During my stay in Gunnison, I began to look at options for winter employment. I applied to work at several different resorts throughout the west and ended up getting a cooking job at Alta resort in Utah at the Peruvian Lodge. I've heard from numerous sources that Alta's snow is among the best and most plentiful in the world, with around 500 inches of light, fluffy powder falling each year.
Needless to say, I'm psyched about spending over five months working and skiing at Alta. The head chef seems like a cool guy, one of the first questions he asked me in my interview was "How wide are your skis?" When I told him, he urged me to buy some much wider ones to deal with all of the snow. He also told me that whoever works and skis the hardest will get the best shifts at work, so I'm taking that as a personal challenge.
Oh yeah- Sorry friends who snowboard, Alta is 'skiers only.' Personally I think that kind of elitism is stupid, since a good snowrider is a good snowrider, regardless of whatever is strapped to their feet. I'd rather be on a mountain full of experienced snowboarders than one filled with novice skiers, but apparently Alta is a place steeped in both legend and tradition, and those who run the place don't want to stray from long-held values. Luckily, Snowbird resort is right next door, on the same mountain, in fact, and if any snowboarders want to come out I'll definitely take some turns on Snowbird with them.
Right now I'm staying in Boulder with Chelsea and Dan until I fly back to Vermont on the 28th. While I'm back home I need to buy a car, pack it up, and make the drive out to Utah by the 10th of November. It's going to be strange traveling in three to four days by car the distance it took me two months to travel by bike. I was thinking I might follow some of my bike route by car in order to gain a different perspective on what I saw while travelling, and maybe to stop by and say hello to some of the people I met along the way.
If you think you want to come out this winter, let me know. Everyone in Vermont, I'll see you soon. If I met you on the way, thank you for giving a ride, food, company, and conversation to a weary traveller. It meant the world to me and made all the difference between a hard, lonely journey and an amazing and enjoyable one. Also, I intend to continue travelling by bike, and I look at the end of this summer's bike tour as nothing more than a pause in a journey that will hopefully last for a long while.
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