Living in the South of France and having easy access to the Southern Alps I learnt to ski at a young age and it soon became my passion. So after leaving school and wanting to take a gap year, I was delighted to learn about the NONSTOP ski instructor courses and immediately applied to Fernie.  The course, the people, the place – everything – all far exceeded my expectations and I can honestly say that I had the time of my life. Having completed the 11 week instructor course in Fernie 2010, where I learned so much about teaching skiing, as well as greatly improving my own

skiing, I obtained my level 2 CSIA. I couldn’t wait to put all my newly learned skills to the test, so I applied to the Niseko Village Snow School in Japan in early June. Only a few days later, Jeff Marks got in contact with me and we set a date for a telephone interview and that’s how in mid November I suddenly found myself living the dream in Niseko. Japan was a completely new experience for me with a different culture and language. The first thing you have to do is to pass the SAJ (Ski Association of Japan) which is the Japanese qualification, because Niseko Village is one of the few ski schools which has foreign instructors with this certificate, we needed this to be able to start instructing.

I was so nervous before my first lesson but as soon as I met up with my students and I started my lessons, all the training that I’d had in Fernie came back. I had levels from “never evers” to intermediate – it was a challenge every day but I think I did a good job and it was very satisfying seeing all these nervous beginners gaining confidence and actually managing to ski – all because of me!!! Working with instructors who have more experience than you was really helpful, I knew if I had any questions about a lesson I could always go and talk to them.

All the foreign instructors lived together in a big staff accommodation and it really felt like a family as we lived, worked, skied and partied together. The atmosphere was terrific. The day always started with a morning meeting which was half in Japanese and half in English, then we usually hit the slopes to take advantage of the fantastic waist deep powder or to have an on piste session with the top instructors of the ski school before our lessons. Our clients were of all ages and nationalities (including Chinese kids that didn’t speak English) but we all managed to communicate nevertheless. And my training in Fernie on how to teach with few words and a lot of demonstrations helped so much. December and Chinese New Year were pretty hectic but the days off were so worth it. Waking up in the morning and knowing that you’re going to ski in untouched waist deep power all day – well, what can I say??

Apart from the skiing side, all the foreign staff also got together once a month with Japanese high school students so they could practice their English. It was a great occasion for us too to learn about Japanese life and culture (also we got a free meal!)

I have therefore just spent the winter season 2010 – 2011 having the most amazing time –not only teaching skiing to all levels and ages but also making friends among the other instructors as well as my clients. Even the terrible events in Japan this March due to the earthquake and tsunami didn’t dampen our spirits – on the contrary, the relationship between the ‘foreign’ instructors and our Japanese colleagues was only reinforced.

After the season in Japan I wanted to do another season straight away, so I decided to come to New-Zealand. Getting a visa was very easy I just applied online, paid the fee and I couple of weeks later I received my visa.

I am now in NZ waiting till early June to do the Coronet Peak casual instructor try-outs which is an opportunity to get a job at that ski school if you have missed out on a full time seasonal job. They test you on your ability to teach and ski and at the end of the day you know if you have a job or not.

If all goes according to plan, my next project is to pass my level 3 and return to teach in Fernie .

Find out how you can follow in Olivia’s footsteps with NONSTOP’s snowboard and ski instructor courses.

Yesterday morning I was really pumped for another trip up Red and Granite mountains. I was fast falling in love with the place and I only had until lunchtime, so wanted to make the most of it. This time I tagged along with Drew and his group of 6 snowboard instructor trainees and spent the first part of the morning covering the fifth element of the CASI programme “Timing and Coordination”. That involved controlling and evening-up toe and heal side turns and lead into one of my favourite exercises: “Top Gun”.

For Top Gun, Drew took us to the top of “Beer Belly”, “Oil Can” or “Beer Can”, the imaginatively names tree runs, I’m not sure which one. We split into pairs, the leader picking a line through the steep tree run, with the second rider following the path exactly. I ended up leading the way for Drew, so I didn’t stand a very good chance of shaking him off my tail, he copied my path exactly… well, apart from the butt-plant half way down!

The rest of the morning was dedicated to Red Mountain freeriding and feature hitting at its very best. I sadly had to say goodbye to the group as they went to lunch and headed off down to the base area, getting a little lost along the way. I was a little disorientated by the uinique 360 degree skiing of Red Mountain!

