New staff.

Our new head manager, Bristol, started work today. I took her to Engstligen yesterday, since we both had a free day and I felt she should get some skiing in before the season ends. She's lived in CH before, in a nearby valley, but she's unfamiliar with some of our pistes. She was telemarking and she said she was still learning, so I took Sydney's snowboard up. We got a late start on purpose, since it's cheaper later and we figured we might get tired early. We decided to start on an easy run, but they had closed it for grooming after the morning's snowfall. It was a perfect day: fresh snow right before we got there, then sunshine all afternoon. We had to start on an ungroomed red run, but at least it made for a lot of laughter. We practiced a bit in the late morning, then hit the harder runs after lunch. We stopped to talk a bit too much, but I think Bristol was tired from not having skied in a while. It was great to get to know her, too. She told me about the movie nights they hold up the valley, where you can cycle there in the afternoon, then flop down on the lakeside beach facing the screen & speakers floating in the water. I'll have to give that a shot at some point. I also need to remember to go to Dutch's concert--she just joined a music group in town, and I've been meaning to go to a yodeling night or concert in town for a while now. Oh, and don't worry, I did not attempt this jump.

We also got a new chef today. Pax is temporary as well, and will only stay for a few days. He's a professional and will help us get our act together until we get our real chef in June. It's amusing when we go to town, because "chef" means "boss" in Swiss-German, so we can't tell if the Adelbodners are asking about Bristol or Pax. We're a major source of gossip for the town lately, since we've been having so many staffing changes and what we do has an impact on their businesses.

I've just been doing spring cleaning all day, which isn't so bad. We put up the trampoline for summer, and we'll clean out the sheds, pitch the tents to check for missing pieces, and prepare for a lot of new staff in a couple of weeks. I cleaned the staff house top to bottom today, so we'll be all set as long as we don't eat, shower, or breathe for a fortnight.