Colin In Canada

Tuesday, 18 December 2007

Is it time to go back to work already?

It seems like I haven't really had 2 days off; carting David round Banff and then Sunshine wasn't my normal routine of a relax and a gentle ski, but hey- I've got family in Canada now!

Sunday and Monday, I was working in the OSL and Guest Services in that order, and it was nice to have some company down in G/S for once (I do that alone more often than not).

On Sunday, the Sign Shop here in the Village had an open day, and therefore the opportunity to see what goes on, but more importantly to get free stuff- I came away with a slightly fuller stomach, and a 6' metal sign directing people blue run #80 'Upper Free Fall', which is currently at a jaunty angle at the foot of my bed. I have no clue what to do with it at the end of the season- I'm not sticking it on the plane and I don't think John would really appreciate it- but in the mean time it adds a slightly eccentric decoraction to my room.

Monday evening was a fair bit more interesting than most- after coming up from Guest Services (slightly annoyed that DHL wasn't delivering the package I was promised) and dinner, I saw a Winch Cat working on one of the mogul runs by the staff cafe. So I hopped in...




Left, the cat is at the bottom of the run, and you can just see the cable reaching for the top of the run which could be up to 1km away.



Die, moguls, die! Hooking the cable onto the anchor

This piece of machinery is incredible. With the blade on the front (6 axes of freedom!), the snow is pushed around to fill the gaps between the bumps, or to add to the bumps which conceal a rock. Then you've got the tiller at the back, which is also fairly manouverable, and smooths everything down to the beautiful corderoy we know and love.... Affixed to the back of the Cat is a powerful hydraulic winch, freely rotating 360 degrees round the whole vehicle and constantly putting pressure on the cable to enable the Cat to climb or descend very steep gradients. But the most amazing thing about the Cat is its control system, and therefore the person who operates it. 2 joysticks, a yoke, wheels, knobs, switches, buttons and a throttle pedal are needed to control the beast, which Bill seemed to do fairly effortlessly. He's been doing it for 20 years, 19 of those at Sunshine.

Anyway, after I'd been in the cab for a couple of hours (I felt pretty at home in my 4-point harness and lots of 'turbulence'), I went back to Sunburst, where I ended up in one of the next rooms along with some mates (mostly Ski School), learnt how to play Buffalo and other less innocent games, and ended up very drunk. I think I sent David a text just as I went to bed telling him I had a pass for him tomorrow, but he didn't reply. I think my words and wording were more than a little confusing...

Oh, and it's been snowing a lot recently.
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