It was then time to get back on the Road towards Fernie. Like the way here, it did turn into a bit of a faff-fest, but this time mostly in Red Mountain’s local town Rossland. It’s such a charming little town and a genuine relic of the gold rush. Incidentally, Red Mountain was a big deal in those days, they mined straight down the centre of it.

Once on the Road, we made some good progress. There’s nothing interesting to report apart from seeing a goat-sheep in the road (not sure if that’s what it’s called… but it looked both goaty and sheepy). Also, we stopped in a coffee shop in Creston on the way back, and saw the most random notice in the toilet…

My day six in Fernie was relatively uneventful, but a lot of those on the 11 instructor courses and 6 week MTM off-piste camps took part in the first of their avalanche safety days. The first day covers the theory of avalanches, including types, causes, weather patterns, etc. Tomorrow they’ll take the theory to the mountain as the dig pits, study layers and learn to use transceivers probes and shovels.

This evening everyone went to see the Fernie Ghostriders, the local ice hockey team, play the Golden Rockets. Apparently it was a bit of a grudge match because Golden are the only team to have beaten Fernie this season. Fernie got off to a great start, scoring in the first minute and, to cut a long story short, won by 5 goals to 3. To be honest I wasn’t paying much attention as I was trying to take a decent action photo (which turns out isn’t very easy in a game that moves at 100 miles per hour!). Everyone seemed to have a great time though… and out of maybe 200 photos, a couple of them weren’t so bad, after a load of photoshopping!

Anyways, having already taken part in a lot of avalanche safety courses, I’m opting for snowmobiling tomorrow. I can’t wait. I’ve been trusted with NONSTOP’s new headcam, so stay tuned for tomorrows exiting video footage!

Find out more about NONSTOPS ski courses and holidays here and snowboard camps here.

In at the steep end

On a voyage of discovery around four of Canada’s lesser-known and more challenging resorts, days of coaching make it easier to rise to the challenge of glorious steeps, deeps and trees.

Red Mountain, British Columbia. Percentage of black runs 45, many littered with trees and in the current snow drought, also heaving with big bumps. I start down Booty’s Run, a double black diamond that’s an uphill schuss away from the main piste network, heart in mouth. The entrance is a rollover into a narrowish gully of spaced trees and giant, hard-packed moguls. The advice of our instructor Jonathan whirls through my head as I try to maintain the flow – retract the legs up the bump, extend on the way down, remember the pole plant, point the skis down the bump to keep contact with it, use its platform to slow down. Bump after bump, tree after tree slips by, I’m impressed with how the pointers have focused my mind, pumped by how much I’m enjoying myself. After the trees the run opens out, gets slightly less steep, but there’s still a rock band to negotiate, and a seemingly never-ending sea of moguls. A few pauses for breath, and to look and marvel at what we’ve negotiated, and the run is done – our group of six pops out on to a green run, breathing hard, comparing notes, then bombing down to the Motherlode chair eager for the next test.

It’s day eight of a two-week Nonstop Safari holiday to the British Columbia resorts of Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Red Mountain and Fernie. The company started out in 2002 offering gap-year instructor courses for skiers and snowboarders, but keeps developing its programme with a varied menu of improvement camps such as this, which includes seven days of coaching. There are seven skiers and three snowboarders on the tour, which is billed by Nonstop as suiting “intrepid explorers” – fairly fit, confident all-rounders who’ll benefit from instruction aimed at tackling bad habits, particularly on tough terrain, and want to be pushed.

According to Nonstop’s figures, 65 per cent of people going on its improvement camps are between 21 and 39. That’s right on target for this crew, several of whom have come on their own. Everyone in the group is mad about snowsports – most of them take more than one ski or board trip a season. Micky and Ed have come straight from a holiday in Whistler, for example, while Frankie is returning to Canada later in the season for a family holiday. Colin and Dom met on Nonstop’s six-week Master the Mountain course the previous year.

For all, a lot of the attraction of the trip is the chance to visit these reputedly hardcore but off the beaten track resorts in one fell swoop. The drives between resorts are beautiful, lush forests and small towns flash by, we follow winding rivers, or cross lakes by ferry, but this trip is definitely about the slopes not sightseeing. Only one day of the trip is lost to the road – between Red Mountain and Fernie – on other travel days we arrive at the next resort by lunchtime and can hit the slopes. Photographer Jon and I hook up with the Nonstoppers for Revelstoke and Red, after the group had been to Kicking Horse and before the final leg in Fernie. The structure of the course is intended to be flexible enough for a group with varied desires. As we find out, some people might be most interested in being guided around the slopes, fitting in as much hardcore gnarliness as humanly possible, while others are more focused on improving their technique. Perhaps not everyone will want to hike for their turns, or have the same level of expertise or fitness.

