Simon: Welcome, everyone. This is snow business in Lillehammer and we are here with

Nico Klinkhammer,
Miren Legorburu,
Anna Lena,
Nivar Gijsbers and
Stijn Klaasen.

Simon: And this time, we're gonna look at volunteering during the winter here in Lillehammer, we have a whole bunch of different events that rely heavily on volunteering for these events to occur, and this winter we had ?

Nico: The world cup

Simon: which World Cups did we have?

Nico: the woman's World Cup, the men's World Cup in Kvitfjell, and in Hafjell the men's World Cup.

Simon: So events in Kvitfjell which discipline were they?

Stijn: Downhill, Slalom and Super G.

Simon: Yeah, so just so we clarify. So at Kvitfjell we had the men's and women's downhill, and at Hafjell we had the men's technical events, which were?

Stijn: Slalom and Super G.

Simon: Yeah, great. And um how was it?

Anna: Um it was it was an experience. um one hand, it was like very fun, because everyone was volunteering, so we took the bus very early together, we were all sleepy faces, you know, and then we got there um and of course, like it's a great view with the mountain looking up. um but on the other hand, I don't think we're always treated that well, but I think it also really depends on what part you volunteered on.

Simon: Okay, so you could volunteer on different aspects such as?

Anna: Well, for example, I know we did event office, so that's like um checking tickets and like welcoming the guests. We also, for example, had VIP slow crew.

Miren: Sustainability

Anna: Um sustainability, yeah.

Simon: so what did you do?

Stijn: I did first VIP and on Kvitfjell, you also have the winter Lounge. It was on the slopes and you had the bar and you had some food stands and some live music or some DJ. So there was something and the VIP was down, it was kind of not, you could have not looked from the VIP onto the race, it was more like a relaxed spot, and you could get the food there, drinks there, and then they hosted some events there, like precedes the race.

Nivar: I started with VIP, and then most of it was sustainability, so that was um uh dealing with the trash bins and refreshing refreshing? replacing the garbage bags and uh you had access to every spot, so you could go everywhere with your pass, and then do the trash there.

Simon: Okay, and

Nico: for me it was first, also the event office, but I was not there for checking your tickets. I was there for like a security. So we had one guy who was a superior, he was in the prime minister of Norway He worked for him. It was quite interesting to hear his history, so history behind his man, and he took a very serious, but the thing was the first two days in the Women's World Cup in it fair, that audience was pretty small, so there were hundred people or something, so we had nothing much to do, but we could watch the race, it was nice experience to watch behind the scenes.

Simon: And any other volunteer you did?

Nico: After I was also in sustainability management as Nivar and then I was on the slopes in Halfjell and it was quite interesting there because we were beside the racetrack and we had to work with the people who were preparing the tracks and also with the athletes, so it was quite interesting there.

Simon: So a lot of you got to do many different things. Okay, and how did you get involved with it? What was the process?

Stijn: Um we had some class, uh at university who was like, uh introduction to the volunteering and they gave like, uh what you get, what they want from you, um as volunteers. So you could sign up there, you got your uh yeah, they explained. If you do one day or three days you get like three day passes and from so on to eight and from nine on, you get a season pass and they got like, yeah, free um volunteers. so, uh yeah.

Simon: So there was like an introduction and there at here at the university

Stijn: yes.

Simon: Okay, and what was why do people wanna do it?

Nivar: I think a big part of that is that everyone did it. So, like for me, uh it was the the season pass because it's expensive to buy, but uh just to work nine days, um, if you calculate, that's maybe 10 euros each hour you work, and estimate. So yeah, sounded good to me, and for a free season pass, working nine days and also I thought it would be quite a fun experience to see, like what happens behind the scenes of an event like that. But I think for some people that maybe don't really like it into sports, it might be that uh because everyone did it, that you also just sign up to just work some days.

