A Day In The Life

A snowboard instructor's job consists solely of teaching snowboarding, right? Wrong. In this blog I will outline the exact happenings of the relatively normal day that I had at work today.

7:50AM
The alarm on my phone goes off. It's a slightly more tolerable sound when not experiencing the effects of Daylight Savings Time.

8:25AM
I get in my snow covered Explorer, blast the defrost, and dust the windows off so that I can pretend to see when I drive.

8:30AM
Gas station. It seems to be taking forever for my gas to pump!

8:40AM
On the road. It snowed overnight and is still snowing. The plows have not yet come through.

9:05AM
Ski Cooper parking lot. A parking lot attendant is telling me where to park, and honestly, I think I could find a closer parking spot, but I'm in a cooperative mood this morning.

9:15AM
Geared up. Time for breakfast.

9:25AM
I explain to a woman that she can buy a Panda ticket (children's all day ski lesson) at either the ticket window or in the rental shop.

9:30AM
I rescue an overly eager small child from his snowboard bindings. He put his board on and neither he nor his mother knew how to undo the bindings.

9:40AM
Another instructor sends me on a mission to get them breakfast.

9:47AM
I tell 6 never-ever snowboarders that their lesson will start in 10 or 15 minutes.

9:50AM-10:15AM
I am asked by a few people when the snowboard lesson is going to start. I am informed by a woman that her family tried especially hard to get there on time for the 10AM lesson. My supervisor decides who teaches what lesson, so I can't do much to change the situation, and it's still before 10, so I tell them their lesson will likely start in a couple of minutes. I ask a group of Pandas if they're excited to go skiing. They say yes, but most of them sound like they wish they were still in bed. I help some Pandas find their skis. I explain to a couple of people where to check in for their Panda lesson and point out my supervisor for a few people who are running late for their ski lesson.

10:20AM
I go out with a half-day snowboard lesson. During the course of the three-hour lesson, I get to snowboard all over the mountain because the student was an "advanced intermediate" snowboarder. This essentially means that he snowboards mainly easy and intermediate terrain, but is capable of advanced terrain- at least that is how I classify it. Having learned from past mistakes we start on the Poma lift and the go up the double chair and come down an intermediate run called Trail's End.

11:30AM
Break time. It is currently snowing and that snow coats your face. It is also a tad bit chilly.

11:35
Up the double chair, down an easy trail on the backside called Eagle, up the triple, down an advanced trail that the student requests which is named Motherlode. Back up the triple. While at the bottom of the triple, I explain to a mother that if her daughter is really miserably cold they can warm up in Ski Patrol hut at the top, rather than suffering for the entire way down the frontside to get to the lodge.
Notes for the wise: Keep a set or two of handwarmers in your pocket. On a cold day ensure that they are in your pocket, rather than figuring out that they are in your backpack at the bottom of the hill when you are on the backside with freezing cold hands

12:20 PM
Break time again. Rather than going down the front side and taking our break in the Children's Center like we did the first time, we take our break in the Ski Patrol hut at the top of the triple.
Random fact of the day: A certain sized oxygen tank has 660 liters of oxygen in it when full. I'm not sure what size tank this is. It's small enough to be portable though. Just as a guess, I'd say it's a C tank.
We make hot chocolate with "Dark Chocolate Sauce" and hot water. No one is really sure how much "Dark Chocolate Sauce" to use. A snowboarder comes in who did her binding wrong, so we unscrew the strap in order to shove it through, because it was not going to go back the way it went in. We finish our hot chocolate and are just about to leave as a man skis into the patrol shack. I'm not sure why or how he did this, but it would have involved stepping up onto the wooden deck, skiing across it, opening the door and then skiing onto the carpet. A patroller kindly informs him that he needs to take his skis off and then offers to put them in the rack outside for him.

12:35PM
One last run down the backside on a trail called Treasure Trove because my student wanted to go down it. It is an intermediate pathway through the trees. From there we manage to wander across about 5 different trails on our way to the bottom of the triple. Up the triple. Down the frontside on an advanced trail called Pando which my student wanted to go on because "his dad never let him go down it because it is a boring trail". After awhile he decides to cut over to an easy trail called Sitzmark. Once on Sitzmark I inform a mother with a small child (The size of child that commonly uses an "edgie-wedgie" and may or may not be capable of doing a "pizza" to stop themselves. Also the size known for wearing harnesses which their parents hold onto in order to control them.) that they probably do not want to go down Pando as it is ungroomed, bumpy in spots, and has lift towers to run into. She wisely stays on Sitzmark. Student and I make it to the bottom of the hill and tell his dad what he should work on.

