Day 24 | I can see my hotel from here

This was it!  I was finally assigned level three's and I put myself in prime position to sign up the first class of level threes that showed up.  After talking with the first three kids who said they moved up to level three yesterday, I quickly realized that my three class was actually going to be a two class because the Instructor they had yesterday moved them up when they haven't even left the Magic Carpet yet.  Needless to day I wasn't too thrilled with that, but also I didn't want the kids to spend another day at the CLC so I took a class of four level twos and we hit the Olympic Chair immediately.

It was really cold today with no new snow overnight.  Conditions under the Olympic Chair weren't too bad.  Hard packed snow but not icy.  The kids did their best turning but clearly needed a couple runs on the Super Carpet to figure out which way to turn.  We snuck in two laps on the Carpet then I decided to take them down to the village.

We had a late lunch today which was nice.  We managed to squeeze in a lot of snowboarding in the AM. I lost one girl to Patrol who hurt her wrist and spent most of the day with only three kids.  By the time the day finished, the two kids who had been here all week finally got their turning confident and they ended as true level threes by the end of the day.

I am definitely not in snowboarding shape at all.  My feet, knees and legs were hurting by the end of the day.  I hope I'm able to keep getting classes who can ride.  One kid from today is coming back tomorrow and Mom is suppose to request me so hopefully I'll be able to go into the Alpine tomorrow.

Day 23 | You're fired because .....

I was assigned level fours today and I was super excited at the thought of getting to strap on my snowboard today.  There were another 75 kids signed up for lessons (7 Lil Rippers).  Devon took the first class of level fours that showed up and Kat had a level four AC class.  By 9:10am, it was looking like I wasn't going to get a class so I offered to help Morgan with six Lil Rippers.  We rocked over to the gondola around 9:15am.  Winds were whipping in the Alpine and the village gondi was running slow and stopping constantly.  The line up was insane!  (We got on the gondola at 10:10am!!!!)  About 15 minutes after Morgan and I got in line, Dave showed up behind us with a level four kid and he ended up teaching the two level fours that I should have taught if I hadn't volunteered to teach Lil Rippers.  Argh!  Such is my life.

I'm not complaining as working with Morgan equals working an easier day.  He's great with the younger kids as he keeps them highly entertained and he is always motivated.  By the time we reached the CLC in the morning, it was almost 10:30am so there wasn't much time for snowboarding before lunch.  All six kids were very well behaved and a few of them were pretty good riders.  We spent most of the afternoon outside playing and riding in the snow.  The day went by pretty fast.  The weather in the Alpine was super windy with white outs and a full on blizzard at one point ... so I guess I didn't fair too bad teaching the Lil Rippers today. 



base - 178cm / 70"

Day 22 | jet-lagged & red-eyed

I returned to Vancouver yesterday evening and immediately got back to the grind of snowboard instructing.  We had 76 riders today including 6 Lil Rippers.  I was assigned level ones and ended up with a nice class of six kids.  They were all very polite, calm, and well behaved.  They also all progressed at about the same level.

The day went by pretty fast even though we were on the Magic Carpet.  The Carpet was crowded as there were two other level one classes, a couple Rippers classes, and a couple of level two classes all in the same area.  Most of my kids managed to make their way to level two.  I'm hoping I can get a higher level class and actually put my snowboard on.  It's been snowing a lot around here lately and I'd really like to get some shredding in.

Day 21 | All a board

It finally snowed .... 13 centimeters!!  Not much but every little bit helps.  I was hoping to finally get a class that could go up to the Alpine but I quickly found out I had a shadow and the bosses want you teaching lower level (CLC) classes when you have a shadow.  Do Darren (from Scotland) and I grabbed three kids in level one.

It was an easy day as splitting three kids between two people isn't too difficult.  We started the kids on their toe edge and worked on that until lunch.  In the afternoon, we turned them around and got them on their heels.  The Mini's were kind of taking over the Magic Carpet so we decided to hike to the Super Carpet.  That went over well as the kids improved quite a bit over there.  After working with Privates, I realize a level one class can learn just as well on the adult Carpet as they can on the kids' carpet.  In fact, it's better because the Super Carpet is so much longer.

