Adventures of our newly qualified ski instructors and the NZ Earthquake
Hi there from the land of 4 seasons in one day plus earthquakes. Well they say Nonstop adventure, that’s what we endeavour to deliver. (with a little help from nature).
So with exams over, along with the classic photo shoot with 5 very happy qualified ski instructors, it was time to get on with our goals for the next two weeks.
The main call was more ski tuition evolved around off piste, the club fields along with some carving to keep eurostar Alice happy. We first had a nice Tai dinner in the city to say farewell to our Viking star Sophia, as she dashed to the sun before returning to her busy life of study and work (that involves just 4 hours sleep a night, fuelled by a diet of hearty soup and a few apples). Credit to you girl, I hope you get the rewards at the end. Bon voyage.
We did manage to sneak in one last powder day for Sophia in NZ. The truth be have it, we could have been in any place on earth as we couldn’t see our hands in front of us. The trusty Andrew and Jason followed me as I loitered around ski patrollers with intent. Before long I had us on an undercover mission to bluff face. After traversing over and falling into 1 metre high wind drifts I managed to guide us smoothly along the endless track to bluff face. Well there were a few times I came off the edge of the track dropping onto the 37 degree slope bellow. Once there we used the trust rock lanterns to guide us down the beast. The snow was that awesome, we had to repeat the task again. The focus of the day was to trust your leader and feel with your feet.
Tuesday was a bluebird with more fresh powder. The departure was slightly delayed as the weary bodies slowly pilled in and the farewell hugs to Sophia concluded. The consequence of our lateness became an important lesson, that even in small town NZ there are still powder hounds out there (at least 10 of them, mostly ski school). The 5 minute late departure cost us dearly. As we rode the T bar the virgin powder slopes of Big Mama where being scarred with skis and boards. I scanned right as the valley was filled with echoes of joy as 1,2,3,4 people slashed their way down bluff face in just a few turns. Even Uli, the mountain manager, was out for first turns, which I haven't seen in my 15 years on the mountain. I locked into damage control mode looking for hidden spots to get the crew freshies.
This sounds easy but in NZ you need to consider the snow underneath plus what effect the sun,
temperature change and wind have had (this of course starts days before, watching weather cycles analysing ski area reports etc, to just make the decision of what mountain to hit up). We made it to the top and, to the crew's surprise, I hand signal in the opposite direction to the chosen big muma to bluff face. Subtle signals must be used to avoid other powder hounds following those of us in the know and who have the trained eye. Confused, my well trained crew follow me like sheep. We lost the punters and arrived at bluff face with still only 4 tracks. I point out big muma now tracked out ( at least 30 tracks ). Bluff face was like soft butter, you could just relax and slarve out your turns with speeds near 60mph. One would have to revert back in time to say it was Primo! This wasn't enough, we enjoyed the 2 mile long powder run of dome ridge, which ended in scree running to finish, as the approaching spring had left the snow line 50 metres above the road. This is another classic kiwi art form where one must dig his heals in and run down the hill and if things start to turn to custard you just have to run faster in the fine rock dust that is rolling with you like a mini avalanche. I was down in seconds to hitch a ride back up the hill to retrieve our trusty van to return all to the slopes. On my return I was met by a group all dressed in brown (they all were covered in rock dust/mud as they hadn’t sussed out the art of scree running as yet). Of course Nick was the muddiest, so he had to strip down to his undies before entering the van. Up the top it was time for some snow angels to wash the clothes before returning to the conventional slopes where we became Gorillas in the mist as the fog rolled in and we had about 3 metres vis. Did I mention that when I say "follow me if you like", but I'm on a mission and conventional slopes have nothing in common. With this in mind I lead us to some great chutes which lit the way like street lamps on a foggy night down the slopes. Once out of the chutes, it was up to the sheep to trust that my turns would lead them back to the lifts and I was now the mobile lantern for reference.
On Wednesday it was time for a rest, some uni sorting for Alice and some work at Porters for Jase. ( He is now employed part time in the ski school at Porters.) Well done Jase, not bad for an Aussie. Meanwhile the boyz hit up the burn. We were sorted out by the snow gods again, with some great freshies on classic NZ big face wind buff.
We slayed a couple of runs down Hamilton face, before a lesson on chute skiing. A few melt downs, sweat, ice cream heads from tumbles and some sluff riding ( mini avalanches), the boys were starting to get the hang of the variable/challenging/character building conditions, while confined to a narrow few metres between the cliff bands. Well done lads.
On Thursday we took the chance to go the the wildlife park and see some kiwis in full swing, if you know what I mean.... This was followed by a trip to the city centre historic buildings where Sir Rutherford discovered the process of radiation. Funny enough the kiwis to this day are nuclear free and surfed him out to the USA where he became an all-time legend. This was not the purpose of the visit, it was to get fresh fudge.
The next day we braved the 100km/hr winds and snow for a couple of hours of piste skiing training, before returning home to make some of the worlds biggest sushi rolls for Dig's birthday the next day. This would set us up with the time for another powder day. We had yet another dump...
4:34am the world and life as we know it changed by an act of nature that hits the area on a regular basis (once every 1000 years). A grade 7.1 earthquake. It lasted about 45 seconds. In respect to all concerned I will conclude this without detail other than everyone is safe and not one death in the entire area that was effected. I have done my upmost to protect all students and my family for the future after shock. I am confident that all students are safe and that there is no need for any concern or change of travel plans. Please feel free to call me on 006433184812 for any concerns.
The skiing plans halted and Jase had a birthday of a lifetime with homemade sushi lamb chops, home grown from my ranch (2 acre hobby farm), and my wild venison, pork and lamb sausages. To top it off they bet the South Africans at rugby and kiwis in netball.
We had a chill day on Sunday as the winds where reaching over 100mph on the mountains and enjoyed the life of Aftershocks and pool.
That’s it from me - time to get this to the pigeon, as the power is flickering, the wind howling, the rain pouring down and the Aftershocks jingling. Life sure does feel real and NONSTOP at the moment!
Jase
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