The final decisions about who does what and when are taken on the hoof – which could be a recipe for disaster, or at the very least a lot of faffing. Step forward our French-Canadian tour leader Jean-François, known as JF, who quadruples as driver, snowboard coach, timetabler and occasional breakfast chef. Add social secretary to the list and it’s amazing he ever has time to sleep. While JF coaches the three snowboarders at all resorts, we skiers learn with a different local instructor in each place. When you only spend a couple of days in each resort, the local knowledge is invaluable.

In Red, our instructor Jonathan’s inside track means we avoid icy rubble that looks like soft snow from the chair and instead practise our skills on immaculate groomers in the morning, find soft snow among trees in the early afternoon and don’t head down those Booty’s bumps until the sun has softened them enough to make sure the run is a buzz. In Revelstoke, instructor Julie knows exactly which runs to take us to, building the challenges as she assesses if we’re ready to hit the jackpot of fresh lines, she finally lets us loose on in Greely Bowl. All the while she arms us with technique tactics for making the most of the powder – and for dealing with the tricky bits that inevitably crop up between stashes, like a narrow, bumpy gully through trees. Both instructors quickly get to grips with what we need, and adapt to make the most of our time.

In Revelstoke Julie decides to split us into two groups – she’d originally planned for us all to spend a morning on technique followed by guiding to the tough stuff. Splitting up allows the powderhounds to get guiding and tips from her in the morning, while those wanting emphasis on instruction get her full attention in the afternoon. In Red, Jonathan keeps us together, but gives each person different tips, occasionally splitting us up for a run, with him accompanying one or other group.

In the snowboarding group, JF generally starts each day teaching a particular skill. But in between targeting carving, or short turns to control speed on the steeps, or using the legs for shock absorption, there’s a lot of focus on enjoying the mountain – finding powder stashes in Revelstoke, spending an afternoon in the park at Red. He also joins the whole group freeriding on the first afternoon in Red, showing us around and teaching by example, spinning around on the piste, popping off stuff, bombing along super fast, riding switch.

Local knowledge isn’t confined to the slopes – JF plots the driving route between resorts, shepherds the group to different restaurants each night, and often bars too. In Revelstoke it’s the Last Drop, which is hosting its regular open mic night, and the house band keeps many of the Nonstop team rocking until past midnight, despite an early start to drive up to the mountain next morning.

It’s a free day, and it’s great to have time out from coaching sometimes – putting into practice what we’ve already learnt, giving our heads, which are jam-packed full of tips, some time to catch up, and skiers and snowboarders the chance to ride together. A compact group sharing bus, meals and lessons soon gets to know each other, each with roles to play to keep the show on the road. On steep, challenging runs, Mike reminds us of hazards to avoid and, being one of the strongest skiers in the group, often volunteers to bring up the rear in case of incidents; Katherine, Claire and Colin prove to be organisational and kitchen wizards when we’re self-catering in Red Mountain (which makes a great change after several days of eating out); Frankie DJs on the bus, his choice of tunes getting occasional stick; Micky is expert at getting the party started, with a wealth of pub games and dangerous drinks in her repertoire. On days off from coaching you’ve got a ready-made gang to ride with.

On our Revelstoke free day, a group of us make the most of the hike-to-bowls and the steep, top to bottom black runs. We hike 20 minutes vertical from the top of the Stoke chair, still inside the resort boundary, to the highest point of 2225m, where we stop a few minutes to take photos, enjoy the view and gulp water before easing off a cornice into a sheltered bowl that holds soft powder. It makes for a string of euphoric turns before I fall – as the group would no doubt remind me. Back on my skis, we discover cliffs hidden among the trees off the Vertigo black run and all go different ways to avoid them, sliding, turning, calling each other’s names to make sure we all meet safely at the bottom. I’m fully aware that all the technique tips have given me confidence to tackle what could be nerve-wracking terrain. And that my new-found Nonstop family will be there to help should I get stuck.

Did you know?

