The End of Week One

Well today marks the end of my first week at work. It's been absolutley awesome, but I am feeling slightly tired right now. I was told that I'd be working four days on and three days off. However, today was my sixth day on, and it sounds as though I'll have one day off before starting my regular days of Tues to Fri. The hours are pretty demanding and I've started 5 of the days at 7am, although today was a 6am start. This morning comprised an exam as well, so that was fun! Today was my first day actually looking after a chair lif though which was quite good fun, but also slightly stressful at times! It was such a great lift to have my first day on. There was three of us manning the lift which meant we took it in turns to look after the top and bottom of the lift, and also meant that we had two 50 minute breaks during the day, which is quite cool as it meant that I could go riding quite a bit during the day. Plus, another advantage was working at the top. My "Office" there was 7000 odd feet on the top of Whistler Peak, and with the clear blue skies today allowed an amazing panorama over the surrounding area. As I stood there soaking up the sun, watching the views and making jokes with the passengers I couldn't help but just smile and feel dead lucky that I'm out here and just able to experience these things! Working at the peak of course also meant that I got to ride almost the entire height of Whistler mountain in one go! It really was good, but pretty tiring on the legs. 5000 feet or so of vertical drop in one go, with only a 20 second rest! It was awesome!

Plus the lifties here are such cool people. They're never annoyed at giving the new guy some helpul advice, and they're just so easy to get along with. I'm really looking forward to going on social things with them, and I think it should be awesome as the season comes to a close. Plus it's amazing how much of a work ethic they all have. Maybe cos they're mostly foreigners and they can't really afford to loose the jobs they have, but everyone pitches in. After they've sorted out their own lift, they'll always help out on other peoples lifts so that everyone can be finished at a decent time!

Anyway, I'm knackered and I think I'm gonna lie in tomorrow! Yay!

Working at Last

Well, finally the paper work was all finished (Thanks Mummy and Daddy!) and I had been just waiting for my name to appear on the scheduling list! I was expecting it may be Monday I had to work, but luckily not. With the sun shining and the snow pretty nice, I headed up on Monday and just had an entire day of doing laps of the terrain park and garden. It really was good fun, practicing various little flatland tricks to each of the parks, before gradually becoming more and more comfortable in the air. I even managed to grab a couple of times, and was just kind of messing around in the air, trying to twist and poke the board around to get the feel of it. It was such an ace day doing this, and then topped off by taking the Catskinner chair over the Highest Level Park, watching all the dudes doing huge 720's and rodeo flips off the big kickers. A really good day, although my legs and knees were so knackered by the end of it. There's a whole load of absorption to be done by my knees when someone my size lands off a kicker!

So anyway, my name finally appeared on the scheduling list. 7am to the top of the Creekside Gondola. Being at the top basically means that what I get to do is take the boards and ski's off the racks on the side of the cabins, and give them to people, whilst smiling sweetly! Pretty repetitive, but, amazingly really good fun. I've just read Rich's blog, and I think this is gonna sound pretty similar to his, but it's less the actual work, but it's just being part of a team, and grouping together to get stuff done and have a laugh. All the people that I met working on the lifts have such a good attitude - it is after all a means to an end, and everyone is here to enjoy themselves primarily, and know that this job is justa way to ensure that they can afford to stay over here.

But all the guys and gals seem to be really friendly, and really helped me to settle in, and I soon felt part of the team. The morning was cool. After helping some guys set up their lift, I got a lift on a snowmobile across to my lift which was cool, as it's the first time I've been on one! The day was spent lifting boards and skis off the gondola as described before, but that's a small part of it, with the banter that you get, especially as there's acouple of lifts next to mine, taking the piss out of the tourists, chatting to the lovely ladies, and trying to come up with new ways and accents to say "Have a nice day"! The end of the day was cool as well, with the peeps off about 3 or 4 lifts all meeting up at the bottom of one of them, and boarding off the hill together in a big posse! It really is just as well that I don't suck on a snowboard, cos the entire run down was pretty much done at mach 10 on an otherwise completely empty mountain, which was pretty cool.

