Snowboarding on Mt Hutt
We got the bus to Methven. An incredibly quiet little town that must close down when theres no snow as theres nothing else there. We hired all the clothes, bought bus tickets and got lift passes included in the 3 day lesson pack we had. All for $430, which is about 145 quid. Not bad for 3 full days snowboarding!
Monday morning I woke up dead excited. I got all the snowboard kit out and was in the shower when somebody shouted to take my time as the mountain was closed. The mountain was closed for two days. It had snowed, but the road getting up there was shut because of high winds. As theres bugger all else to do in Methvan, we ended up doing all kinds of things to keep busy.
Monday, Jess, Becky and I did yoga in the tiny gym in town. The yogi was a real hippy trippy dude who'd spent ages learning in India and was really into the whole yin and yang "Breathe out the evil, then embrace the life" holistic side of yoga. I enjoyed it. Also, after a couple of hours I got into some positions I didn't think possible. We got back to the lodge and the rest of the guys had made a table tennis table/net and bought some bats and balls from the kids bit in the supermarket. There was also a colour-in farmhouse which you could assemble from the flat paper. I personally enjoyed the colouring-in as I hadn't done it for about 18 years.
We thought we'd use sod's law to our advantage. Tuesday night, after staying fit and sober for 2 days, we made some mulled wine then went to the pub. If we had a late night and woke up with a hangover, then it would guarantee the mountain would open...
Wednesday morning, the mountain opened! The ride from Methven (sea level) up to the top of Mt. Hutt (2070m) took about 45 minutes. We realised why the road had to shut in high winds, as we looked down the sides of the barren mountain road. There were times when we'd be driving along a ridge that was only as wide as the road, with at least a kilometer of steep moutain either side! (You wouldn't have liked it dad.)
We picked up our kit at the top and went out onto the ice. Unfortunately it was mostly ice rather than snow, which I know from last time makes learning snowboarding incredibly painful. I went to where we were all meant to meet for the lessons, and found I was the only one at my level (ie. a week snowboarding in La Plagne last year and a couple of hours in Adelaide)there that day. I got a private lesson! On top of that, I've always had Francois or Geraaard as instructors. It generally seems to be the girls who get the best deal, talking about their hunky teachers. For my private lesson, I had Sherri, a gorgeous 22yr old blond Canadian snowboard babe!
I picked it up again easier than I thought I would've (I think trying to impress Sherri helped) and after a couple of hours I was carving down the ice slowly, falling over a lot, but feeling good!
So good, I thought I'd try coming down from the top chair lift where all the snow-makers were pumping out. I'd never come across snow-machines before and I hope I don't again. They pump out snow from what looks like fire hoses, right across the piste, and right into the faces of anyone coming down. I only had sun glasses and not goggles on and my face got covered in freezing cold snow. I was going slowly enough anyway (and falling over because you get balance with speed) so the added fact I couldn't see anything really annoyed me. I kept falling over (you either fall on your bum or your knees when you snowboard - after a while you just keep hitting the same bruises) and was thoroughly pissed off by the time I got to the bottom. The only other alternative to the top chair lift was the button lift, which is bloody hard to do on a snowboard, because they're designed for skiers.
I finished the day frustrated, but determined to hire some goggles for tomorrow. Oh and I decided I wanted to marry my instructor.
The next day I didn't want to get up. It was cold, my head hurt, my body was aching. I missed the 8am bus and thought i'd get the later one. I got to the mountain in time for the lesson but was a bit miffed to find it was Sherri's day off. I had some bloke called James. I told him I wasn't happy because I clearly didn't fancy him. He turned out alright though. We ended up waltzing down the mountain holding hands as he corrected my posture and told me to look where I was going. It sounds silly, but it's suprising how much looking where you're going (and not at the board or other people) helps your balance on a snowboard. I was getting confident now. Though as I always say when i'm playing pool - You get cocky, you lose.
A few of us went up the chair lift that afternoon. Thankfully they'd turned the snowmachines off so it was pretty easy to scoot down the mountain. I was getting most of my turns in and most of my body positions and balance was OK. Completing my turns at speed was still a problem though because I wasn't doing it right everytime. One little wobble and I'd be over. At one point I honestly thought I'd split my arse. I fell sideways though moving forwards at speed, and my trailing cheek hit the deck first, transfering all the momentum to my bum-hole. I sat there howling for about five minutes... I don't think I did any major long-term damage, though I was worried the shock had caused me to poo my pants at the time. (Which it didn't thankfully.) It was just that hot version of pain.
Anyway, apart from that, I left that day feeling good. I almost felt like a snowboarder. I realised chatting to the skiiers, that skiing is about staying upright and in control, whereas snowboarding is about controlling how you fall over.
Skiing must be more tiring though, look what it did to Jess and Anna.
Another day, another lesson, another bloke. Sean. Another Canadian who was living with Sherri. Apparently she's got a bloke. Bugger. My dreams shattered as they hit the ice below the chairlift. Might as well concentrate on snowboarding I suppose.
Another nugget of advice. "Turn your toes the way you want to move across the mountain." Such a simple thing. Suddenly I'm a Snowboarder. I was twisting my hips and bending my knees, keeping my back straight and using my arms for balance... I was still falling over. As I pointed my toes, I stayed up. I pointed them the other way for a backside turn. I was going fast... I stayed up!
I managed to get from the top to the bottom of the mountain with only a couple of minor slips. It'd even improved my falling! This could possibly be the one sport in my life I can actually do! As I pushed my speed to as fast as I could go and just saving myself from falling over each time - Buzz Lightyear kept going through my head... "I'm not flying - I'm falling with style..."
That afternoon, Becky and I moved forward onto the chairlift platform and waited for the unusually fast chairlift to swing round and sweep us up the mountain. A dopey bloke on skis behind us moved forwards on to the platform where the chair turns around. As it was, it probably would've knocked him over anyway. As the lift-attendants shouted at him to move, they didn't notice the bar on the chair had been blown down by the wind, meaning we couldn't sit down. The chair swung round and knocked him flying, Becky tried to lift it and got knocked to the side and I tried to lift it and ended up getting mown down as I couldn't lift the bar in time. I ended up with my foot caught behind the board, a mouth full of snow and my arse in the air as the chairlift slowed to a stop as it passed over my head. The attendants were all very apologetic, but I thought it was quite funny. It doesn't happen often.
I was buzzing that night as I handed my board and boots back in, I can't wait to get to America. I think I'm gonna head up to Canada and do some more! Maybe to Edmonton. Thats where Sherri comes from... I don't know how I'll be when I get there though. As I learnt on ice in France last year, then did the indoor place at Adelaide on ice, then got back up to speed on ice here - when I hit real snow I'm either gonna be the best snowboarder in the world or completely lost.
Without a board or skis, we still had time for some for fart-arsing around on the snow.
