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A new Setting Journals Feature - "A Day in The Life - Midnight to 3AM", has been put online.

 

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/features/setting-journals-18.html

 

"The weather has been cold and overcast for several days with almost a meter of fresh powder having fallen - and more on the way. As the clock strikes midnight to welcome Sunday, February 22, 2004 - most guests are tucked away in their beds dreaming of the lovely virgin powder to be tackled in the morning. On the operations side of the resort however, many of the staff are up and busy with their jobs that will keep them busy through most of the graveyard shift. What is happening during the dead of night operations wise? Read on for a better idea."

 

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/features/setting-journals-18.html

 

Please note that the views expressed in any Features on Snow Japan are not necessarily those of Snow Japan.

 

Discuss it here...

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I have a question, maybe its been covered before not sure. What sort of rotas do these guys work on? So does "Ken" work nights every day for 5 days or so like many regular workers work days? Or does he work a mixture of days and nights and it getting real irregular, like some nurses I know ;\)

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Still sounds a lot easier than getting up to work in the city. I assume these early birds can hit the snow once they finish work. I'm pretty much over shift work but finishing in the morning (as I assume the bakers do) could have advantages.

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I will be making my way to Arai this coming season - 3 nights and 4 days actually there, and then the same in the Nozawa and Shiga Kogen area. Thats one of my trips to Japan sorted.

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Cool article going. Its something like the series "24" eh but it has to do with skiing which makes it even better. Unlike many of my mates in Niseko, I only spent one season up there but I can say it was an amazing experience. Look forward to reading the upcoming articles. wave.gif

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It's nice to see that powder hounds are beginning to wake up again following the annual summer hibernation!

 

To briefly answer some of the questions so far:

 

1. Shift rotas depend on many variables, both controllable(number of staff available) and non-controllable(weather). During peak season though when the snow hits, it is an "All Hands on Deck!" type of job;

 

2. Graveyard shifts are popular with the true powder hounds, who love to squeeze in some snow either before or after their shift. One of the reasons the resort kept "Nighta" operations going was to keep such powder hound staff through the season; &

 

3. All staff are permitted to ride/ski on a complimentary basis, except on certain blackout dates during peak season when the mountain is reserved exclusively for guests.

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Do many staff actually sensibly make use of that or not?

 

I can imagine (and from a similar experience) some of them actually going "oh well, takahashi-san and sato-san are working, poor souls, so I couldn't possibly go out and have fun myself...."

 

Pathetic but absolutely true.

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Bollocks to that.

 

I think thats the reason lots of people stay at work longer than they need. They just don't want to be the first to go. Pathetic.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dear Karnidge

 

It really depends on what part of the season you are talking about, type of staff member(full time or seasonal worker) and time of the week for that matter.

 

Staff tend to use the facilities when the resort is quiet, and work when it is busy.

 

Personally, I find that full timers tend to view the resort as a place of work, while the seasonal workers can instead afford to have a "work to ride" mentality.

 

Blair.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Blair

 

 Quote:
Shift rotas depend on many variables
How far in advance do shift rotas get decided then? Are many of the staff almost on call all the time during the winter due to changes in the weather etc?

 

I suppose lots of the staff take off holidays mostly in the non winter seasons .

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