Spreading the Gospel

One of the major downsides of working professionally as a skier, teaching and supervising teaching for ski schools year-round, is that there is a real danger of losing proper perspective. When acting as a supervisor and coordinator of programs, I find myself in the position of needing to keep instructors focused on what our goals and purposes really are and why we do it. I occasionally tell them that somewhere in the world there is a cubicle or an office for each of us, with a telephone, a computer, fluorescent lights overhead and our name on the door. We can choose to find it, to lead a more conventional existence with its particular rewards, pleasures and comforts, or we can choose to teach skiing and snowboarding for a living. Sometimes it works, sometimes the staff turns a deaf ear. Sometimes, I am the one who needs reminding and, luckily enough, I find those reminders frequently in many places, both expected and unexpected. I found one such reminder this morning, and a small chance encounter drove to the heart of why I love what I do and am so devoted to it.

Treble Cone closed today due to severe weather. It’s an infrequent occurrence here, but the resort does sit precariously on a shelf on the side of a big, high alpine mountain, so it is particularly vulnerable when big spring storms roar in off of the Southern Ocean. So, on days like today, all gray and stormy, the resort staff and guests wander aimlessly from shop to shop, drinking familiar espresso drinks with odd Kiwi names in the many cafes in Wanaka, grateful for an extra day of rest but anxious with the hope of a powder day tomorrow. It’s a nice vibe, in the way the occasional storm can enforce a mellow quietude on any small town. Even I succumbed to the impulse to buy something for myself, stopping into a sport shop in town

In the shop, I was surprised to be recognized by a guest right away, asking me “Are you Russ?” At first, I had no recollection of him – not unusual given the number of people I meet while working. Then he sprung it on me: I had taught him to ski from scratch two years ago during my first season at Treble Cone. Searching the mental rolodex, I remembered. He’s an Australian in his ‘30’s named Michael, and I remembered him in part because he is probably the tallest person I’ve ever taught skiing. His lessons presented an interesting challenge at the time because of his height – he is a good athlete, but lets just say that he exerts different forces on his skis and moves in a way slightly different from people who are under six feet ten inches tall. We had a lot of fun two years ago and, like many people hesitant to learn skiing at Treble Cone because of its reputation as an expert’s mountain, he stayed and enjoyed our resort because it is a very different and immensely more personal experience than beginners can have at our vastly busier neighboring resorts.

Michael is hooked on skiing. He loves it, and he told me that he’ll always remember having had his first ski experiences with me at TC. He now lives in the UK and has been skiing in Europe when he can during the Northern Winter. He is excited to be back in Wanaka and skiing at Treble Cone this week – returning to his roots in skiing, so to speak. I say it all the time: in my view one of the central tenets of our profession is sharing our passion for our sports with our students. It’s infectious, and when we welcome new people to our sports, get them hooked, and later have the opportunity – on the hill, in passing and in chance encounters in town – to see that they love it as much as we do, it reinforces what a wonderfully gratifying experience our jobs can be.

The storm will clear this evening and tomorrow we and our guests will ski and ride at Treble Cone in deep powder on some of the best and most beautiful terrain for it anywhere in the world. Plus, if I’m lucky, I’ll get to spread the gospel to more people and maybe even make some turns for myself.

Technical Difficulties

I'm currently experiencing problems with my internet access at home here in NZ. Please bear with me, as I have some insights, stories and great photos to share. I hope to have the problems resolved shortly. In the meantime, here's a recent photo for you to enjoy, taken on a recent morning as a storm cleared and left us with an inversion at Treble Cone.

Into The Light

I took the photos immediately above and below while standing in my backyard yesterday evening - no editing, filtering, tweaking or fancy camera settings required. In the far background is Mount Niger, which sits next to Treble Cone in the heart of the Mount Aspiring National Park. I took the bottom photos at sunrise on the same day, the first while in the middle of our morning commute and the rest from Treble Cone. On our commute as the sun rose above the horizon, Lake Wanaka turned to fire, and we stopped the staff van on the side of the road and all had a "moment of zen" as we took in the light show.

The circumstances of all of these photos are a sure sign that Spring is approaching here in Central Otago - the sun rises before we get to work and the sky is still light when we get home at the end of the day. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I may endure two winters every year, but I am blessed to be able to experience the joys of Spring, twice. It's already been an exceptional season of skiing and riding at Treble Cone. We've had an amazing amount of snow, we've been quite busy in the Snow Sports School, and the quality of the teaching and skiing of our instructors has been inspirational and quite gratifying given the hard hours put in by those of us responsible for the management and training of our staff. There's still over a month left of the season, and I'll enjoy all of it while looking forward to looking back on it from the warm embrace of Spring.

Line 'Em Up

A picture is worth a thousand words and, in this case, a lot of snow. We're in the middle of an amazing storm cycle here on the South Island of New Zealand. At Treble Cone, we had a big storm Thursday night into Friday morning, and another storm Sunday morning with some heavy snows and then sunny skies in the afternoon. There's a massive storm due to hit us on Tuesday morning, another on Wednesday morning, and (for those who are counting) a fifth storm on Thursday. At the moment, avalanche danger is pretty severe in the resort, so ski patrol is working overtime and we're all trying to temper the excitement of everyone anxious to head to the backcountry - a big task given the amount of backcountry access at Treble Cone, the large number of TC skiers who routinely venture to ski it, and the astonishingly large crowd that came to our resort today after word of our fresh powder spread.

The pictures here are from an awesome weather prediction website called MetVUW. They show the next three storms we're expecting on each of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. It's a big line up of weather and, if all goes well and our hard-working patrollers can help keep Treble Cone safe from avalanches, we're in for some pretty serious powder.

Patience Rewarded

On Friday, July 31st, Treble Cone was closed due to severe weather. As is always the case when this happens those few times during a given season, the staff of the resort and the staff of our neighbors at Cardrona and Snow Park were all wandering aimlessly around town all day, sipping coffee at any number of cafes, and generally working hard to appear occupied. This morning, August 1st, there were clear skies in Wanaka as we left town on the staff transport, and the storm lifted from Treble Cone just as the crowds were beginning to line up for a great powder day. We conducted our regular morning instructor training clinics with the sun striking us head-on, making turns in a foot-and-a-half of fresh powder (on top of some already great conditions). I was fortunate to be able to ski all day - first while conducting a clinic and then with some guests who ski well and know the mountain's particular nooks and crannies. It was a terrific day without qualification, and we definitely reaped the rewards of patiently awaiting the end of the storm. There are another few storms literally lined up and waiting their turn to hammer us with snow here on the South Island of New Zealand, and the skiing and riding should continue to amaze even those of us who work here. I hope to post some more ski specific photos in the coming weeks, but today I was a little too busy actually skiing to stop and pull out the camera. This photo of skiers' tracks off the Treble Cone summit this afternoon will have to suffice in the meantime.