Norway, Skiing and The Study of Happiness

I recently returned from Norway to explore the origins of skiing and discover what makes this country the happiest in the world. When I arrived I was immediately calmed by the low pressure environment, lots of green space, modern infrastructure, and sophisticated Scandinavians. The country is heavily forested with a collage of fjords, lakes and rolling hills and mountains. The air is fresh and the people have a wonderful genuine glow of contentment.

I started off in Fredrikstad a small town south of Oslo. A ferry runs up and down the main river allowing people to traverse the town by boat, like modern Vikings. After all, this is the land of the Lords of the Oceans. The Vikings discovered, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland in North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus sailed. They also ventured east through the Mediterranean and the inland rivers to Russia and Asia. 

I then went exploring the roots of modern skiing in Morgedal in the township of Telemark. A long drive north and a car ferry across the Oslo Fjord took me to a most outstanding ski museum explaining the entire evolution of skiing whose roots can be traced to one wild boy named Sondre Norheim. A most energetic youth, he could not stay inside the tale is told. His mind would always drift to the outdoor mountains and snow. I am sure that today's educators  would have drugged him for having ADHD. He managed to channel this healthy energy into skiing and ski design.

 

Morgedal, is covered with large rolling hills, and travel in winter was by cross country skis secured by a straw toe strap. Boots were packed with straw for extra ankle support. Every Sunday the town would go out and play in the snow and ski cross country and downhill. Sondre invented the first heel hold down binding for the ski boot and initiated downhill turns called loms, which later became known as slalom. He would develop his jumping skills by getting air off the roofs of houses. He became admired by the kids for his skills, but angered by his wife, as he could not make a decent living!

 He started landing and turning with his rear leg back, creating the telemark turn. He competed in the first national ski jumping contest at the age of 43 in Oslo and won with his great distance and grace. This began the start of ski jumping and the Norwegian dual sport of cross country skiing and jumping. Further advances led to larger jumps eventually developing into ski flying such as at the Holmenkollen in Oslo. The physical performance of the modern Norwegian Olympic ski team is a special testament to their deep love of skiing that makes this land unique. They say that Norwegians are born with skis on their feet. Sondre and other Norwegians such as Stein Eriksen eventually emigrated to America where innovation created the chair lift,  Lange plastic ski boots, Head metals skis and heel hold down bindings. Stein Eriksen was also the first man to do a flip on skis and could be credited with the creation of freestyle skiing. Modern downhill skiing and all its beauty began on the designs from Norway.

In Canada a Norwegian mountaineer named Jackrabbit-Johannsen developed most of the cross country trails in the Laurentian mountains north of Montreal and the eastern townships. He lived to 111 years of age and contributed his great health to his cross country skiing. The southern Laurentians were the epicenter of skiing in Canada and the first rope tow was built in at Mount St. Saveur, Quebec. The Laurentian Ski Museum is located in the town of Mount St. Saveur. Mont Saint-Sauveur is the endpoint of where the author completed the first Guiness World record for most ski hills skied in one day event in 1979.

One unique feature which I have been trying to quantify is the relationship between high performance and spirituality. I have found that high performance is often based on a spiritual power that differentiates mediocrity from excellence. It is spiritual energy that makes the student of an art work extra hard to achieve Flow and Zen. I discovered that in Norse Mythology, there are two ski gods  named Ullr (right below) and ski goddess Skade Goddess of Skiing (left below). She was married to the main God Odin and had many children with him the fable says. This may account for the extra determination Norwegians give to their cross country and downhill skiing.  In many of our ski writings and movies we talk about praying for snow to the ski gods. Well the ski gods live in Norway, and this makes it all the more clearer why Norwegians, aka the Attacking Vikings are so aggressive in their ski performance. Athletes such as Aksel Lund Svindal who suffered serious injuries yet still return to win gold medals at the Olympics in 2018. With a small population, the Attacking Vikings manage to plunder more gold and silver medals than any other country of its size. This might explains their unique performance in snow sports.

 

In my interviews of a wide range of Norwegians I found that when asked if they were happy, they remarkably all said yes. However, some of them not only spoke it but they exuded this beautiful glow of positive energy, very different than our Canadian reserve. I felt like I was travelling in a giant Ikea store, with the clean and natural Nordic designed houses and well kept roads and infrastructure and names like Sven and Ingar. One disappointment though is the beautiful blonde Scandinavians are disappearing quickly with the advent of the European Union. The in migration of non Norwegians is changing the blonde factor of this society.

