What Office Space means in Alta

When we hear the words office space, we typically think of the comedy released in 1999 that satirizes the typical work life in a software company in the 90s. It’s hilarious, and it’s terrifying. While flipping through the latest Powder Magazine, we noticed a very special someone in a photo with some of Alta’s finest captioned Office Space. I don’t know about you, but I’d say Onn0 Wieringa, Damian Jackson, Al Soucie and our very own Trainer seem to have won the office space lottery.

We wanted to spend a little time introducing you to Trainer and his office space.

Trainer first came to Alta from Albuquerque, New Mexico 35 years ago for a ski vacation during Thanksgiving. Why? “It was the only place that had snow in November, states Trainer.” After that quick ski vacation, he realized Alta was something special. The very next fall, Trainer applied for the bar manager position at Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge and has been there ever since.

Nine years ago, Trainer started working with the ski patrol at Alta Ski Area as a member of the Snow Safety Team, which means he and some equally impressive Alta patrollers are up before the sun shooting bombs for avy safety. The blustery morning in January of 2010 that is featured in the November 2013 Powder Magazine photo, doesn’t strike Trainer as anything out of the ordinary in regards to avy shooting days. I guess he’s had a few in the last nine years. I mentioned that it looked snowy to which Trainer jokingly remarked, “Well, you don’t shoot for avalanches if it isn’t snowy.” Fair enough!

Of course, we’d be remiss if we failed to touch on Trainer’s famous pizza in the Goldminer’s Saloon. Back in 1989, Jim and Elfriede (former GMD Lodge owners) agreed to serve food in the bar. They started with typical bar food including, pizza, nachos, burritos, etc. The pizza took off, probably because each and every one of them is made with love. It says so right on the to go boxes.

To wrap our conversation, I asked Trainer what has kept him in Alta and at Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge for all these years. His answer is priceless. “When you fall in love with a place, it is hard to leave it.”