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NZ season 2009 - highlights?
How did ya go? NZ fields...keep it clean ;-)
best day all season?
best run all season?
do anything extra-awesome?
worst injury?
stupidest thing you saw someone else do?
biggest scare all season?
things you'd like to see in 2010
My first season so...
Powder day after the epic dump in Oct.
Eastern boundary on Labour weekend.
That stupidly steep chute (maybe the fingers) on my 5th day with Kings01 i thought was extra-awesome
No injuries, one bail that almost made me lose control of my bowels though
Bloke who fell down Clay's Leap after trying to bail when his mate nailed it
Biggest scare would be riding in fog so thick I couldn't see the snow
Awesome weather, soft snow and less people on the hill
Has been a great season, can't wait for the next!
best day gota be the middle weekend of the july school holidays at whaka, first day they opened the west chair, powder every where not a single track and maybe 20 other people out there, was amazing, also had a awesome day a tc in early sept but the whole mt was tracked out after a couple of runs.
Best run would have to be the first run down the saddle at tc before it got tracked was amazing or maybe the run down the glacier at turoa the Wednesday before last, soft snow no tracks and no one around was awesome.
Worst injury would be slipping when climbing up to the crater and twisting my ankle, but wasn't that bad and nothing serious.
Biggest scare would probably be my slide from somewhere above the lift at turoa in the whiteout not really knowing where I was except somewhere above the lift and going faster and faster out of control.
Probably not the most stupid thing but I really don;t see why so many people were so keen to ride the last bid of claries track today when there was more rock than snow on it. good way to end up with tones of avoidable scratches right at the end of the season.
things for 2010 they should stay open another couple of hours in spring, make you pay for it if they must or open at like 11 and shut at 6, the avos are so much better than the hard pack mornings.
best day all season? TC main basin 40cm first 5 runs paid for the day pass. Was looking real dodgy up there, cloud lifted just in time for the lift to start spinning for a lazy 10am start.
best run all season? 20cm in the alta chutes at remarks.
do anything extra-awesome? Road gap up some goat track in skippers.
worst injury? No real injury just a sore noise. "one last hit then we will bail" resulted in some knee vs noise punishment.
stupidest thing you saw someone else do? Days after people been killed in avalanches morons in the slack/back country with no avalanche gear!!!!!! absolutely crazy with where the avalanche danger was at!
biggest scare all season? Racing to Ohau, came onto the clutha bridge jumped on the gas truck got side way, been a one lane bridge there there isnt a great deal of room to slide slide ways.
things you'd like to see in 2010 be back living back in central!
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Shit happens.
best day all season?
Umm early season pow on Turoa? Probably that snow-wise. Otherwise some of the Spring park'n'slush days were pretty epic.
best run all season?
Probably 30-40cm untracked down skier's left of Big Bowl on the pow day mentioned above.
do anything extra-awesome?
Hmm... not spectacularly? Did some pretty decent hucks early on.
worst injury?
Smashed my knee up... partial MCL tear, torn meniscus, torn hamstring. Ended my season a month early 
stupidest thing you saw someone else do?
Hmm... too many to list? My mate doing a 270 instead of a 360 was pretty good.
biggest scare all season?
Feeling my knee go POP
things you'd like to see in 2010
A park at Turoa as good as this year's! Was very entirely excellent!
My first season too so I could write a book ... but I'll try and keep it short 
best day all season? A toss up between Sunday 11/10 and Monday 19/11. Both were days after a fresh dump of snow. Great conditions.
best run all season? Again I can't seperate 2 days. The first consisted of these 3 runs I did with CCS on 11/10 down the 'Giant' run. The Why Nots were soft and smooth with new snow and it was the fastest I had ever ridden up to that point. The other is my first go down branch line at Turoa with CCS and OS. My first black run and the off piste section past Branch Line was untracked, smooth and fast.
Special mention goes to a couple of runs from this last weekend. The Upper Freeway had a small bowl to it, was like a slick wave that I could forehand bottom turn into and smash the lip all the way down to the high noon. Oh and the runs thru big bowl and snowbird. haha. fark the whole season contains highlights LOL.
do anything extra-awesome? Yep, started snowboarding for the first time in August. in 2 words - Life Changing!
worst injury? First run ever at Turoa. Hit a patch of ice on the boneyard that Biffed me onto my left side smashing my arm hard enough to draw blood. Left a lump for weeks and the bruising took 10 days to show it was that deep. Kinda stuffed my day because everytime I bailed even into some soft snow it hurt like fark. I'm sure I was the slowest boarder on the Mountain that day
stupidest thing you saw someone else do? A d1ckhead in a white old model mitzi Galant passing cars at will going up the Turoa access road. He started 2 cars behind me and ended up 10 cars in front. Total madness!!!
biggest scare all season? Coming back on the national chair from the West ridge at Whaka coz my son didn't want to wait for the quad to take us up to the top so we could use the trail back to the east side. Thats one old ricketty lift and the drop between ridges is a long way down. Being a little afraid of heights didn't help. Something I have managed to (kinda) overcome this season.
things you'd like to see in 2010 A huge dump of snow in May like this year and consistant dumps right thru to October. 
