The Moose Bus tour we took to get here was really cool. The first day it didn't feel like we traveled very far as we kept stopping for sightseeing but the second day there was a lot of driving.
Day one we drove from Vancouver to Kelowna [the 'w' is silent] and stopped off at Bridal Veil Falls, the town of Hope for lunch [Rambo was meant to have been filmed there. It also has lots of really cool chainsaw art all around the town] and Othello Tunnels. Our bus had a cool driver. She told us about the history of all the places we stopped at. [Don't ask me to write it all here-Google was invented for curious people.] We stayed the night at the Kelowna Samesun and most of the group headed out to bowling [which they got kicked out of for throwing too many balls down the alleys or something like that]. I went to bed early but when I got up I got told that they'd had a wild night so the stories got told during that days drive and it kept us amused. [;
Day two was Kelowna to Banff. First stop was at Last Spike and then we hiked a little ways to some waterfalls. They were pretty but nothing we haven't seen in New Zealand. ;P From there we drove to Revelstoke for lunch and then to Rogers Pass, Emerald Lake and Lake Louise before continuing onto Banff. We passed under some of the bridges they built for the migrating animals to go across. I had been waiting to see them since I first heard about them-they are so cool! Sadly I didn't get a photo as it was on dusk when we came across them but hopefully I'll be able to take a snap of one before I leave. We stayed that night in the Samesun and then us three girls headed to the HI Hostel for Saturday and Sunday nights.
I moved up hill on the morning of the 28th October. We had to meet the bus outside our hostel at 7 and we made it with plenty of time. It was pitch black still and the sun was still down when we had made the twenty minute drive to the gondola base [or Bourgeau as we call it]. We were met by all the supervisors of our departments so the girls and I dragged our baggage through the snow to the main building where we split up and went to different rooms to sign all the finial paperwork. We also got our staff passes issued right after that [they are just quick snap and print photo cards]. We were among the lucky ones as some staff members had to wait a week or so to get their cards as the machine kept breaking down. [One thing you learn while working here is to have patience for everything.]
After all this the sun was well up so everyone loaded baggage into yellow school buses and company trucks and we headed up the access road to the village. It was about a twenty minute ride and the cool thing is that that access road is now closed and we can board down it and take the gondola back up to base. I did it just the other day and it's quite a long run [especially when you fall over a bizillion times]. Once we reached the village we walked up three flights of rusty looking stairs to the employee services office and were assigned our rooms-which is when I found out that I was on the floor above employee services so those stairs and I have become very well acquainted. Turns out they actually aren't rusty, they just look it. And taking them twice a day as well as another flight up to my floor has been good exercise-as has running up and down the five flights of hotel stairs collecting things for the rooms. Watch out guys, between all these stairs and snowboarding I'm gonna be a fit bean when I get back.. ;P
My roomie is a Kiwi girl from Wellington and she works on front desk so eve though our shifts are completely different we see each other every day either at work or at home. She's great fun and boards as well [which is good-I'm not sure I would be able to share with a skier for seven months..jokes to all the skiers out there].
Anyway. First day we were taken to the cafeteria [a place I frequent too often] for lunch and then we had a tour of the hotel and some of the rooms. That day was kinda cool and completely different from what I expected as the manager of the hotel had a welcome chat with us after our tour and told us that we are here to 1] board, 2] have fun and 3] work. He literally said them in that order. So far it has been the other way around for our department but hopefully soon the order will reverse.. ;P At the end we were offered the 29th off but myself and another housekeeper decided to work so we cleaned windows all the next day-and then had to go back over them the day after that to clean all the drips off. It was a mish and a half I'll tell you. But after that we joined back up with everyone else and sorted out the linen cupboard. It's a typical linen cupboard-not big enough and never has what you need in it. But we get to chuck the dirty laundry down shoots so that's a perk. ;P
Halloween on hill was fun. I have never been to anything Halloweeny but there was a little do in Trappers [the staff bar on hill [ermagursh it is my favourite place] we play pool there almost every evening] and I got dragged along to it. Half of us weren't dressed up and the other half had a variety of costumes. Lucky, only two people came in the same outfit-guys in girls dresses. Sadly, I am friends with both of those fellows. [Jokes, they are pretty awesome.]
