Mike and Agata's BC Skiing Career

Final Post

2009-04-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well this will be the final post from Silverstar....so pretty well the last post ever for this blog.
Agata is already back in Southern Ontario and still hasn't left Cody out of her sight. Me, I leave here at 3:30am tomorrow morning. Why so early when my flight is at 10:25? That's the only airport shuttle leaving on Wednesday. It's annoying.
But I will see everyone soon! Thank you all for reading this blog and I hope you enjoyed it.

Mike

Very eventful

2009-03-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Quite a lot has happened since I last posted. Well.....nothing HUGE, I've just done a lot of things. We're well into spring skiing now so we have the wet snow every now and then, which is actually fun to ski. The snow here really doesn't get nasty like back in Ontario...it just gets a bit heavy. It's still great fun. Agata, Bronwyn (friend of ours), and I decided to hike out to Alder Point. If you look at the trail map for Siverstar, look on the far, far right. Follow Eldorado until you see "Alder Point Access". It's a nordic trail that we skate/walk/hike for about 15-20min until we get to the double-black diamond run of alder point. It's quite steep and long and was absolutely fantastic. The cool part is that you get a great view of the backside of the mountain. For instance:

Here is the view from the top of Alder Point. You are looking at the back bowl area. The runs going from right-to-left are Free-Fall, White Elephant, Bon-Diablo, Spirit Bowl, and Holy Smokes.
This is a great picture from the top of Alder point of the whole back bowl area. That is the junction of Eldorado, The Rush, Black Pine, Here's Joe, Where's Bob, Stardust, Kirkenhiemer, Freefall, and White Elephant. Here's the same picture, but with me in it......I just make it that much better!

And here's a picture of Aggie and I. Again you can see the back bowl and Bon Diablo, etc...

Here's the group picture from the top of Alder Point. That's Me, Bronwyn, and Agata. We had a random Nordic skier take the picture for us.
When we got to the bottom, we stopped to chat with our friends running the Powder Gulch. You see, it was "Beach Day" at Silverstar and everyone was encouraged to dress beach-like. My friend Paul.....took it pretty well as far as a family resort can go...a speedo and boots.....that's it.

I decided to show off the goods...

That night was a big party for beach day and we all dressed up Beach-like. I just wore board shorts and a tank top....no speedos.

Next big event was when I decided to weigh myself. When I came here I was around 195lbs(89kg). Well, when I weighed myself a week ago I came in at 175lbs(79kg)...yep, I lost 20lbs. I guess standing outside in the cold, shoveling, raking, lifting, pulling, etc... then skiing on your days off does burn a lot of calories.

Now REALLY a big event. We are hosting the K2 National skiing championships. This is a big big deal as the winners go to the world cup (Whistler Cup). They are racing down Gypsy Queen and Bucked Off to the bottom of my lift. For those of you that skied Gypsy Queen you might remember the big mound of snow at the top, as that is the starting point. The ages of the people racing are 14-16 so it is young kids. But man....do they haul ass. They are racing Super-G and Slalom. So there are announcers, people everywhere, music (yay!!!), and all sorts of activity. I saw some serious crashes too. It's sponsered mostly by President's Choice so I've been getting hot apple cider, hot soup etc... delivered to me!

Today we had a nice powder day so winter still isn't over since we're still getting 15cm of snow. Also, as I type this Agata is going on a ride in the Winch-Cat. That's the groomers that groom the black diamond runs. They have a special winch on them that helps control their ascent/descent. Because the runs are so steep, the groomers need that to prevent them from sliding down the hill and wrecking the run. You will see pictures from that no doubt.

Oh, my good buddy Scott went down to Vernon and got a tattoo that he's always wanted. It was his first tattoo.....and, well here it is.
It's a massive dragon pearched on top of the earth with "Carpe Diem" on its wings. It is very detailed and quite impressive. It took 5 hours...STRAIGHT. He sat there for 5 hours and didn't complain at all. They only stopped for 5 minutes because the tattoo guy had to eat something. It cost $750, which was less than Scott thought it would be. I went there with him and I spent most of the time walking around downtown Vernon. I checked in every now and then to see how he was doing.

Well, that's all I can really think of right now. I'm sure you'll be getting another post soon from Agata about her Winch-Cat ride.

See you all soon!!!

Mike

My ride to work!

2009-03-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

There are two posts today!

I finally got my skidoo ride to work on youtube! Here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plNrJsg_BiA

I originally started recording when I got onto the sled, but it didn't start for some reason. So it starts just after I picked up my liftie.

Enjoy!

Mike

The end is near

2009-03-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we now know when we are coming home. I will be flying home (where home=Toronto...for now) on April 15th since I work right to the end of the season. Agata, however is coming home (home=Toronto) on April 8th. She was able to swing the earlier date and can go see her family, friends, and of course Cody! Now that we have the dates set, we're getting excited about coming home. We'll be hanging around Waterloo/Toronto for the first while visiting family/friends....all the while never getting further than 20ft from Cody.

I'll be heading up to Temiskaming Shores (formerly known as New Liskeard/Haileybury/Dymond Township), around April 24th for my cousin's wedding. After which I'll be coming back down to Waterloo to pack up my stuff because I have a new job! My job is back up in Temiskaming Shores working for Three-H! This is something I've wanted for quite some time and I am very excited about this new position.

