Big White is AWESOME!!! Thinking of coming to Big White for a season...? And you're nervous...? Part Duh!

See what I did there with the 'Duh'? Well... "Duh! Of course we did... dumbass."

So, I have a little confession. That was really the first two days. I spent two nights in Switzerland - hitchhiking back and forth over the border... at midnight or 1am on the second night. You see, instead of being 'related to someone semi-smart' and getting my act together on day two... nope, I didn't. On the first day after arriving, I went skiing instead and then went to the bar... and then hitchhiked home at 1am... instead, instead of getting my act together - that is a true story. Actually, it's all true.

The previous story really happened over two days... but I have more details for that story... it is a little R rated... unfortunately not as R rated as I wanted it to be, but you know.

So... Michel says to me "Tonight you will stay with me and my wife." Obviously it was in a heavy French accent, a gravely French accent... he had, and still did, smoke Gauloises cigarettes... probably since he was 15, and by this time he was in his early 60's... Gauloises - who needs filters?

So, we get back and I meet Nicole, his wife. Obviously she is really pleased to see Michel, two hours late from work, drunk, with a dumb, none French speaking, English, homeless person... also drunk... who had also obviously led her completely innocent husband astray.

What is the problem?

We ate, I'm sure it was delish... no, I've no idea what it was - it was 31 years ago, and I was drunk. There wasn't much conversation as I recall, Nicole didn't speak any English... or, I believe, in the mood to speak French...

We finished dinner and it was getting late so obviously I had to get back to the bar - job hunting of course. "Au revoir..." I said, completing my total repertoire of French words. Leaving Michel to er... I'm guessing, to try and explain himself.

I did, I promise I did... well I had every intention... but you see Sam had just arrived and she needed a slobering wreck to bother her - that was where I came in. To be honest, I don't think she was bothered at all... I was pretty cute back then, fit (just out of the army, and a veteran) and I was also gonna say an ex-model... but that was before I did some modelling - true story... another.

But, like I said it was only kinda R rated cos not much happened.

But also what didn't happen was I didn't go back to Michel and Nicole's... not until 7am... and Michel had already left for work... and Nicole was just leaving...

Do you know how to apologize profusely in French? Nope, me neither. I know how to look embarrassed and shrug my shoulders and do that funny toothy grin... and say Au revoir... but it didn't seem to fit, not for me anyway.

Nicole, let me in, and she left... I'm thinking Michel was in even more trouble.

But, I didn't care, I was off to meet Sam to go skiing... Yay!!! Sam did not turn up... Boo!!!

Maybe I skied, maybe not. What I did do was go and find some gifts for Nicole and Michel; just to say thank you, sorry and probably,
good bye.

When I get to their place they are just getting ready to go out for a celebration dinner. To celebrate their very first, ever, brand new car. Nobody was in a bad mood... But I didn't realize Michel was in that much trouble...? Good job I wasn't a blonde, Swedish girl (I'm gonna add) model, (here, cos you know) who stayed out all night... with
Michel...

Anyway they were enthralled with my crappy gifts. Yep crappy. Not because I chose crappy gifts but because I was a dumbass... in reality the gift were very thoughtful - a cuddly toy for Nicole (who doesn't need a cuddly toy... eh?) and Michel had been using this crappy knife at work, so a new knife for Michel... it was pretty crappy too, but new.

Enthralled!!! I tell you, so much so that they invited me to their, no-longer, romantic French dinner. No, wait... it was still French, and Yum.

And me? Where did I sleep? I didn't ditch them that night, I didn't go to the bar to find a job, I didn't 'lose' my way home... I stayed with them... and slept. It had been a while.

Christmas Eve in France is the next dumb story.

Solido Properties has been renting seasonal properties from owners at Big White since forever!!! Well, I lie, since 2013... but, same thing. 

If you are looking for a place to stay... here are a couple of tips.

1. Staff accommodation - Big White have a number of beds, if this is your first season, and you work for the resort, you have a chance of resort accommodation.
2. Local businesses - a number of my properties go to local businesses for their staff. Ask if anything is available.
3. Coming late? February there is sometimes change over - life happens, people go home, move, split up... you may find something in Jan/Feb... maybe.
4. Keep looking and posting on Facebook - keep trying. After a day your post is long gone... keep posting. I'll say it again - keep trying.

Good luck.

Do you know, I written over a hundred of these posts? If I was smart I would have added, to all of them... please like and share... well, only if you did like, and wanted to share.

If you want to visit the website - it's rubbish, then you can do that here - www.solido-rentals.com our Instagram (also below par) is here ObsessedandEnthusiastic

Big White is AWESOME!!! Thinking of coming to Big White for a season...? And you're nervous...?