1:30PM
I run over to the cafeteria for lunch, taking 2 ice chests with me which were used to bring over Panda lunches.

1:42PM
I take 2 students up the hill to start their lesson. In a group lesson we teach to the lowest ability of student, meaning that the "crawling snow monster" (reason for this name will be explained in a minute) is determining how fast we progress. I'm not sure how old the "crawling snow monster" was, but we recommend that students be at least 8 years old to take a snowboard lesson and it's also useful if they have previously skied as that gets them used to sliding on the snow. "Crawling snow monster" improves at the heelside slide. Rather than walking up the hill like a person normally would, he determines that crawling up the hill while still having one foot attached to his snowboard is easier and faster, hence why I am referring to him as the "crawling snow monster". Neither my roommate nor I understand this logic. I decide that maybe he would be better off with both feet strapped in, as some people just can't manage to have 1 foot loose when snowboarding. So, we strap both of his feet in and he improves dramatically. When I asked him whether he was going to unstrap one foot or both feet to walk up the hill, he told me he was going to walk up the hill with both of his feet strapped in. Snowboards aren't really designed to allow you to walk up the hill. You can hop up the hill with them, but that takes a slight amount of talent, which I didn't think the "crawling snow monster" had yet achieved. So, the "crawling snow monster" attempts to walk up the hill and does not succeed, but hey, at least he tried. When I asked him why he thought walking up the hill would work he replied "It works in my Shaun White video game!". Unfortunately, the "crawling snow monster" was not Shaun White nor was he in a video game.

2:15 PM
Another instructor takes over my snowboard lesson because I was dizzy. You would think that this would mean my day was done, but not quite. I help a young Panda get her gloves, helmet, "racing number" (all of the Pandas wear bibs so that they can be identified as being in the Panda Patrol. Reasons for this might include: it warns other skiers of a possible lack of skiing ability and it assists in the whole "lost" child thing.), and coat off because she decided that she was done skiing for the day.

2:30PM
As I'm headed out for the day, I convince the "crawling snow monster" that he should go back to his snowboard lesson.

3:30PM
Back in my dorm room. I really think it would be awesome if the roads were plowed at all. Driving home at 30mph only holds so much excitement. The road up to CMC is especially interesting, as the car in front of me got stuck and I drove up the middle of the road in someone else's tire tracks, hoping that no one was coming down the hill at that moment. Upon getting out of my car, I discover that the snow is like knee-deep. This may be nice for skiing and snowboarding, but it isn't nice for walking when you get back to the dorms.

4:30PM
Time to write a blog.

5:30PM
Time to stop writing the blog and do my Introduction to Business homework. Maybe I can manage to get ahead of my homework so that I'm not always doing it the night that it is due.

Who knows what the rest of the day holds. I think homework, dinner, and sleep should pretty much do it for me.

By the way, you can stop hoping for snow now, because I'd like my car to not be a total lump of snow tomorrow.

2010 CMC Rail Jam and Slopestyle

I do not have pictures or results right now from the Rail Jam as I was really not feeling so great that day. I do however have a couple of pictures of the set-up that I got from the "CMC RAIL JAM AND SLOPESTYLE" Facebook event.

Just Add Water

Yale's Comedy Improv Troupe, Just Add Water, performed at a Leadville church this past Sunday night. Thanks to Student Government, Colorado Mountain College students were able to attend for free. There were only three students that went, but then again, it was the start of Spring Break.

The show was about an hour long and a lot of fun to watch. The troupe doesn't make any of the show up ahead of time- it is based solely off of what audience member's say.

The first "skit" involved a date that took place at an igloo, when the other person assumed that they were going to someplace like Paris, after having been asked out by an elementary school choir.

Another "skit" involved two people in an outhouse, and they both had a "voice inside their head" that would randomly speak.

The final skit was about 15 minutes long and involved a girl from the desert going to the forest because she needed a new adventure. Her father was uncertain about this adventure because her mother had gotten lost in the woods years ago. The girl when anyway though and ended up being re-united with her mother.

If you ever have a chance to see Just Add Water, I highly recommend it.

If you click on the title of this blog, you will be directed to Just Add Water's website where you can read more about the group.