• North American resorts have a boundary, within which the whole area is patrolled and avalanche safe, so you can go off piste without a guide or the need for a transceiver. To maximise a short time in a resort though, it pays to have someone to show you around.
• Snowcat skiing and snowboarding is very common in Canada – day trips are on offer in both Fernie and Revelstoke. A day is available as an optional extra on the Nonstop Safari.
• There are local breweries in many North American resorts – in Revelstoke beers such as High Country Kolsch or Tall Timber Ale are brewed in small batches by the Mt Begbie Brewing Co.
• The recipe for a Grenade, courtesy of Nonstoppers Micky and Ed. One shot glass each of tequila and Jägermeister, plus a can of Red Bull in a pint glass. Balance the shot glasses in the top of the pint glass then pull out the tequila and down it. The Jäger shot drops into the Red Bull, and you knock back the resulting Jägerbomb.
• Eating out as a group can be easy in Canada because restaurant staff often know which seat place ordered what and so can easily split the bill.
• Most accommodation in North America has access to a hot tub – great for relaxing after a hard day on the slopes.

About the resorts

Fernie

Varied mountain with a lot of ungroomed steeps, particularly in the trees, best explored with a guide. Nonstoppers stay in Nonstop’s own lodge in downtown Fernie, a vibrant town with a much bigger choice of shops, bars and restaurants than the resort, which is a couple of miles away.

Resort 1065m
Slopes 1065m to 1925m
Lifts 10
Pistes 2504 acres, 30% green, 40% blue, 30% black
Tourist office www.skifernie.com

Kicking Horse

Known for its high, powder-filled bowls, once only accessible by chopper. The upper slopes are full of tough chutes and trees, while lower down are wooded trails. You stay in a high-end lodge in the small, newly-built village at the base, which isn’t lively but has a few bars and restaurants.

Resort 1190m
Slopes 1190m to 2445m
Lifts 5
Pistes 2750 acres, 20% green, 20% blue, 60% black
Tourist office www.kickinghorseresort.com

Red Mountain

Runs are spread over two mountains, many of them double blacks, but plenty of groomers too. There’s also easily accessible backcountry. It’s friendly and laidback, especially in the Rafters bar at the base. Nonstoppers self-cater in well-appointed condos. The nearby town of Rossland is good for nights out.

Resort 1185m
Slopes 1185m to 2075m
Lifts 6
Pistes 1685 acres, 15% green, 40% blue, 45% black
Tourist office www.redresort.com

Revelstoke

Canada’s newest resort, developed since 2007/08, now offers North America’s biggest vertical of 1715m. The terrain is mostly steep and ungroomed, including top to bottom black runs, and is definitely for the adventurous. Nonstoppers stay at the nearby working town of Revelstoke.

Resort 510m
Slopes 510m to 2225m
Lifts 4
Pistes 3031 acres, 10% green, 42% blue, 48% black
Tourist office www.revelstokemountainresort.com

Find out more about:

Snow Safaris for Skiers | Snow Safaris for Snowboarders | Ski instructor courses | Snowboard instructor courses

Pictures courtesy of Jon Wyatt Photography

Well what  a season and what a cool crew. We have certainly been in on the world game of getting crazy weather. We have had a mixed season with loads of small dumps off snow and some big ones, with over 1.5m in one storm! Then the rain… yes, a few days of heavy rain which smoothed things out nicely and some wind, for good measure, which if you knew where to head gave some fantastic wind buff Pow Pow to ride.

Week 10 was no different as far as weather was concerned. We got a lot of rain, 3 inches in fact, which saturated the snow to make for some good water skiing on the slopes. After this drained out, we had some awesome spring corn, which turned on the classics, like Dome Ridge, Big Mama and even the south facing Bluff Face, which is somewhat of a rarity to be blessed with.

Before all the farewell tears it was time to P.A.R.T.Y. So out come the trusty spit roaster ( a 44 gallon drum cut in half with a bicycle wheel attached to a pole which had a fan belt on attached to a car window wiper motor run off a battery) A few railway sleepers some petrol and a match and it was all go. Ah, that lovely smell of singed eye brows. We were lucky enough to get in the good books with a local man who is in his 60s but going on 16 (my father) who shot us a wild deer for the spit. with a quick basting of wild berry jam, honey, wine, ginger and garlic it was time to let the spit roll. 4 hours later the beer was flowing and the meet ready to eat. It was a great night shared with the staff and locals.

