The massive dump I mentioned last time continued almost all week so by the end we had around 50 - 60cms of new snow. Which came just in time for the arrival of a mate of mine from Rovers back home.
Anton stayed with me for almost a week which meant he got to experience the wonderful Alberta Family Weekend, which turned out to be our biggest weekend so far on the hill. So many people! The line to the Gondola stretched for ages!! Im glad they're all gone now, back to quieter days which is easier on us.
It was good to see someone from home again, I had a good week with Anton. We skied all over the mountain and I showed him some of my favourite spots and discovered some more chutes on CPR ridge, Feuz Bowl and Whitewall.
Since that big load of snow almost 2 weeks ago we havnt had a thing. Its been blue bird and warm everyday which, dont get me wrong is brilliant weather. Its really warm and fantastic to ski in but we have a big case of needing more snow. Everything is now hard pack and the little stashes where you used to be able to find at least a little powder are all completely tracked out.
Im really hoping for some new snow before Baz, Nudd and Mancer get here but Im not that confident; they keep forecasting snow but just keep pushing it back, the high pressure here at the moment is just too strong. Awell we have better snow than everywhere else, even Revelstoke apparently so thats something.
Without the new snow to cut Ive been keeping myself entertained by doing jumps and trying to do tricks. Ive managed do a small trick and a grab but Im working my way up to others. Id like to be able to do a box properly by the end but Im not sure if thatll happen because we've only got around 5 short weeks before the end of the season.
Thats right around 5 weeks and Ill be heading home. Looking forward to seeing you all.
Have a good one.
Saturday, 23 February 2008
Sunday, 10 February 2008
New and AWESOME Skis!!!
Hey hey,
So the biggest news of the week is my new skis!
Sophie, a friend of mine from the Sportsmans recently had her father over here to visit. It turns out that back home he owns a ski shop and we was coming up with a new set of skis to ski with and then was going to put them into his demo fleet for the shop. When he heard about my lost ski he decided to sell me these brand new, 5 day used, Dynastar Legends for $600. These skis are next years model and retail for around $1200 and they are AWESOME!
I tested them out today and Im loving them, Im almost glad I lost my others, these are so good. I had a good day with them today too, I went down WhiteWall for the first time and had a great time in all the new powder in Feuz Bowl.
Yesterday and today we got the biggest dump of the winter. On Friday the reading was around 22cm of new snow and in the last 24 hours we've got another 12cm; and its still going! Its forcasted to snow all night too, unfortunatly Im working tomorrow but fingers crossed I get to work on Stairway.
On thursday night we finally had the Lift Ops Beer Fine Party (photos). For those who I havnt told, we get a beer fine if we screw up or do something wrong while working and then we total them all up and thats how many beers you have to bring to the party. Its a fantastic idea in my opinion :P. We all owed different amounts but because we lost a whole bunch of people before the party, (one of whom was Rich who got fired and owed at least a carton) we had to all bring an additional 8 which bumped me up to 15.
There were a couple of trophies given out; one of which I got for the stupidest beer fine, thanks to getting knocked off the Catamount midstation by a chair when I wasnt paying attention.
One of the other lifties, Eve and I did some firetwirling which is pretty interesting in the snow and there were a few people tackling each other into the snow which was also good entertainment.
To get through all the beer we apparently had to average about 15 beers each which was never going to happen and now Eric and his housemates get lots of free beer. :P
Anyways thats it for now.
Later.
So the biggest news of the week is my new skis!
Sophie, a friend of mine from the Sportsmans recently had her father over here to visit. It turns out that back home he owns a ski shop and we was coming up with a new set of skis to ski with and then was going to put them into his demo fleet for the shop. When he heard about my lost ski he decided to sell me these brand new, 5 day used, Dynastar Legends for $600. These skis are next years model and retail for around $1200 and they are AWESOME!
I tested them out today and Im loving them, Im almost glad I lost my others, these are so good. I had a good day with them today too, I went down WhiteWall for the first time and had a great time in all the new powder in Feuz Bowl.
Yesterday and today we got the biggest dump of the winter. On Friday the reading was around 22cm of new snow and in the last 24 hours we've got another 12cm; and its still going! Its forcasted to snow all night too, unfortunatly Im working tomorrow but fingers crossed I get to work on Stairway.
On thursday night we finally had the Lift Ops Beer Fine Party (photos). For those who I havnt told, we get a beer fine if we screw up or do something wrong while working and then we total them all up and thats how many beers you have to bring to the party. Its a fantastic idea in my opinion :P. We all owed different amounts but because we lost a whole bunch of people before the party, (one of whom was Rich who got fired and owed at least a carton) we had to all bring an additional 8 which bumped me up to 15.