8 months to wait is a long time. Thankfully I can now go surfing
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Its Winter - time for a slide.
argh too many highlights...
best day all season?
hmm early July pow at Whakapapa, despite being injured, it was the best snow ever, and still falling while we were there.
do anything extra-awesome?
Got a Chill Pass, and hit Southern fields. Saw lots of new amazing places. Wanna go back for more.
worst injury?
wrangled my knee early season, thought it was all over, but not thank goodness, whew. Turns out it was a knee season, so I came off lightly.
stupidest thing you saw someone else do?
Roll a skidoo at Cardrona. But he was in a sketchy spot going to help a fallen skier... still it was scary to see.
biggest scare all season?
Possibly same as above? oh no hang on, the avo that came across the road behind us as Cheeseman.... If we were a bit later the car would have been slammed.
things you'd like to see in 2010
More of the South, heading back for another fix, to see some more of the places we missed.
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snow.co.nz/blogs - check them out
best day all season?
Jeez, that's a toughie. Remarks, last day of september, absolutely chucking it down. Was awesome.
do anything extra-awesome?
Not particularly. Rode my first rail if that counts?
worst injury?
Injury free, only my pride when I bailed in ridiculously stupid places, (cat tracks, lift queues and such like)
stupidest thing you saw someone else do?
Muppet driver trying to gap it through the BP forecourt in TeKuiti to pass 3 cars. 
biggest scare all season?
Not particularly scarey, but hitting the jump off the wall in big bowl, but realising just before I launched off that I was weighted all wrong and it was going to end in tears. (and that "Oh Faaarrrkkkk " thought as you launch off)
things you'd like to see in 2010
More riding with both the offspring. It's the best feeling. 
and a good snow year, maybe a ride down to the chateau?
best day all season?
Took a week off for skiing and got *the* powder dump of the year at Turoa. Freshies in 1-2 foot of pow.
best run all season?
Had a couple of bump runs where I really nailed it and that's a good feeling. Been working on this this year & the odd days where some runs have been moguled to hell it's a really good feeling to be able to charge them & not be in defensive-ski mode.
do anything extra-awesome?
Managed a 2m cliff without killing myself or crashing. Probably won't do it again though 
worst injury?
Almost separated my shoulder on day one. Lucky I did not, was sore for weeks.
stupidest thing you saw someone else do?
.. list is too long .... I wish people would chill out as I see terrifying sh*t happening every year
biggest scare all season?
Daughter landing on her head while doing some jumps. Helmet purchase, justified!
things you'd like to see in 2010
I'd really like a lift up to the crater lake ...
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Gaper.
I’m another who only started snowboarding this season so everything was a highlight...
Best day all season?
My second day at Whakapapa in September – the day snowboarding became my obsession. Perfect weather, perfect snow, spent all afternoon out west
Best run all season?
Yesterday, big bowl – the perfect run, everything went right, only word I can think of to describe it is EPIC!
Do anything extra-awesome?
Everything I did this season was awesome, I finished each day with exactly the same buzz. From the first time I made it all the way down the slope without falling over to nailing all the jumps in the medium park at turoa this weekend just gone...
Worst injury?
Managed to avoid any major injuries.
Biggest scare all season?
Came within a few cm’s of smashing my head on rocks in the valley at whaka, decided to buy a helmet after that…
Things you’d like to see in 2010?
More of the same really, I’m just looking forward to getting my season pass and riding as much as I can! So maybe really really cheap season passes
best day all season?
Temple Basin - 30cm fresh, about 20 people on the hill, bluebird and calm. Bills Basin was infarking sane.
best run all season?
Chute at Broken River down from Hamilton Peak after 35cm dump. magic
do anything extra-awesome?
Nailed a few park features that previously nailed me - but nothing spectacular.
worst injury?
Pretty good this year - torn ligaments and burned/grazed arm - only missed a day.
stupidest thing you saw someone else do?
Clowns who stand talking on the runouts of jumps/park features. Wtf. And some really irresponsible hiking in closed areas.
biggest scare all season?
