Since my last entry I sat my Level 1 snowboard instructor exam… and passed! It’s only Level 1, but I was stoked to have passed. I’m currently working hard for my Level 2 exam in September. It was a relief to move away from the magic carpet and start teaching practice elsewhere on the mountain. in the first 2 weeks of level 2 training we’ve moved on to introducing students to carving, free-riding and freestyle. The highlight thus far has been the freestyle as we spent the day hitting jumps in switch (backwards) which gave us all a few scares. A few new members have joined the weekend warriors team for level 2 which has brought some welcome new energy to the class. Hopefully the fun and games will lead to another pass..?

The exam coincided with a big snowboard comp, the Burton Open and finished as an even bigger event, as The NZ Winter Games kicked off. I had thought the exam would hinder my viewing of the event, but the open was at Cardrona, so kept us us busy on the lift and meant we got free sunglasses, mountain dew and heaps of muesli bars. As a nice little release from the days spent on the magic carpet during my exam I had a night skiing sesh at Snowpark. Some suggested it might not be wise to lap an icy snowpark at night, especially the night before my final exam day. But I avoided injury and felt soooo relaxed after. Hopefully it won’t be the last night riding session up there.

Kim killing it
Silvia sending it Big Air

My post exam hangover day was spent watching the half pipe finals and I’ve since watched my house mates compete in couple of sweet slopestyle comps at SnowPark. Housemate Kim almost bagged first place, but came a sweet second place. Silvia kept the good times rolling and first in the Winter Games Big Air. Happy times in the house! Congratulations to both (pics above). There were only a couple British competitors to support during the Winter Games, but I took some time out of my busy schedule (riding, eating and sleeping) to film one of them. Hopefully he’ll get a good little film edit from the season.

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Away from the slopes not much has happened. We had a birthday in the house so got to sample Ambre’s finest piece of baking to date. We’ve had a couple boozy nights and apres sessions, but Wanaka is quite a mellow place. Yoga and apres hot tubs are more common than Jager bombs and beers. Which I am enjoying.

First Lift on Pow Day
The typically Kiwi winter has delivered some varied weather, with warm temps and melting snow one day and snow down to sea level the next. Bonkers. But it did give us two awesome powder days, and I made the most of them; building some little jumps; dialling in front and back flips; and getting some sweet photos along the way.

This weekend the training continues with early days on Saturday and Sunday. With two birthdays in Queenstown this weekend as well (one’s a 21st) I have a choice of being the lamest Party animal ever, or being extremely hungover for training on Sunday.