Finally...

Those you who know me better will know that this blog is running about 4 weeks behind reality. To tell the truth not much of note has really happened in those 4 weeks. It has been quite a case of 'Groundhog Day'. We have sat around waiting for mother nature to come to the party with lashings of fresh pow pow.


A closed ski resort is an interesting place, especially one that the size of Big White. Technically, this place is the second largest ski resort in British Columbia, but when it comes to ranking resorts in Western Canada by size Whistler-Blackcomb comes first, daylight is second, then Big White and then well...who knows...there a lot of similar sized resorts in the rankings after that which I am sure will use minor details to distinguish themselves so we will leave them to fight it out amongst themselves.


When I arrived here in late October the place was in 'summer mode'. There were a handful of people living in the village, the grass was poking through a very thin layer of snow on the ground and nothing was open...and I mean nothing. No grocery store, no facilities not even the pub was open. It was as if I was camping in my apartment surrounded by the infrastructure of a ski resort long since closed.


For the first few days I would stand in the centre of the village and I was the only living thing in sight. Occasionally I would catch a glimpse of life as a door opened or closed or another lost soul scurried hurriedly across the village centre. I filled my days by sleeping in as long as possible, watching trashy cable tv, playing solitaire on the laptop and going for an afternoon walk discovering the mountain.


As the days went by the population grew. Almost everyday there was a noticeable difference in the number of people walking around as seasonal workers arrived from around the world (specifically Australia) and made their way up the hill. With the people, a village slowly came to life. The market opened, one of the pubs opened, the second pub opened, the village mall opened, a retail store within the mall opened...and so on and so forth until finally it was a village.


On Tuesday, nearly five weeks after I arrived and a week and a half behind schedule the Plaza Chair turned for the first time and the effect on the village was amazing.

We have suffered at the hands of mother nature. It has been and unusually warm late Autumn period. Three weeks ago we got some heavy dumps and everyone was talking about maybe opening early (Nov 21 instead of the scheduled Nov 27). People attended training to learn their role in the corporate machine that is Big White. Then the heat came...and came and stayed. The snow melted, the roofs cleared, the grass in the village poked through again. Everyone was told to go home from training and wait...we were in a 48 hour hold pattern waiting for the snow. This lasted two weeks.


A lot people (myself included) were still living on Australian dollars and the two weeks of Canadian dollars we had earned training went quickly. With the Australian dollar crashing amongst the turmoil of the Global Credit Crunch things around the village were grim.


Then last Friday as the 1,000 strong workforce gathered at the pub to do the only thing mother nature could not take from us...party...the skies darkened and the dark night turned white. It snowed and snowed and snowed. On Sunday when it was still snowing the village took on a whole new persona. People were rushed back into work, signs were dusted, railings were painted and Christmas lights were tested. A date was announced and the mountain was opening.


In the 24 hours leading up to the first chair turning the atmosphere was incredible. Everyone walked about with a smile on their face saying hello to everyone they past. On Tuesday morning the Village centre was alive. Hundreds of people, ski racks, an operating ski school, every shop in the mall was open, the bakery had fresh bread, the market had fresh vegetables and nearly every restaurant was open that night.


Those who had been in the village as long as I had had experienced a lot. The last month had been a roller coaster. The initial excitement of finally being here after months of planning and thousands of dollars and kilometres. Meeting new friends and comparing everything about where you came from, how you got here, where you were working, why you came, what you rode, where you slept, listened to, watched, read and cooked. Those days were behind us and what we had all been hoping for was delivered...and did the first day deliver. It gushed snow for the entire first morning of riding, in one hour on that morning we recorded 5cm of snow. For the last two days we have ridden the two lifts and 6 runs that are open nearly to death. The good news is we have over 30cm forecast for tonight and Friday and on Friday morning a third lift is opening expanding the rideable terrain.

Fresh snow and Canadian dollars - this place is looking up again.