Opening Storm

 The weeks of brilliant sunshine and warm weather didn’t stop the Queenstown ski-fields opening. Using purely man-made snow, my old stomping ground The Remarkables, opened in-time for the final weekend of Winter Fest. The Big slope-style competition was obviously not possible, but they did put on a Boxzilla comp. Basically they joined up loads of boxes and challenged people to make it to the end. I entered. Not to try and scoop some of the prize money, but to get the free t-shirt that was given to competitors. I did have a couple of attempts to slay Boxzilla, but it was just embarrassing, so headed up the mountain with Lee for the first shred of the season (video is below this post). Despite all the grass and rock on show The Remarks was just as fun as I remember and hopefully I’ll be back when there is some real snow.

 

During our wait for the Wanaka skifields to open we went on our favourite trek yet, up Rocky Mountain. Ambre did not quite make the summit,  but I navigated the ice covered paths in my skate trainers no problem. The view from the top was awesome but the frozen lake was the highlight. I didn’t dare go to far out, but trying to walk on the Diamond Lake was pretty cool.

Ambre managed to land a reception job at a local hotel, which is extra sweet as she only has evening shifts so can ski every day!  She didn’t start till a week later, so we were able to head for another night-out in Queenstown. This time to say goodbye to Erin who is heading over to Australia. Tired and hungover, we did manage to ski the next day, as Cardrona finally opened! Although with a total of three runs, it was a dismal effort.

 

A day after the opening I had my first day of instructor training,  which coincided with the start of a week long storm. Eager to get out of the freezing snow and wind we spent a fair bit of time in the class room, but the day was pretty fun and it just felt like riding around with a few friends. I look forward to my next session tomorrow, and hope for some better weather.

 

 The storm finally stopped and we had a couple of awesome powder days. Some of the best I’ve had. There were some chutes, some drops, and heaps of crashes! Driving up and down was interesting, but luckily we had some show chains. Yesterday Ambre drove down as I convinced my new house mate it was a good idea to board down. We intended to ride down to the road and get picked up along the way. But ended up in the middle of a snow covered field. No where near the road. After climbing a few fences and going through someones back yard, we made it to another road, where we could get picked up. We were given some strange looks as we boarded through the fields, not by people, but by the sheep that inhabited them. Top to bottom, it was amazing, one of the best runs I have ever done. From the summit all the way to the road home.