There were a couple of trophies given out; one of which I got for the stupidest beer fine, thanks to getting knocked off the Catamount midstation by a chair when I wasnt paying attention.
One of the other lifties, Eve and I did some firetwirling which is pretty interesting in the snow and there were a few people tackling each other into the snow which was also good entertainment.
To get through all the beer we apparently had to average about 15 beers each which was never going to happen and now Eric and his housemates get lots of free beer. :P
Anyways thats it for now.
Later.
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Australia Day Awesomeness and Disaster
Australia Day was awesome!
We all went up to the hill in a massive group at around 10:30 in the morning and after collecting skis we went to Peaks (a pub near the Gondola) and grabbed a beer before going up for a run. We had a few runs down, some of us with Australia flag capes flying out behind us before going to the Eagles Eye Restraunt for another few drinks and then had another couple of runs. At the end of the day I decided to do a shirtless run down from Catamount which was great fun. It was pretty warm (-5 or so) at the time so it wasnt even that cold on the way down, that is until I got to the bottom and Tyler threw snow on me with a shovel. :S
After we put our skis away we headed to another pub on the mountain, the Local Hero and had a few there until the bus came. After grabbing some dinner at home we all crammed into a taxi and headed to The Golden Taps Inn (aka Taps) where they were having an Aussie Day party. They had a bit of a BBQ and a good DJ who played lots of aussie music, it ended up being a really great night, unfortunatly I had to work the next day so went home pretty early.
The other big thing that happened was the staff trip to Revelstoke yesterday. Revlestoke is another ski mountain about 2 hours away from KH. It only opened this year and so is quite small and there arent that many runs but it does have a lot of vertical, a couple of hundred more than KH.
The bus came to the Sportsmans at around 8 and we got to Revelstoke at around 10:30 local time (They're about an hour behind us). Unfortunatly half way up the road to the mountain the bus got stuck slipping on the snow and we then spent around an hour trying to get up that particular patch as our bus driver wasnt good at driving on snow.
We eventually got up there and WOW! Ive never seen so much powder, even all the main runs where still covered in it. It was sooo good, I got so many fresh turns in and it was all so deep. Awesome but very hard work, we got tired pretty quickly. We also did a lot of tree skiing which was great fun, weaving between trees through completely untouched powder, it was awesome.
However at around 1:30 disaster struck. One of the people I was skiing with; Amanda and I cut into some thick trees of a cat track and as I was making a turn one of my skis caught a sappling and the binding released. I tumbled for about 5 meters managing to miss hitting the trees and came to a stop unscathed and covered in snow. I took off my other ski to clamber up the hill to grab my other ski but when I got to the sappling it was nowhere to be found. I searched and called for help for about 20 mins but I couldnt find it anywhere so in the end I had to grab my one remaining ski and walk down to the next run. I walked for a bit until a couple of guys stopped and phoned dispatch to send a couple of patrollers down with a taboggan. I wouldve walked but I was almost at the top of the hill and on the opposite side to where the gondola was. The ride down was pretty fun, they werent used to carting people who could help them set everything up and I had a good chat to the patroller on the way down. When I got back to the Daylodge it was about 3 o clock and I only had to wait an hour before the bus left, so I just sat there talking to some others who had finished early and had a fe beers with them.
On the way home we stopped in the town to take off the snow chains so we picked up some beer and food for the journey home. Amanda, Eve and I split a 12 pack and we had a good enjoyable drive home. When we got home we pretty much went straight to the pub where I had a great time drowning my sorrows.
As for my skis, Ive lost what is basically $400 worth of equipment. I can pretty much guarentee it wont be found as it was lost in thick trees where not many people go. Im hoping my travel insurance covers it but Im not sure if it will. Luckily one of the guys I work with, Ralf says he sick of skiing and wants to swap to boarding so seeing as he got his skis in Vancouver for $70 he's selling them to me for $50! Im still really cut about it though, I liked those skis a lot and Im not sure what Ralf's are like.
Anyways Ill leave it for this week on that note, below are some links to photos Ive put up recently.
Have a good one.