Agata will be staying down in Waterloo to study for her CA exams for a few months. She has applied to Teacher's College and we're waiting to hear back from them. Depending on the outcome of that, she may be going to College in September. We'll be apart for a while but really, we were apart for 7 months while she was in FRANCE so I think we can handle being apart while she's still in the same Province.

But, until then I still have a job and skiing to do. I have some nice pictures of Agata and I in the terrain park to put up, I just have to wait until the photographer gets me the pictures.....until then here is a picture of me in some stylin' goggles!

and these two men are Guy and Simon when we were out celebrating. Our good friend Scott just passed his Level 1 Snowboard Instructor's exam so we went out for a "few" drinks.

Here's a bunch of us at the top of the comet as we're heading to the terrain park.I'll get the terrain park pictures up soon....I just have to get them from Simon first...

If there are any requests for videos or pictures, let me know in the comments section. I'll then see what I can do.

See you soon!!
Mike and Agata

My other job...

2009-03-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry... again for the lack of posting lately. This one is really late, but pretty cool.

A few weeks ago, Mike was sick, and I was bored....

So what does one do when one is bored here at Silverstar?.

We couldn't beathe much in these suits... they tell me breatheing is over rated.

Here I am helping Jeff get into his fat suit

and we are ready for ACTION! (left)

Jeff, Mike and Agata: the Hockey stars. My best position was goalie.

We went tubeing with all the little kids. A literal welcome breath of fresh air into the mouths of our Silverfox and Frosty suits.

All in all, the night was heaps of fun. I recommend every one get into a big fat suit and go tubeing, skating, and climbing at least once in their lives. Having said that, I don't think I'll ever do that again...

A lot to cover

2009-03-10T15:14:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't posted anything in a long time. I'm sorry for those who check this blog every day and have been consistently disappointed every time. I guess since I had family visiting for a week I decided that I didn't have to post. However, that's not fair to the others who weren't here. So....

First off, here is a short video of a hard day's work down at the bottom of the powder gulch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKUGRwWc1Uo

Yep, we built a jump. Even a ski patroller hit it with us! There is now another jump that requires me to tow them in by skidoo. We have a tow-rope on the back of the sled, they hang on, I go up to 50kph, and they let go and hit the jump. It's fun....

When I had my Mom, Dad, Andrea, Randy, Oma, Opa, Uncle Brian, Tante Barbel, Uncle Karl, Dorreen, and Nick visit we had great weather. Around -5C, sunny skies, and great snow. It seemed that everyone had a great time and enjoyed what the resort had to offer. I really enjoyed the accommodations everyone had, especially at the Snowbird lodge. From my parent's hot tub on the balcony we could watch skiers and snowboarders go by on the summit lift with the mountains in the background. The room itself was fantastic......all except for the bedframes. You see, the feet for the bedframe stick out really far from the rest of the bed and many people ended up stubbing their toes on them. My mom, in particular, bent her little toe sideways which made skiing a little difficult. But, besides all that it was some of the best accommodations I've ever seen.
The skiing was great and the snow was well groomed. Everyone enjoyed the runs and even Andrea, Randy, Nick, and Agata took a 3 hour lesson with everyone's favorite instructor: Spike! Spike still asks about everyone and says hello!
I think the favorite runs were Sunny Ridge, Gypsy Queen, Exhibition, Big Dipper, Far Out, Whiskey Jack, BX Express....there are a lot of favorite runs.
Friday night we took a ride in a groomer, designed for carrying passengers, up to Paradise Camp on the top/backside of the mountain for dinner. That was a great night with great, great food. We met a Finnish freelance reporter here on assignment to report on Big White, Silverstar, and Whistler. She had dinner with us and also came back to our place for drinks afterwards. Neet little piece of information.....she is on the Finnish Olympic Skeleton race team!! You know, Skeleton is the sport where they slide face first down a steep ice chute on a sleigh...crazy people.
It was also my Dad's birthday on the Sunday so we went out to the Den for dinner with everyone and had a great time.
Also during this time we had other visitors. Phillip Dilts and his girlfriend Tatiana! They came to see us and skied for the first time! They were great fun and we enjoyed having them here.
A lot more happened, but those are the highlights. If you want more, let me know.

When everyone left it was back to work. Eventually, Agata and I took a day trip to Big White since she's never been there. It was just after they got 16cm of powder but it was really really windy. Both the Gem Lake Express and Falcon Chair were closed due to wind. But in the trees it was great fun. Back at Silverstar we got another warm spell and it actually rained down at the bottom of my lift......yeech... But then a few days later it got colder and snowed like nobody's business. That was a fun powder day too.

I filmed a "my ride to work" with my helmet cam, got it edited.....but it's too big for me to upload. It said it would take 300 minutes and the timer just got longer and longer. The internet here is very slow.....I'll keep trying though. But here are some pictures from my ride to work at the intersection of Aunt Gladys and Wee Willie.

And here is a picture from the top of the Comet
And here is a picture of me as a judge for SilverStar Idol!! Same as Canadian Idol but...Silverstar. I know......I can't sing so why am I a judge? Didn't care really since judges get free drinks!!
As for today, Agata skied her first Double-Black diamond runs! Rusty Whistle and Doognog. She did very well!!

I'll keep trying with the "ride to work" video...

Again sorry about the long blogging wait.
Oh ya, We'll be coming home around April 15th.

Bye for now!
Mike and Agata.

