The tide has turned

[AJM]

Finally we got some snow !! Not great snow but some and the whole mountain is open so yay
In typical NZ fashion it was what we fondly call variable ie nice powder then ice then a crust then back to ice and so on and so on ..... character building
Anyhow they finally got the top of the mountain open and it was great to be up there, I even took a few cheeky off piste runs and managed to bounce my way through even though I'm not supposed to be going off piste and I did take a skate on some ice and fell which was bit of a heart in the mouth moment but all was good ..... thought hubby was going to have a heart attack when he saw me fall !!
I quit while I was ahead and am feeling very proud of myself considering the conditions and the fact that I'm coming off an injury .... here's to the rest of the season !!
Sorry no pics but I'll get some next time xx

 

[AJM]

Here's a pic taken yesterday of me with a friend up on the ridge. Bluebird but freezing cold, the shady aspects stayed "slide for life" conditions but the sunny aspects softened up nicely and I was sooooo tempted to venture out onto Big Mama (one of our big faces) but I was sensible and didnt ..... I had the most horrific FOMO though
I think this pic shows just how much stronger my legs have got since I've been doing PT xx

 

[VickiK]

Am very happy for you! Yay!

 

[skibum4ever]

I love hearing this!

 

[AJM]

So I ventured up again today despite my son telling me it would be horrendously windy and guess what ? It was !!! I think it was the most terrifying chairlift ride Ive ever had (apparently one gust was 105km !!), the alarms were going off constantly so they shut it down for a while until it calmed down enough to run safely.
Once it was safe to run again I put on my big girl pants and went back up and had a great time ..... I snuck out wide off piste with the Black Crows demo team and we had a fantastic time on the windblown pow. I didnt end up demoing as I'm still a little cautious and dont want to risk getting on a ski I dont know even though I was tempted.
Hubby meanwhile has been down ski touring at the back of Tekapo (about 4 hrs drive from here) but they cut their trip short and flew out this morning due to incoming weather.
Here's a pic he sent me ..... they decided to go to Roundhill (a ski area at Tekapo) on their way home and enjoyed a lazy beverage in the sun

 

[marzNC]

Thanks for sharing the pics!

 

[scandium]

So I ventured up again today despite my son telling me it would be horrendously windy and guess what ? It was !!! I think it was the most terrifying chairlift ride Ive ever had (apparently one gust was 105km !!), the alarms were going off constantly so they shut it down for a while until it calmed down enough to run safely.
Once it was safe to run again I put on my big girl pants and went back up and had a great time ..... I snuck out wide off piste with the Black Crows demo team and we had a fantastic time on the windblown pow. I didnt end up demoing as I'm still a little cautious and dont want to risk getting on a ski I dont know even though I was tempted.
Hubby meanwhile has been down ski touring at the back of Tekapo (about 4 hrs drive from here) but they cut their trip short and flew out this morning due to incoming weather.
Here's a pic he sent me ..... they decided to go to Roundhill (a ski area at Tekapo) on their way home and enjoyed a lazy beverage in the sun View attachment 21502

Roundhill looks much better covered! Only half of their first t-bar was open a couple of weeks ago.

Did you make it up Porters again today?

 

[AJM]

Roundhill looks much better covered! Only half of their first t-bar was open a couple of weeks ago.

Did you make it up Porters again today?

Hubby said Roundhill was great, Heritage tow wasn't going but they had fun blasting about (and lazing in the deckchairs ), they'd just flown out of the Cass Valley and the skiing there was diabolical so some turns on the groomers was a welcome relief !
I didnt go yesterday but hubby called in on his way to work for a few powder turns and said it was fantastic, he did think it might have been a bit heavy for me though, you had to have a bit of weight and power behind you !
I might head up later today once the road has melted out a bit, its chains on all vehicles at the moment and my little Rav4 (which funnily enough is only 2 wheel drive ) is getting a bit tired and she struggles enough on the steep sections let alone when there's snow and ice on them !!

 

[AJM]

So back up today, super busy for a Friday but hey the sun was shining and the vibes were high
Had a run with my skiing buddy June who some of you may have read about before, anyway she's now 82 and this is her 73rd consecutive year skiing .... she's an absolute legend just don't cut her off or she'll tear strips off you as some poor person found out today
She pretty much only ski's the groomers these days but she did take a sneaky off piste run today which was fantastic and made her feel good.
Here's a pic I took of her in all her glory
On another note, I demo'd the Fischer RC1's today, OMG I HATED them !! I truly thought I was going to die I limped down and handed them back straight away and jumped back on my trusty Sheeva's.
One of the guys from our local ski shop saw me and was in hysterics, his words were .... "you just do you, stick with what you love and dont worry about the pressure to get on a skinny ski" , he also mentioned that I am a creature of habit and dont like to switch things up, think he might have a point there

 

[scandium]

Looks a beaut! I had a very reasonable morning and a flat afternoon at Hutt today, ended up not going back for more at the Volkl tent as they don't have the Secret, and the Flair SC Carbon that they do have feels a tad long for me in the 158cm, I felt so clumsy and gave them back after one run!! Depending on how my partner is feeling about getting up in the morning tomorrow we may head to Porters (we are staying in Darfield tonight/tomorrow to give us options)

 

[AJM]

Looks a beaut! I had a very reasonable morning and a flat afternoon at Hutt today, ended up not going back for more at the Volkl tent as they don't have the Secret, and the Flair SC Carbon that they do have feels a tad long for me in the 158cm, I felt so clumsy and gave them back after one run!! Depending on how my partner is feeling about getting up in the morning tomorrow we may head to Porters (we are staying in Darfield tonight/tomorrow to give us options)
View attachment 21506

Thats fantastic!! I'll be up there tomorrow and it would be so great to catch up !! Just a heads up, it will be busy tomorrow so you'll need to be on the road at about 7am to get a top carpark.