Anna: Yeah, well, I did it for the season pass because I really enjoy skiing, of course, uh and it was that, um I remember you told us, I think you told us first, okay.. So there's this thing, like, okay, you volunteer and then you get to season pass. So I think everybody already from the snow business was like, ooh, this is interesting, like, a free season pass sounds very good to students. Um, and then we had like the introduction. I don't remember her name. Marie. Marie, and she's quite high up and um she also really explained everything and then like every the whole class was full, we were like, okay, we're gonna do this. And I think everyone just got very excited from those, like, first few weeks. um and for me, it was really the free season past because, you know, it's free. So, you do it. And, like Nivar also said, like, the whole experience behind the world Cup is so interesting. uh you see everything from so close up and of course, you sometimes see it on TV, but I think, like, backstage to say, like that, um, it's a whole other thing. So that was very interesting to see.

Simon: Yeah, there's a lot of preparation time. goes into a host in these events and there and then when it comes to the day, it kind of goes really fast, I would imagine. The circus comes to town and uh and then you see people training and then all of a sudden it's race day. Lots of people show up and then uh and then they're gone. It's all over. You know, I can remember looking up at Hafjell and soon after the last racer finished, they were packing down if you looked up the slope, you know.

Simon: What was your motivation for signing up?

Miren: I also did it for the season pass but also my friends were doing so I was alone if I didn't do it so it was like for the free season pass but also the people were there so I want to be there also.

Simon: Okay

Nico: For me was like they said it's like when you come here to Norway, what to make your semester abroad, then you want to experience the whole winter sport thing and for me, it was like before, it was a good organization, because before I entered to Norway, they had like a meeting teams meeting, and then informed us about what we can do that, we get a free season pass, that we can get behind the scenes and for me personally, because I watched some races before in Germany when I was younger, like super G or Slalom, I was also interested, okay, how would I organize this event, how it works and how it looks it and real life. So I want to experience the whole thing, I want to be part of it.

Simon: That's great. I mean, for myself, I'm normally with snow business, a good chunk of people would volunteer. However, is the whole cohort did this time and that that was pretty great and probably a great sign of how keen everybody was, given that we do have a maybe a fifth of people on the course who don't do winter sports. So we're going to move on to tell me what you how was your experience and what what you think about it?

Stijn: Okay. So um my experience started great. Um, it was nice to work there. um you also had some nice food there. I think at the start, I ate better there than I ate at the start of the semester here. Like, uh you had some hot meals there, uh for lunch, you got like, the food was really great there. You got like lunch, uh, but also breakfast there and drinks, coffee, there was plenty of coffee there. It could be better, like you had to wait a long time. Like I had one time on the I had slope crew and I was there at 9:00 or 8:00, and I did nothing until one, and then my bus arrived at 14:00 to go back or 15:00, so I didn't do anything that day. I was just sitting there and yeah, in the I was there, yeah, in the tent.

Simon: They didn't have anything for you to do?

Stijn: No, no, I was there sitting alone with one or two other students. I think I watched a movie there. So no volunteering that day and also one time I was working from five until eleven, and then I had to start at the slopes the next day at six or seven, so that was a
short night, but the rest it was kind of fun to see behind this uh yeah behind the
scenes.

Nivar Yeah, I really enjoyed it, actually. uh kind of regret that I didn't do the slope crew, which it sound more interesting after. But um I think it was nice. Uh, both of the places I liked Hafjell the most. I think. Uh sometimes the, because of the transportation in Kvitfjell, it was a little bit messy and sometimes it looked like they also didn't really know what to do with all those volunteers themselves. So, yeah, it was kind of messy sometimes we had to wait for two hours for the bus to come back, even though we had nothing to do anymore. Or we have to arrive very early, even though your shifts starts like two hours later, which can be a little bit annoying, especially for people at our age, I think. um but uh overall experience was very nice. It's uh you could really you really felt like you were part of it. um and with my sustainability role, you also feel like you're doing something because you actually don't really think about it when you watch it on TV, like all those trash cans. Where do they come from and who, like changes them for example, like someone has to do it and now you really see, like how much there is to do for volunteers around the event itself.