Farewell fallow students. Enjoy the paths that life takes you on and I hope you have all gained something for the future and enjoyed the course as much as I did. Please keep in touch.

Jase

Now that the dust (or rather hay) has settled and more than a few sore heads have cleared, we’re really happy with how it all went… and wish we could do it all again this weekend!

This year’s NONSTOCK took place in the beautiful countryside of Purley on Thames, just outside of Reading. As well as having loads of space and the ability to make a hell of a lot of noise without any complaints, this location was far more accessible than previous years, which helped build our biggest attendance to date!

Excitement was in the air on Friday afternoon, as most people hooked up with friends that they hadn’t seen for a long while. It was also great to see a bunch of soon-to-be NONSTOPers, who came along to get a taste for what’s in store for this winter. That evening Beats in Abundance took to the decks to properly kick off the party. Their eclectic and randomly imaginative set of tunes could have got the biggest party poopers strutting their stuff, but the already excited NONSTOPers were lifting the roof in no time. With quite an act to follow, Greg (from last year’s 11 week Banff course) took to the stage to play some bangers.

Saturday’s main event didn’t disappoint either. The daytime was filled with football, swimming in the Thames (don’t worry, the cleaner end of it), Puckett and the NONSTOCK Volleyball championship – won by the Banff Cougars, who thankfully knocked out the “VIP’s” (who were just a little too big for their boots). Thanks also to the Banff crew for bringing along their own bouncy castle!! Matt Channerin kicked off the evening’s entertainment with a great performance of sing-along tunes. Next up it was awesome to see our Red Mountain 11 weeker Naoimh O’Hagan and her band take to the stage, for an excellent set. The Joint headliners of Will and the People and John Bull and the Bandits, along with the return of Beats in Abundance, fuelled a legendary evening.

For the second night in a row, we were amazed when the bar was drunk dry and, on that note, congratulations to the Banff crew for seeing off their round of 30 Jaeger-Bombs in the space of 90 seconds… we hope your heads are starting to feel a little better by now!

Thanks to everyone who made this year’s event happen, and we hope to see you all (and all the fresh blood) at the same time next year!

Check out a couple more photos below, or visit the album on our Facebook page here for the full collection.

Tuesday saw the start of ‘boot-camp’, the two week build up to our examinations. Jase upped the intensity, and we set to work writing up lessons, practicing our demo turns and improving our personal skiing. Under Jase’s guidance, we all improved leaps and bounds, getting prepared for the exams.

We still found time to teach real lessons, honing in on the soft skills required to teach enjoyable and productive lessons. Also on the agenda was a day teaching mock lessons at the pub, making fool of ourselves as we went around singing the famous bear-hunt song (a routine made up by the NonStop crew last year teaching kids to get familiar with skiing on the flat).

After an exhausting week, in which our skiing and teaching skills improved no-end, we were full value for a lazy weekend, although we still managed to find energy to play football and have several late nights. Jason even summoned up enough energy to go up to Porters and teach on Sunday, while everyone else was having a well deserved lie-in, well rested ahead of a tough final week before the exams.

Here’s some footage of the crew honing their carving skills:

Ski instructor courses in New Zealand – Ski instructor courses in Canada

Being a ski instructor from the states, I’ve had my share of night skiing from California to Pennsylvania and a dozen states in between, but nothing could prepare me for a night on Broken River ski area in New Zealand.

Problem: ski area is 1000 meters out of reach in remote and steep terrain.

American solution: Tax the populace, spend years studying and weighing options, years to construct bridges, roads, guard rails and 2000 pages of regulations.

Kiwi solution: Take a day off, jump in your 4×4 all terrain vehicle and drive up the bloody hill.

I’m not kidding you! This is what happened! We were 5 deep in Jason’s 4×4 flying over boulders, blasting thru raging rivers and loving it! That’s right….my short 5 day trip to New Zealand to ski was more than just a ski trip -it was an amazing adventure! This was just the beginning. We park in what I can only describe as a clearing in woods and post-hole through the meter deep snow to a plywood make-shift mechanical device that uses old skis as brakes. Of course there is no supervision around; its ride at your own risk and did I mention that it’s getting dark? The plywood box only takes us a short distance to where  you have to hike another couple of hundred meters (with skis slung across shoulder) up steep, narrow and icy stairs to the ski area.