 

[scandium]

Thats fantastic!! I'll be up there tomorrow and it would be so great to catch up !! Just a heads up, it will be busy tomorrow so you'll need to be on the road at about 7am to get a top carpark.

Ooh thanks for the heads-up, I should be there with floral pants. It still sounds better than Hutt, apparently last weekend top carpark was gone by 0730 which is worse than the school holidays were.

 

[AJM]

Excellent !!! Ill keep my eyes peeled. Yes Hutts been diabolically busy. Its been busy at Porters but not like that. Im in all black with skinny pants and a leopard print hoodie. You can always ask patrol if they've seen Sams mum aka Ali

 

[AJM]

Here's your Tuesday morning update from NZ !!
Sadly things have taken a turn for the worst as far as my injury go's, I overdid it on Saturday and am now paying the price
I skied 2 days in a row and took it just a bit too far on the second day so I've been told by my PT to back it all up a bit. At least I now know my limits and unfortunately that limit is quite low ..... groomers only and preferably only mellow terrain, no fun bouncing around in the chop and definately no side hits, as for powder well that's strictly off limits. In the words of my PT "this is going to be your season of frustration" and boy is she right!!
On a brighter note, I caught up with @scandium on Saturday but unfortunately it was after I realised I'd over done it so we couldn't have a ski together but hopefully we can next time she is down this way. So nice to catch up with fellow Divas even if there is only a few of us down here
We got more snow last night and more is forecast for tomorrow so we're heading down to Roundhill at the end of the week, hopefully I can ski by then (its super mellow terrain down there) and if not I can sit in the deckchairs and enjoy the view with a schnapps in hand

 

[echo_VT]

This is so great to read up on the start of your season— so sorry about the injury, hope you’re able to take it easy so it can heal up.

 

[AJM]

So now that we have snow and now that I have my Orthopedic Ski's I should have been up again today but we had a short sharp surprise snow fall (only a cm or 2) but it locked up immediately and your's truly was the first to come across it on the access road (it came down once the staff were all up there) and went for one of the biggest slides Ive ever had drivng up our roads !! On went the chains and I weighed up my options but when I saw big 4WDs sliding as well I thought I'd just limp home. Of course now the sun is out and I'm sitting at home wondering if I should head back up

Went to my bootfitter yesterday as I've been having issues with my right ankle (the one I broke and tore all the tendons) and she discovered that it was really unstable and that was probably my issue. She taped it up for me and I tried the boot on again .... what a difference, it was so stable so Im off to get some tape and thats how I'll roll for the rest of the season providing I can get up the hill !!
I've chucked a couple of bags of premix cement in the boot to try and weight the car down a bit

 

[AJM]

Kia Ora from a bluebird powder day in NZ
Well today was the day of the season, a cheeky 10-15cm of light and dry with no dreaded crust across the maunga !

Managed to slither my Rav4 to the chain bay and then a handy lift came along in the form of a bigger gruntier 4wd so I took them up on their offer.

Kinda wished I had my Sheevas as it was perfect conditions for them but no I stuck to my new Orthopedic Ski's and actually had a blast on them.
I noticed the shortness in length today, they do not like to go too fast as they become quite twitchy but thats ok, I'm not meant to be going fast anyway and the fact that are sooooo easy to turn more than makes up for it.
I did break the rules of not going off piste and took them in the powder, at first I was like what the heck as they sunk like a stone but once I got a bit of a bunny bounce going they were great so thats another point in their favour

Called it quits early so I can go again tomorrow x

 

[AJM]

Another week and more snow !!!
Managed to get a quick photo op with my son this morning before he headed out on a BC mission.
We have the K2 designers and testers here putting their ski's through their paces. I mentioned in another thread that they come over every season or so but the most exciting thing is that I met the guy who designed my ski's !!!! So that was a bit of a moment for me and he was thrilled that I love them and said it had made his day .... think I might be a K2 convert now as I'm having so much fun on them

 

[VickiK]

Awwww it sounds like so much fun. Except the slide on the road. As a California girl, my only technique for driving on snow & ice is to go slow and more slow. Have fun, make runs while the snow's there!

 

[AJM]

Awwww it sounds like so much fun. Except the slide on the road. As a California girl, my only technique for driving on snow & ice is to go slow and more slow. Have fun, make runs while the snow's there!

Me thinks perhaps I should've been going a little bit slower that day, but no I boosted it to keep up momentum and well that didnt work