Simon: Yeah, so just to clarify, so logistics for Kvitfjell, which is a little further away from Lilhammer, they had to provide a private bus for you guys there, and that became not always easy to know when that was and if your work was done, then you had to wait around,
and if your work was later, you simply had to get the private bus anyway, yeah.

Stijn: Also, the bus drivers sometimes they didn’t know where they had to pick us up.

Simon: Okay, so there was definitely a little ad hoc planning going on.

Stijn: Yeah

Nico: Sometimes it was two hours away there, because we were out, maybe on Friday or Saturday as students do sometimes, and then the bus should arrive at 5:30 or
something. They arrive at 8:30, so we're waiting for two hours there and yeah,
it was kind of annoying sometimes.

Stijn: They told us you get picked up at 7:10 or something, sometimes you got picked up at 8:00 in the morning. So we had a short night and then you had to wait at the bus stop, with your ski’s in your hand.

Simon: And this is the price when you're being busy socially and that's why you're really happy with the free coffee. And then of course, to get to Kvitfjell, there's a public bus almost every hour, if not more, so it's relatively easy to get to from Lillehammer.

Anna: But not in the weekend.

Simon: Pardon?

Anna: In the weekend, I don’t think so.

Simon: Not as much in the weekend?

Anna: No, the public bus?

Stijn: I think no one took the public bus. Maybe the train, but I don’t think.

Simon: To Kvitfjell?

Stijn: Yeah, to Kvitfjell.

Simon: Yeah but to Hafjell

Anna: Oh yeah, I’m sorry yeah.

Simon: Yeah, there is no public bus to Kvitfjell.

Stijn: To Hafjell we had to take the public bus.

Miren: Yeah you have to take it.

Simon: Yeah, yeah. Of course.

Stijn: There was no transport from Hafjell to.

Simon: So some logistical challenges for Kvitfjell because you could get the train for Lilhammer, but it was for sure, extremely infrequent and not ideal where to get.

Stijn: And expensive.

Simon: Yeah, of course, expensive. and so you relied on a private bus shuttle that sometimes didn't arrive when you hoped. And then for Hafjell you just got the public bus.

Anna: Yeah

Simon: Yeah, okay. And then so how was your experience? What do you think of it?

Anna: Well, for me, it has really has two sides. Of course it was like a an amazing experience, um to see everything going on, seeing the race from so close up, um but I think, especially in Kvitfjell, um it was a very bad arranged organization. There was one day, for example, it was like the last day in Kvitfjell, so everything that was at Kvitfjell had to be moved to Hafjell. So it was on Sunday and um I was in the event office. We were picked up
at 5:30 in the morning, so very early, we got there and then like there was just like a lot going on. They told us, okay, so now you have to put everything up here. So we had to put up some stands. But then they were like, no, no, you have to go up because it' snowed and uh you have to move some snow around blah, blah, blah. We went up and they were like, yeah, we have no work for you. So we had to go down with the lift again, and then we were there, we had to walk around the whole area, and they were like, yeah, we have no work for you.
So we that whole situation was like an hour of us running around, walking around saying, oh, can we do something for someone? And everyone says: yeah, we have no work for you. So that was like, what do we do? What do you want us to do? Um, and then that whole day was to be honest for event office horrible. Miren was also there. Uh because at a certain point, we were done with the event office, but then we had to go to uh the arena. The arena is the part where the athletes like finish and around the whole arena, there were like, how do you
call it? Like, like where.

Simon: Signs all the way around?

Anna: No, it's like was like a

Miren: Long things

Anna: Like yeah, it’s like long white things. It's like filled up with air, so if the athletes fall they.

Simon: Oh the safety barrier.

Anna: Exactly, exactly. So, um there was it was all the way around. I think there were like

Miren: 50, maybe, 50

Anna: I think even more. um and

Miren: We had to take them off, like,

Simon: You have to dissemble them, take them off and deflate them.