Most days before opening on the 15th November we only worked 3 hours of mostly deep cleaning bathrooms so that left us plenty of time to bum around and be bored so one day after lunch we decided to hike through waist deep snow to the top of Strawberry [one of the runs close to the hotel]. It took us just over an hour to get to the top and less then 15 to get down. But it was good fun and the view was pretty cool too. Also the sense of actually achieving something instead of sitting around all day was great. [;
Opening weekend was crazy. As is this weekend. We are more organised this time round but last weekend was stressful and insanity. During the week it's pretty quiet though so sometimes we can finish early and get a run in before the lifts shut at four. Most days though we don't so boarding only happens on a day off. One day we started at 10 [we normally start at 9] and since the lifts open at 9 myself and a lovely girl from work headed up Strawberry [this time on the lift-so much quicker!] and got two runs in before work. She was able to give me some pointers about turning toe-side and carving as well so that was really cool.
I had the 21st off and slept in-it was lovely to wake up naturally instead of to the melody of my alarm. We spent the afternoon boarding and I was able to practice what I had been taught on those two runs the other day-and I actually nailed them on my last run. I was fully stoked. My poor mate though [bless her-she has no fear] was just heading down the slope and then wiping out whenever she got too fast or was about to crash so needless to say she was sore as at the end and the next day while we were working.
We were riding the green runs [the easiest] but the lift up Wawa [my favourite run to say] is over a black [that's the third hardest and double black is the absolute hardest]. We were heading up for another run down the green when my mate made a joke and I laughingly hit her with my gloves-and managed to drop both of them. My board caught one of them but the other fell right smack bang in to middle of the black run. So once we got off up the top I headed down to get it. Jeepers. I'm not quite up to taking on blacks ae. I went down as slowly as I could over the humps and lumps and steep sides and lost balance too many time to keep my pride in tack. Thankfully a mate came along who was more then competent enough to manoeuvre to where my glove was and dropped it down at me on his way back up on the lift while I was still half way down the slope. I eventually made it down to the bottom in one physical piece but my pride was in tatters. Little kiddies on their skis were passing me with ease all the way down. Seriously. Why are kids here so good!? It's nearly enough to make you give up-nearly..
The girls and I hired a car and headed to Calgary the other weekend and we stayed in a hotel. How nice it was to have someone come and clean our room instead of having to clean rooms ourselves! ;P We went shopping at the mall on Saturday morning and then that afternoon we went for another shopping mish at Target. Needless to say I spent my pay check three times over that day..was kinda shocked but seeing as I did buy necessary items I let myself off the hook..
When we finished one of our three hour working days the girls and I decided to make a snowman. We had been told that the snow was too dry to form a snowman with and it turns out that it was true-we could build a standing snowman. So we did the next best thing, an unconscious snowman. It was great fun and he actually looked alright at the end of it. We even gave him snow arms and legs-no twig arms for him! [That was really only because we had none and had to improvise.] Drunko McSnowman lasted a week or so but now he is resting peacefully covered by a blanket of snow.
We have been working like crazy in the hotel. I've been reliably informed that we have had one of the busiest opening weekends ever, so it's nice to know that it's not that we aren't working hard enough but that there are slightly too less housekeepers to keep up with everything. But we are hiring some more hands so that will be lovely as it'll mean we get more then one day off a week and we can do more boarding-which is the reason everyone is here anyway. [;
The other day we did a little health and safety course that all employees have to go through upon employment. As part of that we had to go into Banff for a little history lesson about Banff and the surrounding mountains and at the end we had to stand and say a little pledge thingymabob and just like that-we became Banff locals. Sorry guys, I'm never coming back. ;P
Well, that's all that I can think of that I've been up to since that last entry forever ago. I'll try get the photos of the Moose Tour up soon and I'll try to get my camera working long enough to take photos of up here.
Tomorrow evening there is going to be 'A Night At The Movies' evening at Trappers that we are meant to all dress up for so that should be fun and hopefully I'll remember to write up about it sooner rather then later.. ;P
xxx
