Another week, another post.
The day after my last post I worked on the Gondola (The Eagle Eye Express if you looked on the interactive map linked in my last post) and it turned out to be a very windy day. I started up the top near the Eagles Eye Restraunt to drive it and we opened up to public at 9am. By 10:30 we had to stop loading because the winds were reaching 40 - 50km/hr which, when heading in the right direction (which they were) make the cabins swing and make them jam when the enter the station. Our highest gust was over 60km/hr and Stairway to Heaven experienced even higher winds getting hit with 90km gusts. After 3 hours of doing nothing (and getting paid for it :P), we finally got the call to close and we headed down the hill. It was my earliest day yet.
Yesterday was the last day of the 3 day Avalanche Course I did. It was organised by one of the girls from my lift ops crew and was for staff only so it only cost us $50 each. We had a 2 hour theory session on monday night and then two days of practical on wednesday and thursday. Unfortunatly there was a Lift Ops party on tuesday night hosted by our (the A crew) supervisor Tyler which left all of us feeling pretty seedy at 9am the next day when the course started. We all powered through though and it turned out to be a good couple of days.
We can now take people into the back country and be able to make informed and (hopefully) good decisions based on conditions and what the slope looks like although only on the simple class terrain.
Having said that I dont think Ill be going into the backcountry just yet, there have been a few avalanches in the area lately and we heard yesterday that a man was killed by an avalanache in Canyon Creek, which is the valley just behind the Eagles Eye.
Anyways it was a cool course and I learned so much about the properties of snow and snow pack in different conditions.
Have a good one.
Saturday, 19 January 2008
Saturday, 12 January 2008
Dodging Operators
So Im gonna be aiming for a weekly update or something like that, so long as interesting stuff actually happens in the week of course.
On tuesday I got to do Lift Operator training which was cool, only four of us from each crew where asked to do it. The difference between an operator and an attendant (which is what I was before) isnt that much but it basically means we know how to drive the Gondola and can bypass faults and engage the axillary engine in the case of a power outage. It also means we get another $1 an hour which equates to an extra $70 a fortnight; something not to be snubbed at. Unfortunately it means we'll be put on the Gondola more often which isnt my favourite lift in the world but because theres a total of five us on the crew we should get a bit of a rotation.
Yesterday was my first proper skiing day since I injured my shoulder and I should be taking it easy I just cant help hitting the hard stuff with my friends. While Ive been a lot more careful with my jumps and drops etc. I still hit Feuz Bowl etc when I probably shouldnt be.
There was also a dodgeball tournament yesterday night which a bunch of us from the Sportsmans entered. We called ourselves the Gutted Ewoks and our costumes were simply boardies and wife beaters/singlets. The crew leader (Tyler aka Tron) and the lead hand (Eric aka Dwain) of my lift crew also had a team with some of the maintenance guys and some other randoms. After getting flogged in our first match we bounced back to win the next two and ended up coming second in the tournament after losing to a bunch of patrollers. Beating our bosses team was an added bonus :D. We won a few maccas and subway vouchers, a couple of tshirts and a $10 Selkirk (outdoor/ski shop) voucher each. I also won the '1st person out in the tournament' award from when I got hit square in the chest after turning around from running back to the base line; didnt even get the chance to see the thing coming. But all in all we had some awesome fun and got some really good photos too. Apparently they're gonna start a fortnightly thing or something: fingers crossed.
Anyways thats about everything, Im back to work tomorrow but I dont mind too much. 3 days of work then Im off again.
Have a good one.
On tuesday I got to do Lift Operator training which was cool, only four of us from each crew where asked to do it. The difference between an operator and an attendant (which is what I was before) isnt that much but it basically means we know how to drive the Gondola and can bypass faults and engage the axillary engine in the case of a power outage. It also means we get another $1 an hour which equates to an extra $70 a fortnight; something not to be snubbed at. Unfortunately it means we'll be put on the Gondola more often which isnt my favourite lift in the world but because theres a total of five us on the crew we should get a bit of a rotation.
Yesterday was my first proper skiing day since I injured my shoulder and I should be taking it easy I just cant help hitting the hard stuff with my friends. While Ive been a lot more careful with my jumps and drops etc. I still hit Feuz Bowl etc when I probably shouldnt be.
There was also a dodgeball tournament yesterday night which a bunch of us from the Sportsmans entered. We called ourselves the Gutted Ewoks and our costumes were simply boardies and wife beaters/singlets. The crew leader (Tyler aka Tron) and the lead hand (Eric aka Dwain) of my lift crew also had a team with some of the maintenance guys and some other randoms. After getting flogged in our first match we bounced back to win the next two and ended up coming second in the tournament after losing to a bunch of patrollers. Beating our bosses team was an added bonus :D. We won a few maccas and subway vouchers, a couple of tshirts and a $10 Selkirk (outdoor/ski shop) voucher each. I also won the '1st person out in the tournament' award from when I got hit square in the chest after turning around from running back to the base line; didnt even get the chance to see the thing coming. But all in all we had some awesome fun and got some really good photos too. Apparently they're gonna start a fortnightly thing or something: fingers crossed.
Anyways thats about everything, Im back to work tomorrow but I dont mind too much. 3 days of work then Im off again.
Have a good one.
Saturday, 5 January 2008
Oops forgot photos
Ooops I forgot to put a link to some photos I put on facebook.
Here they are.
Also, news on my shoulder; I went to the medical clinic today and got it checked out. It turns out Ive injured my rotator cuff so Ive got to keep it moving so it doesnt 'freeze up' and when the pain stops Ill have to get some excercises to do, I think that means I have to go back though. Luckily the doc said Id be able to ski when it feels ok but I have to stop doing crazy stuff like jumps etc for a while until its healed. Basically if I fall on it again, Im screwed so Id better take it easy for a while.
Awell, until next time.
Here they are.
Also, news on my shoulder; I went to the medical clinic today and got it checked out. It turns out Ive injured my rotator cuff so Ive got to keep it moving so it doesnt 'freeze up' and when the pain stops Ill have to get some excercises to do, I think that means I have to go back though. Luckily the doc said Id be able to ski when it feels ok but I have to stop doing crazy stuff like jumps etc for a while until its healed. Basically if I fall on it again, Im screwed so Id better take it easy for a while.
Awell, until next time.
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