201 Days of Sunshine

Not literally of course. There were days of cloud and lovely days of snow but I was living at Sunshine for 201 days. When written down it seems like a very, very long time but when you live it, it truly does fly. I still can't believe it's over. I've just removed all the photos and videos I've taken on my phone off it and deposited them onto my Mac; there were 793 of them. That may not sound like a lot for how long I've been here and all the things I've done; road tripping from Vancouver to Banff, winning Trappers bar pool competition (still one of the highlights of my season), dog sledding, learning to ride the park, Calgary hockey game, paint balling, staff parties, boarding trips to Panorama, Big White, Norquay, Lake Louise, Castle, Revelstoke, Fernie-not to mention that I've spent a whole seven months with Sunshine's slopes right outside my door. But it's a lot for me as I am the worst at remembering to take photos of anything. Looking back through them all brought back so many memories, some good and others not so thrilling. It's been such an epic journey and I've learnt so much about myself; my weaknesses and flaws, my strengths and my passions. It's something that I will never be able to experience again, the people that I have met will never all be in the same place again. The lessons I've learnt I hope I don't have to learn again (like how one does not clean a wine glass). One of my dear friends, work mates and neighbour described it beautifully: It's been like a dream. We can't make it keep lasting forever but we will always have the memories. It will stick with us forever, in our hearts and our personalities as we have grown to become (hopefully) better, stronger people. Those weren't Lilo's exact words but that's the gist of what he told me three days before we all had to leave; when I was having a little panic attack (and a long held of cry) at the thought of having to pack and leave the place and people I have come to love dearly. I am eternally grateful that I was given this opportunity and I am looking forward to seeing what adventures the next four/five months will bring in the town of Banff.

Speaking of that, I have just started a new job. It's at Evelyn's Coffee Bar, a well established coffee house in Banff. I had an interview with them before I had finished up at Sunshine and had two trial shifts the weekend I moved off hill. Yesterday was the last of them and I start my proper training shifts in two days. There is the opportunity for staff accommodation but I'm still waiting to hear back about that. It was such a blessing having this job lined up coming down from Sunshine as I felt really unsettled about finishing my contract and having to possibly face the very real nightmare of being unemployed for a long while and running out of funds. I'm so thankful that a job was provided for me to move into right away; it's been a massive relief. I'm currently living in the HI hostel in Banff, at a discounted rate as they still give those who were employed by Sunshine cheaper accommodation until the first of June, so that is another blessing.

On June 2nd I bus to Vancouver to catch an early morning flight with some Sunshine friends to Hawaii. I get back to Banff on the 12th and have no other epic travel plans until September-ish when I hope to have saved enough to leave Banff and travel Canada for about three weeks and see the sights before returning to New Zealand.

Anyway, I'll fill you in on what happened the last 23 days we had at Sunshine now.

On the 1st it was Renée's 21'st, and it just so happened that there was a staff Karaoke event organised at Trappers that night so we were able to celebrate her birthday with most of the on hill staff. We dedicate most of our songs to her, much to her embarrassment. But as far as 21st go it wasn't too embarrassing so she got off lightly.

We Housekeepers getting our groove on..now that was an embarrassing moment! (L-R: Becca, Sandra, me, Miriam, Becky, Azralia and Simone)

A few evenings later on the 7th after chilling out in Trappers, some of the staff members decided to hike up a slope of Wawa and have a little bonfire. Someone brought their guitar along and we sat out under the sky plucking random chords until far too the morning. My friend Azarlia somehow managed to slide off the little ridge we were sitting on and into a drift, narrowly missing a tree stump. That girl is the most accident prone individual I have ever met! I was the first to leave, at 4am (even though I started work at 9am) and as I was walking back to my building, Arnica, I noticed the snow underfoot seemed to be moving. I looked up and it was the reflection of the Northern lights. They weren't brilliantly bright but they were still beautiful, and made staying up that late/early definitely worth it.

We had been promised a terrain park lesson on the evening of the 9th which I had been looking forward too, but it got cancelled because the weather wasn't good enough-even though it had been a lovely day and was a clear evening. That was a little disappointing but seeing as the date had kept being pushed back we had guessed that it wouldn't eventuate.

The 12th was another free BBQ dinner for the staff and a volley ball net and a soccer field were set up for some casual games. It was a splendidly sunny summery evening and it was great to all hang out and have good food and play some sports.