This time it's about me!

2009-02-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

Aggie and I went out and took some footage of me skiing this time. We got some decent footage but without a proper video camera it's difficult, since with still cameras you can't zoom in/out while filming (at least mine can't). We also tried having Aggie film me while skiing down the hill beside me, like I did in her video, but it didn't work out very well.
We'll borrow one of our friend's video cameras and try it again later. Being able to zoom in would help a lot.
Here's my video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl1hh0W779Y

We'll take more footage and post it as we get it!

See most of you soon!

Mike

All about Aggie

2009-02-04T19:59:00.001-08:00

Ok, I've put together a skiing video all about Agata. It illustrates her skiing improvement during her time here at Silverstar, a kind of Before and After. All aspects of her technique have improved, I'm very impressed..

Here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGR86vMzWVA

We've been getting videos of our dog Cody, generously uploaded to us by Agata's Sister, Joanna, Agata's Brother-inlaw, John, and our best friend, Kevin. However, we have now been blackmailed. If we don't upload any videos of us skiing, they will stop uploading videos of Cody. So you'll see more videos very very soon. We were always going to put up more videos, this just gives us an...incentive to do it quicker.

Enjoy!!

Long overdue

2009-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys, I haven't posted much in a while. Here are the highlights:

We got more snow, finally. We got another 25cm in 18hrs to give our base a much needed boost. I was working during the powder day of course.... But I can't complain because the next day was great on the groomers; nice fresh groomed snow....

For the last while, the day spa here on the hill has had a 50% off for staff sale. I went and had a 75 minute long aromatherapy massage. It was quite nice and relaxing. They have stuff like a loofa and leaf wrap massage and crazy hot rock massages..... I decided to go a bit more simple.

I'm working on another video illustrating the progress Agata's skiing has made. It's quite impressive.

I'm currently sick with some kind of flu so I have lots of time to work on videos and pictures. You'll have another post by tomorrow!

Bye for now,
Mike

We need snow again

2009-01-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

Yep, we are in need of snow again. Well, we still have a 155cm base but we lost about 40cm of snow during the warm spell we had during the past 2 weeks. Yeah...when you were having the -30°C weather we were having sunny and +7°C.... It made a fantastic base, nice and solid, but the snow is pretty beat up now and the groomers are doing all they can to make it smooth. Some new snow would be very beneficial. That system that was pushing all the snow away from us is finally leaving so I'm very confident we'll have big dumps of snow by next week....lots for when everyone comes in February!!

I took more lessons and I've learned that I have to improve my "angulation". It's hard to explain over....blog...and easy to explain in person but it involves the proper use of your edges. It's actually a challenge but when I get it right it makes the turns so easy and enjoyable.

We're getting new roommates since our old ones moved out to their own condo with friends. Agata and I are now doing the same and have a few good places to look at. One is right above the Silver Woods lift and is quite nice. We're just waiting to hear back on availability and price. It will be nice to have our own space, have it a bit quieter, and have the ability to have friends sleep over.

I have a lot of great pictures to post, but I have to get them off my camera and onto this blog. I'll also be making a "my drive to work" video since the view on my ski-doo ride down is fantastic with the mountains, sunrise, and inversions.

Oh ya, I got employee of the month for December (lift operations). Yay!

Maciek, we hope you feel better soon!

Mike and Agata

A couple of things

2009-01-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

Firstly, we FINALLY have rented our house! A couple of young professionals have rented the whole house (top part and bottom) starting....tomorrow the 15th. This is great news considering for the last two months we've been paying mortgage on a house we aren't even using. We have it rented for $2100/month, utilities included. That will cover our mortgage and half of the insurance but the utilities will be on us. Yeah, I'm not that happy with it either but considering the market it's actually not that bad. It's also better than paying $2000+ a month for absolutely nothing. While we're away from the house Agata's family will be the "landlords" if anything goes wrong. That is very much appreciated and helps us out a lot. I'll owe a few people a couple bottles of nice Polish Vodka when I get back...

I've been taking lessons during my time here. As staff, we get FREE (yep... the kind that costs us nothing) group lessons. So I've been taking Level 6 (expert level) lessons and there has always been a max of 4 people in the group so it's pretty well a semi-private lesson. I've learned a LOT and my technique has already improved.

My weight has been back, the weight needs to be centered on my feet (not forward). Being in the backseat of your skis is dangerous as your skis can run away from you. Being to far forward can result in you flipping over the front of your skis (done that before...Jen, Aaron, and Mark were there for that).
I need to tighten my core. Basically tighten your stomach muscles and curve your back. It will help control and maintain your posture and keep you from flopping around.
Finish my turns. Me, I like speed so I don't complete my turn (forget the last 3rd) and end up perpetually gaining speed. That's fun.....but not necessarily a good thing as if I encounter anything unexpected I may not be in control.
My posture was too tall. I needed to bend more at the knees, which really helped me get my weight centered on my feet so the skis can do their job. If your weight is being transferred to the front of your skis they won't flex properly and your turn will be more difficult.
Keep your weight and body in a neutral position. That means all your energy should be transferred down to the middle of your feet so you have to read the terrain (be it bumps or groomed) and make sure your weight is perpendicular to the ground. This way you can properly absorb bumps and any other unexpected terrain/issues.