The day went by faster than I expected.  Darren was a great shadow and he'll do just fine as an Instructor. The kids had a great time with him as he was very hands on.  Today was my last day of work for awhile. I'm heading home to celebrate the holidays with my family back in the States.  I'm going to miss out on 14 days of shredding.  Hopefully I will still make it to 100 ..... Merry Christmas and I'll be back soon.

Day 20 | Private Kids

My schedule was changed to work Privates today.  I hate working Privates because I never get work.  When I checked my schedule at 8:45am, I was still unassigned ... meaning I wasn't booked for a lesson.  A regular Privates Instructor was booked for three kids, never-evers.  He apparently couldn't be bothered taking the class as he offered it up to me and I was more than happy to take the kids for the full day lesson.  It was easier than having a full class of six in Kids.

The three kids were from Hawaii.  Two nine year old boys and one seven year old girl, a friend and a brother and sister.  We started off learning how to skate and crab walk under the Super Carpet.  One kid strapped on his board and could basically turn right away.  He was amazing.  The other two (the brother and sister) were also pretty good.  They all had good balance.

We spent the morning on the Super Carpet where it snowed all day.  We haven't had snow in over two weeks so it was a welcomed and much needed surprise.  Moms and Dads showed up on the Carpet just before lunch - lucky for me since none of the kids had money for lunch and I had to ask the parents for money for them.  I took the kids to the Roundhouse around noon and we had something to eat.

By the time we finished lunch and downloaded back to mid-station, there was only about an hour left to the lesson.  Of course I was hoping for a nice tip ($$) since these kids were in a Private lesson, but nothing!  Very disappointing ... but I had a good day, the kids were well behaved,  and I was able to work so it was all fine.  

Day 19 | redder than blood

Today was my day off but I was asked to work Ride Tribe.  Since I didn't get a class yesterday, I said yes.  I was assigned level 2's and ended up with one kid from Singapore.  He was tired and sore from his lesson yesterday as a never-ever.  I was told he fell quite a bit from catching an edge.  Once we were on the gondola, he told me he didn't want to come to lessons today because he was so sore but his dad made him go.

We started at the Super Carpet to help get his feet back under him.  He was able to turn on the Carpet so we hit the Olympic Chair.  This area proved to be a bit more difficult but he gave it a go for a few runs before he needed a break.  He was tired and we were early for lunch so we decided to take a round trip on the Peak 2 Peak as a time killer. 

Afterwards, we worked on some edging and gave the Olympic Chair another go.  He managed to do the Olympic run twice and finally I told him we were going to go to the CLC for a hot chocolate break.  Once we were inside, he said he couldn't continue.  By now it was close to 2pm.  Instead of leaving early, we hung out with the crazy kids at the CLC until our lesson time was up.  

  

Day 18 | me and my big mouth

Another slow day in Snowboard School with a total of 11 kids, including one Lil Ripper.  I volunteered to go home if there wasn't enough classes for all the Instructors.  I'm not sure why because I did want to work.  I was assigned level two's, but before I could grab the class and get started, I was called over to do Ride Tribe.  I was half way up the gondola when my scheduler called.  I rode down from mid-station and by the time I reached the GLC, Jose took off with the class that may have a possible split.  I ran up the Blackcomb gondola and took the green line down to Base II.  I knew when I didn't see the class on the run, there wasn't going to be a split.  Once I reached Jose, my assumption was confirmed.  I grabbed my board and rode down from Base II to the village.  I regretted opening my big mouth so early in the day.  I would have liked to spend the day working.  Live and learn.

Day 17 | Jesus isn't Asian

I was excited after the morning meeting when I was assigned levels 4, 5, & 6.  I was quickly dejected when I realized there was no class higher than a level three.  We had a total of fourteen kids in Snowboard School (including two Lil Rippers) and two Instructors were sent home.  Luckily for me the level one class was more than six kids so that class ended up being two classes and I was able to work.