The last Trappers party was a pyjama party. There had been votes going on about what we wanted it to be; the top voted one was pyjama, but only because lingerie wasn't deemed an appropriate theme.. The pool table was broken that night so free pool made the evening even better in mine and Azarlia's opinion. (We may have been the ones who accidentally broke it but we're not quite sure how exactly we did it..) Everyone thought that it would be a big final party but it was actually a medium sized crowd which was nice as there was space to breathe and move and you knew everyone so it was more an intimate farewell then a crushed goodbye. Which was lovely.

Myself and Rob (a Kiwi/Aussie) at the pyjama party

A photo of Trapper Jerry (whom Trappers the bar is named after) which hangs in Trappers..the bar.

Not so lovely was the news we woke to the next morning. Some of our staff members had been fooling around after drinking on the back of a moving snowcat, had fallen off and been run over. We were told that he had broken his back, crushed his legs and would be lucky to ever walk again. This shocked us all and made the mood a bit somber as you can imagine for a few days. But it's come out that he only cracked a few ribs and maybe broke the tip off one of his vertebrae. He's one an extremely lucky guy.

The last time I went out (on the 17th) was terribly sad. I really, really love snowboarding and I wish I could chase winter all year round! I do need a new board though..I took a chip out of the nose of my board a few months ago and as I finished my last run I noticed that I'd taken an even bigger chip out of the back of my board..I think because I crashed into a tree. Oh well, at least I broke my board on the last day of my season then half way through it, right?

Myself, Elly, Maria and Becky on our last shred

Monday 19th was Slush Cup, and the last day Sunshine was open to guests. We housekeepers only worked 10-1:30 as all we had to do was strip the rooms as no guests were staying on hill. By the time we finished though a crowd was already gathering around the jump and pit so we gathered in Azarlia's room and watched the live feed on tv and listened to the crowds reaction out the window. Some of the other housekeepers went to the hotel rooms with balconies to watch it so I pinched a photo from Becca to show you what it looked like:

The blue tarpaulin you can see is the pit and the strip of clear snow leading up to it is the slope the skiers and boarders used to gain momentum. Sadly Trappers is in the way of you seeing the full thing.

For those of you who don't know what Slush Cup is I'll explain. A pit is dug, about 6 foot deep and 120 feet long-that is the measurement from the end of the jump to the end of the pit-and this year it was the longest pit in Sunshine Village history so they claim. It's filled with water and slushy snow to keep it chilly, and the aim of the game is to get enough momentum to ski or board over the water without wiping out, in all manner of crazy costumes. Only three or four skiers were able to do so. It was the 86th annual running of the event this year so nutters have been doing this for quite a while.

We Housekeepers in Staff Caf at the Housekeeping Send Off For Sandra Breakfast, the morning of Slush Cup (L-R around the tables: Becca, Karolina, Simone, Miriam, Sven, Azarlia, Toni, me, Sandra, Olivia, Elly, Becky and Mareika.)

Once it was over we casually wandered over to catch the gondola down to base as we had a staff dinner party to get to. It was a low-key event, and almost everyone went into town afterwards for a final party in the clubs. I had my interview at Evelyn's the next afternoon so I didn't catch the 10am bus back up the hill with everyone else, instead I slept in a puddle of sunshine in the park until it was time. Thankfully I was able to catch a ride with Becky in her truck to Sunshine in time for last gondola-I didn't fancy staying another night in town. It was my last ride on the gondola though I didn't know it at the time. We had been told that on Friday when we all had to vacate the hill that the gondola would be running but on Thursday they changed their minds and decided that they were closing it that evening and we would have to catch a snowcat and then a bus to get off. That made moving more difficult but I had wanted to ride in a cat since day one so it was cool to actually be able to tick that off as achieved.

Luggage was loaded onto crates at the front and..

passengers sat in a box on the back of the cat.

On our final day of work (Thursday) we had a chip and drink party as a little send off. We also played pool in the hotel games room on the really nice pool table (we're used to playing on Trappers' table which is notorious for it's curves) which was a treat. Becky and Mareika decorated our laundry room with streamers and wrote this thank you for us. Was a nice surprise to come in to. 

Literally all that we had to do on Thursday was vacuum the rooms. We had cleaned the washrooms the day before so seeing as we had time on our hands, Toni, Azarlia and I dressed up in the shower curtains that had been removed from the rooms. Don't we look dashing? (Photo credit to Toni.)

Oh. It's been the best time and I'm sad this is the last Sunshine dedicated issue of my blog. I say dedicated because the hill is open in the summer for hiking and I'm hoping to make it up there one sung day to see the slopes without snow on them and take a little walk down memory lane..even though I won't have been gone that long at all.

Goodness, it's nearly 20:30. Time flies when you're reminiscing.

Until my next entry (which after I've talked about Hawaii will probably just be about coffees so don't look forward to it too much)..