One ski bail

I was half a turn short of the most humiliating moment of my skiing life to date. If it wasn't for a hasty bail into the snow I would have owed people more than a jug or two of beer.

Training on Friday afternoon saw us having a bash on one ski in the tasty crud on Rapunzels. Heavy snow and burning thighs saw many a tumble and endless laughs at our own, and each other's expense. Someone skied into a hole, others tried little drops, all with varying results. Finally, the terrain started to flatten and the snow started to smoothen and we could open up our turns. Able to relax and enjoy my turns I suddenly found myself turning directly for, and on a collision course with, another skier...who happened to be a three tracker.

It wouldn't have been a good look: an adaptive instructor making a poor attempt at one ski skiing having a bingle with someone who has legitimate reasons for skiing on one ski. There was never a better moment for a well timed dive into the crud.

Summarised with pictures

The images of a weekend of training. 

Thanks to Casey Brownlie.

The steeds await.

That's Pete the Snow Dragon on the left.

Tricky Jules...

...trickier Jules...

...even trickier Jules...

...normal Jules.

Soyer holding court.

Jim, bigger than the lake.

Ben's one and only camp for season 2011.

Who's a happy Hastie?

Penny apparently enjoys biskiing.

Lauren, smacked on the head by a chairlift.

"Yes, Chinese Downhill is the only way."

Shred time.

Standing snowboarders: an unusual sight.

Get ya Sno-wing on!

"When I twist this pole, it means 'turn left.' Oh no, I mean right."

"I know there's cardboard in your goggles and you can't see,
but stop running over my skis!"

I guess it fits.

And some shameless promotion.

Ohhhhhh, camps. That's right!

Staying at Howmans Gap is the shizzle. Special Olympics is also the shizzle, my nizzles. Having not stayed at Howmans Gap during a client camp for a few years I had kind of forgotten. This weekend I had the pleasure of caring for one of our members, so was reminded about how awesome these programs really are.

The group was intensely excited about all the snow falling (more on that later) on Friday night, which led to almost all of them being up and ready to go at 6.15 on Saturday morning. Time was filled up tobogganing waiting for the 7.30 breakfast. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend any time on snow with the crew, but I saw Megan, Jason and Kent’s snowboard instructor, at lunchtime. She’d had the best morning of her season to date.

Returning to the Workshop at the end of the day, we were regaled with stories of Jim cartwheeling with Curt in a Mountain Man. From what I understand, Jim turned, skis sank, tips intertwined and skis and bodies danced. Everyone skied away in one piece, albeit with snow in a few unexpected places.

Those are the stories and feedback that back guiding so flipping amazing (pun entirely intended). I’ve got to come down to Howmans more often.

Damo clearing out the entrance to Palace Nissen after work.
The walkway was full again by morning.

And just on a side note…SNOW! So much. What was brown a week ago is now smothered in white. We’ve had to battle through some pretty wild, stormy weather, but we’ve come out smiling on the other side.

Give me a 'T'! Give me a 'W'! What are they the initials for? Training Weekend!

If I had a dollar for how amazing a time I had at the Training Weekend, I would have all my eggs in one basket. Mixed metaphors/clichés aside, in my humble opinion, Training Weekend rocked. Everywhere I looked there were guides shredding in biskis and monoskis, people tearing around with cardboard in their goggle, others tethering like absolute pros and snowboarders winging all over the place.

Snowboarders getting busy.

One of my favourite parts of Training Weekend is always the icy cold beer outside the Workshop on Saturday afternoon. There’s nothing like reminiscing about turns, stacks and good times while swapping hands between your pocket and your beer. And the bacon on Sunday morning was sublime.  

Does anyone else have any highlights apart from bacon and beer? Skiing is always a good start. Or perhaps the new version of table tennis that was invented on Saturday night. Not sure I understand it yet.

Once the internet decides to cooperate with me there'll be more photos up from the weekend, courtesy of Casey and Ingrid.

And click the 'follow' button to get regular updates. So far it's just my mum following the Bubble. (Thanks Mum!).

Bubbling back for 2011

It’s windy and cold in Melbourne. The mountains are a crisp white. Lifts are turning at every resort. DWA Victoria’s opening weekend training camp starts tomorrow. And the Bubble is back for 2011. Does life get any better? (Top marks for you if this was the answer you provided was, ‘No, Tom, it doesn’t. Life is at a supreme high point at this very instant.’)

It feels just like yesterday that I was fondly placing my skis in my bag, pulling jacket and pants out of the cupboard and giving the goggles a careful polish in preparation for the ski season. It feels like yesterday because I did do all that yesterday. I also did the same things at this time last year. But that was a year ago. Let’s not get stuck in the past.

I hope everyone has delicious snacks packed for the drive up to Falls Creek tomorrow night.  I also recommend writing a list of interesting factoids so you can make small talk with your seat partner on the bus. I once read that a Big Mac bun has 437 seeds on top. Fascinating!

And finally, look at how the Bubble is developing. It started tacked onto the bottom of DWA emails. Last year it joined DWA Victoria’s guide Facebook page (search for DWA Vic Volunteers if you’re a Facebook head). Now it’s got its own blog, which means everyone can read it. Hurrah! 

Snow is just great, isn't it?