To put structure to the happiness quotient I applied the Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. This design gave the reasons for happiness research more structure. Norwegians feel safe in their country and they respect the government and consider the laws fair. The King of Norway is loved and admired by the population.  The Norwegian government provide social assistance for the sick and  substantial unemployment benefits, quality universal health care and even pay for university outside of Norway if you aspire to go. The Mazlow's pyramid shows levels as below:

From the above one can see that the first two levels the Physiological and Safety needs are met by the social democratic government structure. In addition this society creates a sense of belonging and love needs by taking care of each other. With one of the highest per capita incomes in the world this also contributes to their happiness, as there is less problems to worry about survival. They are blessed with an abundance of natural resources such as oil and gas, and the profits are invested into the countries pension plan, so all Norwegians are taken care of in retirement. Pretty good social benefit program for the modern Vikings. Add to that 5 weeks of annual paid vacation to enjoy life, and you start to become really happy!

The country is small with only 5,000,000 people with a tradition of being outdoors skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer, with groups of friends. This is usually done on Sundays and is part of the social fabric of the community. Most Norwegians live in small towns close to their natural landscape and they take advantage of the beauty of the outdoors. This connection to nature and having a face to face relationship with friends in the outdoors is the special sauce that makes Norwegians so happy in my opinion.

To achieve esteem needs, the government supports higher education and will support foreign education so that the people bring back their skills and reinvest it into their country. In a democratic country better decisions are made by an educated citizen, and the investment in education creates a more astute socially democratic country. Another theory is that self actualization is accomplished by the social support a society that helps one another. The concept of Adam Smith's Invisible Hand is that in man's selfish pursuit of his needs there will be optimal distribution of resources in the economy. Unfortunately this is also a recipe for individual greed which creates loneliness and unhappiness. Whereas when everyone is a part of something greater and works for the common good this creates socialization, community and happiness. Like a giant camp for outdoors people this social structure combined with healthy living and beautiful women makes everyone happy.

The final unique feature about Scandinavia is the high level of emancipation of women. In order to have a happy life you need a happy wife.  When the Vikings went off to plunder, they left the women at home to take care of the farm and the children, and the men gave them great respect for managing the family. Perhaps that is why they are so independent and happy.

 Below is an original Viking Ship that was buried in 890 AD according to Norse traditions and excavated in 1880 for the Viking Ship Museum (Oslo). These vessels were used to cross the oceans and up rivers as far as Asia. Their shallow hull, tall masts and 30 rows of oars allowed them to travel without wind or with up to 15 knots per hour. The dual bows allowed them to reverse quickly in case of hitting a iceberg etc. Great fear was created to see a fleet of Vikings approaching your coast. The empire lasted until about 1050 AD, after which they converted to Christianity and became peaceful. Some of the greatest adventurers such as Ronald Amundsen polar explorer and Leif Erikson first explorer to reach North America are from Norway.  

In either case Norway is a wonderful land, with friendly people, who are social, outdoorsy and happy. They have great goat cheese and beer too. The question may be answered that they are happy because they have their safety, security, physiological and social needs met and they have the time and income so they can afford to go skiing and hiking in the beautiful outdoors with friends.  We all need to learn from Norwegian happiness to make this world a better place.

Skaal!


The Adventure Guy

                                               

Climb Talk and Ski Zen Love on Radio 1190 Colorado

I had the opportunity to speak on Climb Talk  on radio1190.org  at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I was interviewed by Michael Francis Brooks about my story Ski Zen Love. In the pod cast we talk about high performance mental training and getting into the zone, or Zen state. We discuss the need for the development of high levels of basic skills to the point there is no mind thinking. This applies to martial arts, skiing and rock climbing.

Michael is an expert rock climber living  in the epicenter of the sport in Boulder Colorado. Boulder is one of the coolest  towns in America with a very progressive technology and arts scene, and the world center of rock climbing. Every Friday night at 9:00 pm Colorado time Michael interviews a wide range of adventurers from Olympic rowers to mountain climbers to kayakers and skiers and medical doctors.  Take a listen below. We start at 48 minutes into the show.

Ski Zen Love on radio1190.org

Get Into Your Zen,




The Adventure Guy

Midtown Blues Jam 2nd Anniversary Party

The Midtown Blues Jam was created to be a central Toronto mecca for blues harmonica enthusiasts. The Jam has morphed into a multi disciplinary blues jam with musicians from all parts of the music spectrum joining and performing on a weekly Wednesday evening schedule at Alleycatz Lounge at Yonge and Eglinton.

From a simple musical idea the energy of the Midtown Blues Orchestra has helped catapult Alleycatz Lounge into the top 35 Blues Bars in Canada, based almost exclusively on the passion and energy of the Midtown Blues Jam and its social media marketing.

