When I was still in high school, a friend’s (Shirley) older
brother arrived home one day on a 10 speed bike. He had just ridden home from Alberta
where he had spent the winter working at a ski lodge and he took his end of the
season bonus, bought a bike and rode home to Toronto .
I was amazed; this is how you should spend your life. This is how I should
spend my life. I questioned him about all of the specifics and over a period of
time I decided that this was for me.
With the passing of time and the passing of my final grade
13 exams, I was a free agent with no plans responsibility or cash. I contacted Sunshine
Village Banff bus station
November 22 at 2:00PM .
I don’t remember just how I got out to Alberta ,
but I did and the first thing I remember was being terrified while the bus drove
up the switch back road leading to Sunshine. I would walk that road, on the
mountain side, but there is no way I would drive a bus on it. That requires a
special kind of crazy. On arrival at the ski lodge I couldn’t help but notice
that there wasn’t any snow, which is problematic for a ski lodge. One of the
other employees-to-be asked about the lack of snow and the manager just smiled
and said “Oh…there will be snow and snow and snow.”
I lucked out when it came to jobs. Some people had to stand
either at the foot of the chairlift or the top, helping customers on and off
the chair. Others worked cleaning the rooms or working in the kitchen,
restaurant or bar. A few were hired to run the snow ploughs and large
“grooming” machines. I got the front desk job that entailed checking guests in
and out, calling the Calgary radio
stations and lying about the snow conditions. I was to always say the
conditions were EXCELLENT and we were expecting more snow at the present time.
Once people made the hour and a half drive to ski, they were going to have a
great time no matter what. Well, that’s what the general manager said.
We did get snow for the opening day, and it was more than I
would ever have thought could drop in a day. In fact, one day, late for work I
blindly ran out of the staff cabin right into an eight foot drift in front of
the door. Within two weeks, all of the runs had a good base and more snow was
coming all of the time. The day before opening, all of the staff was treated to
a dinner party in the main lodge. The drinks were plentiful the food excellent
and it was the first time I had ever had Baked Alaska.
I did like working at Sunshine for the most part. My job was
pretty easy and I got to talk to people from most parts of the world. Our
shifts always began or ended at noon
which gave us the opportunity to ski for a half day, every day which was the
reason all of us were here. Well, except for that one guy who just always
wanted to work in the hospitality industry? Most of the staff were returning
workers and great skiers, so I didn’t actually have anyone to ski with.
I guess I was pretty lonely most of the time. The friends I
did make were more acquaintances than friends or co-workers at best. I was
pretty shy back then and missed the closeness of my friends back home. I missed
everything, the classic home sickness. I couldn’t stay. I should have stayed,
but didn’t. Who knows where I would be if things had gone differently? I do
know one thing, I wouldn’t trade my life now for anything.
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