Revelstoke Photos
Australia Day Photos
Staff Apreciation Night Photos
Dodgeball Tournament Photos
We all went up to the hill in a massive group at around 10:30 in the morning and after collecting skis we went to Peaks (a pub near the Gondola) and grabbed a beer before going up for a run. We had a few runs down, some of us with Australia flag capes flying out behind us before going to the Eagles Eye Restraunt for another few drinks and then had another couple of runs. At the end of the day I decided to do a shirtless run down from Catamount which was great fun. It was pretty warm (-5 or so) at the time so it wasnt even that cold on the way down, that is until I got to the bottom and Tyler threw snow on me with a shovel. :S
After we put our skis away we headed to another pub on the mountain, the Local Hero and had a few there until the bus came. After grabbing some dinner at home we all crammed into a taxi and headed to The Golden Taps Inn (aka Taps) where they were having an Aussie Day party. They had a bit of a BBQ and a good DJ who played lots of aussie music, it ended up being a really great night, unfortunatly I had to work the next day so went home pretty early.
The other big thing that happened was the staff trip to Revelstoke yesterday. Revlestoke is another ski mountain about 2 hours away from KH. It only opened this year and so is quite small and there arent that many runs but it does have a lot of vertical, a couple of hundred more than KH.
The bus came to the Sportsmans at around 8 and we got to Revelstoke at around 10:30 local time (They're about an hour behind us). Unfortunatly half way up the road to the mountain the bus got stuck slipping on the snow and we then spent around an hour trying to get up that particular patch as our bus driver wasnt good at driving on snow.
We eventually got up there and WOW! Ive never seen so much powder, even all the main runs where still covered in it. It was sooo good, I got so many fresh turns in and it was all so deep. Awesome but very hard work, we got tired pretty quickly. We also did a lot of tree skiing which was great fun, weaving between trees through completely untouched powder, it was awesome.
However at around 1:30 disaster struck. One of the people I was skiing with; Amanda and I cut into some thick trees of a cat track and as I was making a turn one of my skis caught a sappling and the binding released. I tumbled for about 5 meters managing to miss hitting the trees and came to a stop unscathed and covered in snow. I took off my other ski to clamber up the hill to grab my other ski but when I got to the sappling it was nowhere to be found. I searched and called for help for about 20 mins but I couldnt find it anywhere so in the end I had to grab my one remaining ski and walk down to the next run. I walked for a bit until a couple of guys stopped and phoned dispatch to send a couple of patrollers down with a taboggan. I wouldve walked but I was almost at the top of the hill and on the opposite side to where the gondola was. The ride down was pretty fun, they werent used to carting people who could help them set everything up and I had a good chat to the patroller on the way down. When I got back to the Daylodge it was about 3 o clock and I only had to wait an hour before the bus left, so I just sat there talking to some others who had finished early and had a fe beers with them.
On the way home we stopped in the town to take off the snow chains so we picked up some beer and food for the journey home. Amanda, Eve and I split a 12 pack and we had a good enjoyable drive home. When we got home we pretty much went straight to the pub where I had a great time drowning my sorrows.
As for my skis, Ive lost what is basically $400 worth of equipment. I can pretty much guarentee it wont be found as it was lost in thick trees where not many people go. Im hoping my travel insurance covers it but Im not sure if it will. Luckily one of the guys I work with, Ralf says he sick of skiing and wants to swap to boarding so seeing as he got his skis in Vancouver for $70 he's selling them to me for $50! Im still really cut about it though, I liked those skis a lot and Im not sure what Ralf's are like.
Anyways Ill leave it for this week on that note, below are some links to photos Ive put up recently.
Have a good one.
Revelstoke Photos
Australia Day Photos
Staff Apreciation Night Photos
Dodgeball Tournament Photos
Saturday, 19 January 2008
High Winds and Avalanches
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.
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, 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.
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Snow, Skiing, Lifting, Kicking Horse and Golden
Sorry its been so long since I updated, its so hard to find the time and a computer I can use up here.
Ive been here almost a month now and what a month its been... I arrived and booked into the Sportsman Lodge where Im staying. Its basically a motel and for $400 Canadian we get a shared room with one other person, access to the pool (with an awesome slide), spa, sauna and a communal kitchen, we also get our rooms cleaned once a week so its a pretty good deal. The rooms are kinda small and its about 20 - 25 mins walk to town but there are about 26 aussies and kiwis living here who all work on the hill so theres always someone to hang out with and taxis to town get very cheap when you start splitting $10 between 11 people (most of the taxis are minivans or bigger, they even have a bus).
It turns out that even if I go to other continants I cant get away from people I know. Out of all those aussies there are only 3 adelaide people here and the other two are both good friends of mine from highschool (John Antrobus and Mat Trenorden)who I havnt seen in about 4 years, I even work with John. Small world.
Within the first few weeks of being in canada I spent a crazy amount getting all set up. Something like $3500 went to a combination of accomodation, skis, clothing, food and the ever important partying. I got a good deal on skis, bindings, boots and poles, getting the whole lot for about $750 Canadian.