This Wednesday April 18th marks the second year of continuous programming hosted by Voodoo Walters and produced by GTA Music and More. This is no simple feat as the longevity of any live show has a very short shelf life.

Please enjoy one of the best in Canada's blues Jams for the second annual anniversary celebration at  Alleycatz Lounge 2409 Yonge Street at 7:00 pm. April 18th 2018.  As was said  down in the delta, "come on into ma kitchen for some fresh baked blues, y'all".

Live in the 6ix,


The Adventure Guy

To Ski is to be Alive and iSki

The media loves to sensationalize seasonal events to get us to stay working and shopping. However,  skiers are like the outliers of the normal curve of the population. When the temperature drops and the snow starts to fall and the winds begin to blow we become happy and alive. Its a Powder day.
I had the opportunity to return to our local mountains in Southern Ontario and ski in -20 degree weather with fresh packed snow and beautiful winter sun. I experienced the positive psychological effects that the beautiful white snow radiating from the suns reflection and the sensation of flying down a mountain gives the mind. It is a proven fact the winters cause SAD syndrome, Seasonally Affected Disorder, caused by being indoors too long. Skiers have learned the secret of survival in northern climates by being outdoors in the bright white snow. Some of the happiest people in the world are the Norwegians, and their culture is filled with outdoor activity which includes orienteering in the summer (running in the forests following maps) and skiing in the winter. Norway, home of  the Vikings is the country that invented skiing by attaching boots to skis and creating cross country skiing and ski jumping. American entrepreneurs created the plastic rigid boots, secured the heel to the ski with bindings and created downhill skiing as we know it.

With climate change we can expect greater variance in the temperatures and storms we will experience. The Barrie area of Southern Ontario, is in a sweet spot in that it gets the lake effect from both Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay. It has been well received in combination with the artificial snow making that operations like  Mount St. Louis Moonstone has become.

One new invention that I have found useful is an app from the Google Play Store called iSki. It is a handy app that allows skiers to see all the conditions and temperatures of all the resorts in Canada. I try to be selective with my use of technology in the ski world, but this little device is a great tool.


I hope you cure any SAD feelings you may have and go out and enjoy the snow and cold.

The Adventure Guy

Toronto Ski Show 2017 Updates

The Toronto Ski Show is the largest snow sport show in Canada and every year there is something new. This year there were some interesting updates.First, Canada's greatest ski resort, Whistler Blackcomb has now been acquired by Vail Resorts Inc. The significance of this is that with climate change, southern exposure ski resorts are looking at methods to hedge against the reduction of cold temperatures and snowfall. For Vail of Colorado, that meant buying a Canadian resort further north with plenty of snowfall. I just learned that Whistler will have its best opening day ever this November.

When I went to visit the Whistler booth I was greeted by a very cheerful American lady from Colorado. I have no issues with skiers of any country, however, when it is Whistler that has become Americanized, that is something to make note of. We did a great job of developing the sleepy town of Whistler into one of the greatest ski destination on earth. Way to go Canadian entrepreneurship and Intrawest. I remember the negativity of Vancouver people who felt Whistler could never be like Colorado skiing.
When development began there was the nay sayers that said that Whistler snow was too wet and heavy and that we did not get the sunny days like Colorado or Utah. Well there goes the neighborhood as Whistler has proven to be the greatest ski resort in North America and now part of Vail.


The second most important change is the closure of Kenmark Ski Shop. The owner Ken East had been struggling with cancer for many years and succumbed in January 2017. He seemed a bit unhappy when I tried to gave him a copy of my book Ski Zen Love to read, I guess he had bigger problems. Unfortunately, they were not able to sell the business and keep its good name alive. Skiis and Bikes has graciously offered to step up an honor any of the kids program deals. It is very honorable the way Skiis and Bikes shows respect for their competitor of many years. Kenmark was a great place to test your skis before you buy and had a regular demo program at Mount St. Louis. Hope you are in a better place now Ken.As we age we grow spiritually but decline physically. Enjoy the now.

The last item was a new ski travel company initiated by a young Australian entrepreneur. A bus will pick you up in Calgary and take you on a route through the rockies based on your design. Watch out for this young entrepreneur.

It is now December 6, and not a drop of snow in Ontario. Climate change is stronger than ever, so consider your carbon footprint with all that you do. Drive less, bike more, take transit eat less meat, use water efficient toilets and consider alternative energy sources.

Look forward to another great season of skiing ( if it ever gets cold enough).