All in all, I'm dead glad I've got this job. Although it is just a means to an end as said before, I think I picked the right job, cos I get to be outdoors all the time, have a laugh, and I think the social side is going to be pretty cool as well! It is bloody hard work though, so I think I might be crashing out at about 9pm tonight!

that Saturday Afternoon Feeling

It's a Saturday afternoon, things are good, and I'm just busy chilling out. The woman looking after my paperwork for my imminent work start is not at work today, despite saying she would be, so no one can get in to see what a good boy I;ve been and that I have no blemishes on my criminal record! That means more transatlantic phone calls to try and get it sorted out for tomorrow and sent to the person that is actually working!

Should be good once I can get that sorted out. It'll mean a new lift pass valid for the weekends, which is alright, apart from if possible I'll avoid the weekends anyway, although that all depends on my work schedule. I had a listen to the scheduling line last night, and I'm gonna have to listen pretty hard to actually understand what the hell is going on! A slight downer on this jollity is that my hoped for refund on my lift pass will not be happening, as I've used it more than 20 days! Nevermind, but it would've been nice.

Hopefully once the paperwork is sorted out tomorrow, not only will I be able to go boarding at the weekends, but I'll also be able to go and get my new uniform, which'll be quite cool. I'm just trying to look for some waterproof shoes at the mo so that I don't ruin my snowboard boots by walking around in them all day!

Other than this there is not much to report. Unsurprisingly as my last entry was yesterday afternoon, and the pace of life is pretty slow in Whistler!

In addition, I'd just like to express huge thanks to the great cricketing duo of Pete and Jonathan, as with their combined mixed tapes I've been able to create a pretty funky and eclectic soundtrack to my time here n Whistler!

Plus, as may have been apparent a few entries ago, I was worrying slightly about the future, and what it may bring. However, I was listening to Idlewild the other day, and suddenly a lyricr made sense to me and reassured me: "Don't tell me you're afraid of the past, it's only the future that didn't last". Dunno if I'm actually reading that lyric right, but it made sense to me the other day so there you go!

Easy Come, Easy Go

Well, I say easy come, which it was in a way, as I just sat there and let it grow. However, approximately one year and a bit since my last hair cut, I have finally had a trim. All in the name of fitting in with the corporate image. I am slightly shell-shocked, but on the other hand, I'm actually quite glad to have short hair again. I reckon with a bit of time I can get used to it again!

At some point I'm sure I'll get a photo to illustrate my new image. Of course, having such short hair means that my bushy beard now has to be totally rethought. I'm not quite sure what I'll be going for. Perhaps variations on the goatee / handlebar / truckers tache taht I was sporting before leaving the UK.

Also happened to have the most extreme days boarding I've had since being out here. If you all get your piste maps out, you can see the harmony express and the Peak chair at the top of the Whistler mountain. From these chairs you can traverse down numerous ridges before entering lovely soft fluffy snow filled bowls. Firstly off the Harmony Ridge (Hope you've still got your piste maps out!) there's a whole bunch of drops down some pretty steep runs (complete with small drop in at the top!) in between low roll and camel back runs. Then off the Peak chair you can see a bunch of double black diamonds heading off the ridge into the west bowl. All into nice soft fluffy snow! They were quite steep and certainly had my heart beating pretty fast, but it's just such a rush! Just leaning right back into a deep heelside carve. Leaning right back over the tale and getting catapulted out of a turn. Seeing a little rock, and dropping off it! I'm telling you, snowboarding absolutely rocks!

Yay! I now work for a big Corporation!

Well I now have a job! I have been hired as a "Lift Host" by Whistler Blackcomb, otherwise known as Intrawest! This is the big company that owns these, and a bunch of other mountains and resorts across Canada and the US. This is quite good news, firstly cos it means that at least for the time being I can stop looking for jobs as a dishwasher! This also means that I get to wear a uniform as well - a nice blue ski jacket, a fleece, a toque (Strange Canadian way of spelling beanie!), a ball cap, and some pants! That's as in trousers, not y-fronts. It also means that I may get a full or partial refund on my lift pass that I've already bought ( that means I could be due up to a cool $850! Yay!), and also big discounts around the local shops.

So all in all it should be cool. The downside is that I may be starting from 5am, and it will involve approx 10 plus hours standing around in the snow and cold! Shouldn't be too bad though, as hopefully the coldest months are now out of the way, and so I can see myself standing next to the lifts, chatting to the lovely ladies, sunning myself in the spring time sun! At least, that's what may happen!