Melissa and I split eight level ones.  It was a typical Magic Carpet day, nothing exciting!  During the course of the day, we lost one kid to Patrol (dislocated shoulder) and one kid to Level 2 (he was turning right away).  By 2pm that left us with six kids ... and no need for two Instructors so I rode down to the village from mid-station and went home an hour early.  Not complaining.  I was tired from being on my feet all day.  I hope I start getting classes with kids who can snowboard soon.

Day 16 | Walker & Texas Ranger

 Six kids were in Snowboard School today which equalled three classes and I took two Lil Rippers, who were brothers, and both were ginger.  They reminded us of the kids in Talledega Nights named Walker and Texas Ranger.  They were from Canada and they were both super polite (not like the kids in the movie) and both were a delight to teach.

The sun was shining once again with a super immersion .... temps in the Alpine reached +6 while temps in the valley were -6!!  Our snow base is diminishing day by day (131cm).  No mentionable snow accumulations in the forecast.  

It was a long day on the carpet with the two Rippers as there were no other level one classes at the CLC to hang with.  The boys did well.  One was 6 years and he was able to heel edge on his own by the end of the day.  The 4 year old never quite grasped the edging thing but he enjoyed riding his snowboard down the bunny hill like a toboggan.  The seemed really excited about their day when mom came to pick them up so that made me feel good.  I think I've had Lil Rippers every day I've worked so far this season.  Weird.

Day 15 | Ride Tribe

I was asked to work Ride Tribe (teenagers).  Whistler Kids has been so slow that I didn't mind having a change of pace.  I was betting we wouldn't have many kids in Ride Tribe but it turned out we had more teenagers (six) than we had kids-kids (four).  

My class was a girl from Singapore and she was a never-ever.  She didn't talk much but she could snowboard.  In the morning, we worked on the basics: stance and balance, skating, and zig zagging.  She was side slipping on both sides by the time lunch rolled around.

One of the perks in working Ride Tribe is being able to eat a lunch at one of the restaurants on top of the mountain.  We took the gondola up to the Round House for food.  It's also a great time killer.  After lunch, we worked on turning.  Before 2pm she was able to turn all the way down the Super Carpet so we took one run down from Olympic Chair.  That didn't go as well but overall she progressed very quickly for a kid who had never snowboarded before.  

   

Day 14 | training for a level one

Emma, a coworker from Ziptrek, is taking her Level One Instructor course tomorrow and she wanted me to help her with her riding so she could be ready for the class.  We met up around 11am and headed up the village gondola.  The sun was shining once again and still no new snow to report - (We've almost had more sunny in December than we've had all summer) - ??

Anyway, we ran some warmup laps on Whistler before meeting up with Georgie.  In addition to making sure Emma's riding was up to par, I gave her some information on what to expect during the course and gave her some examples of how lessons would be taught.  Her riding was definitely on the same standard for what is expected for level one riding.  I found it a bit difficult to show examples of level one riding as I now ride at a higher level consistently.

After a few runs on Whistler, we took the Peak 2 Peak over to Blackcomb since that is where she will be riding for the next three days.  As usual, some of the runs on Blackcomb were icy... particularly the run at the top of Solar Coaster.

We finished up around 2:30pm and Emma was kind enough to buy me a hot chocolate as a thank you.  I feel confident she will pass the Level testing with no problem.

Day 13 | abracadabra

"Help with my binding!" - four year old Ripper
"Excuse me?  What's the magic word?" - Me
"Abracadabra!" - four year old Ripper

Not much to report.  Thirteen kids in Snowboard School including two repeat Lil Rippers.  Sun was shining and still no snow.  Another inversion, cold in the village - warm in the Alpine.  I took the Rippers.

