December in Vail Part 1
Another multi-part update situation
Pet Sitting in Avon
I joined TrustedHousesitters, a website that lets you find available pet sits worldwide. Pet owners get free sitters, while pet sitters get free accommodation - win win. Ideally, it will allow me to travel more cheaply!
To get a good review, and then hopefully get sits more easily, I applied for the closest available sit. I looked after a cute cat and a very old dog in Eagle for a couple of nights.
Walking in was scary. I forgot I’m scared of dogs. But this dog didn’t bark or bite and was so old that she didn’t jump up on me! Bit of exposure therapy!
It was a bit spooky being in someone else’s house by myself. Made spookier by the cameras they had facing the living room and dining area. But it was a cozy house and very well decorated for Christmas. Even the couch pillows, tea towels and bedspreads had been swapped out for Christmas ones. It was like being in an American movie set.
I had fun walking around Eagle in the snow and going to the climbing gym.
Levon arrived!!
I thought Levon was coming on Sunday because that was the date of his flight. I got it wrong - he left on Sunday and arrived on Monday. Now, Angus and Andy call him Leave-on-Sunday.
We met Levon at the Vail Transportation Centre. Put his stuff in the van and walked him straight to the gondola. He had insisted he would ski straight off the bus, and we were holding him to it!
Cultural differences on the Ski Field
Unlike skiing in New Zealand, where the snow is wetter, and the weather is more unpredictable, you can kind of wear anything to ski here. There’s still expensive GoreTex, but there is also jeans, cowboy hats, a LOT of fur, and 80s one pieces. We (fur snobs) have identified a correlation between more fur and more sitting in the cafe drinking wine and taking photos for Instagram.
There are several characters who have been here since the 80s and have forgotten to change their clothes or their teleskis. One guy is locally known as ‘Forever Man’ - easily identifiable by the red on the calves of his ski suit. He is an ancient but expert skier who can be found skiing the run ‘Forever’ non-stop once the back bowls open. And then there’s Andy - a character in his own right - who we have been calling ‘Whatever Man’ because he says that so often.
Another key difference is the attitude to safety. At home, you get told off for not putting the chairlift bar down. Here, putting the bar down is seen as uncool. You have to politely ask ‘can I put the bar down?’ so that the people who are also too cool for helmets don’t get a fright. When Levon didn’t announce he was putting the bar down on his first day skiing, a guy on the chairlift got very cross! Levon was told that if he did that again, he would get punched in the mouth or if the girl (me) did that, she would get yelled at. I tried to diffuse the situation by saying we are from NZ, and it was Levon’s first day. We rode the rest of the way up in awkward silence.
Personally, I think not putting the bar down is very silly. Two men fell off the chairlift last week, and one is brain-dead in hospital. Vail Resort does its best to cover these things up - there aren’t any news reports, and Vail workers aren’t allowed to discuss it. This is not the first time people have fallen off a chairlift. It also wouldn’t happen if everyone put the bar down.
The last ski field difference is moguls. There are more; they are bigger, and people are better at skiing them. The man who bought Andy’s flat used 70k he won in mogul competitions one season as the deposit!
Unfortunately, it has not snowed much since December 5th. This is very unusual for Vail. We have arrived to the worst start of the season on record! Every local we meet is shaking their head and saying, ‘it’s never like this,’ before quickly adding, ‘snow will come,’ to reassure us and not jinx anything. Mountain people are superstitious.
However, we can’t complain when most of the Northern Hemisphere is having the same issue. Makes me wonder if I should be pursuing a climate-fighty career.
Shopping
Levon was appalled at the amount of pickles and ice cream at the supermarket. We were both shocked at the lack of meat. Here are some other things we have noticed:
Bread is shit. Bagels are a good substitute. And we’ve started baking our own bread.
Way more organic food than in NZ. Is NZ food more edible?
Less plastic wrapped vegetables than expected. Although in Walmart you can buy individually wrapped potatoes.