So far the lifty work had been awesome. I had a "I have the best job in the world" moment the other day. I was working on the Stairway to Heaven chair and to get to that particular chair you've got to ride the gondola to the top then ski down to the bottom of the lift. The previous night it had dumped about 20cm of new snow onto the mountain and we got clearance to ride down at around 8. So far that morning the only things to have touched the powder in Crystal Bowl were a cat which had groomed a 3 meter wide trail down the main area of the bowl and a snow mobile which had followed that trail. That left us with a 100m wide trail of fresh, untouched powder for us to ride down just as the sun was rising, no one but the three of us in sight and no sound but the powder being parted by our skis/board and the wind in our ears. It was so awesome.
As lifties we get about 70 hours a fortnight which is a nice number. We work 3 days on, 3 days off, 4 days on, 4 days off and do 10 hour shifts, although they never end up being that long. I like the long days as it means we get more days for riding the hill. One of the bad points is that we have to start at 7am which (because of a really badly set up bus schedule) means we have to get up at 5am and then spend 40 minutes sleeping at the admin building. The pays pretty terrible at around $9 and hour but then as long as I can live on it I dont mind, Im not here to make money after all.
Depending on what lift you're on it can be an easy or draining job. If you're on the gondola then it can be hard because you've got to lift and load skis and boards onto the cabins. They're arent that heavy but after a couple of hours of loading them one in each hand without a break it can get tiring. Other lifts are easier and you tend to get more ride breaks on them as well as there arent as many people working them. On a normal chair lift there will be a person at the top, a person at the bottom and a spare. We pretty much rotate the whole day so we can get as much riding in as possible.
In mid december a bunch of us went to a Wolf Center that was nearby. It was pretty cool seeing and learning about the wolves there, a couple of them were huge! Even though they're kept in seperate runs they still have a pack organisation with two of the keepers being the alphas. We got them to howl as well, we all just started howling and they joined in. Apparently if you're in the woods and there are wolves around you can start howling and they might just join in. I so wanna try it at some point.
Kicking Horse Mountain is awesome. The degree of hardness is at a completely different level here than anywhere else and especially back home. The blues here are easily rated as blacks back home and elseware in canada too according to those who've been to other mountains. I love it, Ive improved so much since I got here and when I go skiing with mates we push each other to hit a harder run or do a bigger jump which is awesome fun.
Even though I had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I still had a good Christmas. All of the aussies and kiwis in the Sportsmans put in $15 each and we had a massive dinner which included a turkey, a ham, 2 chickens, some pork and ALOT of salad. We also had a secret santa which ended up being hilarious.
New Years Eve was great, we all went to one of the pubs in town where a band was playing. The cover charge was pretty steep but I had an awesome time. I got home at about 1:30 and after a call to Erica (hey Erica!) I went to bed for 3 hours sleep before having to get up for work. I woke up an hour late still a bit drunk and still managed to make it up the hill on time by hitch hiking. It wasnt the funnest day ever for any of us as a lot of us where hungover all day but it ended eventually.
I did something stupid last saturday, I switched to snowboarding for a day. Ive snowboarded before but in hiensight I just should've stuck to skiing. I was coming down one of the steeper runs under the Catamount chair (predominatly green runs) and I caught my front edge at speed and was thrown forward. I landed badly on my forarm and injured my right shoulder. Its not broken or dislocated or anything but I think Ive done something to my rotator cuff, I didnt go to the doctor earlier because when I went to the hostpital it turns out they want $500 + doctors fee upfront which I just dont have. Ive made an appointment in the medical clinic for friday so we'll see what happens. Hopefully Im only out of skiing for a week or two, itd really suck to not be able to ski for a month or something. Whatever happens I wont be going boarding again for a while at least. I can still work luckily but I just push buttons all day and I can only work at two specific stations on two different lifts.
Anyways I think thats just about all the more exciting news thats happened since Ive been here. Sorry its been so long since I updated, Ill try and update a bit more often now that I dont have so much to write.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and an awesome New Years, Happy 2008 everyone!
Ive been here almost a month now and what a month its been... I arrived and booked into the Sportsman Lodge where Im staying. Its basically a motel and for $400 Canadian we get a shared room with one other person, access to the pool (with an awesome slide), spa, sauna and a communal kitchen, we also get our rooms cleaned once a week so its a pretty good deal. The rooms are kinda small and its about 20 - 25 mins walk to town but there are about 26 aussies and kiwis living here who all work on the hill so theres always someone to hang out with and taxis to town get very cheap when you start splitting $10 between 11 people (most of the taxis are minivans or bigger, they even have a bus).
