Snow-Dogs II
The adventure is complete.
Monday: Leonard and I kick ass all day, starting out by getting our balance and confidence, then going ever faster, and finally popping some aerials.
Tuesday: 9am. I confidently rip toward the biggest hit (jump) in the park planning to pop a 180.
Leonard calls "It'll be hard".
I call back "So am I".
That which is slushy and forgiving at 4pm is solid ice at 9am, the hit tosses me like a caber, people make ‘ooooh’ noises, I land hard, immediately sure I've earned a really good bruise. Adrenaline kills pain, and I board until the lifts close at 4pm.
Wednesday: Experimentation and a sleepless night convinced me I'd cracked or broken my left floating rib. Can't board on no-sleep, so took day off to let the pain numb a little.
Thursday: Dosed up on neurofen. The pain and extra risk of damage add additional excitement to the morning speed runs. Then around midday we move to the terrain-park.
After a few jumps I decide to try some tricks, and discover that one thing you really need when a takeoff goes badly is good mobility in your torso, which my rib has negated. While airborne I have to decide whether to maim my rib or absorb all of the impact on my left shoulder.
Crunch.
Nerve damage, over the next few hours I lose use of my left shoulder. My left side is now a bit of a disaster so I switch to riding fakie. A crash while freeriding around 3pm leads me to declare that I've exceeded my pain-tolerance.
Friday: Weather clears somewhat around 11am. Leonard has a great day's boarding, while I hide in the chalet, play a little flute and a little Warcraft. I'm not keen to pay for a lift-pass for a questionable day in a bunch of pain.
Saturday: I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that neurofen is incredible! Visibility on the upper mountain is 10m, but much better below 2000m, so we spend the day using snowbunnies on the rock-garden as a mobile slalom-course. A bonus is that the rock-garden-rails supply a little variety.
A blizzard scares off the softies and keeps the lift-queues short.
Sunday: 65k winds. Mountain closed. Dense blizzard. Trip to Taupo to watch Clerks2. Weekenders flee the mountain in droves.
Monday: Final day, time to go hard, neurofen, guarana, caffeine. The custodian of our chalet is Julia, a stunning young ski instructor0 who we entertained on Sunday night. Julia is training nearby on the mountain and taking her breaks with us. She of course knows exactly what will happen...
The races and showing-off move from excessive to insane. We take turns leading each other through increasingly difficult runs at ever-increasing speeds, ripping down off-track slopes and leaping rocks. By the end of the day we are popping off the tracks into steep mogul-fields. People on the chairlifts are cheering and howling.
And home. After 10 days at 1700 metres, Auckland air is like breathing treacle.
The Rib still gives sharp pain, the shoulder is weak but I can now raise the arm to 90 degrees. In short, bodies heal and memories are forever.
Lessons learned, friends made, strength gained. Frankly, the best trip ever.
Anyone up for Snowplanet on Friday night? :o)
Love 'n' bugs,
Dog.
Monday: Leonard and I kick ass all day, starting out by getting our balance and confidence, then going ever faster, and finally popping some aerials.
Tuesday: 9am. I confidently rip toward the biggest hit (jump) in the park planning to pop a 180.
Leonard calls "It'll be hard".
I call back "So am I".
That which is slushy and forgiving at 4pm is solid ice at 9am, the hit tosses me like a caber, people make ‘ooooh’ noises, I land hard, immediately sure I've earned a really good bruise. Adrenaline kills pain, and I board until the lifts close at 4pm.
Wednesday: Experimentation and a sleepless night convinced me I'd cracked or broken my left floating rib. Can't board on no-sleep, so took day off to let the pain numb a little.
Thursday: Dosed up on neurofen. The pain and extra risk of damage add additional excitement to the morning speed runs. Then around midday we move to the terrain-park.
After a few jumps I decide to try some tricks, and discover that one thing you really need when a takeoff goes badly is good mobility in your torso, which my rib has negated. While airborne I have to decide whether to maim my rib or absorb all of the impact on my left shoulder.
Crunch.
Nerve damage, over the next few hours I lose use of my left shoulder. My left side is now a bit of a disaster so I switch to riding fakie. A crash while freeriding around 3pm leads me to declare that I've exceeded my pain-tolerance.
Friday: Weather clears somewhat around 11am. Leonard has a great day's boarding, while I hide in the chalet, play a little flute and a little Warcraft. I'm not keen to pay for a lift-pass for a questionable day in a bunch of pain.
Saturday: I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that neurofen is incredible! Visibility on the upper mountain is 10m, but much better below 2000m, so we spend the day using snowbunnies on the rock-garden as a mobile slalom-course. A bonus is that the rock-garden-rails supply a little variety.
A blizzard scares off the softies and keeps the lift-queues short.
Sunday: 65k winds. Mountain closed. Dense blizzard. Trip to Taupo to watch Clerks2. Weekenders flee the mountain in droves.
Monday: Final day, time to go hard, neurofen, guarana, caffeine. The custodian of our chalet is Julia, a stunning young ski instructor0 who we entertained on Sunday night. Julia is training nearby on the mountain and taking her breaks with us. She of course knows exactly what will happen...
The races and showing-off move from excessive to insane. We take turns leading each other through increasingly difficult runs at ever-increasing speeds, ripping down off-track slopes and leaping rocks. By the end of the day we are popping off the tracks into steep mogul-fields. People on the chairlifts are cheering and howling.
And home. After 10 days at 1700 metres, Auckland air is like breathing treacle.
The Rib still gives sharp pain, the shoulder is weak but I can now raise the arm to 90 degrees. In short, bodies heal and memories are forever.
Lessons learned, friends made, strength gained. Frankly, the best trip ever.
Anyone up for Snowplanet on Friday night? :o)
Love 'n' bugs,
Dog.