New Zealand ski instructor course - week 5 diary
Here's the latest from the crew on our New Zealand ski instructor course. This week's diary is courtesy of James...
MONDAY
We woke this morning to find the storm of the century puking down snow, leaving Springfield covered in a thick layer of white.
With Porters to remain closed for the day, we had to find another way to entertain ourselves. Fortunately we had been eagerly awaiting an opportunity to write out lesson progressions for our Level 1 exam. However by lunchtime, sitting inside while the white stuff was dumping down outside was becoming too much to bear and with cabin fever kicking in, we decided it was time to get outside for some good, old-fashioned tomfoolery. And what better way to enjoy the snow than at 70 km/h behind Jase’s snow mobile? Springfield’s transformation into an alpine village saw the park across the street transformed into our ski area, complete with slalom course (dodging trees while being towed behind the aforementioned snow mobile) and terrain park.
TUESDAY
The storm continued today, restricting us to indoor activities. We had the joy of acting out the lesson progressions we had written yesterday in the pub, much to the delight of the pub’s slightly inebriated patrons. In the evening we were invited to a house party at one of the residences housing a number of Porters’ finest ski instructors. The effects of the lack of skiing were plain to see, with Matt the lifty revealing a little too much information about his preferred extra-curricular activities.
WEDNESDAY
With Porters still closed, Jase managed to sweet talk a local farmer into letting us loose on one of his paddocks. Once we managed to clear the cows, the 30 metres of vert was perfect for practising our wedge turn lesson progressions. Then the real fun started when we built a kicker to practise our aerial abilities. So successful was our jaunt with the cows that Jase has shortlisted the paddock as a potential location for his proposed Springfield club field, which will see skiers towed to the top of the field behind a snow mobile instead of the customary rope tows.
THURSDAY
With the snowstorm having finally abated, we were in for another long day while we waited for the roads to be cleared so that staff could start getting Porters ready to open. It was a good opportunity to catch up on job applications, emails to friends and family, and to get on top of our lesson progressions. We also had our first visit from an outsider, with my girlfriend arriving from Australia to spend the weekend in Springfield.
FRIDAY
With Porters still closed as staff continued clearing the road, conducting avalanche control and digging out the T-bars and café, it was a perfect opportunity to get some skiing in at a couple of the club fields in the area. Five of us (including my girlfriend and Jase) headed to Mt Cheeseman where I got in some valuable teaching practise, making the brave decision to give my girlfriend a lesson, while the other two worked on their personal skiing. Having survived the lesson unscathed and with the relationship intact, Jase and I skied an untouched chute with knee deep powder, before wading through waist deep snow up a 35° slope to get back to the carpark. Meanwhile, the other three embarked upon this year’s maiden trip to Craigieburn, where they were shown up by Jase’s dad. Whilst the guys’ piste skis may have been harder to turn than the fat skis everyone else seemed to be getting around on, they were pretty happy to be skiing powder that was knee deep rather than only ankle deep. We were all treated to one of the days of the season, with perfect conditions including blue skies and loads of new snow.
SATURDAY
Porters was finally open today. Unfortunately, it seemed the entire punter population of Christchurch (90% snowboarders) had descended upon Porters to make the most of the new snow. With the average waiting time for a T-bar being 5-10 minutes, we only got about 10 runs in for the day, but with blue skies and plenty of snow, they were a good 10 runs. While I took the opportunity to gain some more teaching experience with my girlfriend, the others worked on their wedge turn demos and their personal skiing, before getting in some solid free skiing, including a run down the one and only “Big Mama”. That night, a local band called “Shiver”, fronted by Sue, our local bar chick, was playing at the pub. With Sunday being a rest day, we settled in for a solid night on the gas, resulting in Andrew pulling some insane moves on the “d”-floor, much to the delight of one young lady in particular.
