Staff Christmas Party and Our first trip up the Mountain!

Aaron and I had a day off together on Wednesday and we finally decided to brave it up the mountain! We walked from Staff Accom to the Silver Platter (the run that is for kids that we have been practising on), we caught the Pomers up to the top. Pomers are interesting.. skiiers tuck the little plug between their legs where as snowboarders have to put it under their arm so for 5mins you're hanging on for dear life and your forearms burn an your quads burn from keeping your legs bent and trying not to fall over! I will have to get a photo of Aaron or I on it for you. Then we snowboarded down the Magic Carpet which is another beginner run then we caught the Mile One Quad chair lift up to Show Off and Horse Shoe. I didn't fall off =) These are supposed to be the 'easier' runs... We went down Show Off first and it was so steep! I went down the whole way braking.. I know there is a term for it but it is when you dig your heels in so you dont go fast. Definitely a beginner. There were skiiers zooming passed me and people in the chair lift going over me. SO intimidating! When we FINALLY got to the bottom I had had enough but Aaron wanted to go again. So we went down Horseshoe this time which we needed to go down to connect back to the Silver Platter to go home. This was just as steep and had heaps of bumps in it so people could do jumps and tricks. So I fell over lots.. super fun.. NOT!

I fell over seven times in total and winded myself twice.. I had to stop and rest a few times because my thighs were on fire from squating and pushing my heels in the whole way down. Definitely booking in for some lessons. Just need the confidence because whenever I pick up speed I freak out then fall over. Or whenever I try to go onto my toes I fall backwards which made up for the majority of my stacks.. Aaron fell over twice... damn him.. I think we might stick to the Silver Platter a bit longer..

We had our Staff Christmas Party that night in the Great Hall and we got a free buffet meal and two free drinks! The them was 'Ugly Sweater' but do you think we could find any ugly sweaters at the second hand store??? NO! So I bought Aaron an I Santa hats and tree skirts!!! So unattractive but it was in the spirit! We had roast pork, beef and turkey with some salads, mash and yummy desserts to choose from. Quite a good feast. They gave away heaps of prizes including two Heli Ski rides!!! Which is where you go up in a helicopter and they drop you of at the top of the mountain and you board/ski down! Crazy hey?! I am kind of glad I didnt win that one..

Work is going good. Aaron is really busy as the snow has picked up again as it got a bit warm and even got to 2 degrees! He has been staying back an hour here and there and even got called in on his weekend (Thursday) to do a full day.. Not happy..

My work has been amazingly quiet. I have had five shifts so far and have been sent home early from all except one! It is supposed to pick up during the week though because it is getting closer to Christmas so we will see. I served my first table last night! And I got a $15 tip yeehar!

We are both working Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.. I wonder if we get paid extra?? Aaron works 7am-3pm and me 4:30pm-10pm so we will see each other for the tiny gap in between our shifts because we are both asleep when we start/finish. Oh well..

Snowboarding - Take 2

My day in Invermere was very long! We caught the bus at 7:40 and started with breakfast at Huckleberries. It is so like the movies with the lady in her apron and big frizzy hair bringing the coffee out with her strong accent. I had eggs benedict and the hollandaise sauce was see through and kinda gross but I still devoured it. We managed to chill out there until 10:30 then we made our way up the hill into 'Downtown' which is pretty much one street with everything on it. We made our way down the left side towards the end of the street where Quality Bakery is which is AMAZING! We had lunch there and a nice little treat as well :)

Olivia booked a hair appointment at Bliss so Jane and I made our way to Valley Foods and they bought some meat. We then went to Sobeys and tried to be as slow as possible as the bus was 3 hours away.. Sobeys is where you gt the best deal on fruit and vegies. Olivia met us there and thankfully we bumped into Dwayne and Scott who took us to Pano in their car. Long day!!!

We are also having issues with withdrawing money which is becoming a massive pain in the arse! We have contacted TIO and are waiting for a reply. We have thought of a work around which is transferring money to NAB and then doing an international transfer to our Canadian account. Pain! TIO doesnt do international transfers so we are on a tight budget while we wait for the transfers to go through..

We also had a feast that night when our new roomies arrived (Bluey and Blucky - from Aus, Brianne from Ontario and Johanna ANOTHER SWEDE!) I managed to find 2kg of pork ribs for $10!!!! We had roast vegies and potato salad too. YUM YUM!

Aaron and I went for our second snowboard today with Dane. I managed to stay up for the majority of the time which was exciting!! We hiked further up the Silver Platter this time and I was knackered by the top! We had to rest for a bit before we started! We did three trips down the mountain and that took us an hour. Aaron only fell over about twice but I got one on camera!!!! And I lost count again but it was less than last time! YAY! Massive improvement for a second go. I am working on my turns now as I can stop without falling YIPPEE!

We have a Kings of Neon party downstairs tonight so all us 'loft crew' having matching head pieces and glow sticks. Its going to be awesome!!

Snowboarding - Take 1

The slope was open for staff today for 1hr over lunch. This slope was way too steep and scary for my first go so I convinced Aaron to begin on the Silver Platter (very beginner.. probably 30 degree angle)

The first mission was working out how to get my boots on. There are so many straps! After 15mins of squeezing in and working out how to clip all the straps down we were off. The hike there was interesting as the boots go up to the back of your calves and are angled forwards so you cannot straighten your legs. I felt like the boys at Moto X with their boots on.. 10minutes of awkward walking and we were at the Silver Platter. We hooked our boots into our bindings (another mission that Aaron had to assist me with) Finally I was standing! And moving! AAAAAH! How do I stop?! And then I ate snow... lots and lots of snow.. I lost count of the amount of times I fell over but the best one was when I tried to stop which is where you turn your board so you are facing down the mountain and you drive your heels into the snow. I failed at the driving of the heels part and catapoulted into the air like Evel Knievel and landed on my stomach.. Not so fun.. But its ok we bought helmets this morning so we were fine. 40% off for staff so Aaron and I got both our helmets for $160. Bargain! Aaron did well. Fell over a few times but no bruises. My knees copped a beating but thats about it. It was -22 degrees and we managed to get icycles on our eyelashes on the walk home!

Aaron isn't enjoying working in these cold temperatures. His fingers and toes keep going numb and his heel went black yesterday!! But it has returned to its normal colour which is good. We went to Invermere in the afternoon and bought Aaron some quality boots that are graded for -30 degrees. They are also steel capped and we bought nice thick merino wool socks and these heated bean bag things that stay warm in your boots for up to 6hrs so hopefully when he goes back to work on Friday he will feel his toes ALL day long! He has today and tomorrow off so a few days to chill out inside which will be good.

I met my manager Scott and he doesn't know when I should start at Wildfire. Initially I was supposed to start 1st December but he said he wont need me then so I will be attending orientation on the 2nd and then I will just have to wait and see about a start date...

We went to T Bar last night for a few drinks to celebrate Charlie's 30th (we actually hadn't met her yet) It was pretty fun. I tried a beer called 'What the Huck' made with huckleberries. It was ok, a sweet beer. We met lots of new people. Our whole room was there, sadly four are leaving next week to their permanent residence above the Jackpine pub (Olivia, Jane, Emmett and Patrick) and we are getting a Canadian girl, a Swedish girl and two Aussie guys who arrive on Tuesday.