13 January, 2006 (Friday)
A brief update
Another day, another 17cm of snow. I woke up this morning to another day of the Big White Out. The thick fog-cloud was back and I could barely make out the Village Centre from our windows. On the balcony the snowbank had grown again and it was still snowing. When does it end? Obviously not in mid-January, that's for sure.
Another day at Happy Valley. They requested that we find out where people were coming from each time we sold a lift ticket. Apparently it's in response to an increase in local Big White advertising.
Overall a steady day. The rink was open, but quiet. A fair bit of interest in our Five Dollar Friday deal (the Friday Night Special) where you can night ski on our hill for $5 (before tax), with rentals only another $10. Bargain! A big hit with the locals. I also managed to finish my latest trash novel and start a shopping list for Sunday's adventure to Kelowna. I was even able to start in on another postcard. Very intense.
The highlight was spending my $12 lunch voucher that I scored the other week for doing a 13 hour shift (return to Happy Valley). Unfortunately the $12 doesn't take in the 50% staff discount that you normally get at the cafeteria, so in reality it's more of a $6 lunch voucher. Not quite so impressive. I ended up spending big, with $3.01 excess being deducted from my bank account. What did I get for my $15? A mozza chicken burger, 591mL bottle of pink grapefruit juice and a muffin. The chicken burger was good. I'm not sure how that makes $15 of value though.
Worth 1000 words?
1. View from Ridge Tickets
This is the view from the side window of the Ridge Ticket office. On a fine day you can see all the way up to the peak of the Ridge. Off to the right is the lift, which can get some pretty big crowds during peak season. At the worst after Christmas there were lines which took half an hour to get through. Brutal.
2. Gondola View
Lara's Gondola is the only real option to ride down from the Village Centre to Happy Valley. The yellow pods aren't heated however, which can mean for a chilly morning or evening ride. The fact that people have added to this deficiency by knocking out the windows over New Years doesn't help either. Still, they look pretty drifting up and down the mountain all day. Who'd believe that they took $3.5M to install a few years ago. You'd think for that price that they'd be able to give you a softer landing at the end.
3. Ridge Rocket Sunshine
The Rocket was one of the first lifts to open this season and is one of the main gateways to the West side of the mountain (Powder Keg ho!). It's a nice quad lift with great views right out through the valley. The Rocket runs relatively steadily with few breakdowns, although being located so close to the main beginner runs it often stops as neophyte snowboarders eat snow at the disembarkation point. The Rocket is a favourite of Jae's who seems hell-bent on facing down his arch nemisis Highway 33 for the rest of the season. Jae, move on before it eats you - you can't beat a mountain!
4. Ticket tarts
This is a quartet of our Big White ticketing staff at our Sam's White-On-White party, just before Christmas. On the left is Sarah (I think that's a vodka in hand) , Tim (definitely a beer), Tanya (no she's not getting married, it's just some kind of white head dress she donned for the night... or perhaps she does have Muriel moments?) and myself. It was a good night, big crowd. Lots of fun. As a group we too often find ourselves congregating at Sam's, along with Kate and Precious (it's her last name so that's what we call her!).
Sam's... where everybody knows your name...
5. The housemates: Dave
This is a classic picture of Dave, brew in hand. It was taken at Raakel's pub one night in the first few weeks after I arrived. Dave likes a beer (or jug full), although I think he misses the Australian schooner glasses.
Raakel's, like most of the pubs that I've found in Canada, has a big screen which often shows the night's hockey game. It also has a twin pair of pool tables and a dance floor hidden up the back (along with more than a few dark corners). These days Raakel's only seems to fill when the tourists are in town of a weekend. The rest of the week it is relatively dead. When I was in there last week it was just two groups playing pool and three people in the smoking room. Busy night.
6. The housemates: Josh
This is a self-portrait by Josh on the White-On-White night. He's wearing my pink pimp glasses (I wonder where they are right now?) and his trademark beanie. Josh often comes out for a drink of a night, but tends to disappear just short of midnight due to his shift hours. Of course, that doesn't stop him from partying it up. His posting at the Inn at Big White seems to be a venue for all sorts of shenanigans - we've had stories of midnight propositions, pole dancing in the foyer and odd hour disturbances. I guess it makes the night go more quickly.
7. Big White Christmas party
This shot is of Josh feeding the moose. The moose sits on the upper floor of the Happy Valley Day Lodge, just past the bar. It takes pride of place on the wall and tends to keep pretty quiet most of the time. Earlier in the night the moose was ridden by a diminutive blonde who later allegedly christened one of the Gondola pods. Nice claim to fame.
Another day, another 17cm of snow. I woke up this morning to another day of the Big White Out. The thick fog-cloud was back and I could barely make out the Village Centre from our windows. On the balcony the snowbank had grown again and it was still snowing. When does it end? Obviously not in mid-January, that's for sure.
