With my level 2 passed and no job or impending commitments to speak off, I could finally pay disregard to any personal safety and enjoy some snowboarding. Things started with a little off-piste. There wasn’t much so I had to go for a few hikes. I managed to drag Tom and Sarah along for a couple and Ambre was kind enough to follow close enough to take a few pictures later on. I thought I had picked out some pretty mellow wind lips to hit and then what I thought was a gnarly set off rock drops. But I was massively out-done by one off New Zealand’s pros Will Jackways who was out hiking the same ridge. He made my rocks look like stepping stones and managed the biggest drop I’ve ever witnessed. My smaller drop, which was my biggest so far, still scarred the life out of me, managed to entertain a couple of onlookers, and brought a little cheers from Will J. With the camera still out and safety still a low priority I finished the session with some backflip practice between a coupe of rocks.
It was sweet not to be the only one pushing it as Ambre was tackling some new terrain, attempting her first chute, and locking in her 180’s. It was nice to cut loose after exams, and while I enjoyed the training, it’s nice to have it all behind me. As a last little group activity we all went night skiing at Snowpark NZ. It was sweet to see some of the pro’s doing a photo shoot and it was fun to spend a few hours jibbing about on the rails and boxes. Aside from a few bumps and bruises I think we all had fun.
Off the slopes two of our housemates have said goodbye. Not before Kim managed to win the final slopestyle comp of the NZ season taking out first place in the Freeski NZ open. We were all pretty stoked for her. While it sounded like Silvia (pro snowboarder) enjoyed finishing the season on skis..? In the end we were pretty sad to see them go.
On another bum note our car has blown a gasket. Literally. So while it might get us to the shops and back, we have had to hitch-hike up and down the mountain. Luckily our mates Tom and Sarah have a car, as we are all heading to Dunedin this weekend to watch a little bit of the Rugby World Cup. The england match might be a bit of a no contest, but watching the All Blacks v France match in the pub after should be fun. With my French girlfriend in tow I should probably root for France… allez les Bleus?
Rugby is the main reason for our road trip, but we also plan to visit a friends farm, to hopefully check out the great kiwi past time of sheep sheering. Ambre is also hoping there are some new lambs. We are all hoping to see some of Dunedin’s famous penguins!
We have also done a spot of shopping recently, buying some gear for our next venture, a winter season in Japan! I had a Skype interview at 6am a couple of days ago. Those of you that know me well will know that’s not my favourite time of day. Hopefully it went well, and we will be enjoying some of Japan’s legendary powder in a few months time. But for now it’s back to some good old slush down under!
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