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VOLUME 6: 18-Dec-2014
HAPPY J0LLYDAYS!!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
ROCK STARS—Pg. 2
Safety—Pgs. 3
Donna’s Dish & Training—Pg. 4
Dr. Ken—Pg. 5
SS Logowear Sale—Pg. 6
FACE SHOTS—Pgs. 7-9
Upcoming Events—Pgs. 10-13
HANDY LINKS
urites)
(Save ‘em to your favo
44VCS
The Pass: http://bit.ly/1w
Check your Schedule:
comb.com
http://wis.whistlerblack
ord: Checkin2015
(case-sensitive) Passw
SNOW SCHOOL STAFF LOGOWEAR SALE—TOMORROW! FRI. DEC. 19TH
TOMORROW! FRIDAY! PAYDAY! We will be holding our annual Snow School logo wear (/merino
wool sock) sale at the Springs boardroom from 3:00-5:00. See page 6 for details and prices on
what’s up for grabs.
BONUS: CAN-SKI WESTIN OPEN HOUSE FRI. DEC. 19TH
After you stock up on everything logo’d WBSS, check out the *new* CanSki store in the Westin and
say “hi” to the staff. George Weston-Webb and Megan Pilat (from the Referral Dept.) would like to
meet you and spread some Christmas cheer by providing a ticket* good for 1 draft beer at the GLC!
*Beer ticket must be redeemed Friday December 19th
GROOMING POLICY—FACIAL HAIR
Please note the following guidelines around facial hair: Beards must be longer
than 1cm and less than 2cms. The neck must be clean-shaven (your beard
can’t blend in with your chest hair!) and a clean line maintained on the cheeks
(it can’t blend in with your eyebrows!) You can thank us later when your love
life picks up…
CHRISTMAS TICKETS ARE COMING!!
It is that time of year again! To thank all our staff for their hard work and dedication, Dave
is gifting each employee with complimentary lift tickets for the holiday season.
The distribution process for Staff Earned Tickets has changed slightly this year. All employees will now receive a
personalized email, with voucher numbers for each of their earned tickets that they can present at the ticket windows to receive the tickets. Watch your inbox for your Christmas prezzie any day now!!
VOLUME 6: 18-Dec-2014
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH...
It has been an interesting start to the season to say the least. I read that the official meteorological term for last week’s weather event, (we somewhat sarcastically refer to as a Pineapple Express), is an Atmospheric River. Indeed it did seem as though we were submerged for the
better part of two days. In the end, the Atmospheric River system dumped an incredible
amount of snow in the Alpine which, amazingly, the operations team were able to open for the
weekend. Furthermore, despite the fact that, in contrast, there is virtually no natural snow at
lower elevations our Snowmakers and Groomers will have all of our ski outs and learning areas
either open, or very close to open, by time you read this. So, notwithstanding some very unusual early season behavior from Mother Nature, conditions are actually looking pretty good going
into the holidays.
I especially want to recognize and thank those of you who have been teaching these past
few weeks. It has been tough, but without exception, all of you have worked extra hard in
some extremely challenging conditions to provide the best possible experiences for our
guests. It was truly remarkable to see so many smiling faces from Snow School participants of
all ages and abilities, no matter how nasty the weather got. Everyone adapted extraordinarily
well to the circumstances and unexpected changes to our operations. This kind of dedication
to creating memories is the essence of what Snow School is all about and is very much appreciated.
Again, my thanks, and I wish you all a very happy holiday season.
Rob McSkimming, Vice President, Business Development
Rock stars
Keep up the great work—despite the ATMOSPHERIC RIVER!
Here’s the first Rock Stars list of the season:
Kyle Healy
Court Larabee
Garry Choo
Maxine Barbeau
Patrick Richardson
Luis Sanchez
Ed Jones
Justin Abel
Matt Dawkins
Andrew Logan
Peter Kargl
Tomaz Todorov
Joanne Zwanenburg
Serge Legault
Dolors Lax Andujar
Steve Tait
Kelsey Rose
Andrew Aitken
Jim Hathazi
Marian Treger
VOLUME 6: 18-Dec-2014
SAFETY FIRST!
I hope that all of you have noticed by now that every supervisor gives you a safety tip each morning! These can
cover anything from child safety incidents, staff injury prevention, weather/terrain, observations we have seen
on the mountain, the list of things to talk about is endless and the information is always important. Sometimes I
know people are not paying attention in morning meetings and zone out for the tip or something extremely important gets covered one day but it was your day off so you didn't hear it.
So in Whistler Kids the supervisors came up with a new, and brilliant idea. We will have a safety topic each
week so that the same subject is covered for a week so everyone learns a little about it. Even our WorkSafe BC
team love this idea. This will also make my life easier as now I know what to write about each week.
