Snowing like crazy this morning here in Whistler:) Hasn’t been snowing for a long time and it’s affecting the whole town. All the locals are wondering when the ”pow” is coming back. I liked the slopes yesterday though when they are nicely prepared. I guess fresh powder for them is as important as the greens being cut for us. A newly groomed pist for a freeskiier is like asking the European Tour players to play the new golf simulator…not the first thing I would do maybe if I had a chance to go on a real track. Anyway, it’s been a lot of fun hanging out with a whole bunch of different people up here. The poker players I’m staying with are the funniest. They don’t have consistent working hours really. One of the guys got a house up here and thought it would be nicer to play poker up here than home in England and invites whoever of his friends to come over to stay and play some hands. When they’ve had enough of poker they go snowboarding. I’ve stayed in the house for two nights now and I just met a guy who apparently has been staying in the house the whole time but has played about 200.000 hands of poker and not stepped outside his room. Awesome.

My friend from Sweden who also plays poker here had to cut his skiing day short yesterday to treat his back in a physio clinic. Another guy said quickly after hearing about his physio visit: ”It really is a physically tough sport poker. That ”all-in” move they do in poker must really tear on the back muscles”. 

Heading up on the hill now to see if I can handle the new snow. 

It’s the first time in a long time I’ve felt this distant to golf. It worries me but I know I will get straight back into it when we train again. Maybe it’s good for me to see something different. Last few months I’ve been a little frustrated and I think the reason for that has been that I haven’t thought and cared about anything else than golf. When the results and the strive to improve gets too important, it’s easy to get frustrated if it doesn’t go the way you want. You gotta have some other hobbies I think and something else that’s important in your life.

Big hockey day today with 4 quarter finals. Sweden’s game against Slovakia is at 9PM over here. Good night!

alex 

This is the weather right now so no more skiing for today. My legs are killing me. Great workout though. Pierre always complains about my weak legs. I’m working on it Pierre, in Whistler. Great combination.

There was nobody in the slopes today which is great. The weather sucked at the top and at the bottom but in the in-between areas it was nice. First time on the hill for a long time so it was a good training day. I’m not great at skiing but I love it. Such a freedom kick. Although, wearing those boots made me think how lucky I am only have to wear golf shoes. Even the firmest pair of ”Classics” seems like slippers compared to the ski boots. 

Peak-to-Peak ride. 

Our room. Andreas was here earlier and got the master bed. Mine is pretty sweet though on the right. It looks like I even get a comforter tonight. Looking good.

Great ending to a great day…

One more day here. Actually can’t wait to hit some spinners in Phoenix. I’m thinking of some fun videos for you guys. It seemed like that short game thing we did was enjoyable. I’ll think and try to come up with something. Maybe some what I try to do with my swing and where it has gone from and where I want it to be??? Good idea?

alex

Canada is truly amazing…have never seen anything like it before.

View over Vancouver city from West Vancouver. 

On the way to Whistler. Never wished for a car ride to never end before.

Sweet.

We found a golf course too. But, felt like beeing in Sweden when the sign said: ”Opens in March”.

They had a cool map in the McDonald’s in Squamish. All customers got a needle to point out where they were from on the map…awesome idea!

Can you live there???!!!

Just got to the house in Whistler. Staying with some poker players. There are computers everywhere and it’s such a cool bunch of guys. They are serious pros! My Swedish friend brought these Swedish souvenirs and what a view!

I miss golf though and I miss the hard training, but staying here a few more days will make me want to play even more so I’m gonna stick to my plan. We’ll see if I can get back with more motivation than ever and train harder to get better. Hope so!!!

alex

Awesome guy! 

alex

Vancouver could be the best place in the world to live. It’s not too cold in the winter, around 10 degrees celsius right now and warm and lots to do in the summer. Haven’t tried the golf courses yet but they are probably great as well. It’s close to the mountains as you can see, perfect size (about 2 million people), Canadians are very friendly and it’s right by the water. All seems good to me!  

I like the Canadian flag as well!

Heading up to Whistler tomorrow. Have had enough of city life. It’s so weird that it’s snow up there when it’s kind of warm here, at least in the sun. I think I’m getting better at relaxing and keeping my thoughts away from golf. Maybe the fact that it’s a lot going on here helps but still. In 2007, I had three voluntary days totally off from golf. That doesn’t include the all-day travel days. So, for me taking 5 or more days of in a row right now is a mere wonder!!! What’s going on:)

What I’ve found out is that I really enjoy watching other sports and getting inspired and motivated by other athletes. So, being here is great!!! I got chills down my spine watching Shaun White absolutely kick everybody else’s asses in the half pipe! He is inspiring.

alex

Skilled to the max! Walked by and got fascinated to say the least…sooooo cool!

alex

We beat Belarus in the hockey game yesterday 4-2. I thought we played great, altough I’m not a hockey expert, but it could be one of the most fun sports to watch. It was so warm in Vancouver. People were walking around in T-shirts on the streets. Feels weird at a Winter Olympics. Heading up to Whistler tomorrow to see some skiing. Will be colder up there.

Pre-game posing for Ola and Jonas.

Past-game posing.

It’s such a great atmosohere being here. Sports bring people together in a weird way. Everybody seems to be best friends here and we love it!!!

Saw the Swedish hockey beast, Douglas Murray and we were so happy to get a picture with him! He doesn’t seem as excited though:) 

Bringing the big camera out today to get some sweeter photos from around town. The weather is great today as well so hope we see some fun things.

Hope you’re all great and see you soon!

alex

The Olympics is something else!!! I remember when we got off from school back in Sweden when the Swedish National team played hockey in the Olympics. Peter Forsberg was the star when we won the gold in 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and he is still the star today. Will see the match against Belarus at 12.00 AM tomorrow. 

Vancouver is such a cool city. 

We are prepared…

This is at 1.20 AM. The streets are still packed.

See you tomorrow!

alex

Really tough day on the course yesterday getting beat badly by Ogilvy. BUT, never give up is the saying huh!!!??? I learnt a lot and I know what to work on. Now, I’m looking forward. WGC Match Play is a fantastic tournament and I want to play again. So, I have to keep working.  

The European Tour Productions made a little story about my ”blogging”. They followed the whole day and I think we got some good shots in between the bad ones:) It wil be out next week on the ”European Tour Weekly” show and I will link to it when it’s up.

They gave me some good tips on what film cutting program to use too so the future is looking good!

Got probably the biggest, coolest, meanest, most useless, hardest to park, slowest to accelerate, most fuel drinking, most American car I’ve ever driven. But, overall I like it a lot!!! To bad I only get to use it for two days. Decided to take a few days off from golf and fuel up on some motivation and inpiration up in Vancouver for the Olympics. I’m so excited! Can’t wait. Priority nr. 1 are the Swedish Hockey games. But, today we are training here in Phoenix and I couldn’t wait to get up and work out. Found some aggression-combined-with-motivation-to-get- better fuel to make me get up before 6 AM. 

I love these kind of cars. Looks so old school American mid-west.

See you in Vancouver! 

Hope you are all good! Ante is now picking the winner of the ”Royal Trophy shirt contest”. Winner will be up soon.

alex