Some blue sky

As I was writing my blog post last week, little did I know that the evening would be quite so eventful. With work in the morning I turned in early, only to be awoken by the fire alarm around 11pm. Getting enough clothes on not to freeze, the whole building huddled outside, where it just happened to be snowing the heaviest I've seen in the valley so far. Walking to work the next day was not only difficult with the broken sleep, but also the snow up above your ankles!

Outside the front door

Snow likes to hug the trees sometimes

Even to the point they fall over

Unfortunately work has been very quiet. And with quiet work, it means that there aren't very many hours to go around. Therefore I am living on a tight budget at the moment, but the plus side is that I get to go skiing a lot more. I did miss out on the big powder day of the morning above, but I've had a fair share of it and no doubt there is more to come.

We did get paid last Friday, and I celebrated by taking my large tramping pack to the supermarket and stocking up. I did get a few strange looks from the checkout, I guess people don't typically buy much in bulk here. My first attempt at a pastry pie was fantastic, except for a minor detail. 'Phyllo' pastry is not a brand.. and particularly difficult to work with. (For those of you confused, it's spelt 'Filo' at home). Now I still have half a roll in the freezer to get through with another pie before I can get back to the puff-pastry goodness!

For a change in scenery this week the sun decided to come out, and while there wasn't a lot of fresh snow to ride we still had a really good time. Who couldn't when you get views like this.

My first ride on the 'Peak to Peak' gondola

Sun setting behind Whistler mountain

What a view

It's looking better from the 'office' now

One of my favourite shots so far

Most evenings I have been catching up with people back home. Watching the red carpet of 'The Hobbit' the other night certainly made me feel like I was back in Wellington for a while. If anyone wants to talk, the best time is in your early evenings as I am 21 hours behind NZ. Just drop me a message and I will let you know my Skype details. Also, I am using Viber for calls and messaging when I can (for those smartphone users out there).

Yesterday I also managed to get my first backcountry time in off Blackcomb mountain. Just an easy one to start off with a quick hike to some fresh snow. While I was waiting for the others I did my first compression test (A form of avalanche assessment) and even though it was a bit rough, I was happy with how it turned out. Next on the list is to do some beacon search drills. The weather once again turned it on for the hike, and I'm told you don't get to see this far that often.

Whistler mountain and beyond

My trusty hiking setup (hopefully upgraded to a touring setup soon)

All smiles

 (NOTE: You can click on all photos to view them larger)

With heaps of snow in the forecast, hopefully the crowds will start to appear during working time, and powder turns come during the week when I can get into it. Today was a very wet day as the beginning of the storm arrived, but it could last all week with as much as 70cm falling over the next 5 days or so. Perhaps tomorrow morning will also be another slog through the white and fluffy?

P-P-P-P-POWDER

Over 1m of snow in the last 7 days has transformed the mountain. We still haven't had a full blue sky day yet so I haven't been able to take a full mountain photo, but I did get a brief glimpse of Whistler peak the other day. To say the last 6 days of skiing have been great would be a serious understatement. Take a look at the following video for a quick edit of the first 2 days only.

Whistler Opening Weekend from Aaron Tasker on Vimeo.

Enjoying an apres beer as the snow falls outside

Since that day the snowfall totals have kept climbing. Sunday was a 30cm day, Tuesday and Wednesday each had well over 15 and more and more of the mountain is becoming accessible. My legs finally decided to fail me yesterday for a while, but after a good nights sleep and some stretching I was back at the Blackcomb gondola for opening day today

In the queue at 7:30am, 1 hour until opening and 2nd Gondola up for me!

If you haven't have figured it out by now, 6 days straight skiing means that I haven't had any work yet. Tomorrow will be my first official day working in a proper store (not setting up or training). I'm working the morning shift Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and with American thanksgiving today I'm told it's going to be busy.

The village has been decked out in Christmas lights. To some peoples' disappointment there aren't any Christmas shops like home, it does look rather impressive with some fresh snow falling. I snapped these on the way home tonight. Hopefully I can get some better ones closer to the proper date!

