It’s a frigid 28 degrees outside and I’m sweating profusely. Luckily for me I am not in the midst of a bout with the flu, rather I'm hiking up crunchy corduroy lined snow in an attempt to find some fresh powder.
This morning began like most in Queenstown, ridiculously cold and covered in shadows. The direct sunlight only hits town for about 5 hours a day, and even that amount of time is slowly dwindling. It’s actually quite confusing after spending my whole life in the northern hemisphere; being June and all, when I look outside my instincts tell me it’s about 9am when in reality its closer to 1pm. The lack of sunlight is obviously not my favorite thing about Queenstown. Hell if you’ll ever find me vacationing in Antarctica during winter!
Aside from the cold and the nearly constant shadows (and no work hours at the moment despite being on payroll at three different companies) I don’t have much to complain about. I found a delightful little basement room that’s literally the closest house to downtown that you can possibly get. To give you an idea: imagine living directly across the street from Madison Bear in downtown Chico… I’m that close. Its also got the most KILLER view of The Remarkables mountain range. I’ve got to chuckle at the fact that I’ve had rooms in a garage, a car, an attic, and now a basement. Guess I couldn’t be bothered with living in a space that was actually designed with the intentions of being a bedroom. Where would the fun in that be?
Back to hiking.
With nothing much to do in town other than spend money that I don’t really have, I took up a mate’s offer to catch a ride up to one of the local ski resorts. The lifts aren’t open yet but I’ve been told that hiking for a few hours to ride the trails is nearly worth it compared to avoiding all the idiots who forgo ski lessons and descend upon the mountain like war missiles in a few days time. Carrying my board on my handy Dakine backpack (probably one of the best things I’ve brought along globetrotting) I mechanically took one step after another until reaching the top of the run. The four boys with me were set on building a kicker despite the lack of fresh snow. I told them when they needed a ride to the hospital I would be happy to drive before strapping myself in and taking my brand new board on her first run. I learned very quickly the locals weren’t kidding when they said everything is usually icy. Carving toward what looked like powder I soon sunk my nose through the hard surface and became completely stuck. Leaning down to unbind my boots I heard a ‘clink’ before looking up to watch my Klean Kanteen race off like a bobsled competing in the Olympics. The water bottle caught some pretty sweet air before dropping into a ravine a good 50 feet away from me. As if I weren’t tired enough already, I trudged into the gully and retrieved my cargo. After hiking back to the trail I got back down to business and was able to link a few turns on softer snow before riding into a shadow and immediately skidding along what could easily be described as concrete.
I hiked around a bit more and took short runs before the boys were finished smashing themselves up on their mini jump. We then all took a cruisy run to the bottom before deciding it was ‘beer o’clock’ and headed back into town for a well-deserved pint. I had some tasty mountain water, which coincides with my jobless beverage budget. Nursing my water and a sore back (and burning calves), I reflected on my newfound appreciation for chairlifts and don’t feel quite as taken advantage of with having to pay $800 for a season pass. With ski’s and a snowboard to ride and heaps of free time, I plan on getting my money’s worth!
-Ashley
Fun Fact: I swear that Kiwi men stutter their words at an unusually high rate. I'm trying to find out hard proof that its not just me and that a bunch of these blokes really do st-st-stutter. Maybe its my childhood speech impediment making me hyper sensitive. Hmm...
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