The following is the fifth part of my Great Winter Roadtrip series. I’ve decided to write these as a complete chronicle of my ski season, like an online road diary. I’m gonna include nearly everything I remember at the time of writing, publish it, and leave serious editing for later. If that turns this blog into an exhausting ramble then so be it – at least I’ll have something to remind myself of what I got up to in the winter of 2009. If you find it an interesting read, great. If not, too bad – go check out TV Tropes or something.
I probably skied as much during September as I had during the rest of the winter months combined, despite it being probably the worst snow of the season. Long periods of rain and blistering sun led to a quickly declining snowpack. As a result, we spent a lot of the month trying to get as many days in as possible before the rapidly approaching end.
However, just because the snow was crap, it didn’t mean we had to have a bad time. September ended up being the most fun and eventful month of the season, with manly exploits, epic snow days and drunken parties. I was made an official full-time staff member for the final two weeks of the season, although my job title could most accurately be decribed as ‘general volley bitch’. I spent my time in a variety of roles including ski hire manager, goodsie, assistant patroller, liftie, and even snowboard instructor.
Day #20 – Broken River – 1st September 2009
I woke up to rain and overcast skies in the Broken River carpark, and to the news that pretty much everywhere was closed. Visiting Cheeseman wasn’t gonna happen, so I resigned myself to a day hanging around the area trying to find something amusing to do. The plan for down days had been to watch movies all day, but my battery setup was playing up. If I wanted to do that in the car I’d have to run the engine all day, which wasn’t gonna happen. I decided to head down to Castle Hill Village to see what was going on but there was pretty much nothing to do, so I checked out Flock Hill Lodge instead. Me old mate Ange was there, and was happy to let me hang out in the corner and watch videos on my laptop, so I spent a good few hours watching Deadwood and doing a little work on the lappy in the warmth and comfort of the lodge (with a freshly made coffee, yum!).
Word on the grapevine was that Broken River would be opening for night skiing at 7pm, so I headed up there at around 6 to find a lot of fresh snow on the ground and a growing crowd of amped punters in the parking lot. Brewed up some beans in the carpark then headed up the mountain with my headtorch.
The snow up there was epic – several inches of fresh pow on the ground, with occasional gusts of wind but nothing too major. Everyone up there was completely stoked, with powder-day grins from ear to ear. I ran into Tim from TB and Sam my designer pal at the day lodge – jeez it’s hard to visit a clubbie without meeting people I know these days!
I kept riding until I’d had enough (around 10pm), then headed down, and ended up walking down the track rather than taking the inclinator due to the sizable crowd waiting for their turn. Being the Temple Basin lad that I am, the 15min walk was nothing, and I soon made it down to the bottom of the access road to camp in the same spot as the previous night, looking forward to the fresh powder day in store for me when I woke up.
Day #21 – Cragieburn – 2nd September 2009
I had been planning to visit Cheeseman on Wednesday, but had been advised that Cheeseman was a terrible place to visit on a powder day – when it’s deep, why not go somewhere steep? Hence, I decided to return to Cragieburn instead to sample some of the fresh powpow that had fallen in the last 24 hours.
On the way up the hill, the chains struggled to pull the car up the road, and broke a few links. I tried to persevere but the chains on the front right tyre ended up ripping themselves apart and wrapping themselves around the axle of the wheel. I had to remove the wheel in order to pry the chain loose, which proved to be an adventure in the fresh snow on a steep hill. Eventually I got it off and managed to get a tow up to the field from a helpful dude in a 4wd. That’s the last time I buy cheap shitty chains off trademe – next time I’m getting some snow-sweats.
Unfortunately, when I got up to the field the winds were still up, and the top tow was still closed. Conditions were very similar to the Monday, albeit with a little more snow (and perhaps a little more wind-scoured ice too). Still – endless fresh tracks! Only downside is the occasional wind gusts that pelt you with ice chunks the size of golf balls – lovely.
I ran into Kate and Josh from CUSSC, and we skied together for a bit. Headed back down to chch in the afternoon, just in time for the Temple Basin food run the next day. On the way back down the mountain I spotted my hub cap that I had lost the week before – score!
Day #22 – Temple Basin – 4th September 2009
What a difference a week makes! The wind and the rain have done their bit, and then the snow came back earlier in the week (with a generous helping of wind). Now TB’s got excellent wind-blown dry pow in the gullies and wind-lips all over the mountain, with patches of wind-blasted ice on exposed faces and ridges. It’s pretty icy in the mornings, so there’s no point heading out before 11am. Weather is bluebird and still. I spent the day lazily lapping the windlip on Temple tow in a t-shirt, fun times.
Day #23 – Temple Basin – 5th September 2009
Saturday dawned bright and clear once again, with perfect bluebird conditions for the Black Diamond Big Mountain Competition, which drew heaps of NZ’s best freeriders to TB to slay some epic lines. I spent the morning doing a few laps of Temple tow, with one run through lower Bills, then joined Anna, George and Jethro to watch the comp in the sun. We got to watch Neil Williman, Sam Smoothy and some other riders drop the huge cliff near Main (?) chute, and compete over who could claim the biggest drop.
