Brent Kearney

If you’re looking for some advice on buying a digital camera, Mike Elgan’s article, The Myth of Maximum Megapixels, is for you.

Each amateur photographer has a pixel count “sweet spot” that best suits his photography style and abilities. For most people, that’s somewhere in the 4-to-6-megapixel range. Above that, however, increasing the number of pixels generally reduces the quality of pictures.

That’s right. I said it. More megapixels are bad. Here’s why…

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Yesterday morning there was a little over 20cm of fresh snow at Sunshine Village, on top of the 48cm from the previous four days. The sun came out, and the ski conditions were great.

Unfortunately, the Angel and Continental Divide chair lifts were still not open, so its still just low elevation skiing. It was a lot less crowded than opening day, so there were plenty of fresh tracks to be had all morning. Despite the deep snow, one must be vigilant for shallowly buried rocks and stumps. Check out this nasty ski-eater that I uncovered. On rocks, you’ll either get too much traction, or not enough, depending on the shape of the rock and how you hit it. So be wary this time of year.

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It’s hard to believe, but according to this MSN Japan article, many women are suffering from a strange affliction: perpetual orgasms. All day long, just standing there. One woman claims to have about 300 per day.

The condition, which lasts anywhere between a few days to a week, has been dubbed persistent sexual arousal syndrome (PSAS).

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Every year, it seems, no matter how dedicated I am about pre-season training, the first few days are always a killer on the legs. However, this year it was a bit different, and I don’t think it had anything to do with training.

This summer, aside from trail running, I started participating in two new sports: mountain biking and rock climbing. One thing that they both have in common, if you’re striving to do them well, is how important it is to be aware of and in control of your level of exertion, and the efficiency with which you move. If you’re biking up a steep hill, you will find it much easier if your upper body is relaxed as much as possible. Just flexing the muscles in your upper body causes your heart to work much harder, and that leaves less energy for your legs, which need it the most.
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It was a spectacular opening this season — both Sunshine and Lake Louise had great conditions. I have to say though, Lake Louise had way more snow, and there was easily twice as much terrain open. The Summit lift was open, and there were several excellent lines down from the top, with my favorite being Outer Limits. Outer Limits is to the far skier’s right at the Summit top, on the front side, right next to the area boundary fence. The snow was knee-deep and powdery, and from there you can ski all 991m of vertical.

Conditions at the Lake Louise ski resort on it’s opening day 2006.

The head ski patroller remarked that it was the best conditions for opening day that he’s ever seen. I’m not sure how long he’s been there, but I would guess more than a decade (some patrollers have been there 20+ years). It was a full-on powder day, on the first day of the season. I think its going to be a great winter!

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