A packed Mountain

5th and 6th of September 2009

The 5th was a bit of a right off. The carparks at Whaka were full by midday so we had to pay for a shuttle to take us to the base area only to be subjected to 25 minute lift queues and a windy mountain. We ended up sheltering in happy valley, doing a few runs down there but the lift queues were still long, so much so it was faster to walk up the valley. I must admit I quite enjoyed the half dozen runs down HV. The gentler slope is allowing me to turn easier and I did some nice big toe ends turns around fallen boarders and skiers.

The 6th we hit it early, got into carpark 2 but had to wait an hour for the lifts to open. But at least the lift queues were manageable and we were soon running down the RG. My first run of the morning resulted in a big off, seriously slamming my left side and denting my confidence. Then the RG lift conked out :(

We both decided to go back to the car for a drink and bite to eat ... and to contemplate our next move.

'Lets head out the the West Ridge' was M's suggestion. And within 30 minutes we had upgraded to All Mountain passes and we heading out on the National Chair towards the west ridge. This chair is a slow decent 2 seater and in places is linked by pylons that span across the top of ridges. Some of the drops were a looooooooooooong way down and it was quite unnerving.

But we made it, only to be confronted with hundreds of people queuing for the West Ridge Quad. 25 minutes later we were on the quad and talking to the other 2 boarders sharing the chair with us. They advised us to try the 'Down Hill Easy' run to the east of the lift line and before you knew it we were strapping on our bindings and flying down a big wide open run. It was still icy in parts but the openness of the run was great as I worked on my carving, working left and right. Murphy took to the steeper slopes like a duck to water and constantly beat me to the bottom.

We did 2 runs before the lift q's got to us so we took the National Chair back to the base area and back to the car. Seeing as it was only 12:20 a quick dash to the office and a $50 refund secured.

The drive home was spent chatting about the 2 days. I must admit to feeling like we hadn't really got as much out of the 2days as could have considering the drive and extra money spent on shuttles etc. It was decided we would try Turoa next!