I've also finally found the first new food (well kind of) here that I have fallen in love with. I am certainly missing meat pies, good cookies and proper chocolate muffins, but this does make up for some of the loss.

I think 'The Oatmeal' sums up the taste of it best... http://theoatmeal.com/comics/sriracha

The family are happy to know that I am looking after myself and cooking properly. Having to get inventive with some of the utensils (a fork makes a great potato masher), but so far I'm not starving, or lacking in vegetables. Leela has thankfully sent me some of my favourite recipes from home.. pastry pie here I come.

I leave you tonight with the highlight of my day. Taylor and I managed to get the first tracks of the season through 2 gladed tree runs. Unfortunately the camera fogged slightly (and my quick upload washed the whites slightly), but you should get the picture! I have a feeling this is going to become one of my favourite pow spots.

Yard Sale - First tracks of the 2012/2013 Winter from Aaron Tasker on Vimeo.

Opening Day

Well the day is finally here, opening day. Whistler opened 5 days early today, even though the cover is particularly thin, the snow-making crews have made good progress with some low temperatures. The lead up to opening day hasn't been particularly eventful, but there were a few points of note.

Work has been particularly quiet, we only spent 4 days in training before about a weeks break, and then yesterday we set up a majority of the shop. With Blackcomb mountain not opening until the 22nd, there isn't much more work until then. Thankfully the mountain is open to keep me entertained!

During the time off I've been doing a lot of hiking about the area. You can really see how this place could be an adventure sports playground, with heaps of mountain bike tracks and some wicked rivers.

There are heaps of falls like this around the area

This train wreck has been turned into a mountain bike playground

The Lost Lake

A great way to spend a day is also at a place a quick drive from town called 'Bounce'. It's a trampoline center that includes a number of large tramps and a foam pit. My back wasn't particularly hapy the next day, but it certainly was a lot of fun. Didn't manage to land any of my numereous back and front flip attempts, but got really close.

Lincoln Loop attempt

To say that it's wet at the moment is an understatement, but at least it means that it is snowing good and heavy in the alpine. It's set to last throughout the week as well, hopefully getting a bit lower as it does. Given the wind and snow I was hesitant about heading up, however I'm very glad I did. The conditions are best described as wet snow on a hard crust, and we were not allowed off-trail due to the limited cover, but I still managed to find the odd stash. Really looking forward to Monday when the crowds leave and we get some more fresh overnight.

The queue the night before for opening day

I leave you with the only quick video I took today. I was more focusing on getting my bearings on the first day, and testing out gear. Learned that I certainly need some good glove liners (fingers are finally warm again!), and my skis could do with a wax. Hope everyone back home is enjoying the sunshine!

In Between (But Snow!)

Apologies for the lack of updates, but I have found myself once again 'off-grid'. I should have an internet connection on the 15th.. but until then here are some snow shots from yesterday. 

 

 

 

A week down

Wow, who would've thought that only a week ago I was arriving in Canada... It feels much longer as I've done so much travelling, setting up and organising. Things are finally starting to get into a rhythm though, with meat in the freezer and some (minor) stocks in the pantry. As promised, here's the final parts of my first few days.

Days 3 - 5

Saturday morning was a well needed sleep in, as I had very little sleep at the hostel the night before. Being on the 'Courtenay Place' of Vancouver, you can imagine it was rather noisy well into the early hours of the morning. I was rather glad not to have stayed there, and instead had my own bed and room with some peace and quiet.

My Room

Not long into the morning I got to meet my room mates. It is slightly ironic that I have travelled half way around the world to stay with a couple from Tauranga, and a South-Australian, but the are all great people! Most of the morning was helping them get a little settled in, and then a walk for a few kilometres to a nearby town called 'Nesters' to enquire about internet setup. Unfortunately as I didn't have my passport on me, I would have to come back the next day, but there is a supermarket there as well which is cheaper than in town, so the trip wasn't an entire waste.Walking back from Nester's was not exactly the best experience, the constant rain decided to get a bit heavier and by the time I got back I was thoroughly soaked. While I did have my jacket on, my jeans came off second best. Also, carrying 4 bags of heavy groceries for 20 minutes is a good workout!