This week’s theme is CHOOSING APPROPRIATE TERRAIN. With the early season conditions terrain is limited and
terrain that is open could be very different from when you skied it last year. Here are some tips that have been
covered this week.
 Much of the lower mountain/beginner terrain is limited right now, so make sure your beginners are really
ready before you take that next step.
 Many mid-mountain runs are icy and busy; plan your route, turn shape and how much of the run you take up
appropriately.
 Use minimum terrain, maximum speed to get the most out of your students.
 Many accidents happen at the end of the day to both kids and instructors, so choose appropriate terrain for
your last few laps and to ride out for tired legs. Download if necessary.
 You may be new to Whistler Blackcomb and still finding your way around, take the time to ride and explore
on your days off, ask return instructors for advice on terrain.
If you follow these simple rules and keep your safety manual close by for reference you will be able to keep yourself and your kids safe.
IGNORANCE OR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE IS NOT AN EXCUSE!
Terrain choice will be dependent on:
 Weather
 Current snow conditions
 What runs are open or closed
 Time of day –
 how busy runs are going to be
 your fatigue level and your students
Never ski a run that you haven’t previously or recently ridden
Make sure the terrain is appropriate for all the children in your class – this decision
should be based on the weakest child
Follow the rules set out in your safety manual for each level.
Always obey mountain signage and ropes. ‘Marginal’, ‘Ski Area Boundary’ and ‘Closed’ are restricted to snow
school.
Remember to be safe, make smart choices and respect the mountains when you are on days off too. Don’t get
over excited, the snow is coming but there are still many areas that need to be filled in before they are suitable
to ride. Make sure that you know where you are going and what to expect. This is the Respect video (http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nkL9iTtb3I) that is shown in FSO that everyone not just new staff should see.
Stay safe my friends! Anna
VOLUME 6: 18-Dec-2014
BURTON RIGLET PARY @ WHISTLER KIDS
This week we had VP of Global Resorts-Burton, Jeff Boliba,
join us in preparing for our very own Burton Riglet Park. Burton has been instrumental in the success of children’s snowboarding, their love of being on the hill and snowboard progression. Jeff has toured our Whistler Kids facilities, our
Treefort, Castle and School Yard. We met last Spring and
have been putting a plan together to move forward with a
Riglet Park of our own!
With a “lack” of snow it has been a challenge to get some areas up and going - one being our new park. As the
snow accumulates you will start to see the Riglet Park unfold. Fingers crossed that the snow in the next few days
does the trick! The Riglet Park will be set up at the CLC in the back where we used to have our Minis area. This is
the perfect location with the grades, the amount of space available and the opportunity for expanding if need be.
With feedback from our Whistler Kids Supervisors, Snowboard Pros and our ETC Crew we have come up with a
park blueprint of what features we will incorporate and where, flow and next steps. Everything in this area will be
designed for never-ever kids; SUPER small of everything. The goal is for all riders to feel a sense of confidence
right away, to be able to progress a little quicker and, of course, to have fun! Pretty much what Whistler Kids and
Ride Tribe are all about!
Your Supervisors will let you know when the Park is up and running. Please come by and have a look! It’s going to
be amazing!
Happy Holidays Everyone!
DK
TRAINING UPDATE
Please be aware that we are about to come into a training blackout period. We will continue to offer morning
session every day, but we will not be offering Full Day Sessions between Monday December 22 nd and January 4th
inclusive. If we decide to alter these dates, please follow what is listed in RTP.
We will still be offering some indoor sessions during this time, such as Dryland on Mondays, Yoga on Tuesdays
and potentially some Stretching Sessions on Fridays. Again, the latest will be in RTP.
Thanks to all the level 4 candidates that came out to our meeting last week. It was great to see your keen and eager faces. I will set some groups over the holidays and send you an email.
Congratulations to all our staff that have passed Level 1 and 2 CASI and CSIA courses over the last couple of
weeks! Well done! It’s not easy to get on course this early in the year and be successful, so kudos to you and
your hard work.
Last but not least, a word to our trainers – I am so lucky to work with such a great crew! Thank you so much for
your dedication so far this season. I am really looking forward to the year ahead.
Tracey
VOLUME 6: 18-Dec-2014
DR. KEN
GO EASY ON THE BAGGY-PANTS, DUDES!
It’s so easy to get old, fixed in my ways, and biased to a fault. I was watching these terrain park dudes
slashing and jibbing on the weekend and I noticed that despite the fact that I truly believe I’m
above prejudice and bias’s, I could not help but look upon these young park kids with disdain.
Unable to, or uninterested in, applying ski grip and achieving any kind of deflection,
wearing anti-fashion clothing, such as, the ugliest, and baggiest sweat pants you’ve ever seen,
not to mention the oversized lumberjack shirts, this new generation of skiers are an easy target
of contempt for this particular technical skiing geek (that would of course be me!)
