I HAVE just taken part in the Calgary Stampede – and it was amazing. I must admit I had my reservations when the director of the show I had been asked to take part in told me what they wanted me to do.
Skiing with Eddie
Eddie could have been a footballer – but hung up his boots to concentrate on skiing
I STAYED in Canada for most of July because at the time of writing this column I am just about to take part in a stage show which is part of the Calgary Stampede, an annual 10-day rodeo.
The event can trace its roots back to 1886 but it now attracts more than one million people every year and claims to the ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’.
The Eagle goes busking in Austria
IF you happened to be in Salzburg recently you may have been surprised to see me busking in one of the city squares!
Fortunately, this is not because I have fallen on hard times. I was actually in the city doing some filming for the Austrian National Tourist Board and one of the things they asked me to do was pretend to be a busker with a cap to collect the money out in front of me.
The night Eddie had to sleep in a barn
I HAD what I expect to be my last ski of the season recently in the Swiss resort of Zermatt after I was ‘won’ in an auction. A family bid for the chance to ski with me at a fundraising evening to help raise money for the British Ski Team, although I don’t know how much they paid – I wonder how much I’m worth?
‘Where did all the Winter Olympics money go?’ asks Eddie
I ONLY found time to watch a bit of the Winter Olympics but at least I got to see Lizzy Yarnold win her second gold medal and Laura Deas take the bronze in the Skeleton.
Does that make me one of those people who, according to a recent survey, has little interest in the Winter Olympics? I think this survey is a little misleading because, after all, the number of skiers and snowboarders in the UK is increasing.
Eddie Edwards: My first ski of the season – on The Lover’s Piste!
This is a photo of me on a great run in Livigno, Italy called ‘The Lover’s Piste’ surrounded by a group of female medics. We all recently took part in the first annual ski medicine conference (WEMski18) organised by World Extreme Medicine (WEM) in conjunction with Livigno Snow Holidays, the Livigno Tourist Office and Mottolino Fun Mountain.
Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards: A day out at Hemel
I’ve been busy during the summer and luckily for me I spent quite a bit of it on skis at indoor centres such as Chill Factore in Manchester and the Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead.
At Hemel I joined TV presenter and former ski racer Graham Bell and snowboarder Aimee Fuller helping to get kids onto skis and snowboards during the National Schools Snowsport Week.
Eddie Edwards: Is there a future for ski and snowboard shows?
I had some good fun at the Chill Factore in Manchester when they invited me to take part in the snow centre’s 10th anniversary celebrations in November.
10 out of 10 at Chill Factore
I joined up with all the instructors and we formed ourselves into a ‘10’ formation to ski down the slope. I don’t know if they were trying to tell me something, but I was part of the ‘zero’!