Who wouldn't be...? 

And you're on your own...? In a strange country...? Without a job...? Or friends...? And you can't ski...? (which is important) Or snowboard - which, you know, who cares...?

Will you even survive?

Shall I tell you my story...?

It all started whilst I was still in the army, driving back to my base from Wigan (UK) to Andover (again UK). I picked up a hitchhiker who told me he'd lost his driver's license (drink driving), and was heading to tell his (new) boss (in London) that he couldn't do the job anymore - delivery truck driver... "What'll you do?" I asked... he told me he would head back and work in a ski resort in France.

You can imagine a cartoon image of me putting on brakes... "What??!" I didn't know that was a thing. No, I  didn't slam the brakes on, but, you know, I was definitely distracted...

So, I drop him off somewhere, get back to camp and the next day, I went in and signed my PVR (Premature Voluntary Release) papers... it was probably a six month release/wait period... I didn't care as it was still summer. I was 24 at the time... kinda risky eh? 

Prep.

Six months, and you know I didn't do much. I had some distant family relations who were big into skiing - they had an equipment shop and they organized ski vacations... I bet I had only ever met them three times in my whole life. But, they were a start, so I went to see them. 

They arranged some stuff for me in Switzerland... flight, meeting at and airport shuttle to the resort, accommodation, and ski tech job at a hotel... or so I thought... and they sold me some great 90's ski gear... which was great cos it was the 90's.

Flight.

There was a little confusion at the airport... they didn't know who I was but I had proof I'd paid for my flight so I was allowed to board (this was pre 9/11) just a short 40 minutes 'after' the plane was scheduled to depart... yes, I was the guy everyone gives those 'if looks could kill' daggers to.

Pre-flight...

But I barely noticed... cos let me add something here... I was leaving Wigan, to go to live in a ski resort in Switzerland, so the night before my buddies and I all went out and partied... coming home at 5am I figured I'd best start packing, (it's amazing the packing decisions you make whilst drunk) shortly after which my brother drove a very hungover 'me' to the airport.

Geneva...

I landed around noon... well, everyone did actually, I wasn't special. To be greeted by no-one. Which was inconvenient, I and my hangover decided... I then spent the next six hours walking up and down Geneva airport trying to figure out my life. Eventually I figure out a shuttle to the resort (Morgins) and to the hotel where I was supposed to be doing my thing - I had a hotel name. It was pretty close, maybe 90 minutes drive.

The job...

Did not exist.

The accommodation...

Came with the job... that didn't exist... ergo... 

What to do?

I have too much stuff, no job, no place to sleep, it's now 10pm... over 40 hours without sleep... and my hangover seemed to be the only thing I still had with me.

Bar...

Seemed the obvious solution. It was dead. But there was a waitress. Long story short - she could probably let me have a bed for a night. But we had to wait for her boyfriend to come back, and for her to finish work at 2am... not the best but a bed. I think they charged me 5 Swiss Francs per night.

Advice...

They were great, they advised me to hitchhike 5kms to Chatel in France. "It will be easy" they said, and it was, "and there will be more jobs..." and there were. So I did.

Job #1.

I went to the local tourism office and not speaking and French I said "Je suis cherche pour travais." I'd learned that phrase. But of course it didn't help because they (inconsiderately) responded in French... But, they sent me up to the hotel to find Michel, who needed a labourer.

Things were going great, all morning that is... all morning until the French, labourer/builder, with maintenance experience turned up.

End of Job#1.

Of course Michel paid me, but you know... French, builder, experience... he could even speak fluent French! Batard! Which is French for, you know, what it kinda sounds like.

So, no job and er... still no place to stay...

'Best go to the bar then...' I decided, all by myself.* Twenty minutes later Michel walks in - "Let me buy you a beer" I say. A couple hours later a drunk Michel says to me "Where are you staying tonight?"

A drunk me responds "ah... I'll just go to the hotel down the road..."

"Nope!" exclaims Michel.

"Nope! Tonight you will stay with me and my family..." And I did.

*Going to the bar was not a bad idea, more than one person had told me, that's where all the seasonal staff go and they would know of any jobs available.

The point of my story...?

You will figure it out... and you will have great stories to tell about how you figured it out. Did I meet people...? Did I find another Job...? A place to live...? Did I ski lots... did I (soto voce) snowboard too... did I have one of the best seasons of my life...?

Maybe I'll tell you more stories from that season one day, and you can decide.

