How to unwind from
South Island Slow Combat
Day 1 August 12th
After a great days flying at Doug's and a restful night, Jon, Shaun and Glen
headed out in there camper van in search of fresh snow! As it had been a cool
southerly with drizzle for the combat we knew there was some to be found in
the Canterbury mountains. We unpacked the models and in went the snowboards
and ski's and we headed for Arthurs Pass and an afternoon at Mt Cheeseman.
The weather was of course perfect and snow was pretty good and best of all,
the longest queue was about 15 seconds wait! We all had a few tumbles and
pushed new limits, Shaun and Glen managed to get some pretty good jumps in
while Jon took a more leisurely approach.
What a great warm up to
the week, well nearly! Glen strained calf tendons in both legs to the point
where the walk back to the van was like trekking to the top of K2! with a
bit of rest and some Arnica creme felt much better by the time we got to Geraldine
where we met up with Jons mate Tim.
Geraldine was the hot spot of Canterbury that night with the running of the
Big Air competition. We saw many top jumps and a few not so good ones before
heading to the foot of Mt Hutt to have a few wines and a good sleep to be
ready for the slopes first thing!
Day 2
A crisp morning with no wind or cloud was a welcome sight when we got
up and after a good healthy breakfast of crumpets and honey and a coffee (plunger
of course!) we headed off up the mountain road. Chains were the next obstacle
and this was done in a flash!
Although the price of a lift pass at Mt Hutt was a bit steep and no discount
for an other mountain season holders (all the other fields gave discounts!)
the slopes were just awesome although for a Monday there were still big queues.
Shaun had never skied here before so we showed him around and before long
Shaun was in race mood against the 'jibber' (Glen) so we headed for the boarder
cross course. Shaun on ski's and Glen on snowboard off they went. There were
some fast corners and some good drop off jumps and Shaun fell victim to one
of the drop offs and Glen raced away with a massive win. Snowboarders rule!
Jon and Tim were happy doing the more gentle wide open areas although Tim
was a serious speed demon too! Shaun was off early back home while Jon, Tim
and Glen stayed on.
Next stop was Mt Dobson near Farlie where Jon lived and worked many years
ago. We did a little shopping on the way and parked up near the Opihi River
at the foot of Mt Dobson. A southerly storm was forecast that night and after
dinner we saw snow falling outside the van so we hoped it would pass over
night and leave lots of fresh snow for us!
Day 3
We woke to light snow still falling and a grey overcast morning and a closed
mountain! We had missed most of the snow and as we headed into Farlie saw
more had fallen there than where we spent the night. We then sought alternative
activities and lucky for us, Jon still had some contacts and off we went to
a farm just outside Farlie on the road to Timaru. There, we had a great day
on farm bikes
and also a quad! After lunch we headed down to the Opihi river where we found
some tracks and went crazy! Jon was in his element here.
We did our normal cook up in the van, steak, mushrooms, onions, pasta and
of course a fine red wine! We stayed in comfort in our own little lodge
with a log fire burning to dry our clothes from the motor biking. During this
time unknown to us, the southerly storm was ripping the North Island apart
with high winds that stopped all the ferries on Cook straight and massive
snow falls on the central plateau. Heading south was the best thing we could
have done!
Day 4
Clear skies and sun was the best way to start the day and that's just what
we got! So off to Mt
Dobson we went and on with the chains once more for the long slog up the
hill. The hard grind up the mountain road was well worth the effort once we
got to the top, clear blue, no wind and best of all, not many people! There
was of course 8cm of fresh snow and was that ever good. On the second run
of the morning however, disaster struck! A large pointy rock in the wrong
place and Glen going flat out saw a spectacular forward somersault and a suspected
broken toe!
This was not going to spoil the day, the cold was keeping the pain at bay
so Glen went hard out all day. Lunch time was not so good though as the feeling
came back ouch! The afternoon was great just the same and still fresh tracks
to be found. There were a few International ski teams out training so Glen
had a few fast runs down the slope hot on there heals. Jon and Tim stayed
out of trouble and Jon found his legs on a snowboard at long last and had
a great day. Tim and Glen had the last ride up the tee bar for the day and
made the best of it, with still more fresh untracked snow to race down the
last slide down the hill was awesome.
The trip home took in a
strange sight indeed, the famous "shoe"
fence at the foot of Burke Pass just south of Mt Dobson, here you can find
some little treasures and have a laugh at what some people have left on the
fence.
So after a great few days away from the world of work and toy planes we headed
off home to Christchurch.
A big thank you to Jon for organizing this trip as well as the Slow combat meeting and I hope that this will be an annual event. So for all you other snow bunnies, eat your hearts out and maybe you can come next year!
Glen Lewis