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.

Big White is AWESOME! A day in the life of...

 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.

So today. Well my day started with picking up poop... actually my day started with coffee, courtesy of my lovely wife. I slowly came to sipping coffee and a quick Duolingo (Italian for me), then it was dressed and getting the dogs out, three dogs... picking up poop comes with the territory.

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.

We get home, the dogs charge upstairs, they all try to eat each other's food. My back has been bugging me so I do a quick yoga session, 15 mins. It helps, I should do it more often, there are lots of things I should and shouldn't do... then a quick breakfast and by 8:45 I am out the door.

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...

Oh... guess what? Instructors maybe helping enforce lift line mask compliance on the weekend. You may see me being a little Mussolini (I told you I was learning Italian... not German). "Please put on your mask, or you're not getting on the chair... nope, removing your mask to talk on your phone is not okay, your phone does not provide immunity... surprisingly..." 

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. 

Heading home is easy - did I tell you where I live...? Sorry, rubbing it in. Lunch is leftovers.

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?