Now I'm much more stable on my skis, I can absorb bumps and the uneven terrain much better and it just feels so much better. I'll keep taking lessons to refine my technique, of course, and I really want to take a lesson on skiing bumps properly as it's certainly one of my weaknesses.

We had our friend Jason from Ontario visit for the weekend and it was great. We spend Saturday catching up and sampling the local beers and drinks. Sunday was purely skiing and Jason improved a LOT. By the end he was going down difficult blues and he looked much better; I was quite impressed. It was a short visit but we really had fun.

My next visitors are my family! I can't wait for everyone to get here! I'm making a list of runs to show everyone. If anyone else wants to come and visit, you are very welcome. Unfortunately, we can't have people stay at our place. It's annoying really, considering how much room we have. We're thinking of finding our own place somewhere on the mountain where it's REALLY our place instead of staff accommodation. We'll keep you up to date on that.

Well, that's it for now. Talk to everyone soon!!

Mike

Anyone want some Guitars?

2009-01-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Apparently there were drunks playing guitars and screaming and banging on random bedroom doors in the middle of the night. Typical dorm room living I suppose. Our roommate got fed up and went out to "talk" to the party animals at 3 am. Roomie had to work the next morning, and wanted to sleep.

They wouldn't shut up.

So he confiscated their acoustic guitars.

Both of them.

Unfortunately I'm a sound sleeper and I slept throughout the whole fiascle. I don't know how roomie convinced the drunk people to give up BOTH of the guitars, but it happened.

And then there was silence.

This was three nights ago. The guitars are now in the main lobby with management. No one knows who they belong to. No one has turned up to claim them.

Surprising? I think so. Those things look expensive.
If no one claims them they'll be sent off to Goodwill at the end of the year.

-Agata

First YouTube try

2009-01-06T22:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, here's my first video I've posted to YouTube. It's from my helmet camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ6wz616gEM

It's a short video taken from a bigger one when I went down a double-black diamond run with a few friends. I then have the great idea of heading into the trees and end up bailing.

It's not much of a video, but it is my first one. I'll edit and refine the next few better. I think I need a better place for my helmet camera... Suggestions?

Who needs brakes when you have 60cm of powder

2009-01-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

I had so many ideas for the title of this post....
- The snorkel won't attach to my helmet
- I never thought I'd actually like snow in the face
- Your pole-plants are useless here....

But I like the one I've used. We got a massive dump Sunday night, 50cm in 12 hours...just overnight, and I had to work the next day. I did get to enjoy it though.

The ski patrol had to do avalanche checks before they could open my side of the mountain so I had to open my lift really early. I got there for 6:45am and it was a heck of a trip by snowmobile.
The runs were not groomed because the groomers simply couldn't keep up with the snow so I was riding through 50cm of powder.

So there I was with snow piling over the cab of the sled (the snowmobile was a plow at this point), covering the headlight, making it pretty well useless. On top of that it was still dark out so I couldn't wear my goggles, since they made the very very dim light coming from my headlight even worse. Then the spray coming over the windshield made it worse. SO.....there I was in the dark, standing on the seat, driving by memory on how the trail goes, because I could barely see where I was going, in deep powder. It was still fun though and everyone was impressed that I made it there with no problems, even the maintenance guys. Although I apparently took a while to get there. Normally a 20min ride took me 35min. Well forgive me for not wanting to get stuck or roll the sled. My sled has a 4-stroke engine, and for anyone who doesn't know the annoying trait of a 4-stroke engine is that if you roll the sled you CAN NOT just re-start it. If you do, the engine will destroy itself since. So I'd have to get someone to come get me and maintenance would have to do a lot of work on the sled to get it running again.

For anyone curious, the sled I drive is an Arctic Cat Panther 660cc.... It's not the best. It is very heavy, turns horribly, is tippy, and doesn't have guts. The best part? The Arctic Cat Panther has LEOPARD PRINT seats......yep........stylin'...

But I've grown to like the beast.....we get along.

Today though (Tuesday) is my day off and we are getting another storm. I got to ride in more fantastically deep powder today and tomorrow is going to be insane (getting another 30cm). I'm getting up really really early to catch first rides. Apparently no one else is getting the snow we are. On the satellite pictures there is a yellow blob of a snow storm over Silverstar and that's it.......fine by me!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.........

Love Mike

Yay, happy feet!

2009-01-02T20:13:00.000-08:00

I made a big leap and bought new ski boots. My old ones were about 7 years old and were really packed out. I couldn't properly tighten them without cutting off circulation to my feet and they just generally hurt. Also, I had very little control over my skis. If I hit a bump or mound of snow I wasn't prepared for, I would easily lose control over my skis. It was frustrating.......

So, I bought a new pair of Nordica's. They have the best name ever.......
They are the Nordica SPORTMACHINE. That's right......sportmachine

http://www.nordica.com/site/skiboot.php?site=2&lang=1&id=65

They are so very very comfortable and I have so much control over my skis. One big reason is the flex. Either my old ones lost all flex or were extremely stiff. When I hit an unexpected bump or some form of resistance my boot doesn't absorb much and it ends up going to my knees or my body, throwing me around. The Sportmachines (I love the name...) are much more flexible and absorb a lot of the impacts.

I'm so happy with them.

So we're having our first visitor! Our longtime friend Jason is coming to visit next weekend. He's in Vancouver for business reasons and on his way back he's coming here to see us. It's going to be great!

