April 4, 2012).

Heather checking out one of the old U.S. cars that is now a taxi

        We found the Playa Caleta to be clean, the staff were generally friendly, and the food was fine. Most people agreed that  "You can always find something to eat". The Playa Caleta is located at the far end of Varadero so if you want to be in the downtown action this isn't the place to be but the upside is that we could see locals fishing from shore or fishermen throwing their nets in the early morning in the lagoon adjacent to the hotel so that gave us some local flavour.

The pool was also clean and comfortable

    

Snow West 2012 in Corner Brook, Newfoundland

by Keith and Heather Nicol
       We had enjoyed dog sledding with Les Skis Doux in Wiltondale earlier in March (see our post dated March 3, 2012) and were keen to head out again with Elaine and her dogs. For Snow West 2012 they had arranged to be at the base of Marble Mountain and this is an ideal place to get a feeling of dog sledding. We joined another family and it was clear that the young boy was so excited to see the dogs and go sledding. Les  Skis Doux will be at Marble Mountain for Sunday, March 25 and perhaps even next week so contact them about this dog sledding sampler. Elaine can be reached at: 709-636-9080 or email-skidoux@gmail.com.

Heather mushing the dogs at the base of Marble Mountain

       After a quick lunch at Marble Mountain we headed out to the Blow Me Down Ski Club where they were having half price trail passes and rentals. The Blow Me Down Ski Club is just one of several places offering cross country skiing in the area and it was like a day in mid winter. One minute the sun was out and the next minute it was snowing heavily. We ran into triathlete Scott Ledrew on the trails and he was skate skiing to stay in shape through the winter. We also saw a group of kids having a great time sliding on sleighs and toboggans. Although winter is over for most of Canada, it is still going strong in many places in Western Newfoundland. For more information on other Snow West events check out:  http://gowesternnewfoundland.com/snowwest/

Scott Ledrew heading out on the groomed trails

Sliding at the Blow Me Down Ski Club

 

Snow West 2012 in Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland

by Keith and Heather Nicol

         On Friday, March 23, 2012 we decided to head to the Ocean View Hotel in Rocky Harbour in Gros

Steve Watson with his icy creation

Morne National Park to see executive chef, Steve Watson, do his magic with a block of ice and watch him in the kitchen preparing Newfoundland mussels. This event is part of Snow West 2012 which is running in various locations in Western Newfoundland from March 21-24, 2012. Steve Watson hails from St. John's and has been carving blocks of ice for the last 15 years. He uses an amazing collection of tools and in just 45 minutes he created a fish sculpture out of a 400 lb block of specially prepared ice.

       After that he led us upstairs to the Ocean View Hotel's kitchen where he cooked up a mountain of local scallops. His recipe included beer, garlic, onions, fennel and cream. "The cream really tops it off" said Steve Watson, grinning as he poured in a quart of cream. He then served up heaping bowls of scallops for all of those that turned up for the event.

"The cream really tops it off" Chef Watson told us

After lunch, we watched him create another ice sculpture for a group of school children before heading off to check out the ski trails near the Visitor's Centre. There we went on a fine cross country ski on the freshly groomed trails. For more information on Snow West 2012's events and activities check out the following web page: http://gowesternnewfoundland.com/snowwest/

Gros Morne National Park has groomed ski trails in Rocky Harbour, NL

Snowmobiling in the Lewis Hills, Newfoundland

by Keith and Heather Nicol
      
   We recently had a great snowmobile trip to the Lewis Hills, also known as the "Roof of Newf", since it is the high point of the Island. The main purpose of the trip was to check out the avalanche activity that had recently occurred and to look at how to better map the avalanche hazard in this area. The weather preceding our mid March trip had been warm with rain and then temperatures had dropped below the freezing mark. There had been a few centimeters of snow accumulation on top of this rain crust so riding on the groomed trail leading into the Lewis Hills was ideal. Once in the Lewis Hills we had to be careful of some of the steeper wind swept areas since the icy conditions would have made snowmobiling treacherous.

Secret Bowl had an impressive overhanging cornice and you can see several small avalanches on the lee slopes

      Our group consisted of Cam Campbell (an avalanche mapping expert from B.C.), Rick Wheeler, Mike McCarthy (our guide) and myself. Rick and I had been mapping avalanche locations for several years in various parts of the Long Range Mountains of Western Newfoundland and Cam wanted to show us another way to map avalanche hazard that they are using in B.C.Although Mike McCarthy thought that snow levels were down by 1-2 meters this winter compared to last year, we still saw 8-10 recent avalanches on our tour of the Lewis Hills on this day. All of them were on lee slopes where new snow had been deposited over the slick rain crust and had either slid naturally or had been triggered by snowmobiles. Most of them were small but we saw some larger ones in Rope Cove Canyon and other locations. The Lewis Hills is a fabulous place to snowmobile since it is so varied with lots of nooks and crannies but be aware of steeper slopes when the snow is unstable. If you plan to get into these areas it is suggested that you carry an avalanche beacon, shovel and probe. For more information on avalanches and where they occur check out the following web site for on line maps and videos of avalanches in Newfoundland: http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/~knicol/winter2012.htm
From there you can click on the Hazard Map and then pan or zoom to the area you are interested in. You can turn on various layers like previous avalanche locations, the groomed snowmobile trail network, common backcountry routes etc.

Scenic Rope Cove Canyon with the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the background

 

 

 

Checking out Marble Zip Tours in Winter

By Keith and Heather Nicol

      What a great afternoon ! The sun was out, the sky was blue and we were going zip lining at Marble Mountain. We met our guides Reg Flynn and Daniel Kean at the Marble Zip Tours (MZT) office (conveniently located at the base of Marble) for the 2 pm tour.  We had enjoyed zip lining with MZT previously but had not experienced their newest zip line which brings you back to the base of Marble Mountain via their longest and fastest zip line yet! We were fitted out with all the safety gear including harnesses and helmet before heading to the staging area above Steady Brook Falls.

