Gorious, glorious -37...
The thing about working at Sunshine is the unusual mode of transport for commuters: The Gondola. And it's unusual weakness, for a system critical to everyone who visits the mountain, is that it doesn't like the cold. Below -32 degrees, even GOD (Gondola Operations Department) can't make it start. Therefore, on a cold day such as Monday, it might not run at all...
What this means is that the hill is closed to everyone who isn't already there, namely hotel guests (max 240, but then only 47) and staff (200, but about 50 off-duty). The lifts can run in colder temperatures than the gondola, so at about 11:30 they'd managed to open our beginner's chairlift. For about 20 people... And over night there had been 15cm of snow, which becomes 28cm when you add it to yesterday's fresh stuff... And there was no wind and not a cloud in sight... Results are below:
It's noon, and you can count exactly how many people had been down this run.
Strawberry triple, with my mate Matt. I can count 5 people in this shot!
We went for some lunch at Staff Cafe, where I lost Matt and met up with some other instructors who lived on hill. By the time we'd finished our lunch, another lift (Standish Express) had opened and a much larger area of fresh powder had opened up.
Because of the extreme cold, the snow had fallen very fine and cold, and the biggest problem with this is its speed. Cold snow is very slow unless you splash out on graphite wax, which only lasts for one day anyway. So we all ended up looking for steeper runs, and anything that is groomed is just a waste of time. Off Standish Express is a huge selection of chutes, drops, bowls and tight runs which hadn't been touched. This is where we spent the afternoon...
Alex and Paul at the top of one such run, with a deserted Sunshine Village behind.
After falling over and sliding backwards with no skis on, I did a couple more runs then went to warm up. What a cool day out (literally). And I got paid for 3 hours of it!
Listen with me: Feeder - Just The Way I'm Feeling
posted by Colin at
8:04 pm
2 Comments:
Wow! Sounds like that was a brilliant day out! What a pity that no-one else was allowed on the mountain ;)
I hope that it wasn't too cold for you as you had that problem with gloves when I was there.....
The night out seems like it was fun, and what a good way to spend the Ralf Bucks which you had earned!
Have fun, email me asap, the school server is now up and I need to speak to you regarding the 3rd Feb :D
By
Anonymous, At
31 January 2008 at 04:33
Those photos are amazing - and we presume only those with enough alcohol in their veins or have endured artic training, were fit to survive the incredibly low temperatures!
Wonder how many more "cold" snaps you can expect this winter? What is the coldest temperature on record there? Hope you have now thawed out and a few more people have come out of hibernation to sample the delights of those glorious quiet runs...
By
Anonymous, At
31 January 2008 at 10:05
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