Some photos of an awesome year so far.

Snow total: 147" year to date
Lifts Open: 31 of 31

* Thanks to the Facebook people I stole these pictures from!

Vail, a whirlwind of activity.

I know, its been a while since I've updated the blog.  It has been super busy around here, we have 100% of our lifts open now, and I can breathe a sigh of relief!

More blog to come shortly today!

Its Friday - Opening Day

It was opening day.  It was awesome.  1150 acres open, 11 lifts.

If you're in training on Monday it starts at 9am in Golden Peak at the Gold Peak Grill.

If you have questions, call us in the afternoon (3-5pm mountain time), we're busy and not checking email so much.

Paperwork Session #2

If you begin training on November 22nd, we are having our 2nd paperwork session on Thursday, November 18th from 1pm - 3pm.  Make sure to bring all your proper ID's into our locker room at Vail Village, and get everything done all in the same place!


Training Dates

Here is the list of upcoming training dates, if you haven't selected a class yet, please pick one of these and let us know.

Monday, November 22nd - FULL
Thursday, December 9th
Tuesday, December 21st


Opening Day

Opening Day is Friday, November 19th.  Its almost here!


Days Off

If you are currently in training, your official days off schedule will start on Thursday, the 18th.


Employee Housing

A few spots have opened up in Employee Housing at RiverEdge.  Please contact us for more details.

Evac Practice

(thanks for the picture Matt)

Short Update Today!

Since most of you that are in the Training Class on Monday are already in town, this week is going to be a shorter update.

Paperwork Session Today!

Where:  Lift Operations Locker Room (Vail Village)
When:   3pm - 5pm, Friday
What:    Do all the paperwork you need to start working (and get your ski pass).
What do you need to bring:  I-9 documentation (see below)
What else: We'll have some refreshments, you can also check out the locker room, ski storage, and ask us any questions you like.


Uniform Distribution
Where:  Lift Operations Locker Room (Vail Village)
When:   9am - 12pm, Sunday
What:    Get your uniform and a locker.
What do you need to bring:  Yourself


I-9 Documentation

Here is what you need to bring, if you read a few posts back you can find the exhaustive list.

Housing Update

We are now offering employee housing to people who are on the waiting list who are starting work on November 22nd.  Please contact us for details.  We hope to be able to offer December arrivals housing shortly, but we can't offer it yet.


Free Internet Access

If you're in town and looking for internet access, there are a few options.  You can find internet access at the following locations.

• Lift Department Locker Room (no wireless, but a computer you can use)
• Town of Vail Library
• Vail Wifi (you get one free hour per day, most of the bus stops have wireless internet)
• Safeway's Lounge, next to Starbucks inside Safeway in West Vail
• Marketplace at One Willow Bridge (across the street from where the bowling alley / movie theater is in Solaris)

Training on Monday

• Starts at 8am for Returning Operators
• Starts at 9am for New Operators
• Bring a lunch, the lunch break may be very short (we have a lot to do.

Supervisor Profile

Need a place to live?

Keith is looking for a roommate.  Hit him up at vestax360 (at) hotmail.com if you're looking for a place to live.

Friday Update Time!

Friday update number 6!  Ski season starts at Vail in 3 weeks!  Training classes start in 10 days! 

We made a sweet map of Vail with lots of pictures to help you get around. Check it out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43908764@N04/map/

Training

Our first training class, that starts on November 8^th, will be located in the Express Lift Coffeehouse, which is very close to our office in Vail Village.  Training will start at 8am or 9am on Monday, depending if you’ve worked as a lift operator at Vail before, and we expect you to be ready to learn.

Schedule of Events

(if you’re in training starting November 8^th)

* This could change depending on snow / other stuff!

·         Friday, November 5^th

o        3:00pm – 5:00pm - Paperwork Session, Lift Operations Locker Room

·         Sunday, November 7^th            

o        9:00am – noon – Uniform Distribution, Lift Operations Locker Room

·         Monday, November 8^th

o        8:00am – Lift Operations Training Starts (Returning Employees), Express Lift Coffeehouse

o        9:00am – Lift Operations Training Starts (New Employees) , Express Lift Coffeehouse

·         Tuesday, November 9^th

o        TBD – Lift Operations Training, Express Lift Coffeehouse

·         Wednesday, November 10^th

o        TBD – Lift Operations Training, Express Lift Coffeehouse

·         Thursday, November 11^th

o        8:00am – noon – New Employee Orientation, Express Lift Coffeehouse

·         Friday, November 12^th

o        Day Off for most

o        8:00am – 3:00ish – Team Leader Training, Warehouse Conference Room

·         Saturday, November 13^th

o        Day Off

·         Sunday, November 14^th

o        10:00am – Lift Operations Training, Express Lift Coffeehouse

·         Monday, November 15^th

o        8:00am – Lift Operations Training, Express Lift Coffeehouse

·         Tuesday, November 16^th

o        TBA

·         Wednesday, November 17^th

o        TBA

·         Thursday, November 18^th

o        Start of Winter Schedules

·         Friday, November 19^th

o        9:00am – 3:30p - Opening Day!

What do I need for training?

·         Warm clothes, gloves, hats, warm shoes, etc. - We will be spending a good bit of time both inside and outside.  Don’t wear flip flops. (We have seen that before, they don’t work well with snow.)

·         Ski pass – You need your ski pass in order to clock in and out and get paid.  It is also handy to go skiing.  You get your ski pass after you have finished all your paperwork at the paperwork session (details below).

·         Lunch – We generally have enough time to get lunch in the village, but it gets expensive and busy around noon.  You might want to pack a lunch to save some money and relax during the lunch break.

·         A clean look – You don’t want to be the person who gets sent home (to the next training class or for good) for not shaving.  If you have established facial hair that looks respectable, that is ok, otherwise, make sure you’re cleaned up every day!  ***We get to decide what looks respectable and what doesn’t!  If you have any questions it might be a good idea to come visit us before training.***

·         A willingness to learn and have fun doing it!

Paperwork

We are having a paperwork session on Friday, November 5^th from 3pm to 5pm.  You can get all your paperwork done in one place, check out the locker room, have some delightful refreshments, and have the peace of mind that everything that you needed to do is finished before training. 

Uniforms

Uniforms consist of pants, a jacket, and a vest.  We’ll also give you a pair of work gloves. You will need to provide your own hat, goggles, boots, undergarments, and anything else you want to wear.  Non-uniform clothes have to be tucked in at all times, so leave your tall-t’s at home.  Also, any kind of shirt that you wear under your vest, if you only wear a vest, has to be solid black.  You can always wear your jacket though!

Employee Handbook

The employee handbook can be found here:  http://jobs.vailresorts.com/skijob1/SiteAssets/files/main/2011%20Employee%20Handbook.pdf

It has all of the corporate policies and a ton of other information.  Check it out if you want!

Fact of the Week

Colorado contains 75% of the land in the US that is over 10,000 feet in altitude.  There are 58 peaks that are over 14,000 feet high!  There are 756 peaks that are over 13,000 feet.

Supervisor Profiles

This week you get Shawn and me (Chris).