Anna: It was a team of four that put them up and they did it in two days when they set it up. And they were doing that again, but the thing, the difference was that that all these safety barriers had to go to Hafjell that night. So we were working our ass off, like taking out the tubes and deflating them, and the thing was that we were there the earliest, like event office, then I went to grab something to drink and everyone that got there later, so VIP, slope crew,
uh, was just chilling. Like in the in the lounge. and we were like looking at each other like, why are we doing this? And then, like we asked them, okay, can you help us? And thank God they helped us. And then the bus was back, went back at 18:00 for everyone. So we thought that was quite unfair because we got there at, 5:30. So that was like one of the worst days. Like but this is like a long story, but um uh I think hafjell was quite nice um because then I was also in like sustainability and there was also like a very nice um like leader kind of to say it. She also really did the work helped us and that was not with every part I did. So with event office, most of the leaders were just like chilling and like not doing a lot, but with sustainability, like the girl really helped us and did also did to work with us, which was very nice and then that also motivates you to work harder, I think.

Simon: Interesting reflection is perhaps that during events when you have teams of volunteers, of course, you're not paying them. Okay, so there's effectively no accountability, perhaps, really, um It's uh end of their there because they've already got the season passed. And so sometimes I can imagine when you have a series of events and maybe the planning isn't as efficient and communication isn't sent down the chain as clearly as it should be. That sounds like in your experience.

Anna: yeah definitely a lot to the whole um how do you say it?

Stijn: Organization?

Anna: Yeah, throughout the whole organization, I think.

Nivar: Just a lot of small not like big mistakes, but a lot of small communication mistakes that sometimes end up in, you know, having a very annoying day.

Stijn: I think you could feel like everyone was just volunteering and you have like four or five, maybe full time workers there. And the rest is all volunteering, so the rest is also just being there helpingwhere they can, but it's not organizing it the way it can be efficient.

Anna: It could have been way more efficient. And what Stijn said I think there were a lot of
volunteers or sometimes when you went up to someone say, okay, where do I need to put this? Everyone was like, I don't know, I don't know. And like, how do you want us to do our work then? Um, and of course, like we already had our season passed, like, it's not mandatory to work hard, but on the other hand, like, just standing around is also, I don't think that's nice to just stand around. So I worked hard.

Simon: But yeah, if you have something interesting to do, of course, time goes very quickly. And so your kind of experience that small minor inefficiencies, let's call it that, a lot of it based on communication. and I think sometimes when you run events like this, that may be the way things are and the advantage to have volunteers means that um you're not paying out money to to staff and where they' feel they're doing not very much. And how was it for
yourself?

Miren: For me I did event office in Kvitfell. And I was supposed to do another thing but my boss was in Kvitfell and told me I could change to event office because I knew what to do and others they didn’t know. So I was like I can be in event office because he asked me. So it was nice that because in Hafjell it was much better. The organization was much better for me and in Kvitfell for me and they expect like a lot of people, but no one was there like the
spectators where they were like much less than they expect. So we were like a little bit, I don't know, were for me, because they whole organization was so big and they expect so much people and they were saying like, we expect a lot of people, a lot of people is going to come and then nobody was there. So that disappointed me a little bit, but then hafjell, they were a lot of people, so the weather was nice and I like that.

Simon: Having three main events this year, it certainly spread out the crowd a little bit I know that in Kvitfjell for the last few years, it's been really good numbers. but maybe because they offered so many different events, that may have thinned the crowd out if it were, but all equally the world championship for Nordic skiing was going on in Trondheim, and of course, Nordic skiing is a a huge draw here in Norway and maybe that's where lots of people went I mean, the imagery I saw was that the stadium was definitely full in Trondheim for that event. So yeah, no doubt they might be a disappointed who the numbers that came to Kvitfjell this year, um as you said, but hafjell it definitely was quite a quite a good crowd.

Stijn: I think also the weather was

Nivar: Yeah the weather in half was way better effect.

Stijn: No in kvitfjell it was not that good but the first week it was. Yeah, but maybe also, yeah. the events and yeah, the weather was just perfect in Hafjell. like, it was much, much better. like the son was out. pretty nice weather.

