Yes, off to the snow! Been looking forward to that for quite some time, 4 days with my girl friend (as well as some friends) in the snow. Yes!!! Mt Ruapehu had heaps of snow just the week before we got and I’ve never seen snow that low before, even Whakapapa Village was covered completely in snow. That, of course, caused the first problem: icy roads and that with non-winter tires. Nice… At one point, we even had to get out of the car and push, since I got stuck on an icy patch and was blocking the road. No surprise then, that only 4WDs or cars with snow-chains on were allowed up the mountain. We decided to bite the bullet and pay $18 for the bus going up the mountain – better safe than over the side of the road and down the mountain.
Was really a cool day for boarding, with clear blue sky and good snow. In the beginning, I was a bit wobbly on my board: having it just waxed the night before and the snow not being slushy at all making it quite fast. But after a few rides, I got my confidence back again. Only the snow cannons operating the whole time was a wee bit annoying. Riding up with the lift, you got the full brunt of them.
Well… Stupid as I was, I wanted to squeeze out one more ride before heading back with the last bus. And of course, I wanted to try another course downhill. Bad call!! Never been taken by surprise so badly! Wedged my board in so badly on an icy patch that I didn’t even have to think about falling, let alone trying to catch my fall. Thud! And then: ouch!! No wonder, as it turns out, I sprained a ligament in my right shoulder pretty good. That was the end of boarding for that holiday. Bugger…
[Update]
Finally uploaded some pictures…