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Published: July 23rd 2009
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I had planned a little road trip for Monday morning with some friends to go snow boarding at Mount Dobson. My alarm clock woke me up way earlier then I am used to (it was 8:30 am). I pulled back the curtains to see a beautiful sunny morning. But after further investigation we discovered Mt Dobson was closed. I was bummed because I really wanted to go but I knew I would go soon. That afternoon at work a few of the staff were talking about snowboarding on Wednesday. Then my buddy Steve, who was just driving through Tekapo, dropped in at work. He was off to Wanaka, but would be back on Tuesday night so he could join us on the slopes Wednesday.
By the end of my shift we had several people recruited for our snowboarding plans. Best of all most of them had never tried it before including myself.
Wednesday morning was a beautiful sunny morning. Steve and I had made the wise decision to drink well into the am so 8 am came too soon. The previous night ended around 4:30 or 5 am. So I walked into town to collect Steve's car, got some coffees
and woke everybody else up who was coming. By 9:30 the car was full of both people and gear. While Steve and I were enjoying some non alcoholic beverages in the front seats of the car, the backseat passengers were already indulging in some cans of beer. I thought to myself "What kind of crazies am I with?"
The drive to Roundhill takes about 35 minutes or so from Tekapo and is mostly gravel roads. We drove alongside the lake then up into the hills to get to Roundhill. The few cars we seen were pulled over putting on their wheel chains on their little cars. Steve's wagon is a four wheel drive, so we passed cars on the narrow roads that were driving too slow. I have to laugh at the over reaction to weather that happens in this country. The road would be easily climbed without wheel chains or even a four wheel drive.
It took no time to rent our gear and get on the hill. Here we were, trying to put on our boards for the first time, which takes a long time when your a beginner. No lessons for us kids. Once we
had our boards on we were on our way down the hill. The lack of control and lack of confidence are the two first realizations that I had. The third realization was that the sky was gorgeous, I made this observation from laying on the hill side after another spill. The first few runs took forever, we fell every few feet except for Steve and Sarah. I will admit the most challenging part of the day happened to be the lift. Roundhill lacks a proper chair lift, instead it has what is called a T bar. The T bar you grab put it underneath your arm and hold on while it tows you up the hill. Lucas, Melissa and I held this line up numerous time as we would get towed about 5 feet then lose our balance and fall. We ended up walking our boards up the hill.
I will admit that I was not enjoying my day very much (but I was loving the sunshine and the scenery). My hangover was not cured by mountain air, sunshine and falling down a hill. I was frustrated from not making much progress and i took one good wipeout that
knocked the wind out of me. I even gave my board a good toss after one spill (I love rental equipment). I called a team coffee break after an hour or so (I guess I learned that when I was a government employee). After some coffees and a good chat with each other we were all ready to fall down the hill with a board strapped to our feet once again.
During the afternoon we all advanced our low levels of skills or falling prevention. I learned how to brake and got better at steering the board. Turns out I'm a regular footed stance but had a goofy stance board (I would like to blame the board). My last few runs of the day consisted of maybe one fall each and I had much more control. By this point I was completely knackered, both physically and mentally. Falling down all day is hard on the body and soul. I was very happy to give back my board and boots and jump in the car. Next time I will rent skis. I had gone skiing a few years back and didn't feel this beat up at the end of the
day.
We basically went directly to the hot pools back in town. We all had very tired and soar muscles and the outdoor pools worked magic on us. We laughed about our day on the hill our falls, spills, bruises and accomplishments. After a little soak we were in the pub eating and drinking (not much else to do in Tekapo). What was to be one beer evolved into many more, but we had a blast. We played some Wii games and just chilled out. We all had an early night. I was home in bed a little after midnight and slept well into the afternoon today. My sorest part of my body today happens to be my neck. Yes I did fall that much and my head bounced down the hill a few times.
My first and last day of snowboarding was alot of fun. It was a day of challenges and little accomplishment. I got to spend the day with some great people at a great location on a beautiful day. I guess I did learn some things on that day.......rent skis or take a lesson!!!
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