That evening the sky was clear with a bright full moon, so instead of partying, I joined Ross and a small party of pro skiers to climb to the top of Hot Pocket. We left the lodge at around 10pm and climbed from the top of Temple tow with ice axes in hand. The snow was pretty hard, which made for fun climbing if not for good skiing. We had had a beer on top of the ridgeline overlooking the Mingha backbowl at 11:30pm, and skied down at midnight. It was an awesome, memorable night – I am completely stoked on it.
Enjoying a well-earned beer on the summit
Day #24 – Temple Basin – 6th September 2009
Sunday was yet another bluebird day, so we shuffled out of bed late in the morning, hung around in the lodge until lunchtime, and then headed out for some more easy laps. The competition organisers decided to give the remaining competitors one more run through the course, so I slapped on some sunscreen, grabbed a plastic chair and some beers, and headed over to Cassidy to watch.
After everyone had had their run, I joined Anna and Jethro for some runs down Cassidy and Temple tow. Watching the competition riders seemed to have given my own skiing ability a boost, and I found myself able to drop small cliffs and jumps with more confidence than before. When we got to Temple tow, I managed to successfully stick my first ever 180, and was stoked on lapping the same line and slowly refining my technique. I kept riding long after everyone else had headed inside, and finally returned to the lodge after sunset with a big grin and a thoroughly ruined body.
Day #25 – Temple Basin – 7th September 2009
Monday dawned bluebird as well, for the fifth day in a row! I did a few laps of Temple tow with Aoife shortly after lunch, mainly practicing my 180s and switch riding. We rode for half an hour or so until it got too hot and headed back inside. I planned to head back after a rest for more practice, but goodslift top needed manning so I didn’t get a chance for any more skiing that day. I got to watch many of the staff lay down some sweet tracks on Mini-Phipps however, which was almost as good 
.
Day #26 – Temple Basin – 12th September 2009
Temple Basin Club Championships day. The weather was mostly cloudy and the snow was WET and heavy after a few days of rain. I did a few runs in Downhill and recorded a couple of unimpressive times on the slalom racecourse, then headed back down through lower Bills. The skiing wasn’t that great so I retreated back indoors. Pretty average day, but I’ve had worse.
Day #27 – Temple Basin – 13th September 2009
Headed out after lunch with Aoife for a few runs on Temple tow. The weather was partly cloudy once again, and the snow was still extremely slushy, but not quite as heavy and much more fun and forgiving to ride.
I ended up spending the afternoon sessioning a jump near Temple lodge, working on getting my fear under control with concentration, music and a safety meeting with TJ. Early on in the day I managed to stomp my biggest air ever – pretty stoked 
. I was having so much fun that I kept lapping Temple tow and hitting the jump until dusk.
Day #28 – Temple Basin – 19th September 2009
Saturday was the beach party day, and the weather turned out perfectly with sunny blue skies and light winds. We had a bbq outside on the veranda with a badminton net (complete with coke bottle shuttlecock), and all the staff were wearing Hawaiian shirts.
The most exciting event of the day (for me at least) was losing a fair bit of skin on my right arm in an act of derring-do. It was pretty icy in the morning on Temple tow. I rented some gear to a Danish girl and taught her how to use the ropetow, and she got to the top first time. I rode back down and was hanging around the bottom and noticed she was taking her time, so I rode back up to check if she was ok. I got about halfway up the tow and she just started sliding down out of control, lost both her skis and slid at breakneck pace towards some rocks. As soon as she was almost level with me I skied over to her as fast as I could and grabbed her to help her stop, but we slid together for another five metres or so until I could get us to a stop. She broke her wrist and had to be helicoptered to a hospital. While we were treating her I noticed that my arm had a fair bit of blood on it from the icy slide, cos I was only wearing a hawaiian shirt at the time.
After she had been choppered out and I had gotten my wound treated, I headed up to Downhill for some untracked spring corn in the sunshine, beautiful.
That evening was Mark’s 30th birthday party, so we all got boozed on his keg of Ginger Tom . Mint day.
PS/ Was also Aoifa’s birthday and International Talk Like A Pirate Day 
Day #29 – Temple Basin – 20th September 2009
Another sunny clear day on smooth spring corn in Downhill Basin, mint!
Day #30 – Temple Basin – 21st September 2009
Downhill didn’t open today for some reason, so I spent the afternoon lapping Temple tow. Jo escaped from her kitchen for a ski at last, yay! Temperatures were a little bit cooler, and it was refreshing to be able to wear my jacket comfortably again after days of sweating in the hot spring sun.