Sólido Properties have been managing properties at Big White since 2003 (commercially since 2013). And we specialize in er... seasonal staff places. Our goal is to find the best places for the best staff. If you are the best staff (yes yes, everyone says "We" are the best) send me a message via that link or to solidorentals@gmail.com

And if you're an owner looking for stable, steady, honest income... you can do the same thing. True story.

PS If you're looking at the website today... you'll notice it is not quite finished. There is a good reason behind that - yep, I'm rubbish... another true story.

Big White is AWESOME! Dodgy rental scams...

Maybe I'll just title this - Do Your Homework!

If you're looking for a place to stay at Big White... do your homework. Go on, I'll say it again - Do your homework.

There are scammers out there looking for easy marks, don't be an easy mark; a couple years ago my wife got a call. 'The renters of Timbers 206 couldn't find the owner/landlord and could she help?'

"Uh oh..." She thought. You see, I was the developer of The Timbers and my wife knew the building well... specifically, there was no, and there never was a 'unit 206'. Imagine travelling from Australia for the season of a lifetime and... nope, not fun.

Last year I was contacted by, 'a tenant' she was suspicious of a rental company... could I offer any advice. Great place, great location, great pictures... found on a (almost) professional looking (if you didn't look too closely) website, everything you'd expect, pictures, address, contact number... and a great price. Now rents are not cheap at Big White. But you know, ownership is really expensive too and a Landlord/Owner has gotta pay their bills. 

Anyway, my point is, if a deal looks too good to be true then it probably is.

The place I was contacted about? They were asking $1500 per month... it was probably worth $5k - $8k per. So, yeah, too good to be true.

So, do your homework, and, conveniently, here are some tips for when you are looking for a rental property.

Rental rate... Too Good to be true...?

What is the asking, and how does it compare to other places? If it seems really low then...

Friends and friends of friends.

Almost all my rentals these days come from friends of existing, or previous tenants. You can have a lot more confidence in a place at which your buddy already lived.

Get References.

Your landlord has probably has a rental history. I don't as previous tenants for references but I always offer contact details of my previous tenants. If this is a problem then I'd be a little concerned.

Speak to your (potential) employer.

The biggest problem for seasonal staff at Big White is accommodation. And your employer is acutely aware of this - they will know most of the landlords. Ask them - "Do you know Chris Sherriff?"

Look on Facebook.

I hate to say this but I know Facebook is kinda old school these days... but you know what, your landlord is probably old school too. You'll find years of history for me at Big White - why not do a search for your landlord to be... and if they're not there, do more homework.

Ask for a physical inspection.

Yeah, it's a pain for the landlord... but if you're the perfect tenant...? Most landlords live on the mountain so this is their job anyway. If they don't want to show you, or your friends be cautious.

Video Walkthrough.

I offer video walkthroughs for my 'tenants to be'. It is really hard for a scammer to fake a real time walkthrough.

Pressure.

Are they putting pressure on you to pay immediately? I usually give my tenants a decent period to pay their initial payments. It allows them to do their own background research on me... and since I'm real, it doesn't matter.

Payment.

How do they want paying?

• Cash? Cash is great if you're meeting at the place and get a chance to look at the unit. Not great if it's not at the property. Just be smart.
• Bank transfer? You can be a little more confident if it is to a company - Ltd, LLC, LLP, Inc etc, because these are expensive and hard to set up. We are Solido Properties Ltd. We are registered in British Columbia and you can find us if you do a company search. Here.
• Western Union - I believe it's the medium of choice for scammers. I would stay away, there are so many other options, why risk it?
• E-transfer... once my tenants are resident, this is my preferred option. If it was me looking to rent I would be cautious if there are other red flags as the money can go anywhere... in Canada anyway.
• Credit and Debit? I've used these in the past, I prefer physical transactions... I used to carry a machine around with me, on rent days anyway :)

They contact you...

I was guilty of this last year -hello Lachy and Meg :) this is a pretty big red flag - if it happens, take all the other precautions.

I'm sure there are other things, (do they have a ten year old blog...?) you know even if your landlord to be has a terrible FB reputation... at least they're real... maybe I'll do a blog topic on crappy landlords... yes we... wait, I mean 'they' exist. Trust your gut, it's been right lots of times.

So, I guess that's if for today, next is my business pitch, so you can ignore the rest if you want.

The Pitch.

Actually, I'm struggling with the pitch, I cannot word it well... so I'm just gonna stop here and just leave the crappy one below. 

Solido Group has been around since 2000. We have been involved in real estate sales, marketing, management, renovations, development... developing, amongst others...

• 
  The Edge... don't talk to me about the roof(s).
• The Raven.
• Timbers...

Roughly, building and selling, over 100 properties. 

