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Posted on Friday August 13th at 2:02 p.m.
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THURSDAY 5th
Early start-leaving at 6:30am. This morning bought a couple of technical difficulties -they say some things you only need to learn once !! 1/4 of a tank of diesel is not enough to get up Mt Hutt. So we all got to "Cantebury Plains" in the two vehicles and then piled into one-a tight fit with skis-but it was accomplished. I made my way down to Methven-and filled up with fuel- there was certainly only "a whiff" when I got to the fuel stop. However, after a positive morning for all I collected them after lunch. Good solid training in GS gates.
FRIDAY 6th
Early early start leaving the house at 6am, but no chains required so up on the hill by 6:30am and on the lift by 7:15am. The sun was just up !! GS training on "Upper Fascination" for the morning. It was a busy morning on Mt Hutt with the National Youth Series Super G, followed by the GS. It was sunny but cold, very cold in the shade. The ski day was finished by 9:30am. The afternoon was spent chillin out and dryland was at 4pm. I made it down the hill a little later after helping with the Super G.
SATURDAY 7th / SUNDAY 8th
Conrad Pretty arrived on Saturday morning, in from Canada. The weekend was off-and the weather was not great so we spent it doing school work , monopoly, Connect 4, Wii and watching movies. The boys visited Ashburton and bought a basketball while I stocked up on supplies. Sunday brought the heavy rain which flooded the lawn and our street. It also brought the huge dump of snow-1m to Mt Hutt.
MONDAY 9th-Powder !!
After all the snow of the weekend the road was closed and the mountain in hold until 12 o'clock. We ventured to the road barrier after this time-however it was still closed and was for another hour while we waited. The road was completely blocked by vehicles all waiting to get up to the new snow !! It was bedlam. We finally managed to bail out and head home-without incident!! The afternoon was spent chillin and dryland, preparing for a big day tomorrow. Bronte Marquet arrived this afternoon -and now the team is complete!!
TUESDAY 10th
5am wake up and up the hill !! Grateful for the chillin out now !! Chains from the barrier-just as well, as the Transit had a couple of questionable seconds-but all good !! The trusty red van made it up effortlessly! John Armstrong joined the team today on the hill, making the full contingent 12. Lift load at 7:15am. It is incredible how the mountain changes from "dark" to "light" in a matter of minutes. The Slalom course was set and ready to go by 8am, and the joined the many other athletes training this morning. A change in the training at 9am saw GS set in the top section and Slalom in the bottom section.
A steep learning curve for the team today by the Mountain about early learning training areas-lesson learnt !! A welcome face to "Hubers Hut" (my haunght early morning) was Cam Stephen, Alberta Womens Team Coach and familiar to many as the Coach from Turoa, from seasons past. He had arrived in NZ on Monday and today was on the hill with his team.
It was a beautiful clear day, but the snow was quite soft, even though we had had a good frost !! Lunchtime brought the excitement of being evacuated from the Day Lodge out to our cars. An avalanche on the South Side of the mountain caused concern as to whether anyone was caught in it. We took this opportunity to talk to Anja Paerson, and have a photo with her-as her vehicle was parked next to us !! Thankfully after an hour or so everyone was suitably accounted for and we could return to the afternoon training. Once off the hill it was into the gym for dryland training.
WEDNESDAY 11th
5am up and adam and back to the hill. Chains again from the base-we are getting very proficient at this now !! On the lift by 7:15am-at which time there were already 4 courses visibly set. The "Slovenija" Mens Team were booting up in Hubers Hut this morning-a nice start to the day. Lime green and sky blue uniforms, they also have lime green gate panels for their training course. The plain blue jackets of "Sweden" with Anja Paerson, the "Espana" ski team in white jackets all make the mountain look very "United Nations".
The course was pulled by 9am-ready for the public-but it was very quiet compared to yesterday. Only late morning did it start to get busy. A full day-finishing at 1pm took us back down the hill. A day off from dryland today gave the Kiwis time to prep their Super G skis ready for tomorrow Robin Dixon, Camp Mum, Methven