Me! A ski instructor... or someone who lives, works and plays at Big White.
I could be a liftie, server, hotel staff, ski patrol, whatever... I just happen to be a ski instructor.
A beautiful day again, 20 min walk through the 'slowly coming to life' village - groomers just ending their shift, staff coming up the gondola, lifties being ferried on snowmobile to their respective lifts. The air is clear, fresh, the snow looks perfectly groomed and crunches under my feet.
I'm not teaching today, but I am going skiing. The dogs and I head home, three dogs can be a challenge, sometimes they want to go their way... I will give you a quick intro to my dogs-
- Hobbes, he is the old dude. A 14 year old labradoodle, if I was to describe his personality I would say a stoned Aussie (wait, can I write that, hmmm, let me ask the author? Apparently I can), looking for pizza. Dude! Likes? Eating my things... including wallets, complete with credit cards, glasses, sunglasses, headphones - he ate a full set of over-ear Beats, he's not a big fan of smoked oysters tho...
- Pixel - technically my daughters dog... in so much as... well actually I don't know. He is a small Maltese poodle cross. He believes it is his sole job to dismember and dog bigger than he is... every dog is bigger than he is. Personality? Drunk Glaswegian at 2am looking for a fight "...aamm gonna forkin keehl yus..." Likes? Losing his shit when he sees another dog.
- And finally Fiona Fluffles... a bouncy, dopey, lovely Berna Doodle who thinks everybody's job is to love and give her attention. Likes? Bullying/herding the old dude and the thug... oh, and getting attention.
I am lucky! I live right next to the bottom of the Bullet Chair... I have to cross the road, I know right? After that massive hurdle, I clip in and skate to the chairlift. Covid protocols are in place and even though it is mid week and hardly anyone is around, I mask up.
Let me touch on masks. Yes, I know they are slightly inconvenient, yes I know they can be slightly uncomfortable, yes, I know they hide your good looks and smudge my... wait... I mean anybody's make up. Yes, they don't fit me properly, I struggle keeping them over my nose - I didn't realize I had a big snoz (yep, the medical term, look it up) that keeps popping out... but... if I have the choice of skiing and mask, and not skiing and no mask. Give it to me. And for all those who don't want to wear a mask cos 'I have rights...!' Technically I can swing an axe around in the lift line... and if you get too close... not my fault. Well, maybe I can't swing an axe...
Where was I? Oh, yes, struggling with my mask on the chair. I get to the top and I am off. Like most instructors and probably skiers, I am working on something. I am trying to improve my skiing... fortunately for me there is lots of things for me to improve... and you thought once you became an instructor that was it. Nope.
What am I doing today? I start with early edge grip and smooth transfer of balance from one leg to the other. I'm trying to lock in a movement pattern, trying to make it a thoughtless process, which takes a lot of, yes, thought and concentration. Couple hours and multiple runs later I finish up with some focus on ski deflection at the end of the turn - I'm trying to load up my ski with energy (bend it) and then use that stored energy to propel me through the next turn. Think jumping on a trampoline. It is hard work, and after couple of hard hours my legs and old knees are toast.
And then it is time for some real exercise, on the bike trainer... wait... quick tangent, I used to play squash, a lot. It kept me fit. But it was tough on my knees, eventually my physio said "I'm not going to tell you to quit, but..." I didn't really want to quit but the catalyst came one early December... my team was playing the Penticton team, in Penticton... imagine that. I had to drive two hours, play my match and drive back two hours. My match was against their No.1... their No.1 was the ex British Junior champion - Adam... I was my teams No.1 the game I played was different from the game Adam played... Adam played squash, I'm not sure what I was doing... it wasn't Adam's version of squash. His version involved scoring points, my version consisted of running around like a headless chicken, chasing a ball... and not scoring points.
The next day my knees quit... I followed shortly after. Keeping in reasonable shape should be easy right? I'm a ski instructor, I'm outside all the time, it is a physical activity... It will be easy. Ha! That was December. Come April I was 10kgs cuddlier.
Tangent over... skiing didn't do it obviously, so I got into biking. Long story short... I biked that first summer, lost the 'cuddly' weight, stopped biking in winter, got very cuddly, started riding again next summer, lost the cuddles and vowed never to stop riding again... hence the bike trainer from two paragraphs back...
So, I get on the trainer... just a C group ride... I last a hour, well, my iPad lasts a hour then the battery is toast... thank god, any excuse to quit today cos my legs are toast...
It is 1pm ish, I answer some quick emails, do a bit of admin and then it is time for the dogs again, they need some good exercise so it is off to the snow-shoe trails. We love the trails... dogs love the trails. Pristine, beautiful, fresh clean air... my favourite is when the snow is falling... everything becomes silent except for the soft pad of your feet in the snow... then it is magical. Anyway, two hours with the dogs, not the old dude this time, just Mr Grumpy and Fifi.
And then we are back, I have a quick conference call, a bit more admin and then I start to write this. A few minutes ago I opened a beer... after all that exercise today... surely I deserve it.
So... a day in my life at Big White. I am just one, there are lots of us up here... it is a great place to live. Tomorrow you ask...? Pretty sure I will be skiing again... You?
