Back in one piece
Lovely week in the snow! weather variable at best, but that was all to the good - it's nice to know I can get down a mountain when I can't see my feet, let alone anything else (speccy git in sticky sleet, not optimal).
Nice crowd at the lodge - one of the benefits of an older crowd is they're quiet, dedicated to enjoying their skiing, usually an interesting selection of people. And moderate drinkers! nobody gets pissed or rowdy or stupid, just social. They were all great with the kids, too; we've been up before and copped huge Attitude about small children, but this lot were lovely.
Sunday: half-day, beautiful conditions, clear and cold; poddled around on Front Valley (wide beginner run) to get our feet. Fell over once :) can't "ess" without faceplanting, but no bruises, bit stiff.
Monday: overcast, sleeting a bit, but mostly clear; got a bit more adventurous, full-day, spent most of it doing the Pretty Valley run - wide, but much steeper, lots of obstacles and fun to be had if desired. You'd have to be absolutely bent on hitting someone else to crash there, even when it's crowded :) lots and lots of lovely room to explore.
Didn't hit a single rock or tree, which is something of a record for me :) and repeatedly managed the lovely long run down to the bottom of the chairlift which one has to take at some speed and in a straight line. These are historically not my forte, but I managed a dozen or so times without falling off, falling over, stopping short, or missing the turn. YES! One small bruise, bit stiffer :) Began to get to grips with "essing", if only at slow speed. No jumps - well, not intentional ones. Hubby fearlessly throwing himself at everything. My god he looks lovely all sunburny with snow in his beard :)
Tuesday: beautiful sunny day, too stiff and fluey to move, so we sat around, drank coffee, hit the pub for their wonderful goulash soup, took Newest Niece tobogganing, dozed off in the sun at the lodge. Suits me.
Wednesday: light rain/sleet, fuck-all visibility - were going to go up Mt Perisher or some of the other runs, but as still fluey and floppy, stuck to Front Valley to work on mechanics/jumps/whathaveyou. Spent day waiting for BF's husband and son to ski over from Guthega - coffee, then back to the Lodge to find he hadn't told BF we were driving them back; they'd called the police as there'd been no word. (I hadn't called her because I assumed -as you would - he'd have done so... should have known better, poor thing was frantic as she'd not heard from them once since they set off).
BF's hubby, being an old-school patriarchal with a very sensitive ego, disappeared upstairs and was not seen all night. Couldn't face the other lodge members, presumably; he knew he'd fucked up. Could have been worse, though - when we hooked up he'd been intent on skiing back to the lodge from Perisher, even though (a) it took them 3 hours to get there (b) it was one hour off dark (c) 11-yo beginner-level Nephew was very tired (d) they only arrived half an hour before all the lifts/t-bars would have closed. We insisted on the lift back, although he was absolutely sure they'd be able to get back before dark with no problems.
One of those man things, presumably...
Thursday: day off. Snowing all day, just perfect - a good 10-20 cm new powder! wish we'd been on the slopes. But oh well. BF's hubby still in hiding/crappy mood, so we wanted to take the rest of the family up for lunch. BF and baby cried off, so we took the kids and spent most of the day doing all the stupid family stuff their Dad wasn't there to do (and isn't all that keen on/good at when he is, to be honest)... snowball fights, snowmen, bodysliding, sculptures, just pissing about really. (He's not a bad bloke, but for him a photo of the two kids in the snow then back inside because he's bored is him being a good Dad; he doesn't really do playing - it's all about achievement). Kids a bit down - Nephew in particular has a keen sense of his father's emotional state/effect on everyone else, and does a lot of unconscious compensating for it... but he's only 11, ferchrissakes. Poor love, he'd have liked nothing more than for his Dad to just chuck a snowball at him and say "it's okay, let's move on", but he couldn't :( BF had a rough time, but at least when her hubby was off having a mood & we had the kids she had some good Mummy/Daughter time. And sleep! She got heaps of sleep this week. This is very good.
Friday: crap crap conditions - raining, sleeting, all yesterday's snow melted away... were going to stuff about on Guthega runs until it was time to leave, but on the spur of the moment went back to Perisher, hoping it'd be better. Also: better to use runs we knew. Conditions worse :) I was soaked through after one run - my waterproofs seem not to be :( wringing out gloves on the chairlift, etc. Specs polarised almost black - we were joking about Beeblebrox glasses - and ground almost invisible more than two feet away. Conditions did not favour trying the unknown higher slopes, so we took another technical-practice day, on a moderately crowded slope full of beginners and day-trippers.
Actually quite enjoyed that - one had no choice but to practice "not avoiding or hitting others despite not being able to see". Worked well; I only got taken out a few times, by novice boarders who were slowed by sticky snow or couldn't stop in the chairlift entry area. Oh, and one small child skiing backwards :) Hubby got in lots of jumps and spins, and I mastered four "esses" in a row, more or less downhill, moderate to slow speed, and still got in lots of the long, wide across-slope gliding which is what I like about boarding (as opposed to hubby who thinks it should be all top-to-bottom as quickly as possible).
Piked out after a dozen or so runs, then home to pack up etc.
Compared to last time (big black bruises, stiff, sore, buggered neck, hard to move for days) I think we've both done very well, despite heavy nasty flu; increases in competence and confidence, no injury time, any issues probably just age-related. So: thoroughly enjoyable, both on-slope and in terms of time with BF & her family :)
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