This week’s segment focuses on how to plant and care for your potato crop.
Outdoors
Officials warn of avalanche danger on Flume Trail
The City and Borough of Juneau is warning residents not to access the Perseverance Trail system via the Flume Trail.
The Basin Road Bridge is the main access to Perseverance. But it was closed this morning for construction. It also will be closed Monday.
The Flume Trail is the secondary access. But due to the risk of avalanches, it’s not considered safe.
The city’s avalanche forecast has been discontinued until next winter. But a notice on the city’s website says the risk of slides is still significant the higher you go into the mountains.
Gardentalk – Berries and fruit
Master Gardener Ed Buyarski encourages us to try something a little different.
South American students spend their summer enjoying winter at Eaglecrest
Only two days left in Juneau’s ski season. Eaglecrest closes on Sunday, after a banner year of snow. The city-owned ski area opened Nov. 25, eight days earlier than planned. It still has about 100 inches of snow at the base and 155 at the top of the mountain.
Some of Eaglecrest winter crew are on summer break. Since 2006, Eaglecrest has hired South American students to fill some jobs seldom sought by locals.
The J-One Visa Program has become so popular, a few have returned for multiple seasons, like Celline Souza of Maringa, Brazil.
“The snow is just something that you have to experience,” she says.
Celline had only seen snow in pictures until she came to Eaglecrest.
It’s summer south of the equator when it’s winter in North America, and she wanted a summer job in the United States. Her criteria:
“Snow, because I had never seen it before, and with no Brazilians and no Spanish-speaking people,” she says.
She landed at Eaglecrest in the winter of 2007 and 2008. She’s been back three times.
She is multi-lingual and wanted to work in the Eaglecrest rental and sundry shop, where she could practice her English and get to know the guests. The shop this winter was a stopping point even for those with nothing to buy.
That’s been the history of the Eaglecrest program, says former ski area manager Kirk Duncan. Over the years, he hired students from Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile.
“We have a lot of jobs that are relatively low skill and we really hire for personality,” he says. “And these kids have a ton of personality.”
Duncan is now CBJ Public Works Director, but the J-One Visa Visitor Exchange Program is still a source for Eaglecrest employees.
The program is regulated by the U.S. State Department. To qualify, participants must be college students, proficient in English, carry basic medical insurance, and pay their own fees. They’re usually in the country about three months.
Duncan says it’s very popular at large U.S. ski areas, but the Eaglecrest experience is more like home-town America.
“What makes Juneau unique versus Aspen, or Vail or some of the bigger resorts is that they don’t ever get to see America,” Duncan says. “Juneau is just great for college kids really understanding what Americans are all about.”
Celline would agree. She embraced Juneau during her three winters here. Her host family this season, Marcus and Teresa Zimmerman, call her the “social butterfly.”
Her student visa expires April 14th, so she’s heading back to Brazil.
Keila Delmazo returned to Peru in late March, where she is finishing a bachelor’s degree in tourism. Like Celline, Keila embraced the snow and skiing.
“It was great, because in Peru we don’t have ski areas,” she said before she left Juneau.
Keila worked at Eaglecrest for two seasons, the first as a lift operator.
“It was hard because the weather is very different from my country,” she recalls. “But now it’s very warm, my job.”
That’s because Keila moved indoors this winter and was a cashier in the Eaglecrest Grill, where she could practice her English. Though she’s taught English in Peru, she says it’s just different in America.
“It’s kind of difficult because the language is not the same. Sometimes it’s hard to understand,” she said.
Most years, the foreign students have been lift operators, generally known to Eaglecrest skiers and boarders by their colorful hand-knit hats.
Marcus Zimmerman is Eaglecrest Lift Supervisor. He says lift operator positions are often hard to fill with local employees, and the South American students bring a very good work ethic to the mountain.
“They’re very reliable. They’re here to work. They’re here to experience the culture, so they’re very dedicated,” Zimmerman says.
The J-1 Visa brings students to America year around and some come to Juneau for summer tourism jobs.
The hiring process for the U.S. winter season begins in June. Eaglecrest uses the Council on International Educational Exchange, or CIEE, which operates study and work programs for youth in 33 countries. Zimmerman says CIEE handles the application and visa process.
“They do have background checks done on them,” he says. “The stuff that’s on our end is more providing information on what the jobs entail.”
There are drawbacks – government policies change, students’ summer vacation time may not conform to the Eaglecrest season – and this year only three foreign students worked at the mountain, from a high of ten in years past. Zimmerman says the ski area also has had better luck lately in hiring locally for the lift jobs.
Many of the foreign students like to come to Juneau for the “Alaskan” experience. The jobs are not glamorous, nor are the wages. The students pay their own way from their home country, they find their own housing, and they earn from $9 to $12 an hour. Eaglecrest provides transportation to and from the mountain. If employees work at least two days a week, they are eligible for a lift pass and a few other perks.
Celline says she knew she wouldn’t make a lot of money; it’s the people she met and the friends she made that shaped her experience.
“Everyone that I’ve met here has been so amazing to me. I can honestly say I have a family here in Juneau,” she says.
She recently completed her bachelor’s degree in law, a five-year program in Brazil. She’s already passed the Brazilian bar. While she’s no longer able to work in America on a J-1 Visa, she is sure she will return to Juneau some day.
“I would live here if I could,” she says.
Gardentalk – Lawn prep and care
This episode should actually be called Lawntalk because Master Gardener Ed Buyarski goes where no non-turf gardener usually goes.
Japanese ship watched for oil, debris after being sunk
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The Coast Guard is watching for fuel and debris from a derelict Japanese fishing vessel it sank off the coast of Southeast Alaska on Thursday.
Kip Wadlow of the agency’s public affairs office says nothing of significance has been found so far. A small sheen was spotted Thursday, but was expected to dissipate quickly.
Wadlow says the Petersburg-based cutter Anacapa began firing at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday.
The Ryou-Un Maru went down at 6:15 p.m. in about 6,000 feet of water.
“When the ship started to sink, the starboard quarter, or the right-back side, went in the water first. And then the ship just slowly rolled over and sank,” Wadlow says.
The approximately 200-foot vessel was washed out to sea by last year’s Japanese tsunami. It crossed the Pacific Ocean without crew or power, then drifted up the coast of British Columbia into Alaska waters.
Wadlow says the Coast Guard fired 440 rounds of explosive ordinance at the ship’s waterline.
“The reason why we decided to sink this vessel is that it posed a safety threat to mariners and maritime shipping that travel the sea lanes off of Southeast Alaska,” he says.
Firing was delayed when a fishing boat captain expressed interest in salvaging the ship. He decided against the idea after getting a closer look.
The Ryou-Un Maru caught on fire after the first round of shelling. Wadlow says the Anacapa’s crew put it out by shooting a stream of water from their vessel.
“There was a significant smoke plume and we didn’t want to worry any mariners in the area thinking that there might be a vessel on fire and people in danger,” he says.
The Japanese ship was about 180 miles west of Sitka when it sank.
It’s not clear what hazardous materials were on board. The Coast Guard does not believe the ship contained any radiation.
An agency C-130 aircraft is flying a grid over the area to check for oil or debris.
