I had been expecting frigid temperatures and rock hard slopes so I decked myself out in my knee pads and butt pad, as uncomfortable as it is, and squished myself into the back seat of Gary's car at about 11:45am in anticipation of a nice scenic day up the hill. The road up to The Remarkables was basked in sunlight and a lot of the snow had been lost since opening day. The rocks on the cliffs were starting to show through even more, and the rumbling creek beds were more visible. Still, the sun was shining and the few clouds in the sky added to the ambiance without preventing the mountains and valleys from being bathed in light. It was shaping up to be quite a scenic and fun day, especially with Gary's rally-car style driving up the windy road. I would have enjoyed the day just for that.
After three laps off the Shadow Basin quad, avoiding rocks, large and small, and trying to get my legs back underneath me, we went to the car to fill the packs with some beers, quite a tasty lager similar to a Beck's, for our trek up to cone point. It's by far the best reward for the least effort. The hike is a bit steep and the steps were far apart but it probably took less than ten minutes to see the most spectacular view of Lake Wakatipu, all the way to the south and out towards the west. It was a spectacular new perspective, looking out to the west over the valley after looking east from Queenstown Hill and south from Cardrona. The moss-covered rocks hanging out over the snow-topped cliffs provide a great vantage point for sitting and enjoying a cold beer. The sun warmed us up to the perfect temperature for sitting without jackets, soaking in the view and sunshine in our black sunglasses and ski shirts.
The run down to the shuttle was a refreshing change from the scraped-off rocky area near the Shadow Basin chair. The basin was filled with snow and though it was a bit cruddy from being in the sun my board was able to coast through most of it with ease, the top few centimeters of most areas melted to spring conditions. Anything beats having to shift at a moment's notice to avoid tiny rocks lining the crust of hard-pack snow or hiding behind lumps in terrain. The best part is that it wasn't actually chopped up at all.
Fortunately the shuttle driver waited for us to get down, as we made it right at 3:30pm when the last shuttle was scheduled to depart. The boys went back to the car and I headed up to the Alta chair to scout out the terrain parks. I started walking up through the beginner area, caught a tiny magic carpet that no one was on or manning, and thought to myself, 'What's the first rule of riding the magic carpet? Don't walk on it or they'll stop it.' It's nice not having to extend my etiquette outside the box of established rules for the season. Being out of a uniform is quite nice.
As I made my way up the ever stopping and starting Alta chair I saw they had made a quite lovely beginner terrain park in the lower area. I'm still not a fan of the other park because it really has no progression, just random features, though I haven't been through The Stash yet. I decided that since I only had one run I would coast along on the wide groomed blue run as I finished my day out arriving down at the car ark to join the guys.
I kicked my boots off after loading myself and my things into the car and enjoyed Gary's crazy off-road driving down to civilization. On the way down I got sentimental again, thinking about how my only real option for socialization that night would be to go to a bar where the rugby game was on and decided that night riding would be best. I got a text back from Bart around 4:30 and made plans to grab a beer and then catch the 6pm bus. At 4:45 I got a call from Tony, assuming it must be about plans for the next day, but instead he was asking me to babysit that evening. I groaned and told him I had just made plans for the evening and if he had called a half hour earlier I would have been free. Feeling yucky in my stomach knowing I had just passed up a hundred much-needed dollars we continued down Frankton Rd into town. Gary and Nat dropped me off at the Snow Center, an interesting coincidence that I always tend to see both Nat and Bart on the same day.
When I walked across the road and set my board down by a table at Red Rock I looked at Bart, sitting complacently with a full beer and tried my best to relax, my nerves still a bit shot from passing up the work, worrying about my ragged appearance and feeling a little awkward for friend-hopping. I went inside to grab myself a beer, going for the Tui's since it was only $4, and immediately seeing why. When I got to the table I said, “I'm trying to figure out if this beer tastes funny or if it's just disgusting,” but he agreed the Tui's was pretty much crap.
We enjoyed a beer and then caught the 6pm bus, and seeing Anthony get on I called him over to sit with us. He has a job now at the Mantra Marina hotel, quite a ways out almost to Frankton, but at least he enjoys it, and isn't too keen on getting out of the hostel because he enjoys it there as well. I think if you're set up in a nice room and don't have too much stuff it's easy to stay because of the location and social atmosphere.
When we arrived at Coronet we went straight up the lift to the bar and I ordered a mulled wine, which wasn't very good but was warm and wine always makes my face flush faster than any other drink. We did about 6 runs down the M1, myself trying to stay off-piste whenever possible, and didn't get cold at all. The night was chilly but not a frosty type of cold, and the alcohol kept us warm.
The only seats together I could find were right at the back and we began talking with a girl from Indiana who was traveling around Australia and had come over to NZ and then had to return to college in August. I'm not sure if she was from Indiana originally but I would believe it since she actually had that middle of no where type of accent that made her sound like she was from Canada. Sometimes people tell me I have the same sort of thing, but upstate NY can pretty much be considered the middle of no where for all I care.
When we got back to the Snow Center it actually felt even colder than when we were up top. Anthony headed back to the hostel and Bart and I went our separate ways for the night, awaiting a much-needed night's sleep.
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