Also, my great friend Graham is looking to get a job here for the rest of the season! I hope he gets one....

Talk to everyone soon!

Love Mike

We're bad bloggers

2008-12-30T18:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. It's been about....5 days since our last post and really not much has happened. We had a great Christmas and the days following that we worked were ridiculously busy. It made for quite a tiring day. Agata has lineups that go out to the parking lot and the occasional stupid people that come to her office.
We have gotten a lot of snow and this week we have snow every day this week, including a big dumper Thursday/Friday/Saturday.....unfortunately I work Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon so I won't be able to get much of that sweet sweet powder. Oh well, more will come.

There are a lot of dogs here and we really miss our Cody. He would love it here and would have many friends. They actually have a $5 season pass for your dog. There are big dogs....little dogs....Agata buys doggie biscuits for the dogs that come in to visit.

They got their other winch-groomer fixed on Friday so there are more black/double/black diamond runs being groomed which makes the skiing more fun on the back side. I think I'm going to see if I can get a ride in the winch-cats as I think it'll be one heck of a ride.

As for New Years, Agata and I going to our local pub for the night. Well.....me, I'm going to be there for 4pm to watch Canada vs. US in the World Junior Hockey Championships. Yes......there will be beer. I don't work on the 1st so I can sleep in and then ski.

We finally went night skiing yesterday and it was really eerie since it was windy, cloudy, and no other light pollution. The night-ski lights made it look like a desolate planet.

Pictures! This is a great picture from the top of Alpine Meadows

and this is a great picture of Santa Claus after a hard night of delivery presents. He can really shred!
Sorry this post was short but really not much has happened. There will be more cool-ness after New Years!

Ta-Ta!
Agata and Mike

Remy R Shristmac everyone!

2008-12-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone from Agata and I in Silverstar, British Columbia!!!

Today I skied possibly the best day of skiing ever. I've never skied thigh to waist deep powder before. I got some videos but they aren't the best....I didn't get batteries for my helmet camera until the runs were fairly tracked out. None the less, I'll post the good ones on YouTube!

We received many greats Christmas gifts that helped make it feel a bit more like home.

The pictures below illustrates what we got from everyone for ChristmasThe mittens from Oma and Opa, the beautiful hats from Erin and Tasha, my new shirt, fleecy pants, Boxers (can't see them), and socks I got from my parents, and the awesome shirt Agata got from my parents (an exclusive Erin Dittmann product).
In this picture you see the books we got from my sister and Randy, they fit our personalities perfectly, the book Agata got from Joanna and John - Agata definately thinks a bad day on adventure is better then a good day at the office by the way, and the set of speakers I got from Joanna and John (they didn't fully make the picture....they're on my knees).

It was a great Christmas here in BC. Although, we did miss our families. We hope everyone had as good a Christmas as we did!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku)!
Love Agata and Michael

Sometimes you just can't help giggling like a schoolgirl

2008-12-24T22:01:00.000-08:00

Yep, it was one of those days today. We got a good dump of snow and Agata and I found the glades over in the Silverwoods side of the mountain. The result? Knee-deep powder and fantastic skiing. It was a great Christmas Eve.

It's been a few days since we posted anything so I'll catch up. A few days ago we went Caroling with the Aussie's, anyone else staying at Silverstar, and the Vernon Community Singers. It was actually a lot of fun, ending up at our Auditorium for a Concert put on by the Vernon Community Singers. It did well to put us into the Christmas spirit!
Today (Christmas Eve), we went skiing the whole day. It was so much fun. There was lots of powder, Agata and I had great fun skiing in the fluffy snow and in the trees. It is so great when you go to hit a jump beside a tree and it turns out that it's not a jump but powder up to your thighs. Hence......me giggling like a schoolgirl. Ask Agata, I giggled a lot.
Agata is really improving with her skiing. I have pictures. She really enjoyed the powder and glade skiing today.
After skiing we had a gathering here in the Staff Accommodations where there was more Christmas treats than you can shake a stick at. Cupcakes, macaroons, fudge, cookies, cakes, tarts.....we almost didn't need dinner afterwards. Agata and I then had a really healthy dinner to offset the Christmas treats and relaxed. At 8pm we went to a Christmas eve service here on the mountain which was very nice. It had songs and readings just like the service I would be going to back in Temiskaming Shores. Afterwards we opened some of our presents. We have to take pictures and we'll post a full summary of what we got tomorrow (Christmas Day)!.

I have a lot more pictures to post here. Lets see.....

Here is the bottom of my lift, the detachable quad, Powder Gulch
Here is the bottom of my other lift, the T-Bar, Home Run TeeHere is me, just relaxing.

Here is Agata shredding the hill

Here is Agata again, shredding

And here is Agata relaxing in the Champagne Powder

We'll have plenty of more pictures tomorrow! Merry Christmas everyone!

Love Agata and Mike

Silverstar: My Mountain

2008-12-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

"Silver star: My Mountain" is the slogan for the resort.

And it couldn't be more appropriate then on an idle Wednesday morning before the christmas rush.

There was absolutely no other person or signs of civilization by Powder Gulch the other day. Nothing. NOTHING. No lifts, no other skiiers, no noise, no patrol. Just freshly groomed trail down the path. For the 10 minutes that it took me to ski down to the lift, it was, indeed, my very own, personal mountain.