Riding around from jump to jump, rail to rail, these on-snow “hooligans” cheer each
other on with a gang mentality that is comparable to LA street thugs like ‘the Bloods’ and ‘the
Crips’. Dangerous, threatening, and out of control! At least that’s what the ancient and tribal part of my brain
keeps saying every time I observe young men straight running from the last jump in the terrain park on Blackcomb to the base of Cat Skinner chair (for example). “Out of control losers,” is the message that crosses my
mind.
Then, this past Sunday, I encountered something extraordinary that really has me re-examining myself,
(hey Dr. Ken, no one needs to hear about how you examine yourself!), and the way my brain works. A small child
had fallen near the maze on cat skinner chair and her mom hadn’t noticed and had left her behind. I was watching from above and was not in any position to help the child catch up. Next thing I know, these 4 “hooligans”
come racing out of the terrain park and do a high speed straight run for the chair… and the young child. I was
pretty sure one of two things was about to happen; either the youngster was going to be hit by one (or more) of
the young men, or they were going to swerve past her in a reckless and rude manner covering her in snow and
possibly traumatizing her for the rest of her skiing life.
But…instead, in an act that defied my twisted, ancient, and pig-headed thinking, the young man who was
in the lead, held up his arms, stopped safely above the child, and cried out to his friends, alerting them to the possible hazard. All the boys then stopped safely while being careful not to spray the child. Then, if that weren’t
enough, the pack ‘leader’ picked up the sobbing little girl and carried her down to her very thankful mother and
handed the child over. WOW! This changes everything!!! I would expect this behavior from a great ski or snowboard instructor, but certainly not even in the realm of possibility as ever being in the behavioral ‘repertoire’ of a
group of baggy-pants-park-shredders. But… I guess I was wrong (Oh no! Not you Dr. Up-Yourself!)
So I’m going to chalk this one up to experience and I’m going to change my thinking.
From this experience, I send several messages to myself… These messages are,
 Don’t paint everyone with the same brush!
 Don’t tie fashion and (skiing) style to social behavior!
 Don’t unfairly pass judgment on people!
 Be fair-minded, open, and optimistic.
And…. the most important message of all…
Merry Christmas and Love thy (baggy pants) neighbor.
This goes for all of you dinosaurs (young and old) out there who may be
reading this article.
Until next time, Dr. Ken
*SNOW SCHOOL LOGOWEAR SALE*
C’mon out PAYDAY FRIDAY to pick up some cool WBSS swag for yourself or for
awesome last minute Christmas gifts.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 19th—3:00 to 5:00PM
SPRINGS BOARDROOM
(2nd floor, above Employee Services, formerly the Staff Pass Centre)
CA$H ONLY (sorry, no credit or debit capabilities)
Here’s what’s on tap:
MERINO WOOL SOCKS (LIMIT 1 PAIR PER PERSON)—$20
SNOW SCHOOL BALL CAP—$20
SNOW SCHOOL SLOUCHY TOQUE—$15
SILICONE WATER BOTTLE—$20
SNOW SCHOOL LONG-SLEEVE SHIRTS (MEN & WOMEN)—$20
MINI-SPEAKER—$15
WBSS LOGO’D 400UV SUNNIES—$5
SMARTPHONE 3-CARD WALLET—$5
WBSS LOGO’D BAMBOO GIFT SET (NOTEBOOK, PEN/STYLUS & KEYCHAIN)—$15
TRAIL MAP ‘BUFF’—$10
Limited quantities. Sale prices are only valid during the staff sale.
BONUS: CAN-SKI WESTIN OPEN HOUSE
After you stock up on everything logo’d WBSS, check
out the *new* CanSki store in the Westin and say
“hi” to the staff. George Weston-Webb and Megan
Pilat (from the Referral Dept.) would like to meet
you and spread some X-mas cheer by providing a ticket* good for 1 draft beer at the GLC!
*Beer ticket must be redeemed Friday December 19th
FACE SHOTS—WHITE PARTY
The first PAYDAY party of the season took place on Friday December 5th with the theme WHITE PARTY. Thanks
to Reggie & the crew at Coast Mountain Photography for capturing all the smiling faces. Check out the rest of the
photos from the night here: www.smurfville.com. Next party is tomorrow (Fri. Dec. 19) at Moe Joe’s and the
theme is WHEN I GROW UP. Check out the poster on page 11.