The scenery is spectacular in the winter since Steady Brooks Falls is covered in ice and snow

       Marble Zip Tours has developed their zip lines with safety front and centre. Reg told us that each wire cable can support 16,000 lbs and at MZT they use 2 cables! Zip lining involves attaching 2 wheeled trolleys onto both wire cables and then you launch yourself off the platform whizzing through the air supported by the harness fitted to your body. It is a bit unnerving at first since even the smallest zip lines are dozens of feet above the ground but then the real magic happens as you soar over Steady Brook Gorge on progressively longer zip lines. The ground slips away and you are suspended 285 feet above the ground!  MZT lays claim to the highest zip line in Canada! You get a unique perspective on ice caked Steady Brook Falls as you zip right over top of it and the views down the Humber Valley are spectacular.  Marble Zip Tours has been running for four years and has catered to groups from all over the world. Last winter a bride zipped across in her wedding dress to be married on a platform overlooking the Falls!

The view down is just as amazing since this is the highest zip line in Canada!

        The final zip line is 2000 ft long and with a 9% grade is excitingly fast. “In the right conditions people have hit 80 km/hour” Reg told us. The atmosphere of the whole tour is very congenial. We couldn’t recommend it more highly for a fun event offered 7 days of the week all year round. To book your tour phone 1-887-755-5463 or check them out on the web at http://www.marbleziptours.com

The tour ends at the base of Marble with the ski runs in the background

Try dog sledding in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

By Keith and Heather Nicol

The dogs are especially photogenic

         Dog sledding was more exercise and more challenging than we originally thought. It was also a whole lot of fun! Elaine Pinard (owner of Les Skis Doux) has been taking people dog sledding for the past 6 winters from her base in Wiltondale at the entrance to Gros Morne National Park. She offers a variety of tours from 1 hour to overnight but we opted for the 1/2 day tour. We arrived at 10:45 am in Wiltondale and Elaine met us with her yellow skidoo to take us 2 kilometers to the staging ground for her operation. There we met her guides Neil and Merel as well as a couple from St. John's who were just as keen as we were to try dog sledding.

The dogs can pull 3 times there own weight!

      After a briefing on how to control the sled and use the brake (very important on the downhills!) we were off along a series of trails through the woods which gradually climbed to Angle Pond. "Be sure to give the dogs a break on the uphills by walking or mushing (using a scootering action)" said Elaine. We saw some snowmobiles to start but after we headed up on Elaine's trails we were alone with just the 3 dog teams. We traversed Angle Pond to Smelt Pond with the Long Range Mountains providing a scenic backdrop to our tour. We then circled back to our lunch spot at the end of Angle Pond, where we had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit, juice and maple syrup dipped snow for dessert. We tried ice fishing for brook trout but had no luck and then all too soon it was time to start our trip back The return was especially challenging since the descent meant that you had to really steer the sled and brake at the right time to stay under control. Easier said than done! Our sled swung wide on a couple of turns and we had to push it back on the trail through the deep soft snow. Back at the staging grounds, Elaine showed us where the dogs live and with 49 separate dog houses it is like a small community in the forest! Dog sledding is an activity for the whole family and they are taking their dogs on the road so that you can sample dog sledding at various events. March 9-11, 2012 they will be in Grand Fall-Windsor for "Mid Winter Bivver" and on March 23-24, 2012 they will be at the base of Marble Mountain for "Snow West 2012". For more information on how to book your dog sledding trip phone: 709-636-9080 or email-skidoux@gmail.com. We can't wait to try the Tablelands Tour in April.

The dogs are very friendly and love to be patted

Sampling Ski Touring in the Blow Me Down Mountains

By Keith Nicol
    
          The Blow me down Mountains are on Corner Brook's door step and are a fine place to explore on a cool, sunny winter day. On a recent trip on Friday, March 2 I saw a couple of snowshoers and but it is also an ideal place for ski touring. I wanted to test some equipment-new Intuition liners for my telemark boots and a new Backcountry Access Avalanche Probe (I was interested in determining the snow depth along the way) so this was a perfect excuse to head into the backcountry. With the spectacular Bay of Islands in the background I followed a broad bench above Blow Me Down Brook through the open forest of pine and fir. It took me just over an hour to ski (I used skins to grip the snow) and get across the brook draining a huge alpine bowl and then after a quick lunch I headed up the slope.

The Bay of Islands are a brilliant backdrop as you ski tour into the mountains

         After ascending for another 20 minutes uphill it was time to rip off the skins and make some telemark turns in the soft powder snow. The snow was easy to turn in and I could hardly believe this amazing setting.  Views were great is all directions, there was good snow and not a soul to be seen. I  put on my skins at the bottom and decided to head higher this time. However, the further up the slope I went the snow was more wind swept and crusty so after taking some pictures I worked my way down to more skiable snow. Snow depths were variable on the slope I skied on - from 80 cm to bare rock in the exposed areas. This area is ideal for exploring on skis or snowshoes and I fully recommend spending some time here on sunny, winter day. Here are the UTM coordinates for anyone wanting to do this trip: park your car at 21 0410023 E 5434985 N (on the South Shore Highway just past the bridge which crosses Blow Me Down Brook) and my highest descent started at 21 0410840 E 5431942 N. There is lots of terrain here to explore and I  plan to be back again before the winter is out.

The bowl behind would offer some great steep skiing when snow stability is good