I have to go stuff myself with Ginger bread and home made cookies now. Still can't believe this is my life.
-Agata

Feels a bit more like home

2008-12-17T23:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, it does indeed feel a bit more like Christmas at home. We just received two packages: one from my parents and one from Oma and Opa. They both contained fantastically tasty cookies and Christmas snacks, which everyone who has tried them really have enjoyed. The Kievelings and Gingerbread cookies are the favorites and people are wanting to mail Oma, Opa, and my mom money in exchange for more cookies. So if either of you recieve $20 in the mail from some random Aussie, the hope is that you'll mail back a bunch of home-baked treats.
In the package from Oma and Opa there was this:

It made both Agata and I feel so good! We had so much fun decorating the Martineau Bay tree with the decorations and lights. I'm really not good at putting on the icicles.... Regardless it looks great in our room and is very much appreciated. Our roommates really love having a Christmas tree as well.
Thank you Oma and Opa for the Christmas tree, decorations, treats and gifts (no we haven't opened them yet!) and thank you Mom and Dad for the treats, gifts, and our stockings (also haven't been opened yet!).

It's quite cold here, about -26C˚ and that makes the snow here very dry. Very dry snow is actually very slow. This results in us having to do more skating on the runs instead of skiing.

Oh, I'm finally driving the snowmobiles around the resort. It took a while for my driving record to get here from Ontario (insurance requirement) but I'm all set. First time driving to my lift.......I ditch the friggin' thing. Well it was hard sitting on top of my skis, boots, and poles with another person riding behind me with their snowboard. The left ski hit some soft snow and I couldn't turn quick enough (crammed forward because of the 2nd person), and couldn't lean because of all the gear. Took 10 minutes and a lot of lifting/pulling to get it out. I felt better after learning that a ski patroller rolled the new 2008 Tundra down the hill.....

As for more pictures......here they are!

This is the view from the top of the Comet Chair while we had an "inversion" (clouds get pushed into the lower valleys).

This is Agata having a rest on the slopes.

This is me and one of our roommates, Tom, he's from England.

That's about it for now because it's late and I'm planning on getting up early to go skiing.

Cheers,
Mike

I can't find my knees

2008-12-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

I can't find my knees because I'm buried in snow! In the last 24 hours we have received 46cm of snow. Our base is now 115cm. It has been a fantastic opening week.

It started on Tuesday, opening day, when we got another 24cm and we only had 2 lifts and 10 runs open. Then two days later on Thursday the Comet, the 6 person high speed lift, opened along with more terrain. Basically at this point the main, front side of the mountain was open. Then along came more snow and today we opened up the whole backside of the mountain, including my lift the Powder Gultch and all of its ridiculous powder and advanced terrain. Tomorrow we open the Silver Woods express to access the lower part of the mountain and all the great glade skiing, then Tuesday we will be fully operational when the Alpine Meadows opens to access Attridge. So within a week we went from 65cm base and 10 runs to 115cm+ base and all runs open. I love Okanagan weather.

The only downside of the 46cm we just received........I didn't get to ski it. I was working today. Booooo. Oh well, more snow will come that I can ski. Although, yesterday I wasn't working and I got to ski about 15cm of powder that was absolutely fantastic. So smooth.

Oh, we have new roommates. There was another room with 2 couples and one couple snored like a rusty bulldozer, and the other was sick. So they really didn't get along when the sick couple couldn't sleep at all because of the snorers. So our roommates, one of them snores like a chainsaw, moved in with the loud snoring people and we got the other roommates. One is from Chile and the other is from England. They are great people who are friendly and easy to get along with. They are also both ski instructors....and I'm getting free lessons. I'm going to get some Freestyle lessons so I can keep up with Mark :)

I have some fantastic pictures from the top of the hill when it's sunny and clear. But.....I don't have my camera on me so I'll get it later and post them.

I love snow.

Talk to y'all later.

Mike

It's me!

2008-12-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

Hi!
So this is the "Agata" portion of the Blog... sorry it took so long to type:

So.

I was introduced to powder yesterday. I think we'll get along, I've just never actually seen it before so we took it slow. I just stayed with the circles for now. No need to get crazy.

No broken bones as of yet.

But I am out of shape. Only half of the mountain was open yesterday. And I could only ski half of that before I sat down to rest. This means... 1/4 of the way down I had to sit down. This hill certainly isn't blue...

Yay! We're Open!

2008-12-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, we finally opened yesterday (December 9th) with 10 runs and two lifts. We had the Silver Queen (quad, non-detachable accessing beginner runs) and the Summit Chair (double, old-school, non-detachable accessing the main part of the mountain) running for opening day and today (10th). I worked both yesterday and today working the bottom of the summit chair, where all the traffic was, and the top of the summit chair. It is really fun meeting everyone who comes through the lift line. Being a fixed grip chair I had to stall the chair for everyone and I'm pretty good at it now.

Oh ya, I've only skied once when I skied down after working today. It was awesome, I felt so good. I got the custom molded foot beds for my boots and I can really see the difference they make. Basically, they ensure that your foot is properly seated in the boot and there is no slippage or unnecessary movement. The result is a more responsive ski since your foot doesn't move around in your boot.

I am off work tomorrow and the next day and I plan on skiing it all. Agata is off as well so we're going skiing together. It will be fantastic. The view from up there is so very very beautiful.