A few panicky moments when things go wrong in midflight.
things you'd like to see in 2010
Craigieburn after a big dump. The terrain there is sick even on an average day - would love to see it with a foot of fresh
My worst injury, biggest scare and do something extra-awesome were all the same event:
On September 19th (International Talk Like a Pirate Day) I was up at Temple Basin and it was scarily icy in the morning. I was manning the rental dept, and rented some gear to a Danish girl then taught her how to use the ropetow, and she got to the top first time. I rode up with her, checked she was ok, then skied back down. I was hanging around the bottom and noticed she was taking her time, so I rode back up to check if she was ok. I got about halfway up the tow and she just started sliding down out of control from the top, lost both her skis and slid at breakneck pace towards a field of rocks. It was terrifying, she was screaming and looked like she was gonna nail herself. She mostly missed the first patch of rocks (thank god), while I hung on to the tow and willed it to go faster. As soon as she was almost level with me I jumped off the tow, bunny-hopped some rocks and skied over to her as fast as I could and grabbed her to help her stop, but we slid together for another five metres or so until I could get us to a stop. She had broken her wrist on a rock and had to be helicoptered to a hospital. While we were treating her I noticed that my arm had a fair bit of blood on it from the icy slide, cos I was only wearing a hawaiian shirt at the time. It was a really bad graze and took a month to heal, but it was totally worth it for the manly story. :P
Other assorted highlights:
Worst Injury: Tried to straightline Temple Tow on a sloppy snow day and failed spectacularly at high speed. Hit an unexpected drop, tried to stick it, lost a ski, tomahawked, hurt my neck.
Best day all season: 23rd September - pretty much the perfect day. Fresh snow fell before 10am, during the lunch break, and after 5pm, with blue skies during skiing hours. All day the skies would clear as soon as I started skiing but started snowing again as soon as I went inside. Epic.
Do something extra-awesome: Volunteer snowboard instructor for a week. It's a pretty cool feeling when one of the kids comes up and thanks me for the lesson, and tells me that the tips I gave him really helped his riding.
Do something extra-awesome/biggest scare all season: Climbed to the ridgeline at Temple Basin with a bunch of ski pros and a patroller under a clear starry sky and full moon. Had a beer on the false summit at midnight, then skiied down. The moon was so bright that we didn't need torches. The ride down was an incredible buzz, but the ice was Fairly Intimidating.
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The only way to beat the crowds is with a club.
best day all season? 12 Oct, knee deep pow from the top of the Maungaehuehu glacier on Turoa, right to the bottom, all backcountry (no-slack country), no-one in sight, nothing but blue sky and the slight hiss of the board hucking foot deep turns tearig down the side of the mountain.
best run all season? Hike up to the saddle of the Mangaehuehu Glacier 1 Nov, had lunch at the top on a nice sunny day, then dropped over the other side to the Waihanoa Glacier. Huge deep turns, awesome run out. Unlike last season hiked a bit higher on the way out and traversed across with ease....last year went too low and ended up with a 2 hours hike out. Suck. Got fresh dry pow up the top to corn to slush down the bottom.
do anything extra-awesome? See the above!
worst injury? None this year
stupidest thing you saw someone else do? Skier and boarder following us up Gliding Gladys on a spring day....obviously the sight of us wearing crampons and ice axes didn't really phase them when it came to those icy ridges. Although the sheer look of horror and faces draining of colour when they came to patches of sheet ice was priceless.
biggest scare all season? Taking a chute just down the bottom of the high flyer coming back in from the slack country. Got down first little gully, been in shade all morning, dust on blue, blue ice. Stopped at that point and had a look. Drop off was shear waterfall 30ft down with bare rocks and ice either side. A slog back up the steep gully, cutting steps near the top to get out. Again, our ice axes and crampons save our skins from a very dicey situation!
things you'd like to see in 2010 A week of clear weather during the day and snow at night on Ruapehu...wishfull thinking I know but we can only but dream...
Need to catch up for a skin next season shuffler.
Originally posted by: stringman
My worst injury, biggest scare and do something extra-awesome were all the same event:
While we were treating her I noticed that my arm had a fair bit of blood on it from the icy slide, cos I was only wearing a hawaiian shirt at the time. It was a really bad graze and took a month to heal, but it was totally worth it for the manly story. :P
If you had been sporting a Tom Selleck-esque mo at the time to match that shirt, it would be the greatest story in history.
She had broken her wrist on a rock and had to be helicoptered to a hospital.
Guessing the moment wasn't right to ask for her number?
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Gaper.
haha, yeah one of my friends asked me the same thing. And uh, no.
I thought the motto of one of our patrollers was pretty good - "Temple Basin ski patrol: breakin' hearts and savin' lives."
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The only way to beat the crowds is with a club.
