Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein in action at the Men's World Cup Downhill Final here in Lake Louise, Alberta, Saturday 26, November 2005. Photography Nick Didlick/EPA

When people find out what I do for a living I usually get one of three repliesS. The first is, "wow that's a really cool job! " though often I hear "how can I get a job like you have?" The one the one that gets my blood pressure up though is "are you Paparazzi?"

Well the last one is easy to answer No! I am not a paparazzi, I am a Vancouver based Editorial and Commercial photographer. "You never really see paparazzi photographers" I tell them "just the pictures they have taken appear, they hide bushes and trees like monkeys with cameras."

But I also tell people that ask me to be careful what they wish for. You see the glitz and glamour of photographers on TV shows and on newscasts, but it's not all fun.

This week I am on the steep icy slopes of the Men's World Cup Downhill Skiing course in Lake Louise, Alberta. I am here to cover the Men's and Women's World Cup Ski races for EPA (no its not the Environmental Protection Agency famous in the U.S., but the European PressPhoto Agency a coalition of European Press Agencies).

I have been in some of the best ski resorts in the world covering skiing. Now that might sound sexy but it is not really. I am not complaining but I spend on average 2 hours on the side of the hill waiting for race start in sub zero temperatures and that's if I am lucky. If i am unlucky it's due to snow or worse rain, which will result in a course delay and find me standing for four to five hours in the cold before I even fire a single frame.

It's here in a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of ice I will kick out a small flat step to perch myself back waiting for a 100kph skier to rocket in and out of my camera's viewfinder. I will get 2 useable frames from my 7 frames per second Nikon D2X on 2X crop mode. There will be the inevitable comment from the skibunnies that come by my spot like and comment from the fencing behind me "wow buddy that is a big lens" or "hey it's not the size that matters".

This is my 26th year covering downhill skiing and I have heard it all. "I am getting old," I think to myself. A sexy profession, maybe, but what's sexy about skiing down a treacherous ice covered ski run with 50 pounds of camera gear on my back to find a tiny spot to stand for 90 minutes at -10c?

When I arrive at my chosen location it's like old home week as I run into a longtime friend and colleague Mike Blake who shoots for Reuters News Pictures from his home base in San Diego. Hey man its been a long time. We gossip for a while but with the internet these days we know what is happening in each others lives even though we live over 1300 miles apart. I met Mike when he was 19 and a semi pro skateboarder starting a career in photojournalism--we talk about the good old days.

We have still over 90 minutes before the first forerunner (these guys that run the course to make sure its safe for the "real skiers"). Our conversation drifts off when down skis Paul Morrison a Whistler based Ski Magazine Photographer. I never thought I would see Paul on skis again after he was nearly killed in an avalanche about 10 years ago. Man it was great to see him on the slopes again and we have a whole bunch of laughs about the old days when Paul got started in Whistler and was pumping gas to supplement his photography income. "That was when Whistler was a little village," I think to myself.

Juerg Gruenefelder of Switzerland in action at the Men's World Cup Downhill training run in Lake Louise, Alberta, Thursday 24 November 2005. Photography Nick Didlick/EPA

After a short time we are joined by another friend, Chicago based Jeff Haynes of AFP the French News Agency that covers the world. The handshakes and comparing of kids pictures starts all over again. I haven't seen Jeff since last year but it seems to me I saw him only last week, time flies at an ever-increasing pace as we put on the years. I first met Jeff when covering Track and Field at some Summer Olympics some place neither if us can remember.

It's 40 minutes before race start and Jeff asks me to watch his pack, "Nature Calls"he says and disappears into the bushes behind us. Its not a good thing that tight feeling in your bladder, the need to pee is something I have been trying to repress as it will be over 2 hours before I can get relief. And relief in the sub zero temperatures is not an easy task when layers upon layers of clothing must be peeled away. I will wait until I can get off the mountain to find relief myself but then the choice will be pee or file my pictures. I make a mental note to myself note to have four cups of coffee tomorrow morning.

Its getting time for the course inspection where at the last minute a race official can come down and kick you off your chosen little perch on the course in the name of safety. The course official will call you out like a Major League Baseball Umpire and send you and your colleagues scrambling down the course to find another photo spot before race start.

Suddenly Jeff reappears from nowhere "Man I was getting worried about you, I thought the wolves had gotten you!"I say, to which he replies "Well it was a big job and I skied down to the lodge did the business". Now that's a Professional! He was able to find that relief that I really want and return to or spot just in time to set- up for the first forerunner while I watched his spot and backpack bag.

The race for us will take only about 40 minutes of intense concentration, trying to catch a skier in peak action, tack sharp and perfectly exposed. They will come about every 90 seconds and they won't stop for us to change batteries, memory cards or deal with camera problems. We are all pros here and it's a routine we have done many time before and it is executed with flawless perfection.

But for those 40 minutes of action it will be almost three hours of preparing, chatting laughing and being board mindless. After skier number 30 we will all race each other down the hill with our heavy packs and full memory cards transmit our pictures to newspapers, magazines, television stations and Internet sites worldwide.

Left to Right Jeff Haynes, AFP, Nick Didlick, EPA and Mike Blake, Reuters. Photo by Paul Morrison

When we are finished there is just enough time to go to the hotel, get a shower and head to dinner. Tomorrow, well I know what tomorrow will bring it's the same routine all over again. But then, maybe if I am lucky one of my colleagues will break the boredom for us by slipping and falling ass over tea kettle while skiing down the near vertical icy sections in front of us, and tumble by our position where we can yell insults at him. It will be funny entertainment for those of us standing, but for the poor bastard that is hurtling downhill at an ever-increasing rate in a ball of skis poles, backpack and other gear there is nothing worse. Falling in front of your colleagues is to be avoided at all costs and is the worst thing you can except maybe peeing yourself just before race start.

Be careful for what you wish for because as I said, the job looks glamourus but it's really a job after all.