If you are a property owner and want to find out more about what we offer, including a guaranteed income business model. Contact us via Solido Properties Facebook Page.

Big White is AWESOME!!! It has been a while... wait... have I used that title before?

 I have? Well... in that case I er... don't care. True story.

Yeah, it has been a while. Covid, 2020, property sales, teaching in Japan... trying to buy property in Japan... nope it didn't work out. What? No, no, it wasn't anything bad.

Okay, I'll tell you the short version. After looking at a bunch of places we put an offer in on a place in Myoko Kogan. Every been? Shorter seasons than North America but far more of that, you know, Japan Powder - 14m annually... they say. Anyway we'd considered a couple of places but nothing seemed quite right - too expensive, too run down, wrong location... then just before we left Japan a realtor messaged to say he'd found a place. We were in Hokkaido, so a quick change of flight - yeah, it was really easy and inexpensive... no, obviously not Canada.

A Japanese Heron... you can tell by the Samurai outfit.

This place was AWESOME, yeah, Big White AWESOME. True Story. They were asking 40m Yen... I offered 48m Yen, that's enough, right? I paid the deposit, flew back to Canada and er... twiddled my thumbs for three weeks. Dave (my Japan side consultant) thought we had it in the bag... the Bag, easy... Nope. Apparently a Japanese buyer thought it was worth even more.

If you're considering a Japanese, resort, property purchase... they are insanely cheap. That place? Slept 50, had a commercial kitchen, had two Onsens (I love onsen), located in the resort... and $340k Cad. Actually, the Canadian dollar has strengthened 18% since I was teaching in Hokkaido during the 2022/2023 season. Then $400k, now $340k. Crazy!

I had plans, partners, investors, clients... I was gonna start a ski school, and you know make billions... or at least financially survive... oh, and ski.

Anyhoo... I'm still looking. And if you're considering Japan and want a recommendation? Speak to Dave in Myoko. Or if you know an awesome place for sale... send me a message.

What else?

You know, I was gonna talk about rental scams but I think it deserves its' own post... so, next time I will address that big Elephant, yep, capital E.

Finally

Solido Properties have owned, managed, developed, renovated, bought, sold... and been passionate about Big White since 2000... man I feel old.

Business Pitch.

If you're looking for a rental solution to your real estate management quandary... and when I say quandary I mean, how do you optimize rental income, usage, maintenance needs, renovations and occupancy rates... then contact Solido Properties through the normal avenues... wait... what... you want a link? Oh, well, that makes sense - here and if you want some more pics of Japan... keep scrolling.

And and and... if you looking at this, after I've updated the website from the 'park-page' to an actual site... you can visit it here. If not, then you can still visit it there. True Story.

And... if you actually read to here, I have a joke as a thank you - "There are two things I hate... Racism, and Foreigners. It's a joke.

But if you feel the need to complain, you can contact the complaints dept. at goaway@Idontcare.com

Do you like my slippers? 

Big White is AWESOME! Back in time... Japanese Odyssey #5 Day one.

Mount Fuji

I was deleting stuff from my phone yesterday and I came across notes from my second Japanese Odyssey, back in 2019... yep! Pre Covid! Remember pre-covid? It was when you could travel. 

The Japanese Odyssey is not a race, it is a... er... Odyssey, yep invented by Odysseus himself - a self supported, self directed, the route other than check-points and special segments (here you can read 'mountain climbs') is planned by yourself... the goal is to finish... not many named 'Chris' finish and (spoiler alert), this 'Chris' didn't finish... again. Even though it is not a race, to keep things simple, I'm gonna refer to it as a 'race'.

It is 6am ish,  October 12th 2019, I am in Kagoshima and I can see the local volcano dispensing ash from its er... ash dispenser, you know, the bit at the top. The start of the ride, well the first 20kms or so call for riding through the ash cloud. Unsurprisingly my mind is doing its thing and thinking 'hmmm, that looks pretty cool to ride through' my mind is so dumb sometimes.

Bike... er wait... did you guess that?

I had been in Japan a few days now, I'd landed in Tokyo (without my bike... again...) spent the night at an airport hotel and then flew down to Kagoshima the next morning. The bike was a bit of a worry since I was in Japan to ride it. But, I had been assured by the nice people at ANA (I love ANA) that it was on route and would follow me, and most importantly arrive for the start of my Odyssey. 

Of course it did arrive, (or this would be a very short blog) around 4pm the ride eve - similar to Christmas but without gifts... or cake. My schedule is now a little tight, as in 'Oh my god! I'm never gonna get it done...!' I have to build it, pack it for the ride (I carry everything - spares, tools, food, clothing, sleep system (yep, I have a sleep system), lights, electronics etc etc), I have to pack the shipping bag for transport back to Tokyo (the race finish), and I have to go to the pre-race dinner and briefing at 7pm. Lots to do eh? I get it done, finishing after the pre-race stuff. Bed for a few hours, and up around 5am and head off to the start, bike and bike-bag in tow.