Alright so we are here, but where? Where are we?! Where is the ski slope and where are the lights? Jase says, “There it is mate.” pointing straight ahead to a 70′s style rope-tow with 3,4 no more than 6 light bulbs strung overhead to guide your way up the mountain. Are you kidding me?! What about the slopes? Aren’t they going to light the slopes? Jason replies, “Oh no mate. That’s it.”

At this point the tow rope is blasting skiers up the hill, but I sense something is different. Something is askew. This is not your daddy’s tow rope. This is tow rope 101 Kiwi style. To make it more challenging, you must wear a harness with a metal hook attached called a nutcracker. With the skills and timing of a professional boxer delivering a one two knock-out punch, you are expected to 1) grab the rope with one hand and 2) at the right time flip this nutcracker up and around the rope with the other. This must be done quickly or the rope will pull your fingers through crushing pulleys and possibly severe one or two fingers along the way. Needless to say I watched a few others before I tried my hand at it and after two failed attempts, I was successfully screaming up the mountain into the dark of night.

The nutcracker only works as long as you are applying pressure to keep it closed, so you can imagine how tired and strained your arms and hands get just trying to survive the way up. To add more adventure to your ride, the Kiwis have put in a midway station where skiers and boarders are jumping off the tow and more adventurously jumping on. One can not see this area of carnage until one is upon it. So there I am shooting up the mountain in the dark with achy arms. I can’t see anything, but I can hear a volunteer director of traffic shouting commands, “Ok jump in there mate….no too late jump off! Ok ready? GO…GO….GO!” by this time I’m coming over the ridge and it’s too late. I decide to give my best Kiwi impersonation by throwing an elbow to the ribs of the on-coming boarder and yelling, “Get out the way mate!”

Alas I make it to the summit and immediately lock eyes with a Kiwi that gives me the biggest smile as if to say that I’m a part of the few that made it. He gives a wink and plunges into the abbess of darkness. After standing there for a few minutes, my eyes adjust to the dim lit slope and a whole world comes into focus. It is beautiful. The slope is steep and deep and skiers and boarders alike are shredding down the hill in a dance like rhythm. I turn my skis downhill and proceed to whoop and yell in ecstasy at every turn.

We skied a good two hours into the night, enjoying the next run more than the last. I found myself in conversation with various skiers that night expressing to them that this could never happen in America. Then it dawned on me that this had happened in America, albeit 70 years ago. I’m from Aspen where conveyance is a given and pampering is expected and I often wonder what it was like in those early years of Aspen when things where simpler and die hard conditions ruled the town. Thanks to my Kiwi friends, now I know. I’m not saying that New Zealand is destined to turn into an Aspen, but if you drive up the mountain and you see a valet parking sign, then you know that you’ve missed the ADVENTURE!

Kevin McDonald
Aspen ski instructor

New Zealand ski instructor courses – Canadian ski instructor courses

The week started with Porters being closed for two days, due to strong winds and avalanche danger. Instead we headed out to Mount Cheeseman (that’s actually the name of the mountain, and not just us being funny). While waiting for the mountain to open, Alice and Sophia engaged in a game of Extreme Ping Pong (playing with full ski equipment, including helmets and goggles) hitting the ball 72 times in a row! Amazed by our achievement, we ventured onto the mountain to conquer Short Turns. Impressed by our skills, Jase turned up the heat by creating another Powder 8 competition which we won (we are tempted to say of course!). Nick had at this time already given up due to his ankle injury, which he got by falling down the last two steps of the stairs. Epic, Nick! Tuesday was also a closed day in Porters and us girls decided to go to Christchurch for some shopping. We are not really sure what the guys did, but they looked well-rested.

Wednesday the skies cleared and the winds settled down to let Porters open again. Busses with hundreds of school kids arrived early for a taste of the snow and life as a skier. We were thrown right into it again and with our instructor jackets on, we paired up with real instructors and got to teach. We don’t know how it happened, but somehow Sophia ended up with her own group of teenage boys. Epic! Alice and Nick were actively catching their students to stop them from hitting the fence. Only one little tiny mini note to that, they both had students three times their size putting their strength to the test!

Thursday we paired up with each other to teach a group. Sophia & Andrew, Nick & Jason together and Alice went for a free ski. While Jason was playing “head, shoulders, knees and toes” with his part of the group, Nick was constantly running after his kids to stop them from hitting the fence. Andrew and Sophia had the slightly more distracted kids and they both looked like they had been through a marathon at the end of it. But everyone was still smiling.

