This weekend, some old colleagues from the Uniface time came to visit for the annual Banaan (Bananna) skiing weekend. Banaan in Dutch is the slang word for the stretcher they use to carry broken bodies off of the ski slopes. About 10 of us from UNIFACE have been going off on a ski weekend for about 18 years. This year, it was just three of us (me, Roel Aldenkamp and Albert Beijlevelt) plus two honorary Banaan-ers: my wife Hennie and Edith Douqué.To make things a little different, we decided to go dogsledding this year instead of just skiing. I organized it with our friend Juraj, the musher who set us up with dogs, sleds and guidance. Juraj is great with the dogs, and with us as well. The dogs absolutely LOVE being out there and pulling through the snow.
Our dog Betty (a semi-retired sled dog) was at the head of my sled team. I loved seeing her doing what she loves to do. She would literally jump up in the air (see the picture above) with excitement at the prospect of pulling the sled.
A great experience, even if I did
fall at the end of the day and bruise
my chest slightly. It only hurts when I breathe.
Here is a video of what it's like behind the sled.
Here is a video with the sound of the dogs before we set off again after lunch. Usually Juraj's dogs were silent and calm, but once we started packing up and getting ready to go, they couldn't hold back.