Late in the afternoon I also got to experience what it was like to get up to the other staff housing. A 15 - 20 minute walk up the mountain convinced me that I had made the right call in staying in the Brio housing!  After meeting my new boss, part of the team and some HR points, it was a more leisurely walk back down the hill.

Brio Staff Housing

Finally I got to have my first home cooked meal since I arrived. Cooking a large pork steak in a wok was something new, but I was very thankful to be having vegetables!! The evening got underway with an impromptu meet & greet with some of the others staying in Brio, and quickly turned into a night out on the town. Moe Joe's certainly seemed like my kind of club, and even though I was staying sober (far too many nights drinking in a row had been had), I managed to stay out until after midnight before coming home to Skype with Leela.

Sunday was a busy day, with more paperwork to do I headed up the hill in the morning to get 'Checked In' for work, which ended up taking almost an hour. Meeting up with Kevin we headed back to the Village for lunch (El Furniture Warehouse, of course) and then proceeded out to Nesters. This time it was more successful trip, with the internet booked for installation shortly. However, the rain once again decided it was time to drown us, but at least this time we were smart enough to use the grocery store closer to home.

Training Begins

Monday was an early rise for a change, as I had to be at my new 'office' by 8:30 for the start of training. It was mostly a typical company induction, covering policies and procedures, with a brief introduction into ski technology for those new to the industry. Was really good to meet the rest of the team, and we have quite a large international mix. We managed to finish up at around 2pm (even with a 1 hour lunch) and that has set the scene for the next few days worth of training. Things have been pretty laid back, although my prior knowledge of skis really does help, as a majority of people either board or have never seen snow before in their life!

The view in front my of 'Office' in the morning

And that really brings us to today, 7 days since I touched down on Canadian soil and it feels like I've been here a month already. We got given today off since the group moved through the training so fast, so it's been a fairly cruisy day with heading through town to look for a few more t-shirts, and another supermarket job. At least the temperatures are starting to come down a bit, and although the big mountains were kept under cloud most of the day, I managed to get a shot of one of the hills outside our kitchen window.

The snow is coming...

With the temperatures heading downwards for the rest of the week (it's meant to get below freezing by Friday in the village), it looks like we might get our first snow on the balcony on Sunday night. I'll be sure to let you know if it does!

(Cheers for all the comments everyone, keep them coming!)

Whirlwinds and Whistler

It's been 5 days since I arrived in Canada, and I've finally had a moment I can sit down and collect my thoughts. It's been hard to keep track of so much going on, and I am only just getting off operating on NZ time. I'll try and summarise the highlights and bring you up to date, but no doubt I've forgotten things!

Day 1 - Time Travel

After a lovely afternoon with my Fiancee in Wellington and once again the weather was turned to stunning blue skies, my last meal (mince and cheese pie and cookie-time... I'm going to miss those!), and tearful goodbyes, I was struck with the sudden feeling that I will be travelling alone from here on out! Flying on the All Black A320 to Auckland was a breeze, and the blue skies provided a stunning view on the way past Mt Ruapehu.

Another stunning spring skiing day at Mt Ruapehu

Auckland airport was fairly unexciting, and with a quick burger I killed some time watching a World Touring Car Championship race. I thought I would need a book on the plane as well, and as I haven't read 'The Hobbit' yet, with the movie coming out I thought it was worth a shot. Soon it was on to the flight to Vancouver, and unfortunately I didn't get the 3 seats to myself I was hoping for. There's not much to say about the flight. Dinner and breakfast provided, with the expectation you will sleep most of the way over. The movie selection was good though.. and I managed to get a bit of sleep in, but it was mostly movies and eating to keep me entertained.. 12 and a half hours later, landing in Vancouver!

This is where the time travel kicks in.. after leaving at 8:30pm on the 31st, and flying for 12 hours I arrived in Vancouver at 1pm...  on the 31st. No troubles getting through to bags, and I met a few others who were heading to Whistler in the line for immigration. 30 minutes waiting to get through, and released into the Canadian world. I can certainly see why people think NZ is pretty strict on MAF controls. There wasn't even an X-Ray on exit.