Tomorrow the big, 6-person high speed detachable opens up and so does more of the mountain. We're getting more snow tomorrow and Friday so the back side of the mountain may be open by the weekend! The back side is my lift, the Powder Gultch and Home-Run T-Bar as well as the advanced runs. I am quite excited.

Overall, it's so very nice to be skiing and working. Agata and I have been reminded why we're here......

Ta Ta for now.

Agata and Mike

Almost.....

2008-12-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

We're almost there. We got a lot of snow the past 5 days and we should finally be open this Thursday (11th).
I just hiked up the hill and tried my ski legs and skis out for the first time for the year. My skis really really need a waxing etc.... a whole tune-up. I've gone X-C skiing too and that's pretty fun. Well, not as fun as downhill but I don't have much of a choice. There really isn't much to do when there is no work.

Oh, I actually worked as a ticket checker for the nordic skiing. That was pretty fun but I didn't get to slap (figuratively speaking) anyone around for not having their ticket, trying to cheat the mountain, etc...

Hm. Not that much to talk about really as nothing has happened since the last post. I went through Technological withdrawal recently since I haven't done anything techie for a long time. Everytime I see an ad for Gears of War 2, or some other great Xbox game I twitch. Luckily someone brought their Xbox 360 and I satisfied my craving. They have Guitar Hero for the Wii that's great fun and the funny thing is that I'm one of the best here. I also ended up fixing someone's computer which really helped.

I have to say both Agata and I are very very excited for everyone to come here in February. It's going to be fantastic. Jasmine says she wants to meet everyone since she has spoken to them all so much. She also mentioned that my family are an absolute pleasure to talk to. She talks to dumb people all day and when she talks to anyone from my family, it's a breath of fresh air. She loves you guys....

We have more pictures but they haven't been compiled yet.

Well, that's it for now. Post any questions, requests etc... in the comments section below.

Bye for now.

Mike and Agata

Aussie's and Hockey

2008-11-29T11:39:00.000-08:00

If you have a chance, bring some Aussie's to a hockey game. They're fantastic! The staff here in our accommodations went down to a Vernon Viper's hockey game (Junior A hockey) last night and it was great fun. The resort organized the buses and tickets for the staff and it only cost $5 each. Everyone was really into the game with cheering, yelling, and other entertaining, hockey-related things. It was a really one-sided game with Vernon winning 8-4 but there was lots of action, 3 fights (which the Aussie's loved since they're used to Aussie-rules football.....look it up, crazy game), and of course beer. Good fun was had by all.

As for snow, we got another 8cm last night and there's flurries for the next few days. We still need another 50cm or so though so we need a big dumper. None of the lifties are working until we get more snow so......I'm kinda bored. I tried expanding my questionably-legal computer abilities by trying to hack into the various secured wireless networks around the resort but I decided that wasn't a good idea. We only have one accessable wireless connection for the whole staff accommodation which is only accessable in one side of one room. So I was motivated by necessity really. We're getting our own dedicated wireless connection.....soon we've been told but we're at the bottom of a very very slow moving list. Only 2 IT guys for the whole resort. I've volunteered my help since I don't have anything to do but I doubt anything will come of that.

On that note, anyone have any ideas for stuff to keep me busy and out of trouble until we get snow and get open?

I finally got some decent pictures!

1. Here is my lift control console and some people I trained yesterday:2. Here is me in my Uniform (I'm not wearing my radio)! The back just has the Silverstar logo

3. Here is Aggie in her Uniform and office!
4. Aggie and I in her office (Aggie pointing out the window to where she has seen all the deer...pictures doesn't really show where she's pointing but you get the idea).That's about it for now. As before, send all the snow storms over here!

Cheers,
Mike and Agata

Snow?

2008-11-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

Ok......really......What does Toronto, or even Southern Ontario need with all that snow? We have very little snow (nope, aren't open yet) and we can do plenty with it! Send it all over here. A little aggravating but not much we can do about it. I'm still training people so at least I'm working. I'm off today and tomorrow, then I work 1/2 day Friday to train some latecomers.

I'm going to bring my camera so I can get a picture of my lift and all it's fun and games and me in my uniform. The lift won't be MY lift but identical to mine. It's wierd though, after riding the Poma lift at Mount Tri-Town for most of my life, it's odd to come here and see the "Poma" lifts here are the giant 6 person detachable chair lifts. Leitner-Poma made most of the lifts here...

The other lifties here are getting antsy since most of them aren't working. They came here all the way from Austraila/New Zealand/UK and are quickly running out of money. In addition, they are getting bored. There isnt' much here to do than watch TV, sleep, eat, and go to the bar (which has gotten a few people fired). We really need to get skiing/riding. The snow will come. The winter has just shifted forward a bit. Last year, they closed in April and they had more snow than they had all season. They close regardless of conditions here (which is ridiculous) because people just stop coming (apparently, I don't believe it though). Sure the season's pass people will come but they dont' make money off them. Sigh.

Oh, for all who need to know, here is the address for me and Aggie

C/O Silver Lode Inn

P.O. Box 3005

Silver Star Mountain V1B3M1 B.C. Canada

Well, hope to hear from you all soon.

Cheers Mate,
Agata and Mike

I am the trainer and they are the trainees

2008-11-21T20:34:00.000-08:00

Finally got some snow, which made everyone happy. We still need more but at least everything isn't ice and dirt....

