This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Having missed out on a winter in transit through Asia from a Pommie summer to a Kiwi one, I was longing to check out the slopes in the Southern Alps. So, my savings to get home again took a dive and I decided to join the annual Club ski trip to Broken River (somewhere down south, near Christchurch).
Despite the minor panic the week before the trip when cancellation was on the cards due to rain washing the snow away, it turned out to be a perfect week weatherwise. A substantial dump of snow just before we arrived, followed by another fall on the Sunday provided heaps of powder. Plenty of blue skies and sunshine during the week ensured we all returned with silly suntan marks - it was hot enough to ski in a T-shirt but not a good idea if you were likely to fall over!
This was my first taste of skling in New Zealand. As I was used to the European slopes with bashed out pistes winding through the trees, I found it a little strange at first skiing on so much fresh snow. It was, however, a lot more comfortable to fall over into! Just as well really, as there were some pretty steep slopes at the top. Another major shock was the infamous rope tow - to be the cause of several bruises! Even with Buncks’ expert advice It took me a while to master the nutcrackers.
Under the guidance of Steve and Miranda (our Canadian ski Instructors who were sickeningly good at skiing) we all improved our technique vastly over the week. Perfect weather and no queues for tows certainly gave us plenty of practice, it was a case of skling until our legs could take no more! If there had been a prize for the most improvement over the week, it would've had to go to Michael and Annemiek who'd never skied before. By the end of the week they were skiing down from the top of the main tow.
The mountain top just above the main tow provided an excellent spot for watching the sun set over the mountain range at the end of an exhausting day. Skiing down in the dusk was interesting as the mogels don’t show up without shadows! Then it was time to rest aching limbs In the sauna - even if it was In a shed in the middle of the woods.
No ski trip would be complete without the parties and we managed a pretty wild one midweek we even invited the Tararua Tramping Ciub down to it, they were in the lodge next door. Byron revealed his mis-spent youth and turned out to be our champion sculler. Clark's technique was to pour his beer all over himself! We couldn't find a combination to beat the champion staff team though, Gavin's party skills included traversing tables and dancing with broomsticks ... the night continued!
Not content with risking life and limb bombing down ski slopes, Roger decided to take Victoria (his beloved landrover) 4 wheel driving on the return journey - who needs bridges to cross rivers anyway!
Basically an excellent week was had by all, plenty of memories and a fun crowd of people definitely a trip to be recommended for next year. As they say in Manchester - dead good!