FACE SHOTS—KICK-OFF PARTY
Thanks Graham & Reggie from Coast Mountain Photography for capturing the holly jolly faces at the season kick-off party
last Friday. Check out all of the photos here: www.smurfville.com
FACE SHOTS (WITH Mr. C)
Thanks to Reggie & his team of Elves & (of
course) Mr. Claus for taking time out of his
busy schedule to swing by our season kickoff party at the GLC, Dec. 16th. Check out the
rest of the naughty and nice boys and girls
with Santa here: www.smurfville.com
RFID STAFF PASS—HELPFUL HINTS
Here are a few tips from the folks in our IT Dept that you can share with your guests to make using the new system
as painless as possible:
BEST PASS LOCATION:
SKIERS—left side
REGULAR SNOWBOARDERS—left side is better, but can vary
GOOFY SNOWBOARDERS—may matter the least of the three
(Snowboard instructors should share their experiences and see what works best for regular & goofy.)
 Left sleeve is best, followed by left chest > left waist pocket > left pants pocket. Right side (for skiers) is the
worst.
 Nothing else should be in that pocket. It can work with other items in the pocket, but it works best with nothing else in that pocket. This means you may need to rearrange ‘how you’ve always had your stuff’.

If you need to remove the card from your pocket to get access through the gate, you have too much in that
pocket or you’re using the wrong pocket.
 The gates have one massive sensor from knee height to shoulder height. Half way between the yellow circle
and the light sensors seems to be the strongest zone.
 The gate can read the access code the quickest if the card is stationary. Moving the card back & forth slows
down the speed for reading the card.
 Kids are generally better able to go through on their own than with assistance from others. Parents/adults trying to help often make it worse.
 Don’t lean into the turnstile. Pressure on the turnstile slows down how quickly you can pass through the gate.
 If you or your student loses their pass/card, don’t try to fraud your way through the gate! Talk to a validator at
tier 1/2, go see alpine SS sales, or use the intercom at tier 3 to get access up that one lift and then head to the
alpine SS sales/hut.
PAY DAY PARTIES ARE
BAAAAAACK!
Here’s a list of the themes for this year’s parties
(not in any particular order) – so you can start
planning your outfits NOW!
If you are still on your way to town, don’t forget
to pack your onesies, feather boas, face paints,
glitter, tutus and any other costume goodness
you may own!
Our themes are:









Flashback to the 70's & 80's
Great Gatsby Party
Book Week
The Circus is in Town
Into the Future
Disney
A PJ party under the stars
Frat Party
Halloween
Since you’ll be working with kids all year, all
these goodies will come in handy for theme
weeks in Adventure Camp, Valley Kids and Club
programs, and any day you feel like dressing up
– cuz who doesn’t like to dress up???
JAPAN GOOD WILL TEACHING
OPPORTUNITY
Leave Whistler 11-Jan-2015 return 9-Feb-2015 (or later). Includes meals & accommodations. Teaching requirements:
Level 4 - x16 days
Level 3 - x20 Days
Level 2 - x24 Days
Interested?
Contact Claire Davy @ [email protected]
VOLUME 6: 18-Dec-2014
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DECEMBER 2014
FEBRUARY 2015
20
20
21
25
26
27
31
9
12
16
19
19
21
22
27/28
Start of School X-mas Break
King of the Rail (Skiers Plaza, W. Base)
First Day of Winter!
Christmas Day
Boxing Day
King of the Rail (Skiers Plaza, W. Base)
New Year’s Eve
JANUARY 2015
1
3
5
8
15
17/18
19
22
25
29
New Year’s Day
King of the Rail (Skiers Plaza, W. Base)
BC, AB & ONT, back to school
KVRS—Blackcomb Mtn
KVRS—Blackcomb Mtn
Never Ever Days
Martin Luther King Day
KVRS—Whistler Mtn
Park Rider Sessions—Location TBD
KVRS—Blackcomb Mtn
KOKANEE VALLEY RACE SERIES
(a.k.a. KVRS)
The first KVRS scheduled for today (December 18) has
been postponed and will be re-scheduled for January
15. Our first ski race of the season will be on January 8
so mark your calendar. Come out and race the
BC Family Day
Seasonal & Volunteer Length of Service
US Presidents Day / AB & ON Family Day
Chinese New Year
KVRS—Blackcomb Mtn
King of the Rail (Skiers Plaza, W. Base)
Peak to Valley Warm-up Race
2015 Peak to Valley
MARCH 2015
4
5
8
2015 McConkey Cup—Blackcomb Mtn.
KVRS—Blackcomb Mtn
Daylight Savings BEGINS, turn clocks
AHEAD 1 hour
15
Park Rider Sessions—Blackcomb Pipe
22-31 BC Schools Spring Break
20
First Day of Spring!
20-29 Alberta Spring Break
APRIL 2015
3
6
10-19
19
Good Friday
Easter Monday
World Ski & Snowboard Festival
Last day of Winter Operations
Kokanee Valley Race Series in the New Year!
on the last page of this newsletter.
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