The coffee is not great - more of a Levon issue. I have been sneaking him ground espresso from work!
Chocolate is more expensive.
Whole milk has a red top.
Cheese can be orange.
There is a Starbucks in the supermarket and a McDonald’s in the Walmart.
The orange juice is so good!
There are lots of consignment stores for outdoor equipment. Levon bought some ex-demo skis for a good price. I found some cool powder skis. The bloke working at the ski shop eyed my jeans and jewellery and told me he didn’t think I should buy them because ‘you would have to be a really good skier to ride those’. Levon - dressed in Patagonia and Macpac, mistaken for a worker three times and asked for his opinion on ski boots - had to drag me out before I bought those skis out of spite.
Wandering and work tastings
We spent a day just walking around Vail. We went up the other Gondola for a different view, went to the library, and walked along the shops. I had heard people talking about Beavers swimming near one of the bridges. We followed the river but didn’t spy any Beavers. We did spot the local ice crag forming up, though! My job after writing this email is to buy some ice axes and a new helmet!
In East Vail, there is an alpine plant museum. They told us Beavers normally come out at dawn and dusk. I also learned that alpine literally means above the tree level. This means you can have alpine deserts in parts of the world!
Towards the end of the day, I had work tastings. This is when all the employees get to try the new menu. Plus all the new cocktails for the season! Everything was delicious, and the cocktails were very drinkable. That is, if you want to spend 100USD or more on your dinner.
Ski touring
I had overheard a guy talking about climbing Mt Denali and ski touring on the bus. I decided to introduce myself. Turns out Jake lived in Christchurch for three years and went to Cashmere High School. We had three mutual friends on Facebook! Amazing!
Jake picked us up on Saturday to escape the weekend crowds. His car had a NZ sticker on the boot. We skinned up Uneva Peak from Vail Pass. The snow was sparkly with thick blades of hoar frost. It was crusty stuff too. Except where the trees were thick and shaded the snow. It was “very unusual for this time of year” - something we’ve been hearing daily.
We followed a skiing track the whole way. Jake told us there’s always a skin track in Vail. No one ever makes first tracks! The whole thing was much simpler than walking 300+ meters with an A-frame on your back before putting skis on - like you have to in NZ.
Above the tree line was very icy. Ahhh reminds me of home. I was not looking forward to skiing down it. At the very top, the wind had stripped away most of the snow. It was very Castle Hill Peak-esque, for those who tramp near Christchurch. We were higher than Aoraki after 3 hours of effort.
Jake did some incredible leapy turns through crusty shit down to the tree line. Levon and I made it down… When we got to the trees, Levon remarked, “Ah, yes, powder; our other enemy.” First time skiing in trees! Despite the heavy pow, it would’ve been easier with a bit more snow. There were still lots of partially covered logs and young trees to dodge. I was nervous, which made my form worse. It was easy to lose a sense of direction! I could see how fun it could be, though and look forward to tree skiing when it hopefully starts dumping around here.
Nose Problems
The dry climate has been harsh on my nose. I used to secretly hope that Opa’s Chinese ancestors lived in West China. Maybe I would have some DNA that made me naturally suited to high altitude. Nope. The Chinese blood in me comes from Guangdong.
During the day, my nose runs like a tap. At night, it dries out. In the morning, I wake with a blocked nose (a pleasant mix of dried blood and mucus), as well as a blocked throat, like I have a cold. I haven’t been sleeping well either, but that might be because I am working in the evenings. I wore Levon’s Garmin, and it gave me a sleep score of 40 out of 100! Definitely a first-world issue, but if anyone has any suggestions, I would be grateful.
Gotta get ready for work now! I will write again soon. Missing everyone!
And yeah it’s been such a weird winter - we just got so much snow in California but it’s the warm heavy kind. Vermont has been dumping tho!!
Colorado ski culture scares me