It's better than a tax return- it's a POWDER return

I hope this message finds you in the best of forms. I am sure a few of your followers would be pretty stoked with this, if you have a few minutes and don't mind helping me get this contest announcement out there that would be brilliant…..someone’s going heli-skiing for free!

I am sure you, just like me, are starting to get that itch about getting out and hitting the slopes. Here in Western Canada it was last week we got a teaser - snow on the ground but it didn’t last. No worries as from what I understand we here out west are in for another doozy of a season- bring on the snow!!

Track & Trail is stoked to be offering a very exciting contest where we are giving away a free heli-ski trip valued at around $5000 and all anyone has to do to enter is get in the chopper. I'd sure appreciate it if you could pass the attached around to a few colleagues for their chance to get in on some pretty perma grin inducing adventures!

Northern Escape Heli-Skiing (NEH) is located in Terrace BC, a two hour flight north of Vancouver into the Skeena Mountain Range- all through Air Canada. The Skeena's are home to one of the biggest annual snowfalls on our planet receiving over 65-100 feet in a season. Being fortunate enough to have gone up a few times I can contest there really is nothing else like it, the scenery is unreal and the skiing or snowboarding is epic!

Here is a quote from one of my recent guests up there:

“Never heli-skiing before, I didn’t have a clue what I was going to get into, apart from the pictures and the understanding that this was going to be a magnanimous experience. The lodge is excellent, the food brilliant and the skiing with those views literally took my breath away… I could have used some snorkel gear to navigate through all that powder!” Family Physician Dr. Lloyd Clarke, MB ChB - Cardston Municipal Hospital, Cardston Alberta.

There are only a total of 18 seats available for this contest and I know they are going to go quick. Please have those interested give me a shout and I can get them sorted and in the bird 888.308.3007! For more on the operation please check out this video:

Northern Escape Heli-Ski Promo from SnowSeekers on Vimeo.

Please note that all bookings must come through Track & Trail to be eligible for the contest. For more about Northern Escape, check out their website at http://www.neheliski.com

We appreciate your time with this and in passing it around to a few colleagues who could be interested.

think snow

jim @ tandtadventures.com

Steep Camp Concludes

It's not very often on the slopes that I get to scare myself.
Its those runs that make you go holy sh*t, when you are standing on top of them looking down and the stomach starts to churn. This is what I am looking for on the slopes...runs that will help take my riding to their next level.

This is exactly what Northern Escape's Steep camp is all about. Not only do they get you to the top of these epic runs with views that will knock your boots off, but they give you the education you need to harness those fears and take the abilities to their next level.

And now at its conclusion, I am sure there may be a few of the 15 of us walking away from this five day steep and deep bender just a little disappointed. And there was nothing anyone could have done - avy conditions locked off most of Northern Escape and the Skeena's true potential...however our outstanding guides did manage to make the most with what we had.

And what we had was an epic time, picture it - you swoop in to land on the peak of a powder filled summit, the door opens, the wind is blowing snow is flying, you get out of the chopper, it's chaos, the noice the snow, it lifts off and than it all goes silent, for miles around there is nothing around you but an endless sea of white peaks. The noice picks back up but now its my buddies yipping and yelling cause before us is a big wide open powder bowl without a track in it just waiting for us to launch in and carve it up.

For people who are resort skiers, “steep camp offers the chance to get to your next level. You can expect pillow drops, some shoots and when conditions are right, big lines,” explained our guide Yvan Sabourin. “Steep camp was born out of demand from our guests. They would be up when the film crews were here, asking, well why can’t we ski that?” said Sabourin. Now Northern Escape has welcomed people from all over the world including Germany, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada in for the very same reason- to shred some serious gnar.

On our last day out on the slopes, guides John Forrest, Sabourin and others took us out for a ski into the Skeena's- with wide open spaces, glorious powder bowls and an endless sea of terrain before you- this is seriously one of the best places to be on the planet to get out the skis or snowboard and go for a shred. There is nothing like having these wide open spaces, all to yourself!

I can't wait till next year.

Track & Trail is stoked to release its 2010 conference dates to held at the Yellow Cedar Lodge- home to Northern Escape. For full details click here

2009 Winter Escape Success

Track & Trail would like to thank its faculty for the outstanding efforts surrounding the 2009 Winter Escape Emergency Medical Update.

Those include,

Dr. Bruce Mohr (Whistler), MD, CCFP (EM), Dip. Sport Med.

Dr. Alexandra Brooks-Hill (Whistler), MD, BPHE, FRCSC (ORTHO), Dip. Sport Med.

Dr. Dennis Djogovic (Edmonton), MD, FRPC and head faculty of the 2010 Winter Escape Update

Dr. Jonathan Theoret (Edmonton), MDCM

Delegates were thrilled with the conference setting and the small group format.

