The Other Side of the Coin

Since arriving back in the US from New Zealand, I've been a guest at a resort in the desert southwest. Why is this relevant to a blog about skiing, teaching skiing, and the many aspects of a life and career devoted to both? It's relevant because here I am the guest for a change. At Treble Cone and Okemo, and in the snow sports schools at both resorts, guest service is a major focus of everything we do - how we approach our jobs, how we dress, how we spend our time, etc. Once in a while, it's helpful to see how other people do it, and it helps to actually be the guest. There is an extent to which I feel like a carpenter entering a house built by someone else, taking a critical view of every service, every conversation, every system, but it's only a small extent. The reality of my stay here is the not-particularly-novel realization that good guest service works, it makes for a more relaxing, more enjoyable stay, and definitely makes me want to come back. While here it's been snowing in Vermont (and all over the northeast), ski areas have started up their snow guns, and the serious preparation for another winter season has begun. So I'll take a few more leisurely strolls in flip-flops and then it's back to the action, but it's been nice to see and experience the other side of the coin for a change.

Parting Ways, Parting Shot

I took the photo above on Saturday morning from Glendhu Bay, looking north across Lake Wanaka towards Mount Aspiring - 24 hours before leaving Wanaka at the conclusion of another winter season. I've seen the view hundreds of times and it still stops me in my tracks. I hope to see it hundreds more, but the photo will have to suffice in the interim.

I'm back in the US now, enjoying some down time before yet another winter season. I'm excited for it and for teaching skiing full-time at Okemo once again, but I'll enjoy my time in flip flops and warm weather while I have it. It'll snow soon enough and I'll be ready.

On the Valley Floor

Yesterday, Monday, after looking forward to it for several months, my friend and colleague Nick and I played a round of golf at the Wanaka Golf Club (Nick is pictured above showing the benefits of a youth spent in Scotland). In the middle of the day. In shorts. In the sunshine. With no responsibility for anyone or anything, for a few hours anyway. Sunday was the final day of the Treble Cone season and Monday on the first tee my off-season began in earnest. My tee shot traveled long and straight and landed smack, dab in the middle of the fairway – I can’t say that this boded well for my round but it was pretty cool from a metaphorical perspective.

The winter at Treble Cone is short and intense, lasting from the end of June until early October. With so many of the staff coming from overseas, there is a great deal of front-loaded work to do so we hit the ground running as soon as we get off our respective planes at the airport. We don’t really slow down until it’s all over, and then we start planning for next year. Thankfully, this season all of our hard work paid off in many ways big and small – for me, for Nick who runs our children’s programming, and for our director Klaus. We worked hard to effectuate a cultural shift in our snow sports school, generate more business for our staff and enhance the quality of our guest service while at the same time looking after the continuing technical development of our instructors. We succeeded at all of these things while generating a really good feeling among our staff. In the end, we solidified our place as the premier snow sports school in New Zealand, a tall order for a school with less than fifty instructors, something about which we are justifiably proud.

I do hope to return to Treble Cone next year – there are goals we’ve set for ourselves which we have yet to achieve and challenges we can better confront. Mostly, after it’s all said and done, TC remains an inspiring place to ski and ride and Wanaka remains a home away from home, so I’ll look forward to coming back. But for now, in the midst of the exuberance of spring, I can throttle back, walk a little more slowly, take the time to enjoy my friends and my surroundings, and breathe a little easier here along the lakeside on the valley floor. Like the winter season at Treble Cone, my off-season is short and I need to make the most of it. The next winter is right around the corner and my flip-flops need some outdoor exercise.