Day 12 | Hip Hop Pose

Back to the grind after not working for a week because we are so slow (about one to two snowboarders a day).  I volunteered to take the three Lil Rippers since we haven't had any new snow for awhile.  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day to be outside, though with the inversion, it was warmer up top than it was in the village.

As far as Rippers go, the kids were amazingly easy to handle and easy deal with.  There were two six year olds and one four year old.  They could all put their bindings on and take their bindings off.  They all grasped the concept of edging on their heels and toes.  Morgan and Kat both had level ones so there were quite a few kids in the Magic Carpet area.  We had about 14 kids all together in Snowboard School.  

Naturally we built a jump at the end of the day.  A few of my Rippers showed off their hip hop pose for my camera.  Pics attached of course.

Day 11 | Ziptrek'ers

I was scheduled to do an RST with Whistler Kids at 10am but when I arrived at the CLC (15 min late), I was told it was cancelled.  Not cool.  I wasn't too upset as my plans were to meet up with Anna and Georgie from Ziptrek at the Super Carpet for noon.

I hung around the CLC for about a half hour then decided to head up top for one run before grabbing my free lunch back at work.  It was cloudy for most of the afternoon.  No new snow overnight.  The runs are starting to get hard packed.  Having no snow will eventually do that.  I ran down Whiskey Jack to Olympic and then back to the CLC for some salad.

Georgie and Anna met me around noon.  Georgie is an avid boarder while Anna has never been on snow in her life (silly Australian).  She picked up a cheap used board, bought some new boots and bindings and was excited to give the sport a try.  We spent two hours on the Super Carpet and Anna was amazing.  She could zig zag on both her edges by the time we finished.  I gave her some tips and skills to practice for the next time she heads up.  We finished up with a drink at the Dubhlin Gate where we ran into Petr and Mark from Ziptrek.

Day 10 | iLike Sunny Days

Mondays and Tuesdays are my days off from work and this week I took them off from riding as well.  I was suppose to work today but because we only had one snowboarder signed up for lessons, I was told to stay home.

About 17cm of fresh snow fell overnight and the sun had decided to pay us a visit.  It was a beautiful blue bird day with a bit of an inversion ... meaning suitable temperatures up top.  I met up with Pippa and Nathan at the light board around 11am.  The snow was decent, packed powder, on the groomers.  With the recent warm temps in the Alpine, there was some crust underneath some fresh snow here and there but nothing too bad.  Pippa wasn't feeling too well so she bailed after two runs.  Nate and I rode til about 1pm then decided to call it a day in order to walk the dogs.

More sun scheduled for the next five days.  Also there are no kids booked in Snowboard School so I have another day off tomorrow.  Peak Chair opens Friday and Harmony Chair opens Saturday.  I'm hoping to be able to get Friday off as well and get in line for fresh tracks off the Peak.  Fingers crossed.

Day 9 | horrible

As you can see from the picture, today wasn't exactly an amazing snow day.  The forecast said 70-90cm of snow was expected to fall last night, but freezing temps were hovering around the RoundHouse so instead of snow, it was mostly rain.  And boy did it rain.

Who the heck wants to teach in the rain?  It's way worse than negative temperatures (freezing cold).  I wasn't too keen on getting wet so my fingers were crossed I would get to go home.  We had 5 Lil Rippers and another 8 Riders.  I was assigned level 3's.  We also had five Instructors.  After sorting the classes and figuring who was in what in class, it miraculously turned out that I could go home, if I so chose ... which I did.  I decided to ride from mid-station to the village.  That was horrible!  The freezing level is lowering so hopefully it will dry out some of that wet snow up top.

Day 8 | ratio of 5:1

About 30 kids in Snowboard School including five Lil Rippers.  Gillian and I volunteered to take the little ones.  No biggie as the freezing level was past the Roundhouse and it's suppose to "snow" up to 90cm in a 24 hour period.   

Everyone was sorted with classes by 9:30am and about an hour later, Gunner informed me that the new ratio of Lil Rippers to Instructor is now five to one.  Meaning, one Instructor has to take five Lil Rippers!  and since we had five kids, one of us had to go home.  I volunteered since Irish was riding and I was toying with taking a run with him.  I was told I could leave around noon (or after lunch).  

