Thank you for all your kind wishes for a good time and good weather on my ski trip. Unfortunately the weather was not totally on our side. The brilliant blue sky disappeared after the first day and was only sighted again on the way home - the above photo was taken in Cooma where we stopped for lunch. That's a bad sign, having lunch, instead of the usual dinner, on the way home. And this on a day for which we had valid lift passes! It just wasn't worth hanging around.
On Sunday we arrived late (started skiing around midday) because we had been warned we might not be permitted to travel with luggage on the Skitube during the busy morning period. It was a beautiful day and we had a nice afternoon's skiing to get back into the swing of things. Monday was less sunny but conditions were still excellent. We had a great day with the whole group skiing together, four skiiers and two snowboarders.
Tuesday it was snowing a little (not a bad thing, especially early in the week) and the visibility was a bit poorer. I woke up with a cold and we had a slow start. I spent some time shopping for new goggles, as mine were old, cheap and crappy. Apart from the lens not being the best, they didn't fit too well with my new helmet, leaving a small gap for the cold wind to penetrate, resulting in a nasty localised ice-cream headache. Even though I am a pretty thrifty person and am generally happy to use old gear as long as it is functional, and I've always bought my ski clothing discounted, still every year I seem to be in the market for at least one new bit of gear. (This year it was new boots as well as the new goggles. Oh, and the helmet. No wonder the credit card bill is impressive this month.) Each of these 'investments' guarantees I'd better keep skiing a few more years to make use of all this stuff! It's a lot of money for only one week or so per year. You have to love it!
The latter part of the week looked consistently like these mostly white photos, even on the lower slopes, which we barely went beyond. Although the lifts were open and we could keep skiing, it was not challenging in the fun, steep, wahoo kind of way. It was challenging just being able to see where you were going, and avoid other skiiers, including the inevitable uncontrolled idiots going way too fast.
The latter part of the week looked consistently like these mostly white photos, even on the lower slopes, which we barely went beyond. Although the lifts were open and we could keep skiing, it was not challenging in the fun, steep, wahoo kind of way. It was challenging just being able to see where you were going, and avoid other skiiers, including the inevitable uncontrolled idiots going way too fast.
We all came home unscathed in spite of some near misses, but on one day I saw three different people stretchered down the mountain, which I think is a record. BTW, I love my helmet. Don't know why I didn't do it sooner.
A game of noughts and crosses during a long lunch.
Although I am really disappointed not to have done more skiing, I must admit that in many years this was the first time I've been seriously held back by the weather. And although I still can - and want to - improve my skills a lot, I really enjoyed realising that I've finally reached a point where I can ski decently, and can face most of the terrain the resorts offer without much fear - even if I don't always do it with maximum style (or much at all), I can do it.
Putting aside the conditions, it was still a good trip, with good friends and very nice accommodation. We found many ways to pass the long evenings including movies, a group effort to complete a massive crossword (which came home with me still unfinished, in spite of help during the week from Wikipedia and DJZ's dad), a fierce UNO tournament, and Mexican night.
This deluxe snowman was inspired by a small one built by children, which you can see in the bottom right of the picture (turns out I have some seriously competitive friends). I stayed inside, sneezing, but admired their efforts - including mandarines for eyes, traditional carrot nose, three delicious choc chip cookies sacrificed for the buttons, funky bandana, and of course a beer to warm him up. Next day we watched the crows bypass the fruit and veg and delight in their discovery of the "cookie tree".
Now, to get rid of this cold, and get on with the making stuff (also known as 'felting the sh*t out of some wool') part of my holiday.
5 comments:
It sounds like a fun trip despite the weather. Fun with friends is the best. "crosses and oughts", I guess is "tic, tac, toe"? I think your name for it is a little more accurate.
Woo hoo, snow! We are almost missing it. The roofers replacing our roof could probably do with some snow today.
Glad you enjoyed yourself :) Hope your cold is quickly gone!
that snowman is so great! It looks every bit like they are supposed to!
Bummer about the cold and the less than ideal weather though. Did you do any knitting?
oh it does look like fun tho! i wish i had been a fly on the wall at the 'fierce' uno tournament. i do hope no one was hurt!! looking forward to seeing more felting action too.
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