We look forward to doing it all over again March 15-19, 2010 with reservations already starting.

For at look at the action, please have a view....

Track & Trail Launches Two New CMEs

Wilderness Medicine Update for the Backcountry CME
April 9-14, 2009: Terrace BC Canada - home to Northern Escape Heli-Skiing

“En Route to the top of the World”: Wilderness Medicine CME at Everest Base Camp
Oct 1-21, 2009, on route to Everest Base Camp, Nepal

After the resounding success of Track & Trail Adventures’ SOLD OUT March 2009 Therapeutic Update in Emergency Medicine, the world’s first fully accredited CME event in heli-ski country, we are proud to announce a follow-up conference: Wilderness Medicine Update for the Backcountry.

WILDERNESS MEDICINE UPDATE FOR THE BACKCOUNTRY

Reservations have commenced for the first annual Wilderness Medicine Update for the Backcountry CME, taking place April 9 - 14, ‘09 in Terrace, BC. Faculty includes Stanford’s Dr. Grant Lipman MD; Shuswap General’s Dr. Scott McKee MD, MPH, FACP; Skagit Valley’s Dr. Carl Heine MD, PhD and John Forrest - certified ACMG ski guide, level two professional member and certified instructor of the Canadian Avalanche Association.

This conference provides 14 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits through the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and up to 22 FAWM Credits through the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS). This CME conference is exclusive, not only from its world-class faculty, but from the uniqueness of its venue - the Yellow Cedar Lodge, home to Northern Escape Heli-Skiing - one of North America's top ski/boarding destinations. The site amenites include a relaxed meeting space, gourmet meals and executive accommodations. Only fifteen spots remain for guests to enjoy five days of educational time paired with powder-filled adventures in the Skeena Mountain Range, a two-hour Air Canada flight north of Vancouver.

Full conference details and snow-filled opportunities can be found at http://www.tandtadventures.com/. Space is limited and registration closes soon. Please direct curriculum inquiries to Dr. Grant Lipman, head faculty of this WM Update for the Backcountry CME, grantlip@hotmail.com. This conference is sponsored by the American College of Emergency Physicians, Cal/ACEP and Track & Trail Adventures Inc.

EN ROUTE TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD

For those looking for the “ultimate adventure”, Track and Trail is proud to bring you its most extraordinary CME event so far: “En Route to the top of the World”: Wilderness Medicine CME at Everest Base Camp.
Happening from Oct 1-21, '09, this CME event is set in Nepal’s unique Khumbu Valley and offers unprecedented hands-on teaching by exceptional faculty, including: Dr. Luanne Freer MD, FACEP, FAWM- founder Everest Base Camp Medical Clinic, Emergency Physician and Medical Director for Medcor Inc; Dr. Eric Johnson MD, FAAFP, FAWM- Director Emergency Services for Teton Valley Hospital- ID, volunteer Himalayan Rescue Association and Wally Berg, a four -time Everest summiter, National Geographic contributing photographer and founder of Berg Adventures International.

This accredited curriculum’s highlights include pathophysiology, treatment and prioritization of care for a variety of medical problems commonly encountered in wilderness environments and settings that are remote from hospital/definitive care. Physicians and allied health care providers who counsel patients travelling to remote areas will be interested in the topics covered during this unique CME event. Curriculum includes altitude safety, altitude risk reduction, recent recommendations on altitude - related illnesses prophylaxis, rescue strategies and ethics, as well as real Everest war stories - uncovering what it really takes to save a life in the high mountain environment. This will be achieved through didactic lectures, small-group discussions, hands-on training and scenario-based simulation.

Berg Adventures International is operating an Everest expedition Sept. 15 to Oct. 31, ‘09 - physicians who are part of this CME will spend two nights at base camp to experience a working summit expedition - an exclusive opportunity. Discussions at base camp will include the expedition physician.

Full conference details and an itinerary can be found at http://www.tandtadventures.com/. Space is limited and registration closes soon. Please direct curriculum inquiries to Dr Luanne Freer, head faculty of this Everest CME, luannefreer@gmail.com.

Track & Trail enjoys unprecedented partnerships with some of the world’s top adventure tour operators, putting its guests in the front seat to enlightening locations. Considering Track & Trail’s affiliation with the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS), complemented with an active membership in the Adventure Travel Trade Association and its programming sponsored by the WMS, The Canadian College of Family Physicians and the American College of Emergency Physicians, T & T is one of North America’s top accredited medical conference producers.

Conference inquires and registrations are made through Track & Trail Adventures Inc, c/o Jim, 1.888.308.3007 toll free or jim@tandtadventures.com.