I'm still doing lots of training, but I'm the trainer. I am training the other lifties on the high-speed detachable quads, the same one that I'll be in charge of when we open. I just found out today that I'll be responsible for the Powder Gultch high-speed quad chair (which I already knew) AND the Home-Run T-Bar. I will work 10-hour days Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday then I'm off for three days. The consistency is nice since I can plan around things.

I also took my first walk UP the hill today after work. After I closed down the bottom (loading side) of the lift I had to walk up to the next lift to get picked up by snowmobile.....that is a long, and hard hard walk; especially when you're wearing huge snow boots and in full gear.

Agata bought her first set of skis/poles/boots today! She has Head Every One skis with Nordica boots. She also got a custom foot-bed for her boots (orthotics for ski boots). I am thinking of doing the same thing since everyone here swears by them.

I have more pictures! I still have to get one of me in my full uniform. This is a nice one of the mountains from the village on a sunny day. I like the clouds below...
Here is one of me!

and another one of mountains. I like Mountains! That's the old Summit Chair (2 person chairlift).

That's about it for now, and pray for snow.

Mike

It has begun...

2008-11-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

The snow has come. It is snowing, has been snowing, and will keep snowing for a few days. Then next week, it is supposed to snow some more. Thank you....Snow Gods. Please keep blessing us with your bounty.

I did more hands-on training today with the detachable and fixed quad. THe detachable is quite complicated but I really like it. There are a lot of safety switches, startup sequences, etc... but when you get the hang of it.....it's great, quite easy.

The fixed grip is easy to operate. There aren't much things to do but actually loading people is hard!! You know when you load onto a non-detachable quad chairlift and the liftie kinda slows the chair for you....yeah, that's hard. Those chairs are heavy and moving pretty quick. It damn near put me on my ass a few times. Even then I could only muster enough to slow it a bit. I'll need a bit more practice. Luckily I'm the lead on a detachable quad. I am now training others on the detachable quads for the next few days until opening (hopefully next Thursday).

Agata is training people as well in the seasons pass and daily ticket office. She meets so many people that way. I've met so many new people through her. Aussie's, Kiwies (New Zealand), UK, US, Japan........ I met most of them tonight at the staff night of a great bar here (Bistro really) called The Den. They had a special, $7.50 for dinner and a pint. Live band too. Great food, good beer, good music....Quite fun.

Well, that's about it for now. I have to work tomorrow and Brondwyn needs to use my computer (a fellow liftie).

Cheers Mate.

praying to the snow gods

2008-11-17T23:02:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to open this Saturday but that has been pushed back. There is not enough snow and it isn't cold enough. So the tentative opening date is November 27th. We need snow and cold. Last season they didn't open until December 1st but the whole season was fantastic once it opened. I'm not worried.....just a little antsy. I wanna ski.

Oh oh oh.......Agata bought her first set of skis/boots/poles. She's so excited. She got wikid Head skis, comfy Nordica boots, and nice poles. Just need snow.

I finished my training today. We had our lift evacuation where we lowered people off the chairlifts using ropes and wee chairs, as well has fireman's nets and ladders so they can jump/climb off the lift. It was great fun because I was one of the people to be lowered down from the lift (30ft up). After I got my snowmobile training so I can ride to my lift in the morning and back to the village at night. Yeah, kinda lame since I've been riding ski-doos since......6 years old? Dad, is that about right? But it's still necessary for insurance reasons.

After, not much happened. I went to the pub tonight with my new buddy Jake from Austrailia (Dickie Beach, north of Brisbane). He's a liftie too. Here are some pictures. That's Jake...

Here are the beer choices at Long John's Pub (great place).My favorite is 1516....
Here's Dennis, one of the owners/operators of Long John's Pub.
Now that I've figured out how to post pictures on this thing, there will be more. Including myself in my awesome uniform.

Well, that's all for now. I'll post again soon, hopefully when there's a pantload of snow.

Mike

Day 1: training....day 1

2008-11-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

I started my training today. It was all in-class stuff with everyone else. It's an interesting bunch of characters but they are all friendly and it's going to be great.
We met the maintenance crew, the post-RCMP security personnel, Human resources people, and Guest Services people. I also watched the cheesy 1980's era training video...funny stuff.
Since we're pretty well the first or second person the skiers will be seeing when they get here we have to make a good impression. Smiley faces and such. But I think I can do it.

It has snowed here but it got warm today and it turned soggy. But it will be getting colder now and there is supposed to be snow by the end of the week. I like snow.... Oh, Agata is here and she said from her workdesk window she saw two deer prancing about on the hill...and no she didn't shoot them.

Well we're all heading out to the pub....right next door to our place. I think I will do JUUUUUSTTT fine here.

Toodles for now.

Mike and Agata

We have arrived

2008-11-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

Well, we're all here. Myself and Agata have moved into our place here at Silverstar Resort. We're living at Silverlode Inn, which is a hotel specifically for staff. They've redone the whole place really well. We have the following at our disposal:

Bar
Hot Tub
Games room
washer/dryers
Plenty of eating places

Those are pretty well the highlights. Our room is shared by another couple and we have a kitchenette, bathroom, fireplace, TV...quite nice.

They have snow, and more is coming. I have my training tomorrow and Agata is already working. This is going to be great. The people I've met so far are fantastic, friendly, and a lot of fun.

Just thought I'd post something to get started. I'll put in more detail etc.... as I think of them and as everyone asks me questions.

Cheers,