Simon: And of course, in terms of mobility, I Halfjell is extremely close to Lillehammer and the main transport and network, so it's way more convenient. Yeah, and then for yourself,

Nico: yeah, for me it's like everyone said, like two sides, only one side, it was very interesting to get to know the people behind the workers there, so only a volunteers and they had quite interesting stories, as I said, uh prime minister security of him, others who working for years for ski advisors and then I went to volunteer there, course they have like a lodge in hafjell or Kvitfjell there. and they had some interesting stories, some accident happened, and then they changed and for me it was quite cool to work with them together. and especially for me and the slope crew in hafjell, it was a special experience because we are also responsible for parts of the track. So if we are not working and we are not doing our job, the championship doesn't continue like it like it has to be. So everyone was responsible for, like kind of a flag or something. If the flag crashed down, you have to go there and do the job.
Otherwise

Simon: In between each run,

Nico: yeah, between the runs. So you have 60 seconds until the 15 seconds have to go there and fast back again, so that can continue like this. And for me, it was kind of a little bit pressure for sure, but also like you feel like you' responsible for something, so we part of a big thing. and that's, I think, only in a slope crew, maybe, or sometimes also other parts, but I think most of the organization they rely on the people who work there and they volunteers were like, yeah, they can do something if I want, but if I don't want, they don't have to be. So yeah.

Simon: So when you see on television there um a slalom skier comes past and then afterwards people kind of flood onto the ski track, there people ensuring the flag is correct. Are they smoothing out the track too or not?

Nico: Yes before the race and I think television it also like two minutes break the race, then you have to prepare a track again and then you have to go back to your position on the
sides, yeah.

Simon Cool and then you naturally you slowly coming down the hill as you're doing it or you in charge of one flag or one particular zone?

Nico: so many people that all in charge of one flag, but you have to do it by your own with the two people, it was kind of cool because we were behind the scenes like I said, you responsibility for the race. So it was cool.

Simon: So the big ticket is slope crew if you can get it.

Nico: For me, it was, yes,

Simon: yeah, yeah.

Stijn: I think that experience all almost only at Hafjell, like the last weekends. Because I did it. also a crew and I did some other things. there I was just preparing the the tracks by skiing pizza points down and shoving the snow to the sides and you had some other people who did, like, on a lot of World Cups and they did it backwards, like just skiing very fast down, shoving the snow to the sides, backwards. impressive. So it's very impressive, but, yeah, like, I didn't got to do what Nico just told.

Simon: So in a way, you all had a kind of cool experiences, yet there some of the feedback as to the organization and inefficiency in communication was also everyone appeared
clearly to have that experience. and frustrations with the bus not arriving on time, and especially if you've had a heavy night and getting up early in the morning, yeah. And then of course, I can ask the obvious question the arrangement was you skied for and you you volunteer for nine days and you got a season pass and then if you did less, if you volunteered for a day, you you earned a day pass that you could use yourself or give away. Yeah and did five days five day passes this kind of thing yeah. So for that arrangement was was that great?

Stijn: Yes. For me it was great.

Nivar: Uh, I think nine days for the season pass is like fine, but I just thought it was a bit weird that, like, nine days is like a season pass and I'm working eight days is eight day passes. Which is kind of a big difference.

Simon: Big cliff edge, yeah?

Nivar: Yeah

Anna: Yeah, I think it's a it's a good arrangement, uh, like I said, before, I think it's a win win on both parts, they get like young volunteers and we get the season pass. um and especially when you have Hafjell so close, like 20 minute bus, it's so nice because you can just take
the bus very early or later on the day and you just can go whenever. And when you have the season pass, you're not like, oh, I have one day left. oh, so I cannot go night skiing, right. I'm not gonna go only in the evening.

Simon: Did any of you ski before you got your season passes?

Nivar: Yeah, I did I was here already in December. So I scheduled quite a lot of times without having a season pass.

Simon: Yeah. Okay, so is it was it a bit annoying then to get the season pass later after you spend new money?