Truth is, if the last couple of days are anything to go by, there may well be plenty of bitter winds, driving snow and rain on the way! Apparently it was minus 16 at the top of the hill, so it ain't summer yet, that's for sure! Still this little spell has added another 60cm of snow since the weekend (It's now Thursday), and the snow base here in Whistler has risen from the 240cm when we came back from our road trip to the grand total of 301cm as it stands today. There may be some more powder to come as yet!

We once again have four muskateers within our walls up here on Painted Cliff Road as well. Phil from Basingstoke / Lanark has swelled the ranks so that we are again up to one person per room. Dave is quite glad to see Phil, as he now has someone nearer his age so he can actually speak sense with people, rather than have to join in the bickering that me and Rich get up to! The only down side is that Phil ski's, but then again he's a bloody good skier, and so it would seem, he is also able to go up and down just about any mountain anywhere, so it's good being on the hill with him. He knows his stuff!

Anyway, once I get the paperwork sorted out, I can get my uniform, and I'm sure a photo of me in full on work mode will be appearing somewhere!

Job Hunting in Whistler

Well, the job hunting is kicking in now. It's come to that point when the attractive lifestyle of being a snowboard bum isn't quite enough.

I can't say that it's particularly fun his job hunting lark. It's especially strange when you're handing out resume's and filling out application forms for jobs such as cashier and sales assistant, and you're explaining on the form or on the interview why the fact that I have a degree or used to be assistant manager of a small business would make me ideal for taking peoples money off them. Still it's all part of the trials and tribulations I guess of working in a town that is completely service oriented, with very few jobs in the "real" world!

Unfortunately my contact in Vancouver who was offering some tree consultancy has gone mysteriously silent, so I'm gonna be looking else where for jobs over the summer I think. I'll still be looking for tree jobs but just not with him! It's a shame, as I seemed to be getting on with Norm pretty well, but there's a whole bunch of trees in Canada so I'm sure I'll be able to find something.

If not, I've applied for the glamorous job of Guest Services Representative of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, a train company that does trips out of Whistler to Banff and Jasper. If I got the job I'd be based at Whistler, basIcally running around picking up guests from hotels and things like that. The guy who I talked to (manager of Whislter Station) seemed really keen when I was speaking to him, and pretty much seemed to offer me the job. However, that wasn't the case and I haven't heard anything as yet, so we will see!

A friend has told me that there's a job going in the fur shop in the Fairmont Chateau. Must admit the ethical side of it is stopping me from even thinking about it, but apparently the pay is alright, and you get commission on sales. Apparently this commission starts at 1%, but gets up to 3% or 4% on bigger sales. My friend has so far got a sale of $15,000 under her belt, netting $450 in one transaction for herself! Still, even so I don't think it's the job for me!

Still, the idea of staying in Whistler over the summer is beginning to appeal to me. I'd always presumed I'd be moving to Vancouver, but we shall see. It's going to be really beautiful round here when the sun is shining, and I quite fancy getting into mountain biking, so Whistler would be the place to do it. Still, I think based on my travels, anywhere in BC is pretty stunning so I think work opportunities will probably guide me around BC, and I think I'll be happy!

As for life over here since we've been back, it's been pretty good. I think this time now that I'm going to be working here for a while, it's a chance to get even more immersed in the Whistler lifestyle. Before, although we made some friends, not working means that you always feel slightly on the outside. This time, whilst I still don't have a job,being part of the job search certainly makes it feel more authentic, and also my circle of friends is gradually growing, and it feels pretty good being over here.

I have been thinking quite a bit about home as well recently, especially with Rich nearly leaving for Blighty last week. It's a strange mix of emotions, cos I would love to be home with family and friends in the familiar surroundings of home. Especially as it was my little nephews first birthday a couple of days ago, and I would have loved to have been there for the party.

However, I reckon I'm pretty lucky to have been able to come over here. The first two months have been amazing, and in some ways, the best days of my life, and I could easily have called it a day after that (especially knowing I had the prospect of getting a job!) and headed home to get back to the daily grind, knowing that I had two great months living in Canada. However, I had always planned to be out here for longer, and after working and looking forward so long to this trip, I couldn't help but feel I had wasted an opportunity if I headed home. I wanna try and make the most of this trip, cos I'm sure from here on in when I go back to the UK, it's going to be a long slog on the career path!

As Jeremy Jnes said in 91 Words For Snow (A reocent snowboarding film for those not in the know!), " There are hundreds of people who would absolutely love to be in the position I'm in, and that makes me think "If you're not going for it 100%, You're just taking up space"".