Three boys from the 'Tron

Comment Share Posted on Monday June 28th at 12:00 a.m. Tweet

With not much happening ski-wise at Whakapapa at the moment, I went for a bit of a wander this afternoon.

After a sunny morning, the much anticipated snow was falling as I walked down the Rock Garden, my boots squeaking in fresh Ruapehu pow.

For a Monday so early in the piece, business at Happy Valley was brisk. But I wasn't tempted as it would have meant a hike back up the marginally skiable Rock Garden to the lodge. It's funny, you sit at work wishing you were on the hill no matter what, but when you know you are going to be here for a while you don't feel in a hurry.

Walking around the loop road I was greeted by the sight of a bloke in his gruts and a bush shirt. Maybe he was training for the blokes' version of the infamous bikini downhill?

On the way back up the hill I came across three lads clad in boardies and tee-shirts having grand old time surfing the snow. "Shouldn't you be at the beach?" I asked. Turns out they were in the area for a bungy jump and decided on the spur of the moment to head up for a bit of a snow fight. For one, it was his first time on the snow and he was stoked - I saw the beginning of an addiction in his eyes.

Big high-fives to the boys at RAL who helped me to get four months' of personal gear up to the lodge last Friday. A random conversation with one of the lift staff resulted in the offer to crank up the Rock Garden chair just for me (it was running on demand for staff).

Good to see the snowmakers pumping today - unless there is a BIG sustained dump, it's going to be very slim pickings for the school hols.

How about you South Islanders send some of your snow our way?

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