It turns out that even if I go to other continants I cant get away from people I know. Out of all those aussies there are only 3 adelaide people here and the other two are both good friends of mine from highschool (John Antrobus and Mat Trenorden)who I havnt seen in about 4 years, I even work with John. Small world.
Within the first few weeks of being in canada I spent a crazy amount getting all set up. Something like $3500 went to a combination of accomodation, skis, clothing, food and the ever important partying. I got a good deal on skis, bindings, boots and poles, getting the whole lot for about $750 Canadian.
So far the lifty work had been awesome. I had a "I have the best job in the world" moment the other day. I was working on the Stairway to Heaven chair and to get to that particular chair you've got to ride the gondola to the top then ski down to the bottom of the lift. The previous night it had dumped about 20cm of new snow onto the mountain and we got clearance to ride down at around 8. So far that morning the only things to have touched the powder in Crystal Bowl were a cat which had groomed a 3 meter wide trail down the main area of the bowl and a snow mobile which had followed that trail. That left us with a 100m wide trail of fresh, untouched powder for us to ride down just as the sun was rising, no one but the three of us in sight and no sound but the powder being parted by our skis/board and the wind in our ears. It was so awesome.
As lifties we get about 70 hours a fortnight which is a nice number. We work 3 days on, 3 days off, 4 days on, 4 days off and do 10 hour shifts, although they never end up being that long. I like the long days as it means we get more days for riding the hill. One of the bad points is that we have to start at 7am which (because of a really badly set up bus schedule) means we have to get up at 5am and then spend 40 minutes sleeping at the admin building. The pays pretty terrible at around $9 and hour but then as long as I can live on it I dont mind, Im not here to make money after all.
Depending on what lift you're on it can be an easy or draining job. If you're on the gondola then it can be hard because you've got to lift and load skis and boards onto the cabins. They're arent that heavy but after a couple of hours of loading them one in each hand without a break it can get tiring. Other lifts are easier and you tend to get more ride breaks on them as well as there arent as many people working them. On a normal chair lift there will be a person at the top, a person at the bottom and a spare. We pretty much rotate the whole day so we can get as much riding in as possible.
In mid december a bunch of us went to a Wolf Center that was nearby. It was pretty cool seeing and learning about the wolves there, a couple of them were huge! Even though they're kept in seperate runs they still have a pack organisation with two of the keepers being the alphas. We got them to howl as well, we all just started howling and they joined in. Apparently if you're in the woods and there are wolves around you can start howling and they might just join in. I so wanna try it at some point.
Kicking Horse Mountain is awesome. The degree of hardness is at a completely different level here than anywhere else and especially back home. The blues here are easily rated as blacks back home and elseware in canada too according to those who've been to other mountains. I love it, Ive improved so much since I got here and when I go skiing with mates we push each other to hit a harder run or do a bigger jump which is awesome fun.
Even though I had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I still had a good Christmas. All of the aussies and kiwis in the Sportsmans put in $15 each and we had a massive dinner which included a turkey, a ham, 2 chickens, some pork and ALOT of salad. We also had a secret santa which ended up being hilarious.
New Years Eve was great, we all went to one of the pubs in town where a band was playing. The cover charge was pretty steep but I had an awesome time. I got home at about 1:30 and after a call to Erica (hey Erica!) I went to bed for 3 hours sleep before having to get up for work. I woke up an hour late still a bit drunk and still managed to make it up the hill on time by hitch hiking. It wasnt the funnest day ever for any of us as a lot of us where hungover all day but it ended eventually.
I did something stupid last saturday, I switched to snowboarding for a day. Ive snowboarded before but in hiensight I just should've stuck to skiing. I was coming down one of the steeper runs under the Catamount chair (predominatly green runs) and I caught my front edge at speed and was thrown forward. I landed badly on my forarm and injured my right shoulder. Its not broken or dislocated or anything but I think Ive done something to my rotator cuff, I didnt go to the doctor earlier because when I went to the hostpital it turns out they want $500 + doctors fee upfront which I just dont have. Ive made an appointment in the medical clinic for friday so we'll see what happens. Hopefully Im only out of skiing for a week or two, itd really suck to not be able to ski for a month or something. Whatever happens I wont be going boarding again for a while at least. I can still work luckily but I just push buttons all day and I can only work at two specific stations on two different lifts.
Anyways I think thats just about all the more exciting news thats happened since Ive been here. Sorry its been so long since I updated, Ill try and update a bit more often now that I dont have so much to write.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and an awesome New Years, Happy 2008 everyone!
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