3 days with the kids

Friday 2nd of October

After 5 days riding over 3 different trips it was time to introduce my seven year old daughter to the wonders of snow and falling off a mountain. Past experience (albiet limited) suggested to me Whakapapa and Happy Valley would be the place for Floss to learn to ski. The weather was dodgy but holding when we arrived at Whakapapa. Vizz was low and you couldn't even see the lower mountain from the Whaka carpark.

So we purchased our lift passes (Spring passes for me and Murphy) and a Discovery lesson for Florence.

Happy Valley turned out to be a slush pit and it rained solidly half way through Floss's lesson without letting up. Floss to her credit managed 2 runs down Happy Valley but after her second ride up the chairlift she fell exiting the lift and wacked her head on the chair. Really was the instructors fault as she should have had Floss on the leftside and all schooled up on how to get off the HV chair. So it was (once again) a less than enjoyable return to Whakapapa as we headed for Raetahi and our Holiday Park Accomodation.

Thankfully the fall and knock on the head didn't deter Florence and she (and us) was amping for the next days snow activity.

Saturday 3rd of October

Turoa was to be our destination from here on in, and in retrospect and now knowing Turoa better I really see little reason to return to Whakapapa for a while. Sure Happy Valley is a primo learning field, but it a big leap from there to the rock garden and even HV can be a little 'fast' for the more timid newbies.

Enter The Alpine Meadow. Now Murphy and I use to bag the Alpine Meadow due to it lack of size and slope but for someone at Floss's level its bloody perfect - unless its icy! Which it was on Saturday morning and Florence just didn't like the lack of friction or the extra speed you get when riding when the trails are still icy. So we headed up the Parklane to base ourselves at the snowflake cafe so me and Murphy could tackle some of the intermediate runs.

Murphy got to go up the Giant and zoom down the lower freeway but my mornings riding was resticted to The Winter Garden. But it was still quite icy and I enjoyed the lack of steeness allowing me to do fast wide open carves all the way to the bottom. And it also meant I had my first go at using a pommer / platter lift. I did fail on my first attemp but subsequent 3 times up were sweet as and I loved being able to sweep down the Winter Garden, zooming past the newbie boarders sitting on their arses.

Things were beginning to soften up due to the bright sunshine so we headed back down to the Alpine Meadow so Floss could do some skiing. And she did :) The AM was nice and slushed up and she was off. I told Murphy to take a run up the Movenpick which took him about 40 minutes and by the time he returned Floss was pretty much zipping down the AM without falling. Then a couple of good snowboarders put a jump/box half way down the Meadow and me and Murphy go to try jumping and grinding for the first time. Was a heap of fun!

Sunday 4th of October


Sunday the weather was beginning to turn for the worse. We did get up the Mountain and Floss got half a dozen runs down the Alpine Meadow before we were wet and cold and decided to call it a day