In the evening we prepared for the epic night, “Aspen Extreme” night, themed around the 1993 ski movie. Everyone rocked their best retro gear (including one-piece suits) and joined the shots-rewarded movie quiz. Not more shall be said about this night, other than this: Alice ended up packed into a snowboard bag she had just won for best cougar outfit.

Nick’s friend Kevin arrived Friday from Aspen only 24hours after Aspen Extreme night and unfortunately missed out, but more than made up for it with great Cougar/Ski-instructor stories at the dinner table.

Saturday, a day we had all waited for. The All Blacks were meeting the Wallabies (translated, New Zealand vs. Australia in Rugby) in Christchurch. More than 20 Porters staff and skiers had tickets and the tone was set for a great night! We started by eating Chinese (quite unrelated really, but very tasty), and then we took our seats. Although Munchkin was hoping for a miracle, the All Blacks won 20-10 and it was exciting to see them in action, especially the Haka at the beginning. Unfortunately they had their backs against us while they did it, but that didn’t seem to bother the girls too much.

On Sunday night everyone slowly recovering from the rugby night. It rained in Springfield all day, and snowing on the mountain. The guys headed to Broken River for a night ski in the powder while the girls stayed in, to lick their battle wounds from a tough week. Ready for another one, bring it on!

New Zealand ski instructor course

Canadian ski instructor courses

Canadian snowboard instructor courses

Following some more work on our personal skiing on Monday, we visited Broken River, another local ski field, on Tuesday.  The weather in the morning did us no favours. The snow felt awesome but, after a couple of runs skiing by touch in zero visibility, we decided to take refuge in the lunch hut.  This isn’t as basic as it sounds – lots of space, warm, free tea and coffee, cooking facilities etc. – and friendly locals.

Shortly after lunch, the clouds lifted almost instantaneously, a big cheer went up, and everyone (all 30 of us) rushed out to enjoy the fresh tracks in dry powder in bright sunshine.

On Wednesday, we experienced our first lessons from the other side of the fence.  Sophia got a head start on the rest of us as she was allocated to an early lesson, shadowing Swedish instructor Andreas, and being given plenty of opportunity for some hands on experience.  Unfortunately, the expected busloads of children from local schools failed to appear, the rest of us still got the chance to observe another beginners’ lesson, with occasional opportunities to pitch in and help the slower learners along – a valuable experience.

During a brief free skiing session, Sophia took over from Alice and attacked Bluff Face again – with her face:  Bluff Face 1 Alice & Sophia 2.

On Thursday, the group split up, with the girls deciding to work further on their personal skiing at Porters, while the guys went off to Craigieburn Valley ski field.  We were joined by Martin (2009 Nonstopper, now working at Porters, aka God).  Although it hadn’t snowed for a couple of days, we still found plenty of fresh tracks, and the terrain and weather were both awesome. Check it out in the video below:

Then on Friday morning, the busloads of schoolchildren did turn up and we each had a class to follow and get involved in.  For a couple of us, that wasn’t enough and we stayed on to give a few more hints (hopefully not too misguided) after the lessons were over and the real instructors had gone on to their next lessons.

Friday afternoon was another session on personal ski development.  After a few weeks of frustration as we all had our tried and tested (?) techniques dismantled and reconstructed, we’re now beginning to see the benefits.

In the evening, we all celebrated “UK Day”.  Under God’s guidance, the British staff at Porters decided that we ought to have a national day to celebrate and 30^th July was chosen, as the day England won the ’66 World Cup – not such a popular choice with the Welsh and Scots, but still.  Jason, our resident Aussie, celebrated more than most – which was just as well as he didn’t have much to celebrate on Saturday night!

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After an in-weekend, we were all itching to go skiing again and see whether our skis had survived our first attempt at tuning them. Monday saw us each receive hour-long private lessons from our magnificent teacher, Jase. We all felt our skiing come along leaps and bounds, and we also had a chance to rip up the slopes of Porters. To Alice and Jason, this meant swapping skis, with a different make of skis on each foot and then act surprised when it went a bit pear-shaped. After a hard day’s skiing, it was time for the weekly staff night at Springfield Pub. Although it couldn’t match the excitement of the horse-rapping the week before, a good time was had by all, especially Alice. Fortunately for some, Porters was closed the next day, giving people a chance to nurse their hangovers and catch a bit more sleep. However, there was no rest for the wicked, as we had a very productive day doing some indoor lessons. I mean that quite literally, as we took it in turns to teach each other how to ski on the carpets of Springfield Pub. This proved to be the first of two ways we discovered this week in how to make a fool of ourselves in front of large groups of people.