Nivar: Yeah, in some way yes, but it was not an option in that time, because in December, you and the slope just opened, uh I didn't even know that you could do that the next
semester. So it was just skiing and uh.

Simon: Okay

Nico: For me it was like a very good opportunity because I used the season pass more before of the World Cup, because I think I arrived at the third of January and I learned skiing here in Norway, and for me it was a good option that I could go every day if I wanted to
improve my skills. So I feel free to to try myself and yeah, I don't have to pay for
every session. So it was great than before.

Simon: So you arrived, didn't know how to ski?

Nico: Not really no.

Simon: And then you end up being slope crew on the World Cup?

Nico: Yes

Simon: That's a good success story of coming to Lilhammer. Did you get anything else?

Stijn: We got like a jacket, a Helly Hansen jacket with like the sponsorship, yeah, uh Hafjell, Kvitfjell World Cup on it, you got like a thermo bottle.

Miren: A T-shirt

Stijn: And a hat.

Anna: Two hats.

Miren: One in Hafjell, one in Kvitfjell.

Stijn: Oh if you did both the world cups.

Simon: So there's a lot of merchandise as well, you guys got as a result.

Nivar: A lot of merchandise. I think.

Stijn: I think that's always what you get when you volunteer here in Norway. You get like
a hat, almost every time a hat, sometimes a shirt and sometime a cup for your
coffee.

Simon: Would you recommend volunteering if people come on the snow business in the
future?

Stijn: Yeah. It's a nice experience. You meet also a lot of people.
Like it's really easy to connect with some other exchange students. Like, I was or like before I thought I would also speak with a lot of more Norwegian people, but that was yeah,
maybe one to five out of Norwegian people, but it was quite nice.

Simon: Excellent and the other reflections on you volunteering to share?

Anna: Yeah, I think um if you do, for example, for the people next semester, um, if you do volunteer, really choose wisely where you volunteer. So, pick slope crew, because I think slope crew has had the most amazing experience. Um or maybe VIP or something like
that where you're inside, warm, uh, because when it's bad weather outside, it doesn't matter, you still have to stand there and be in the cold because you have to welcome the people, for example.

Nivar: Yeah and the days when you're going because most of the people now did like a series of weekends. But I think in if I would do it again, I would do it like a more close to each other, like uh four days here, like in a row, and then, uh five days a couple of weeks later in a row, because now it was just every weekend and really like takes over your weekend a bit.

Simon: The interesting thing for next year we have the World Cup finals here. So that's 10 days of of events. So it will all focus on organizing that prior or setting up the the tracks and then delivering the events. So it's going to be very um concentrated into it a certain zone and then of course, for the next spring semester, we will have to absolutely look at how we uh organize our lectures and the program of the course to reflect the demands of volunteering around that. But I'm sure we will be able to do that. That's not a problem.

Stijn: And you have to choos your Sundays wisely. Sundays it can break or make your Sunday if you volunteering there. Like sometimes you have to tear everything apart, I
think that's mostly Sunday. like the the last day, there you have to break everything up the same way the first day. You have to build everything up on the Sundays, you have to break everything. Like for me, the best days were like two Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Miren: Sunday was the worst
Stijn: Like those days. Also, if you do it in Kvitfjell, you can stay at some other place in Freja, so you can stay overnight quite closer.

Anna: But it was only for the for the slope crew.

Stijn: For the slope crew, because they had to get like early up but then, yeah, it's for me, it was better if you do it like, um yeah, multiple days in the row.

Nico: Yeah and also what's quite cool because Stijn said in the beginning, it's kind of boring sometimes, when you don't have anything to do in the week. It's also possible to rent skiers and go to the ski resort and take some slopes there with a few boards, so it's also a good opportunity to improve your skills or to get to know the slopes there, so.

Simon: Okay. It sounds like you got some great advice there. All right, I think we' come to a close, so thank you very much for joining us for this edition of Snow Business in Lillehammer. We will see you in the next one. Bye. Bye Bye.