The Suitcase Race sponsored by GrabASeat, not to be missed, certainly. Of all the events at Coronet Peak during WinterFest this was probably the most exciting. I unfortunately had to miss the dog race because of my first day of work, and was not ambitious enough to volunteer for the Skin to the Summit race at 6am, but was definitely keen to head up on Saturday the 3rd of July for a little fun in the sun, skiing and watching Nigel and his work-mates, Sam and Will, put on one of the most entertaining shows Coronet Peak has ever seen.
The Suitcase Race is as you might expect: the first person to get down past the finish line while sliding down the lower part of the M1 on a suitcase is the winner! Oh, and costumes are a must. Nigel was decked out in a huge blue afro wig and a dress so hideous your grandmother's mother wouldn't be caught dead in it. Sam was fitted daintily in a short bright gold dress and Will decided for the aquatic approach with full wet suit, snorkeling goggles and flippers – and if that wasn't outlandish enough, a Santa hat.
A description of the event just wouldn't do it justice, so you'll have to go to the video I produced on YouTube and check it out yourself!
The excitement of my day neither started nor ended with Nigel's exciting victory on the slopes. In the morning I had quite a few good mogul runs* off of the top of Greengates and also had a bit of a social night when I returned back to Nigel's house in Fernhill. It was Jazz Night during WinterFest, the fanciest party of the week, up at the top of the Skyline Gondola complex. Nigel and his housemates had a few guests staying overnight and had dinner and a few drinks before heading out to the party. I entertained both myself and our guests with the video from earlier in the day, getting quite a few laughs out of the slow-mo replay of Nigel down on the ground grabbing Will's leg and tripping him as he ran headlong down the hill in huge swim flippers, resulting in a tumbling mass of snow, suitcases, and crazy men in costume down at the finish line.
I had been hoping to have been called in to volunteer for the Jazz Night event, but unfortunately I would have to forego this $80 event in search of alternate entertainment. I wandered down the hill into town and found my friends from Deco at Buffalo Club, drinking and playing pool upstairs. I was happy to see familiar faces, and also met Claire's friend Gloria from California. We stayed at Buffalo Club a while and then headed back to Deco to continue the merriment. The crew eventually decided to head down to Ministry to watch the Argentina v Germany game of the quarter finals of the World Cup. At the time I wasn't terribly keen to stay out so late (or maybe I was just really cold) but I had been wanting to see at least one World Cup game, and even though I was cheering for Argentina, they really got their asses handed to them, but I had a good time anyway!
The game lasted well into the night, and being the crazy hardcore skier morning person that I was during my first month and a half in Queenstown (hahahahahaha) this was actually the latest I had been out since my time here. Around 4am I walked out to the esplanade and before long was able to hitch a ride back up to Fernhill, just in time to miss the craziness that ensued in the house. I decided to sleep curled up under a blanket on the couch.
*Note: 'Good mogul runs' is a relative term used to express the fact that lumps of snow located near enough each other to facilitate mogul-style skiing are in fact present in small numbers in the Southern Hemisphere.
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