Thankfully a couple that I met in the queue knew exactly where to go to get to the hostel. 20 minutes of un-attended train (completely automated) and I was carting 40kg+ of gear onwards, not too far which was pleasant to muscles that had been cooped up in a steel box for the better part of a day.

Welcome to the Samesun

Into the hostel it was exactly how I expected, very laid back, bar attached, 6 bunks to a room and debatable shared bathroom services. Thankfully there was free wireless available (although slow) and I was able to get in touch with home and let everyone know I had arrived safely.

Nice and easy to find

As it was Halloween, things were already getting pretty busy in the bar so I headed down to have some dinner and a much needed drink. $5 for a fish'n'chips meal and $4 for a pint and I met a couple of others who of course were travelling to the mountains. The night was a bit of a blur but somehow I managed to keep awake until 10:30, and bailed out when they decided to head for a club. Even though it was a loud night outside... I somehow managed to sleep soundly.

Day 2 - Vancouver

Morning didn't come until about 10am... I did have my alarm set for 8 so I could have breakfast, but when I woke up to the alarm that was quickly forgotten for more zzz's! Not knowing much of where to go, I took a direction (later to be found the wrong one) in search of brunch. After 20 minutes of not finding anything, subway was the only option I had found.

Back at the hostel I checked in with Jake and Julia from TWHC for my orientation, only to find that my planned casual few days were rather shortened. I had been booked on the Friday bus instead of the Saturday one, and thus only had the afternoon to sort out all my paperwork. With instructions in hand I headed off in vigour and managed to have a bank account, social insurance and cellphone all sorted within a few hours.

Back to the hostel once more, and dinner this time with the room-mate at the soon to become staple 'Warehouse' (more on this later). $4.95 for anything on the menu, you couldn't really find anything cheaper for a meal. Later at the hostel bar I met up with Chris and Kevin, 2 more rental techs and Kevin is going to be working with me at the Day Lodge. We didn't do too badly at quiz night, but didn't win anything either. All an all a very successful day.

Day 3 - Whistler here we come!

A quick hike over the Granville Street and I found myself a good deal on some North Face mid-boots to tackle the snow. I'm still debating if they are a bit too big.. but I haven't tried with thicker socks yet. Lunch once again at the Warehouse to kill some time with Kev, Chris and a couple of their room-mates and the bus was here. 

Canadian Mounted Police

Packing this bus was a unique game of tetris for which there was no way of winning, and the eventual stacking of many board and ski bags in the seats up the front of the bus. Thankfully although the morning bus was late, ours was on time and we were whisking away up the Sea to Sky highway to Whistler. I think I'm going to enjoy exploring Vancouver more... but it's going to wait for another day.

Right now is a good time to introduce you to the weather we have been having since I have arrived. You would think 'Rain' would suffice, but it really isn't the same like it is at home. There are no weather fronts that have large downpours followed by showers... here it just rains constantly for hours on end. In the drizzle you can happily walk around without a jacket, and its not an issue. Heavier downpours (like today) definitely require all the weather gear, with I think 40mm or so of rain falling today.

A stacked bus

The coast to Whistler reminded me a lot of the Milford Sounds, but without the high cliffs. I still haven't actually seen the mountain in all its glory, so it was mostly cloud with still waters and lots of pine trees. Once I have some footage together enough for a video I do have some quick clips of the trip up. 2 hours went by pretty quickly, and the Staff Housing advisers were waiting to quickly get us to our rooms.

I'm the first one to arrive for our 'apartment' which has 4 people total. One sharing a room with me, and a couple in the other. Rather than get stuck in to unpacking... I wanted to get orientated with the village so went for a walk. Meeting up with Chris we spotted what we knew.. and the Warehouse was for dinner once more! Finding some free wifi in the Village I checked in quickly with home, and then headed back. Still operating on NZ time (after managing not to get lost that much), I decided unpacking was in order and then to bed.

Days 3 - 5

Well, it's getting late and I have to be at work at 8:30 for my first day of training! Stay tuned for this update later in the week.. I promise I will get it all down on paper, and congratulations if you've managed to read to this point... it feels like a novel so far!