After the anguish of a closed day on Tuesday, we received just reward in an amazing powder day at Porters. After several warm-up runs to rediscover how to ‘pow-pow’, we decided to head up to Bluff Face, the steepest run on the mountain. It was at this point that the clouds mercifully gave us a break for a while, leaving us with a perfect powder run and a chance for Alice to get acquainted with the snow. In return for the crater left in her wake, she received a rather large face full of snow. Round 1: Bluff-face 1, Alice 0. After the exhilaration of the perfect run, I was brought back down to earth with a bump, when the lift stopped and I stupidly dropped my pole. Penalty: a round of Pimm’s for the girls. After lunch, we took Bluff-face a step further, and undertook a twenty minute hike to get to the top of Allison’s peak. Another glorious powder run ensued, giving Alice another chance to get cosy with the snow. This time, Alice was prepared for the onslaught and responded with a fantastic head butt. Round 2: Bluff-face 1, Alice 1. As it was a tie, victory was handed to Alice for KO’ing the mountain with a slap and a head butt. To be continued…?

With all of the fresh powder falling around us, the timing of the avalanche course on Thursday was perfect. We learnt how to use transceivers, running around the top of the mountain trying to recover a buried transceiver. Jason’s transceiver somehow ended up a metre and a half under the snow after somebody dug a hole down to China in order to ‘simulate a real-life situation’. I wonder why he is now plotting against me now…? After skiing around looking at safe-spots, potential avalanche slopes and the effects of wind, we dug holes where we analysed different layers of snow. We all went away with a good understanding of avalanches, which will serve us well in the future.

On Friday, we made our way down south, to Lake Tekapo and the nearby ski fields. First up was round-hill and our first encounter with the dreaded nutcracker lifts. These lifts are basically rope tows which we attach ourselves to using harnesses and a metallic device called a nutcracker. As if this was not tough enough to master, we decided to make our first attempt on the longest and steepest one in the world. Several attempts later, we were all up, although we were too exhausted to make a decent attempt of what was a difficult run, especially in flat light. Full credit goes to Andrew who decided once was not enough and went back up with Jase while the rest of us decided to hone our café-skiing skills. After we all tired ourselves out, we headed into Lake Tekapo, where we saw a magnificent turquoise lake and bore witness to a phenomenal sunset. Not content with what was already a great day, we discovered our second way of making fools of ourselves in front of large groups of people at the backpackers lodge. This came in the form of a board game called Cranium. The highlights included Sophia, Jason and Jase bouncing around pretending to be Telletubies and Jase trying to demonstrate Hot Pants by stripping down to his underwear and pretending to be a woman. Andrew and Jason eventually prevailed, winning the game and we finally decided to head to bed to catch some rest ahead of what proved to be our best skiing day of the trip so far.

There were a few weary eyes as we took the long access road and a few were feeling a bit cranky from the early start. After a few minutes that was all forgotten about while we skied down never-ending fresh tracks, having the time of our lives. Inspired by the movie ‘Aspen Extreme’, we held a powder-8’s competition (two skiers skiing one-behind the other, forming figure-of-eights). Jase and Andrew won after myself and Jason stopped to watch and applaud Sophia’s epic crash during her and Alice’s attempt. As the runs on-piste started to get clogged up by other skiers, snowboarders and a random snow-tricyclist (what is that about, anyway?), we decided to push the boundaries (don’t worry NONSTOP, it is perfectly legal in New Zealand!) and found endless fresh tracks which we willingly indulged in. After what was unanimously agreed had been our best powder day, we went back to the metropolis of Springfield to watch the rugby, where the Aussies, much to Jason’s delight, smashed the Springboks.

Sunday was a rest day, which meant a much deserved lie-in and a bit of free time. The guys decided to have a ski tuning session, talk about the rugby and generally relax while the girls went off to Christchurch to have a manicure and pedicure. All they really cared about though were the massage chairs. I could swear they were recruited in Christchurch as salesmen judging by the way they were drooling over them! A nice relaxed day was the perfect way to recover from a hectic but amazing week in New Zealand, although we still found a way to make further fools of ourselves by playing another round of Cranium in Springfield Pub!

Until next time
Nick

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