Look how cool that Ash cloud is... not.

All is good, well almost everything, my tires still need air. Every organized bike ride I have ever done, someone has had a track pump... every bike ride... except this one. I'm still looking for someone else to blame for my ineptitude, unfortunately no-one yet. We drop all the gear to be shipped, eat second breakfast, do the obligatory photo shoot, eat third breakfast, final tweaks, eat early morning, post breakfast(s) first snack, final brief and... after sevenses (like elevenses except earlier), we start. 

Kinda, my first port of call is the gas station to get air in my tires. I couldn't get the valve to fully seal, I managed to get 'some' air in my tires but not real riding pressure. Still, I set off 10 mins behind the rest... I have probably 150 hours of riding over the next 10 days, 10 mins is not going to make a big difference... low pressure tyres tho...

Clunk! Did my chain come off?
Why yes, yes it did.

The road had some Autumn debris...
and it scored a massive 6.0!

The temp is great, sun is shining, slight ocean breeze, not too warm - a great start. About 8kms in I get to the ash cloud... it looked cool. It was not. It was hot, dry and very gritty... of course the best option is to sweat profusely so the ash has something to stick to... and to continue breathing so the grit can get into your lungs, (I tried the alternative but...) your drive train is fine because it is covered in fresh, clean lubrication... for the first 30 seconds. Eight kms later and I come out of the cloud, 'hmmm... not as much fun as I imagined...' my mind, it is so dumb.

My first navigational challenge is at about 30kms, turn right, go up the hill... well, until the road disappears, turn around, get a puncture... I say 'puncture' but I am running tubeless, so I get a 'squeak' the best way to describe it is a very high pitched fart. And you thought this blog was highbrow. My tires, which, still needed air... now need more (one anyway). I get back down to the coast, find another garage and top up, full this time. 

"Right, I need to re-route and then make up some time... lets go!" I tell myself, I put the power down as I cross the road and... Clunk! 'What? Did my chain just come off?' Well, yes, yes it did - because it snapped. Isn't that a bugger. The kind friendly garage guy walks over to me - yep, that is how far I had got. He came over to help 10 mins and one set of spare split links later and I am off.

Right, this time, let's go! I set off up the next hill, on my mapping program it connects to the road I want to be on. There are big red signs saying the road is closed... but sometimes you can get through on a bike... of course sometimes you cannot. I turn around again, back down to the coast. I track further, head uphill on a main road and get to another option to get back on my route.

Not much room for cars, even tiny Japanese ones...

Again, big red signs... I head up this beautiful, just stunningly beautiful, very very quiet road. The further I get the less sign of life there is; the road begins to fill up with Autumn debris - leaves, bark etc. Nobody has driven this road for a long time... but, there are bike tracks - another rider is ahead of me, and he/she has not turned around yet. The road continued, and it continued to be beautiful. I found, ha! 'found' the reason for the 'road-closed' signs, yep, it was mostly blocked. But, on foot or pushing your bike you could navigate the narrow wooden walkway built as a temporary solution. So, third time/road lucky and I was through. It was definitely worth it.

I look back on my 'notes' from the day. The notes make as much sense as Siri listening to an out of breath, verbally challenged Northern Englishman, trying to talk into his phone whilst balanced precariously pedalling with one hand. Yep - no sense at all... for example "And I think discovered you bridging the gap between candle..." told you, and I have no idea what it means.

The rest of the day was less memorable, I remember riding up this long hill in the Lantern Rouge position - dead last. And watching all the other riders who were ahead of me, pass me on their way down... how far ahead? Too many.

Daily Stats-

• 226kms
• 13 hours moving, 
• 19 hours total.
• 4670m elevation gain.

Mental relief points - lots.

Volcano n stuff...

Second part of the day.

The 13 hours were moving time, a few others were spent cursing, eating, drinking, getting lost and looking confused on the side of the road. Eventually I ended up in a group of five and we stopped riding around 1:30am. I would like to say I put my head on the pillow and slept the sleep of the dead, I didn't, but that is another story. Ha! Wait! I found it-

http://solidoproperties.blogspot.com/2019/

Solido Properties Ltd lives a Big White Ski Resort, and when not skiing, riding bikes, kitesurfing, or travelling... manages seasonal properties on the mountain.

Have you ever done a Odysseus inspired adventure? Let me know.

C.