Skiing as life philosophy

I am constantly amazed at how much life philosophy there is in skiing. Yes, really. Quite unexpected, I thought I was just heading over here to indulge myself, but I've learnt some good life lessons. My life and who I am is reflected in my skiing. Honestly, I've not lost it (well, not any more than usual), it's true.

• Firstly, don't overthink. Just do it. Don't let your head get in the way.
  
• Secondly, it's not rocket science, it's really quite simple. It's all about staying in balance.


• Thirdly, commit. Don't stand at the top of the chute and scare yourself out of it. Go for it. And keep moving, don't hang out in the turn. Or you'll come unstuck and hit a rock.
  

I had a really sad day the other day, got a really upsetting mail and couldn't get it out of my head. It was even interfering with my skiing. (The bastard.) And just as I was feeling particularly sorry for myself, Russ came up behind me and asked if I wanted company for the afternoon; he's the instructor I've skied with the most and we've become friends. He had managed to escape the evil snow school clutches to get in some decent skiing at last. So I worked very hard to keep up with him for the afternoon, he's an old ski racer so it was quite hard (and I know he was being kind to me)....and then just at the end of the day, I took a huge fall whilst whacking unbalanced into an unseen mogul. Biggest one yet by far, I hurtled down the hill at great speed. And I got up, dusted myself down, smiled, put my skis back on and kept moving. Had a great afternoon, totally turned the whole day around. Russ told me I need to learn to self-arrest. How true!

You see? There are so many life lessons in skiing.

I don't want to leave. My time here is coming to an end all too soon as I knew it would. Here's a kea surveying the view. Keas are these cool kiwi parrots that munch everything in sight including inedible things like rubber on windscreen wipers.

Chris Burnie is a machine

I had suspected it all along but I got confirmation the other week. Hooked up with Chris and his girlfriend Chrissy the other day at Cardrona, it was so great to see a Batu Puteh face. It was Chris' first day on skis, so off he went to his lesson in the morning whilst we explored. (As best as we could as it is Cardrona after all and really boring unless you like terrain parks. I will post the pics of me jumping / falling off kickers when I get them. I am just too classy for the park. Something like that anyway.)

Chris was full of the joys at lunchtime because his instructor had told him he was close to parallel skiing. Yeah, right, thought I, they always tell you you're better than you are. But no. By the end of the afternoon Chris was skiing all over the hill. I was so impressed! So sick! Obviously it's those years as a gymnast which have given him those abs and that back. And the balls to go for it. It's so unfair. He's got a 1st in neuroscience from Cambridge too. And he's a great guy. In fact I hate him.... so I made sure to take him down some baby bumps just as he was getting really cocky. Result! As you can see above.

Life as a ski bum

Here's the view over the lake as the sun sets, it's so amazing and I still appreciate it every day. I've been here for a month now and life has settled into a nice little rhythm. But I'm really a very bad ski bum. Real ski bums are very very poor but I keep forgetting I'm not earning. I just cannot live without at least one latte a day and custom made footbeds for my ski boots.

There are however are some tricks to being a bad ski bum. Firstly, hitch up the road. Not only does it save you $25 a day, you also meet some interesting people. And I am sure being female helps hugely with the transport process. I've even been lucky enough to get an extremely nice dinner out of it, followed by mojitos and some single malt. My (now extremely grotty) puma trainers didn't quite live up to the occasion.... Even better, I skiied with an ex ski-patroller (for those not in the know, these guys are God on the mountain, way higher than instructors on the cool scale. You've got to be able to ski anything with a stretcher behind you. And you get to set off avalanche bombs.) He reckoned the only thing wrong with my skiing was too much oestregen in my body. Praise indeed. Although I wasn't quite so happy as he zipped off down this gnarly chute expecting me to follow.

I had such a great day today. Probably the best one yet. It's all just coming together and I've been working hard at it for the last few weeks so it's very gratifying. I just love skiing so much. It's different every time as the snow conditions and the terrain changes and it's all about being able to respond to that as you move and maintain your balance and technique. Along with windsurfing, it has the ability to tune me out of all the other thoughts in my head - and for the whole day too. Skiied with a guy from Lake Tahoe today, he's really good and was taking me over jumps and down some really narrow chutes.... Oh I love skiing!! Have I said that already? I'm still not bored of it. I can talk about it for hours. I've even developed a penchant for ski perving. You go into a gear shop and spend time nerding over all the kit you can't afford. IPT bindings and side cuts anyone?

My roommate is a fantastic girl called Jane who's from Sydney and is a real free spirit, unlike me who's just playing at it for a while! We swap life adventures and indulge in vicarious gossip about the gang in the hostel. She's really making my time in Wanaka, it's a real stroke of luck.

You'll also be amazed to know I've been doing loads of cooking and baking. There's a real live decent chef in our place, he normally works for Bill Grainger (some famous Ossie chef). Many an evening has been spent trying and failing to impress him with my efforts. I've always mixed it a bit too long/ not cooked the flour enough/ created too many dishes to wash up/ not thought about the presentation enough.... Richard Valle Jones, eat your heart out. It's mussels night tomorrow. (I told you, a very bad budget traveller.)