Summer of Snow - Part 4: Life

So...With my amazing job on the mountain and the awesome social scene in the village, life was good, but my job hunting wasn't over.

I applied and got a position working in The Last Post Cafe (& Restaurant), working in behind the bar, but mainly waiting on the restaurant floor. This was amazing fun and i made more really good friends as well as earning that extra bit more cash!

The mountain employed lots of staff, and as most were resident in Methven the pub in the evening was pretty much dominated by staff. This was great because everyone knew everyone, so the atmosphere was usually great.
Most popular was "jug & curry" night at Steelworx on a Tuesday night. This was also Jam Night, and i managed to play a couple of times, once on the piano and once on the...

....The find of the season would have to have been my Accordion. Financed by Dan as my Birthday present, it's brought me many hours of pleasure (and a lot of pain to everyone else!!).
I managed to take it pretty much wherever i went (never made it up the hill though) including the Last Post staff do at the end of the season, where we danced through the street to Jingle Bells etc!!

I also did a gig with a blues band in the Blue Pub in August, which was great fun!


The Lift Department social club took care of several nights out and fancy dress parties and i threw a big Toga Party for my Birthday. Ski Patrol also organised a cocktail party at the end of the season. The mountain management also organised a few events and chucked in some free drinks for us all. We also had Formal Dress Day on the mountain, where each department wore a suit/dress to work, but the Lifties went in fancy dress - i was in my cactus costume from the Mexican party!

We took plenty of time on closed days to explore, and one trip took us right through an area where Lord of the Rings was filmed, Mt Sunday, or Edoras as it's called in the movie apparently. Amazing scenery. Also saw a lot of Christchurch - city not too far away. Some good nights out and good shopping too!

And also the snowboarding and skiing was great! We got 2 days a week off plus lunch breaks on our work days, most of which we spent riding on the hill, so my boarding has come on a hell of a lot! I had a bit of a fall whilst playing for the staff volleyball team, dislocating my knee. It put me out of riding for 2 weeks, but i could still work, so all good!

I'm probably running out of things to say to describe the season. I'm gonna upload all my photo's sometime, but there's a few for the time being. Altogether an amazing way to spend my UK summer. I've been offered a job next year, which I've accepted, so the fun will begin again soon!
...Oh and the burger was my leaving present - triple bacon & egg, chilli-beef-and-cheese pie burger - They know me too well!