My act of chivalry is not quite as extreme as Stringman. I was down at the Alpine Meadow helping my daughter out on her second day on the snow when the magic carpet stops and this young kids starts screaming. There are about 15 people waiting at the bottom and this kids mum had fallen on the carpet, skiis in all directions and the kid was stressing out. The liftee was staring at them both but unmoved. The 15 or so people around me were staring but unmoved. The kid screams louder but nothing changes. I unbuckled my bindings, and picked the kid (who was about 4 years old) off the magic carpet. I few comforting words and the kid immediately stops wailing, mum is helped to her feet by the liftee and we all continue with the day. I was amazed how everyone just stared but did nothing.
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Its Winter - time for a slide.
best day all season?
Weekend spent helping a mate get better at snowboarding. Best day would have to be seeing it click for him and his boarding improve almost instantly and now having him almost as in love with it as me.
do anything extra-awesome?
worst injury?
Nothing this year thankfully! Last year I damaged my tailbone after a kid on skis cut across my board and sent me spralling on ice. 1st day of a week on the mountain. Couldnt walk, not fun.
stupidest thing you saw someone else do?
Family friend went to buy a waterproof jacket for snowboarding, saw a suit jacket and got it cause it looked cooler, then the weather was rainy and wet and he was soaked, then on his first day riding with no lessons decided he wanted to try going from top of giant. Not the smartest guy.
biggest scare all season?
Car losing traction with chains attached on way up to Turoa, after the hairpin corner, and having cars infront and behind at the time.
things you'd like to see in 2010
More snow under my feet!
Originally posted by: stringman
My worst injury, biggest scare and do something extra-awesome were all the same event:
On September 19th (International Talk Like a Pirate Day) I was up at Temple Basin and it was scarily icy in the morning. I was manning the rental dept, and rented some gear to a Danish girl then taught her how to use the ropetow, and she got to the top first time. I rode up with her, checked she was ok, then skied back down. I was hanging around the bottom and noticed she was taking her time, so I rode back up to check if she was ok. I got about halfway up the tow and she just started sliding down out of control from the top, lost both her skis and slid at breakneck pace towards a field of rocks. It was terrifying, she was screaming and looked like she was gonna nail herself. She mostly missed the first patch of rocks (thank god), while I hung on to the tow and willed it to go faster. As soon as she was almost level with me I jumped off the tow, bunny-hopped some rocks and skied over to her as fast as I could and grabbed her to help her stop, but we slid together for another five metres or so until I could get us to a stop. She had broken her wrist on a rock and had to be helicoptered to a hospital. While we were treating her I noticed that my arm had a fair bit of blood on it from the icy slide, cos I was only wearing a hawaiian shirt at the time. It was a really bad graze and took a month to heal, but it was totally worth it for the manly story. :P
I hope you get an industry award for your bravery there. I read of another similar story that did not have such a happy ending (alleged) for the skifield employee as they were required to make an ACC Claim for their bravery and alleged they were denied employment the following year due to the perhaps the increased premium cost the employer faced due to the ACC Claim.
Originally posted by: rob_rips
Need to catch up for a skin next season shuffler.
Yea mate, so few guys daring to go up and around (which is probably a good thing anyway). Were those your tracks going down the Waihanoa glacier around the 31st Nov?
Been eying up some of Voltaren's split board gear and costs...might be something to save up for. We got smoked by guys skinning up Gliding Gladys on one of our hikes...so much faster and looks a lot easier than hiking.
No swell in the BOP so am at a loss what to do withmyself now...road trip to the west coast once I get my paddle fitness back!
best day all season? cant remember the date but up treble cone in september after it had snowed 40cm continuously each day 3days in a row.. bluebird day... perfect dry powder.. and the most amazing terrain = to anywhere in NZ.. jumpin off rocks.
best run all season? Same day as above... TC Summit down ridge towards saddle track chute 1 or 2 or 3.. still untracked...
do anything extra-awesome? probably not as it was my first season back on ski's.. though i had some good fun pushing myself.
worst injury? amazingly none for me... watched a video of a m8 dislocate his elbow... before my other m8 relocated it.
stupidest thing you saw someone else do? nothing in particular.. but the usual so called "Expert" snowboarders bombing down the beginner runs cutting off and crashing into all the people who are just trying to learn.. we were all there once.
biggest scare all season? The two or 3 really warm weeks from beggining to mid august where all the snow was melting super quick..
things you'd like to see in 2010 ~ same epic snow, tbar from bottom of Motutapu shoots up.... double or triple or quad further down up towards gotleibs.. quite likely wishful thinking..
SamSnow, there was a map of tc floating around a while back with a lift running sorta parallel to the current saddle chair up to the top of gotleibs. Ill believe it when i see it!
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Shit happens.
Keep an eye out Chillers - last years voucher deal is the plan again for next season - nice one!
http://www.chillout.co.nz/news.asp [chillout.co.nz]
leaning towards just 241 vouchers next year, works out way cheaper in a typical NZ season
