ok...today was my first day working at Eldora mountain as a ski instructor...the drive up is around 21 miles and most of it is on this type of road..it is a bit sketchy for a city boy, but not horrible....it takes around 1/2 hour which used to be the time it took for me to drive from Santa Monica to Beverly Hills in the morning...about 7 miles if that....crazy to think about that...now, for all of you who dream of the glamour of ski instructing let me run down the day for you...just in case you need to think twice...
wake up at 6:30, coffee, get dressed, go start the car, scrape the snow off the car, drink coffee, get in car, spin out, drive car for 1/2 hour with a tight sphincter up a mountain road that is potentially icy with big tailgating truck locals behind you, get to the mountain, park in the "employee lot", walk from the employee lot to the lodge, check in, put your boots on and make sure you are on time with the 30 other instructors for "line up" at 8:45..hope it is busy enough to get a lesson, if it is, go inside and help the kids suit up, put on their boots, talk about random things that kids talk about, really funny actually, make your way back outside..oh, did I mention it was 17 degrees with a windchill today that made it close to 0?, now teach 4-12 kids to ski for the next 5.5 hours..take them to lunch, pick them off the ground, hold conversations about dogs that bite and the reason they don't like apples, you can't feel the toes cause it's cold, your face is burning and your hungry...end of the day, take all the kids in to the lodge, get them all hot chocolate and grade them for their parents who are eagerly awaiting them, sometimes if you are lucky with a tip for you, but usually not, go back to the employee locker room, pull your boots off and walk to the car, scrape the snow off, spin out, drive down the same mountain road only this time you are going down hill and it is even scarier, get to Boulder, back home by 5, clean up and relax....
Now, I happen to actually love this, but it can be alot of work for...10$ an hour...yes..10 an hour...there is room for upward mobility and pay, but heck...i am there to ski..did I mention that I have a all season pass and i can ski whenever I want?
oh yeah...and I will be doing this 4 days a week!!! eat your hearts out...
Friday, December 14, 2007
the drive
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6 comments:
Sounds like a lot of bloody hard work for $320 bucks a week, minus taxes!! But heck...the ski passes must be worth their weight in gold!
not really..the passes I think cost around 400.00 or so...its the prestige.
:-) You already have prestige!
I have come to believe that just about every human being looks at other human beings and thinks, "They have it made...I wish what they had," when the truth is there are wonderful things, annoying things, frustrating things and beautiful things about ANYTHING in life. The important thing is to be where you are and appreciate what you have...then if and when necessary, go for a change when you need it. There is never one final perfect existence, and for me that is an incredible relief. I don't have to worry about trying to find that!! I can instead enjoy what I have and where I am.
I was a little jealous of you taking off and doing something new but hey...I don't like cold that much and spending that many hours with a bunch of kids for $10/hour...not so much. So hey...I'm SO OVER the jealousy thing :)
You could be riding your road bike in that weather.....
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