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.)

Heaven

Here I am, above the clouds. This was my first day at Treble Cone. It was marvellous. Got my bargain new gear out, skied the bumps on my first day and it was all topped off with a great lesson with Jesse from Vail. The North Americans are always the best - just so focused on you! He was also a fantastic skier, so light on his feet, I could have watched him for hours. Jesse says I'm a sandbagger. An American term for people who say they're not that great at something but actually they are.... obviously he was referring to my skiing, I told him that was actually the story of my life.

New Zealand is stunning. It really is pretty much one big national park. Which is probably why there are so many tourists - 2.4million a year to be precise. And with a population of just 4.1 million, they are truly everywhere. Getting off the beaten track isn't easy; I managed to meet some 30 something kiwis in Christchurch over a few beers and an All Blacks game, great to meet some real people and not just travellers. I'm not entirely sure I'm cut out for travelling proper; I'm too lazy to pack up every day or two and move on. I like getting the feel of somewhere and seeing the same people for a little while. And of course I need a focus! I'm actually starting to miss work now. Yes, I know.... am I mad? Never mind, skiing is the new project. Oh how tough.

Here's the view I was taking in when I got a very wasted phone call from the gang on Saturday night/ Sunday morning, celebrating Greig's birthday. Me: 12.30pm, on the bus to Wanaka, just passing Lake Tekapo. Them: 1.30am. Iain's flat. And yes Iain, I feel very pure and virtuous, of course I do, I am as far away from your bad influence as it's possible to be! (-; Thanks for ringing. It really did make me giggle for a long time afterwards. And the rest of the bus too I suspect. It was lovely to hear all of your voices, even if they were a little incoherent. Oh, and Shim, my tooth is OK again now. Phew! It was obviously just having an off day.

Auckland

Here I am on the other side of the world. It's rather rainy and cold, but there's still not a lot of snow. I've been faithfully doing my prayers to the snow Buddha in the morning so I'm sure it'll come by the time I get down to the South Island next week. Found a lovely little house in Parnell, just out of the city centre, full of shops selling lovely cafe lattes and lots of Germans. Und ich kann noch Deutsch reden so I'm pretty proud of myself. I kind of thought New Zealand was the same size as the UK... and I'd get down south in about 6 hours or so, but no. It's taking 3 days on the scenic and environmentally-friendly route.

As for Auckland, it's nice. Safe, friendly, nice. Greig, you'd hate it. It doesn't have an edge at all. Even the supposedly trendy K Road is really not that trendy. I like it. I've had conversations with people at the bus stop and in shops and cafes. People have time for you. I was even invited in to an agency the other day for a look round after I got stuck staring at the cans of inspiration on sale for just 15 dollars. One of the agency's guiding principles is to go sailing every Sunday. Let's just say I can definitely see the appeal of living and work down under. Lots of sunshine, water to play on and cute little extinct volcanoes. What more do you need?

A spiritual quest

I've spent the last couple of weeks up at my Mum's, just outside Forres. Which for those of you who are geographically-challenged is not far from Inverness. It's such a beautiful part of the world, so much open space and you get amazing views of the hills on the Black Isle over the Moray Firth. I got a little kitchen job at the Buddhist Centre, Shambala, which is where these pictures were taken. (Plug: they do B & B so stay if you're in the area). It's such an amazing house, it's got the most incredible energy. I met two really interesting Buddhist nuns, one of whom is originally from Stirling and got into Buddhism when travelling in India and the other is American and was a Methodist minister in the US for 18 years before discovering Buddhism. The whole experience has really affected me. I can highly recommend being unemployed; I have switched back to a whole world of thinking and debate that has been completely lost to me for many years. And I can't help but reflect that had Toby not died, I wouldn't be here and it's been a really fantastic trip in all sorts of ways. It's so true, life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. (Although I do think we've lost the plot in this country in terms of how we're living, but that's another story.)

And as Lucy remarked to me the other night when I told her what I'd been up to: "you are turning into your mother". True. But that wouldn't be a bad thing. She is 60 years young this week. She looks amazing and is such an interesting person to be with because she has kept learning and growing. If I'm half the person she is at her age I will be happy. Mind you, she did take me to this hippy dippy thing on Sunday where I was told I would be singing (OK) but actually we had to do a dance in a circle whilst singing to our partners (not OK and required a serious suspension of disbelief). Iain, I wish you could have been there. Although I would not have been able to contain myself if you had been.

More bonnie Scotland pics www.flickr.com/gp/10618273@N00/z83f40

So....New Zealand here I come! I'm going to hook up with Catherine there, yet another shining example of life happening when you're making other plans. In her case he's a kiwi skipper encountered somewhere on the North Island. She's put a fantastic post up about happiness, she is such a good writer so have a look. I particularly liked this part which really rang true for me: "I didn't leave London knowingly in pursuit of happiness; I was chugging along quite nicely thank you, with the aid of cigarettes, coffee and alcohol. (When you've got stimulants, who needs happiness huh?!)"

My labour of love

I've pulled together the best of all the Raleigh pics from about ten memory cards. Obviously it's a biased view. But if you've got an hour and a half to spare, here are the links and they are well worth a look. As Rory predicted, I'm now looking at the whole experience through rose-tinted specs. (But no Chris, I am not doing another one, even if it is in Tibet. No, no, and no.) Interesting aside: I'm doing this at my Mum's, she's just told me I type as if I'm playing the piano. I'm not sure if this is a compliment or a terrible testimony to my computer addiction.

For all my moaning about Raleigh rules and structure, I gained so much from it. Being in a totally different environment really makes you think about what you enjoy and what is important to you in life. I got a completely different perspective and that is what I needed, I was so so stuck. I can't believe I was afraid to give up the job, it seems so unimportant now. And there's nothing like watching someone you love die to make you realise you have to go for what you want in life because you never know when your time is up.

Anyway, here are the links to the pics. Enjoy. Beware. There are lots.
Raleigh staff training http://www.flickr.com/gp/10618273@N00/g7gp8M
Alpha 6 phase 1 http://www.flickr.com/gp/10618273@N00/hfs180
Alpha 6 phase 2 http://www.flickr.com/gp/10618273@N00/4m10Z3
Alpha 6 phase 3 http://www.flickr.com/gp/10618273@N00/f934i8
End of Raleigh and Mount K http://www.flickr.com/gp/10618273@N00/nz381A