The Adventure Guy

Snow Wars and Mont St. Louis Moonstone

Today is January 27, 2017. Temperatures are 38 degrees farenheit, without any snow in over two weeks. We are far above water freezing temperatures and have been for over a week. There is no snow in the GTA region. Only rain. Remarkably, the local Ontario mountain operators have been able to keep skiers gainfully turning while the temperatures continue to rise.

Climate Change is now become the single most threatening force against the beautiful world of skiing as we know it. New ski resort developments will be reaching further north, or looking for north east exposures such as in the Balsams, in New England where Les Otten is planning to put his money. Vail Resorts has recently purchased Whistler/Blackcomb as a hedge against climate chage and snow fall. Right here in southern Ontario, one family operated operation Mount St. Louis Moonstone www.mountstlouis.com continues its practice of Kai Zen and continually self improves itself and outsmarts the impacts of global warming by making snow where no old school operator has tried before.

There are many factors in managing a modern ski resort. Operators need to maintain modern terrain parks, with all the jumps and pipes and parks. The learning public requires certified snow school instruction, modern facilities, tasteful amenities,machine grooming and ease of access. The Huter family, the owners of Mont St. Louis Moonstone are one of the original Austrian families (think Jozo Weider of Blue Mountain the other)  who pioneered downhill skiing and instruction in Ontario. They have been relentless in their investment in this small local mountain and have had great foresight in improving the enterprise. From adding garbage and landfill to the top of the mountain to increase its verticle, to aquiring its neighboring competitor, this ski operator makes skiing in Ontario a better place.

With my focus on climate change, I wanted to highlight the importance of artificial snow making and technology. Snow making is about producing snow when temperatures are below freezing to allow it, covering the areas that need it the most, and manicuring the slope so that bare spots are limited, and that snow coverage will last a full season to maximize revenues. Bare spots on a slope are like a warming cancer that spreads, so even coverage across the slope is important. Modern operators use satellite imaging to determine snow depth and even it out when necessary. With the latest snow making technology equipment this mountain has been able to produce more snow, in less cold days, allowing them to out perform mother nature. The amount of snow that used to be produced in 500 hours of correct temperatures can now be made in 300 hours, and that is the solution to keeping skiers moving.

With the addition of night skiing in 2014, more pressure has been placed on the snow making and grooming equipment. Climate change is affecting our ability to enjoy the winter like we used to. Ingenuity, determination and strategic planning is what we will need to manage climate change and persevere skiing in Southern Ontario, Enjoy skiing in the east while you can, because with the exponential curve of climate change, our days may be limited.


Think Green,


The Adventure Guy

Eco Battles and Into the Future

It looks like the battle against climate change is now on. President Barak Obama is trying to cement his legacy with an environmental statement by invoking a 1950s law against offshore oil drilling in the arctic. Incoming President Trump may have difficulty removing it apparently. Canada has followed suit. Carbon taxes are being introduced by the Trudeau Liberals, and there is a lot of heat on the issue. 2016 has been the warmest year in global history. The World Cup of skiing was cancelled for the first time in 30 years in Lake Louise. Israel saw the world’s first case of eco terrorism with 7400 acres of parkland destroyed by arson. Firefighting planes were brought in from 15 countries to assist the fight with over 480 sorties and 1.5 million tons of retardant material dropped. The US sent a supertanker to assist in the battle. Interesting that this event never made the main media channels.

Below is an interesting write up on the effects of technology in our world. I share it and wish for you all good things for the future.

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt. What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years - and most people won't see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on film again?

Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law. So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time, before it became way superior and got mainstream in only a few short years. It will now happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs. Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution. Welcome to the Exponential Age.

Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.

Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.

Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.

Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.

In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs. Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.

So if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% less lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain.

Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurate than human nurses. Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don't want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car.

It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% less cars for that. We can transform former parking spaces into parks. 1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every 60,000 mi (100,000 km), with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 6 million mi (10 million km). That will save a million lives each year.

Most car companies will probably become bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.

Many engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; are completely terrified of Tesla.

Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper. Their car insurance business model will disappear.

Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

Electric cars will become mainstream about 2020. Cities will be less noisy because all new cars will run on electricity. Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can now see the burgeoning impact.

Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil. Energy companies are desperately trying to limit access to the grid to prevent competition from home solar installations, but that can't last. Technology will take care of that strategy.

With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water. Desalination of salt water now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter (@ 0.25 cents). We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

Health: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year. There are companies who will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breath into it.

It then analyses 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medical analysis, nearly for free. Goodbye, medical establishment.

3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years. In the same time, it became 100 times faster. All major shoe companies have already started 3D printing shoes.

Some spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports. The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have in the past.

At the end of this year, new smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities. You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home.

All the best for the Holiday Season, and the New Year.

Sincerely,

The Adventure Guy