Well, I think I owe you an apology.  I really didn’t think a week of exercises would do anything, but even after three-four days I skied both Saturday (backcountry) and Sunday (cross-country), and felt way less pain than I would have expected.  Then again, it was also really soft forgiving snow on the weekend, so I reserved judgement.  Today, I just got back from a 1hr15min ski up at Cypress with essentially no pain at all.  Even skating for some stretches.  Maybe a bit of muscle tiredness on the shin muscle, but none of the sharp pain either there or in the lower calf/achilles area.  So you are a veritable magician, and thank you!!