Of course, the notion of having five Lil Rippers to one Instructor is just ludicrous, especially when the ratio of regular age kids to Instructor is only six to one.  I could spend several paragraphs telling you why it's not possible for one Instructor to take on five 4-6 year olds but I won't bore you with the details.  

Anyway, I spent the morning with the kids and Gillian.  We came in for a break around 11am and stayed inside until a bit after noon.  I couldn't let Gillian take the kids on her own so I decided to stay and help her for most of the afternoon (unpaid) -- I finally left around 2pm.  By this time it was pouring rain at the CLC and I downloaded in the gondola and met up with Shrek and Irish for a nice coffee at The Lift.  Tomorrow I am definitely not taking a Lil Rippers class!   

Day 7 | smells like fish

Sun was shining today!!  I'm not going to mention the amazing powder we saw people cutting on Tokum first thing in the morning.  I also won't mention the knee deep powder found around Crystal Chair (it opened today).  Instead I will talk about the 12 kids signed up for Lil Rippers who were joined by another 19 other snowboarders.  Yup, it's a holiday weekend!

I was assigned Lil Rippers again with Morgan and Gillian.  The day went by amazingly fast and it seemed to be much easier than yesterday.  Maybe because we had three instructors.  Most the kids picked up the edging and balance including a 4 year old who could straight line.  He was really cute.

After our afternoon break, we built a jump for the little guys/girls.  They were so surprised and so happy.  It was cute.  Some of the parents took pics and video from the fence line.  They made such a big deal of the fact that the kids were going over a six inch high jump.  LOL - No matter what happens during the day, all kids go home super stoked after the instructors build them a jump.  That seems to be the only thing they talk about when mom and dad pick them up.

Day 6 | Welcome back Whistler Kids

It's American Thanksgiving and that means it's the first day of work and another new season at Whistler Kids.  Morning meeting started at 8am and it was great to see old friends and lots of smiling faces.  As far as the weather is concerned, it puked all day!  But high winds up top.

We had about 20 kids in snowboard lessons with 8 of them being Lil Rippers.  That program has really taken off!  Morgan, Kat and I volunteered to do Lil Rippers.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love team teaching with Morgan.  He is so great with the kids and the little girls just love him to death.  Kat took one boy who was a solid level 3 and Morgan and I teamed up for the remaining seven.

The day went by relatively fast.  Two of the Lil Rippers were side slipping on their own by the afternoon.  I believe they are both returning tomorrow.  It was a great first day and it feels good to be back teaching.

Day 5 | fifty two inches in seven days

Monday night it snowed 24 inches overnight.  Everyone was stoked to ski or board on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, such high snowfall calls for heavy (and time consuming) avalanche control.  I was meeting  Chris and Izayah in the village at 10am and my plan was to sneak in a couple of powder runs beforehand.  Unfortunately, uploading didn't start until 9:40am and by that time, the line for the village gondola went down past the Crystal Lodge!!!

After waiting around for a couple of hours, the guys and I decided to ride today instead of yesterday.  And today was sweet!  Another 8 inches fell overnight and the snow was light and fluffy.  We spent the day on the greens, with Izayah getting good enough to start hitting side hits and trying to jump.  Chris picked up his turning and was able to ride the chair (he's terrified of heights).

There was a ton of snow out there, especially for the groomers.  We did three good runs down Ego Bowl before we headed in for a water break.  Chris was getting tired fast.  We took another couple of runs after a half hour break and then it was time for lunch.  After lunch, Chris made the right decision to call it a day and download while Izayah and I snowboarded down to mid-station and downloaded from there.

Even though we stayed on Ego Bowl most of the day, I had such a fun time.  I was super excited that Chris was able to pick it up enough so he could take Izayah on his own now.  The snow was amazing and there was so much of it.  I'm glad we took yesterday off and went today instead.  It was a good time.