It's weird, once I actually got to Whistler, I basically stopped blogging. Still, here's a bit of an update to my life over the last year.
Winter:
Once in Whistler I got a job working in ski rentals for the mountain. My boss was nice, the team was average, and I worked downstairs in what I titled as 'The Dungeon'. I can firmly say that were I to do it again, there're things I'd do differently!
During that time I also failed to find accommodation so on Dec 1st I moved into a van. It was an old Dodge Ram van SWB. SWB stands for short wheel base, which also stands for 'bad choice' when choosing a vehicle to live in! After 2 and a half months I finally managed to get into staff accommodation. From that moment on, I was warm! My room mates were good and I got out boarding as regularly as possible. Oh, and I also broke the cartilage that holds one of my ribs to my sternum in a snowboarding crash. Not as painful as breaking a femur, but very unpleasant!
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New and old vans, the green Ford is a huge improvement!
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Over the season I became good friends with a slightly nutty couple of Australians and we went boarding together a bunch, drinking a bit (or a lot ion their cases!) and generally winging our way through the season. Unfortunately come the summer, they disappeared to other places...
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| Drinking with the Aussies |
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| And one with me in... |
Summer:
My aim in coming to Canada was to expand my options in the biking industry by becoming a bike instructor. So I got my PMBI (Canadian instructor qualification) Level 1 but just before starting the job I broke my left pinky by smashing it at some pace into a tree. (scroll down for the xray) I ended up just starting the job later on in the summer and still had fun, and now I have a pinky perfectly curved for holding onto handlebars! Near the end of the season I got my Level 2 qualification, so when I go back next year I'll be able to go straight into teaching the interesting stuff, including doing bike jumps.
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| The top of Lord of the Squirrels, plus Happy Hour extension. Exhausting, but an amazing view |
At the end of the winter I'd bought a different van, a bigger one, and started kitting it out to live in. This was a lengthy process, and 8 months on, I'm not 'finished', although I am satisfied with what I have done. It's really opened my eyes to it as a lifestyle and it might well be something I do well after leaving Canada. I've been living in there full time since May and we're almost into December now.
Mum and Dad came out and visited in September and I had the joy of playing tour guide for a while, we got to go and see some places I had wanted to see for a while, and they got to see where I lived (in a different van) and what Whistler was like.
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| Dad - an unwitting model! |
More to come!
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Garibaldi lake. Photos do not do justice to how beautiful this place is
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| And that is what happens when you hit a tree at speed with nothing but one finger |
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