With exactly four weeks to go until I come home, I've been thinking about things that I like and that I don't like about Whistler and working here in the ski school...
Things I love about Whistler and the ski school:
- Free training... My skiing has improved radically over the course of the season as a result of high quality training on a regular basis
- The terrain... Whistler and Blackcomb have an endless amount of terrain, the majority of which I've barely touched in 4 years of holidays and a season spent skiing here.
- The base pod core... Making friends with the guys here has been awesome. There has always been someone great to ski and train with. Plus teaching and socialising with these guys around has been a lot of fun.
- I'm working outside all day every day which has got to be good for your health.
- Without even lying I get to tell people that I'm a ski instructor... and I do this on a regular basis
- Having access to Skype... it's a lifeline to home
- The fact that the best instructors here are the humble ones... you'd never know they're the best skiers on the mountain
- I haven't touched a programming language for 4 months!
- The commute to work is a 10 minute walk through the village overlooked by the mountains
- I'm paid to ski every day before the punters do... On a powder day, the instructors will have stolen all the best lines on the lower lifts before the public even get a look in!
Things I hate about Whistler and the ski school:
- Jennifer's not here!
- The weather forecasts... They constantly predict 35-40cm of fresh snow but invariably the forecast is wrong. Yes we get 35-40cm days but not with the frequency that the whistlerblackcombpropaganda.com website would have you believe!
- Rain and wet snow... Sometimes it just rains and it's just as miserable as winter at home.
- The infuriation of being such a perfectionist that I'm rarely happy with my own skiing... sometimes you just have to go and rip it without worrying about ski technique!
- Instructors that take their training tooooo seriously
- Being ranked lower than the older instructors who haven't taken a ski instructor course in the modern era and refuse to teach group lessons or beginner lessons.
- Waking up tired and achy every day... It makes me realise that I'm not 21 anymore!
- The obsession of some instructors about getting tips... it's just not good guest service to expect a tip!
- Being left standing outside for an hour when you offer to help out other pods in need
- Noisy Canadians and Americans hitting the 7-11 shop late at night... Honestly, why do you have to scream your heads off you idiots!
