Whistler: Have You Seen Me Shred?

Opening Day! 

The answer to this questions is, and always will be, ‘NO’. And now you owe me a dollar!

I will explain this later, but I just thought I would get an update out on how we are settling into the Whistler way of life, and getting back into the working world.

So firstly, our jobs are sweet. Both Nic and I are ‘Rental Techs’ at Affinity Sports. The company is awesome, and the crew are even better. They are owned by Whistler Blackcomb (WB), but still maintain some sort of independence. What this means is that we get the best of both worlds. Working for WB, you get access to a lot of staff discounts, which comes in handy when you 'making bank' at $10.25/hr. These perks include, staff accom – which has a number of perks in itself, discounted meals at certain restaurants, a season lift pass, discounts at some of the major retail shops, etc.

And then with Affinity still maintaining some independence, you get the Affinity staff parties, which we have already had a few of, you get to demo the gear we are renting, and if you play your cards right, you can help your family and friends out as well.

So yeah we are a few weeks into the season and the job has been sweet so far. The first week entailed training, drinking, and winning shite! Each night we had beers and food provided for us, whilst we learnt some of the finer points on the gear we stock by some humourous company reps, all whilst getting paid. The final day of training culminated in the first staff party, a casino night 'A' themed dress up party, where, with the fake money you had won and lost throughout the evening, you could partake in a silent auction. Nic walked away the biggest winner, with a brand new snowboard in check and a hangover to complete the Whistler experience.

Agassi and Angelica with their spoils

With the week's training under our belts, we were pretty much set to the task, with the mountain opening a week earlier than expected. I would say we have picked up the lingo and jargon reasonably quickly, but to be honest, it’s all about how much bullshit you can spin on the product you are pushing. Apparently this comes quite naturally to me.

It is only the second job I have had where I actually enjoy going to work. Although on some of the more hungover days, it has been quite the struggle!

As mentioned, we are in staff housing and we couldn’t have asked for more. We requested to be in Brio, which is a little quieter than Glacier but still has its moments. Glacier seems to be where the under 21s are put, and as you can imagine the party never stops up there. As we are now considered wise and mature, and old for that matter, Brio has suited us just fine. One of the best things about staff housing is you are surrounded by your mates. We have met a great crew, and everyone is only a flight of stairs away. You always have someone to ride with, someone else to share a cold one with, and someone else to suffer through an all-day hangover with – those are your true friends.

Just some casual drinks amongst friends

We haven’t had the best snow or conditions so far, but we did manage a 20cm day which had everyone frothing at the mouth. I have managed to get two core shots within two days of fixing each one, but have learnt a few tricks along the way and can now fix them myself. We are all hoping the weather changes and we start getting some good dumps, you just hope you have the day off on these said days!

First snow day

The Festive Season planning has begun, and to give things a little push in the right direction, we have started a ‘Round Sheet’. We have stolen this concept from work, and many sporting clubs we have been involved in, but the general idea is if you do or say something stupid, you owe a dollar. So yes, under no circumstances can you tell people how much of a shredder you are, or stack it off a chair lift, or play drinking games with water. All the money collected is going to go towards something festive, or probably just another carton – but cartons are pretty festive aren’t they?

I have also managed to see a few things I never got around to last time I was here. Perhaps that was due to the timing of my last visit, or the fact that the last trip to Whistler didn’t contain much else than drinking and riding. But yes, early on in the piece we managed to hike out to Lost Lake and spend an arvo chilling out on the water’s edge, and take in the scenery and serenity of the surrounding mountains. It did give us a small glimpse into what summer could be like in Whistler, and it looks pretty fricken inviting! I have also managed a visit out to Squamish, under my own invite this time, and the town is a whole lot better than the four walls I saw last time!

Lost Lake

So yeah, Whistler hasn’t yet delivered the snow we would have hoped for, but in all other aspects is it kicking goals, from 50, on the run…