Another day at Happy Valley. They requested that we find out where people were coming from each time we sold a lift ticket. Apparently it's in response to an increase in local Big White advertising.
Michael J mate, just between you and me I don't think that throwing more money at Silk FM is going to get a decent return on your advertising dollar. For one, I don't think you've got the right target audience because nobody in their right mind listens to that trash, and for a second if you were to target anywhere (beyond Getaway in Australia - apparently you're doing okay with 85% of the Australian overseas skiing holiday market in Canada) wouldn't you hit a wider demographic rather than your captive local audience? But hey, I'm not marketing guru so what do I really know? By the way, love the white boots. Very trademark. Very authentic.
Overall a steady day. The rink was open, but quiet. A fair bit of interest in our Five Dollar Friday deal (the Friday Night Special) where you can night ski on our hill for $5 (before tax), with rentals only another $10. Bargain! A big hit with the locals. I also managed to finish my latest trash novel and start a shopping list for Sunday's adventure to Kelowna. I was even able to start in on another postcard. Very intense.
The highlight was spending my $12 lunch voucher that I scored the other week for doing a 13 hour shift (return to Happy Valley). Unfortunately the $12 doesn't take in the 50% staff discount that you normally get at the cafeteria, so in reality it's more of a $6 lunch voucher. Not quite so impressive. I ended up spending big, with $3.01 excess being deducted from my bank account. What did I get for my $15? A mozza chicken burger, 591mL bottle of pink grapefruit juice and a muffin. The chicken burger was good. I'm not sure how that makes $15 of value though.
Worth 1000 words?
1. View from Ridge Tickets
This is the view from the side window of the Ridge Ticket office. On a fine day you can see all the way up to the peak of the Ridge. Off to the right is the lift, which can get some pretty big crowds during peak season. At the worst after Christmas there were lines which took half an hour to get through. Brutal.2. Gondola View
Lara's Gondola is the only real option to ride down from the Village Centre to Happy Valley. The yellow pods aren't heated however, which can mean for a chilly morning or evening ride. The fact that people have added to this deficiency by knocking out the windows over New Years doesn't help either. Still, they look pretty drifting up and down the mountain all day. Who'd believe that they took $3.5M to install a few years ago. You'd think for that price that they'd be able to give you a softer landing at the end.3. Ridge Rocket Sunshine
The Rocket was one of the first lifts to open this season and is one of the main gateways to the West side of the mountain (Powder Keg ho!). It's a nice quad lift with great views right out through the valley. The Rocket runs relatively steadily with few breakdowns, although being located so close to the main beginner runs it often stops as neophyte snowboarders eat snow at the disembarkation point. The Rocket is a favourite of Jae's who seems hell-bent on facing down his arch nemisis Highway 33 for the rest of the season. Jae, move on before it eats you - you can't beat a mountain!4. Ticket tarts
This is a quartet of our Big White ticketing staff at our Sam's White-On-White party, just before Christmas. On the left is Sarah (I think that's a vodka in hand) , Tim (definitely a beer), Tanya (no she's not getting married, it's just some kind of white head dress she donned for the night... or perhaps she does have Muriel moments?) and myself. It was a good night, big crowd. Lots of fun. As a group we too often find ourselves congregating at Sam's, along with Kate and Precious (it's her last name so that's what we call her!).Sam's... where everybody knows your name...
5. The housemates: Dave
This is a classic picture of Dave, brew in hand. It was taken at Raakel's pub one night in the first few weeks after I arrived. Dave likes a beer (or jug full), although I think he misses the Australian schooner glasses. Raakel's, like most of the pubs that I've found in Canada, has a big screen which often shows the night's hockey game. It also has a twin pair of pool tables and a dance floor hidden up the back (along with more than a few dark corners). These days Raakel's only seems to fill when the tourists are in town of a weekend. The rest of the week it is relatively dead. When I was in there last week it was just two groups playing pool and three people in the smoking room. Busy night.
6. The housemates: Josh
This is a self-portrait by Josh on the White-On-White night. He's wearing my pink pimp glasses (I wonder where they are right now?) and his trademark beanie. Josh often comes out for a drink of a night, but tends to disappear just short of midnight due to his shift hours. Of course, that doesn't stop him from partying it up. His posting at the Inn at Big White seems to be a venue for all sorts of shenanigans - we've had stories of midnight propositions, pole dancing in the foyer and odd hour disturbances. I guess it makes the night go more quickly.7. Big White Christmas party
This shot is of Josh feeding the moose. The moose sits on the upper floor of the Happy Valley Day Lodge, just past the bar. It takes pride of place on the wall and tends to keep pretty quiet most of the time. Earlier in the night the moose was ridden by a diminutive blonde who later allegedly christened one of the Gondola pods. Nice claim to fame.
posted by the wastrel @ 6:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home