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A month ago, I didn't actually know the difference between slalom and giant slalom. I mean, I figured out the obvious - giant is bigger. That much I didn't need help understanding. :o)

However, the day after arriving in Kirovsk, I got to go up to the mountain to see Sasha's tournament in giant slalom. When I asked her the difference between slalom and giant, she rolled her eyes and said 'oh, brother - everybody knows that!' So, now I know. Being that Uncle Yuri is a stickler for doing things right (that is, his version of right), he insisted that after spending 4 days on the road, we take a day to recoup and just chill, and only the next day go skiing.
So Friday was a chill day (literally - it was in the -20s) - we went up to watch Sasha ski, then went ambling around their city. They were having this amazing snow-carving contest that takes place every year - unlike most places, they don't carve ice - they carve giant cubes of packed snow. The people carving it aren't allowed to use water or anything to create their shapes - only hand tools and more snow.

Here's a few pictures - even though we didn't go skiing, it was an amazing day - and we talked more about skiing that most people do in a month - Uncle Yuri wanted to make sure we remembered everything from last year - therefore he decided to repeat it. He has a habit of repeating the same thing at least 4 times as it is, so I think I heard 'remember, the snow is your comrade, your team-mate - but you will always be battling with the slope' at least 12 times that day (seems like more, actually...).