The snow-forecast.com report had predicted fresh snow in the afternoon, which seemed very unlikely given the clear skies and still (relatively) warm temperatures. However at 5:30pm the snow gods delivered, when it started dumping precious white flakes. The first time I’d seen snow fall in the better part of a month, I’d nearly forgotten what it looked like!
Day #31 – Temple Basin – 22nd September 2009
Fresh snow across the mountain, woop woop! Downhill was siiiiiiiick.
Day #32 – Temple Basin – 23rd September 2009
BEST DAY OF THE SEASON!
Today was pretty much the ultimate day. We’d had about 10-15cm of fresh snow the day before, and it was snowing a bit this morning on and off. Shortly after I arrived at Downhill, the sun came out for an hour and I got some sweet turns in good vis before heading in for lunch. It socked in during lunchtime and delivered about 5cm which made a surprising difference, and covered up most of the morning’s tracks. Then as we were heading outside again, the sun reappeared as suddenly as it had left, and we had 4 hours of bluebird freshies! The afternoon snow was if anything even more fun than the morning’s, and we thrashed it till 5pm. I got the last tow out of Downhill back through Lower Bill’s, and had a sweeeet run through Cassidy chute. Then, to top it all off, it started snowing again less than 5mins after I arrived back in the lodge. Perfect .
Favourite shot of the season: Hucking in Downhill Basin
The epic snow was enough to tire out even Willy
Day #33 – Temple Basin – 24th September 2009
It was pretty windy and snowy. Skied for a bit on Temple tow, possibly with Jo, possibly went to Downhill also, but I really can’t remember.
Ski patrollin' with Trevor. Can't remember when this photo was taken - sometime around the 24th I guess?
Day #34 – Temple Basin – 25th September 2009
Nothing much opened in the morning due to wind and snow, so we hung out in the lodge until after lunch. At about 2:30pm Downhill was opened, and there was a fresh pow feeding frenzy as about a dozen of us (mostly staff) raced to track out the mint snow in conditions of variable visibility. Unfortunately I had to run the goodslift in the afternoon from 4-6pm, so I was forced to leave after only half an hour. Gutted. The snow was mint as though.
Day #35 – Temple Basin – 26th September 2009
Saturday was ‘Retro Party’ day, mainly because Todd the new manager was looking for an excuse for a weekend party to attract more punters.
The day dawned bright and clear, but alas I was scheduled to man goodslift bottom from 9am-12pm while everyone got stuck into the fresh goodies. By the time I arrived back up the hill, the blisteringly hot sun had done its work on the snow, and it had become sticky and slow mashed potatoes, not fun to ride at all. I gave Downhill a good try but it was pretty horrible, so I headed back to the lodge via Cassidy chute for the slowest and lamest Lower Bills run of the season.
Day #36 – Temple Basin – 27th September 2009
Temple tow’s was increasingly resembling moguls on a groomed slope, while Downhill was bumpy and horrible. I did a bit of skiing this day, but not heaps.
Day #37 – Temple Basin – 28th September 2009
By Monday we were overwhelmed by the arrival of 26 kids between the ages of 5-16. They were there for the school holiday ski week. The mountain became a noisy place filled with, in the words of Dylan Moran, ‘miniature drunks’, whose only purpose seemed to be converting sugar into violence.
Whilst we had a couple of ski instructors, there were no snowboard instructors for the few kids learning to snowboard. As I used to snowboard before switching to skiing a couple of seasons ago, I grabbed a board out of ski hire and gave some lessons.
Aoife the Irish custodian was pretty keen to try snowboarding, so I gave her a lesson as well.
In the afternoon I switched back to skiing. A few of the kids were building kickers all over Temple tow, including an ambitous one over some rocks in the middle of the tow. I hit it a couple of times but it had a sketchy takeoff, so I set to work improving it with a shovel. By the time I had finished, the jump was much bigger and more formidable. It was now much easier to clear the rocks, but now the angle was so steep that the landing was very hard. While skiing with Aoife and Jo, I gave it a shot and bailed over the tail of my skis, hurting my neck and my right shin. After I had collected my gear I got to watch a bunch of kids hit the jump perfectly, rubbing salt into the wound. Lame.
Day #38 – Temple Basin – 29th September 2009
More snowboarding instruction in the morning, and skiing in the afternoon.
It’s a pretty cool feeling when one of the kids comes up and says thanks for the lesson, and that the tips I gave him really helped his snowboarding
While my neck and shin were still hurting, I was determined to stick a landing from the jump I had built the day before. The first time I hit it, I bailed again, but the kids watching said they were impressed by how big I had sent it, as I had hit it way faster than anyone else was. This made me feel a bit better. For my second attempt, I went way slower, and managed to stick it but hurt my shins badly on the hard landing. Satisfied that I had at least conquered my own kicker, I headed back inside.
Day #39 – Temple Basin – 30th September 2009
Shins and neck were still hurting and the snow and weather conditions were pretty poor, so I stayed inside all day. The only skiing I did was to get up Temple tow to shovel a little snow onto the towline to cover the emerging rocks.
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