Some people follow the winters around and miss summer by traveling to the Southern Hemisphere. I realized this was not for me. I tried it once, skiing in Australia, but wanted to keep exploring what else could be done and where I could go next.
After racing, I spent my winters in France training to become a fully qualified ski instructor, which is the hardest place in the world to teach skiing. I would spend my summers in various jobs. One of my favorite jobs was running a steam-powered sawmill. We used no modern technology or electricity, and even used a horse to pull the wood to the sawmill for us! It was a great experience maintaining a steam engine and doing everything by hand. We ran the engine by burning the leftover wood scraps, which was our only fuel.
Later, I would spend my summers working in outdoor centers, teaching kids climbing, kayaking and survival skills. This is where my love for the sea and boats comes in. I taught at one center on an uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. We would use boats to navigate around and explore the various islands. We would even leave kids on some of the islands to survive a whole 24 hours and find their own food and water, which was incredible to see. We also took the kids fishing for mackerel and tught them to haul in lobster pots.
My other real passion after skiing is rock climbing. I have done some fantastic climbs and love heights. One notable climb was to the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Brazil. The final part of the climb was especially amazing. There were hundreds of people there who took a train up instead of climbing. Because of rock climbing, a natural path for me and my friends was to work in the oil and gas sector doing high ropes maintenance.
