I filled Michelle in on my mornings adventures, she was obviously shocked but also relieved that I was ok. She had overcome the frustrations of the previous day and was now really happy that she could turn both left and right, but was determined to master these turns before tackling any other parts of the mountain. With her mountain guide out of action for the rest of day she had no choice but to keep practicing on the magic carpet first timer's slope. I took the opportunity to wander around the base of Front Valley and take photos/video of Michelle, the Perisher Blue half-pipe and other general goings on. I couldn't wait for tomorrow!
I decided to take it a bit easy on Wednesday morning...for a little while at least. My neck was still a little stiff, and the doctor said to be careful because range of movement would be affected by any swelling, therefore any impacts may not be as well cushioned as they normally would be. I took a few runs down Front Valley and Happy Valley in the morning, nice easy green runs and all seemed good. Met up with Michelle again for lunch and she was so happy that she'd actually gone up a lift and had skied down Front Valley with her class!! We caught our first chair lift together in the afternoon and I took her down to Happy Valley and showed her some of the easy tree-lined runs around here. I was so proud of how in control she was, although she confessed that it was mostly due to intense concentration!! Very hard to get any emotion out of her while we were on the slopes but she was absolutely ecstatic when we finally called it a day. She was loving the skiing much more than she thought she would and was progressing faster than she had expected. Not even the cold, blizzardy weather could dampen her spirits...the beanie, goggles, scarf, thermals, gloves and socks we'd invested in had sure paid off!!
I felt a little more adventurous on Thursday and thought I might head over to Blue Cow, unfortunately Top-station was closed and so there was no way of getting there(apart from jumping on the skitube). Instead I headed over to Sun Valley in the morning...bad idea...complete and utter white-out, foggy and snowing. I could not tell where the sky finished and the snow started, no discernible horizon and only about 2 metres of visibility...not really what you want on one of the steepest blue runs on the mountain. I slowly traversed my way down until visibility improved and decided to go in search of something more sheltered. Found myself at the bottom of Pretty Valley again, contemplating whether to make my way down to the base of the Interceptor quad chair around at Nth Perisher, this was an alternate route to Blue Cow. Ground cover on the access trail was limited and so I had to pretty much pick up my skis and walk! After a couple of runs down here I realised it was getting too late to go to Blue Cow, so I headed back over to Pretty Valley and did a couple of runs there...the snow was in great shape and visibility was good, so I thought it would be a great place to bring Michelle in the afternoon. She loved it! I headed up high on the ridge to look for some fresh snow and try to get to the Copperhead Road run, a long, fast and narrow tree-lined green run. Got some really good photos of Pretty Valley from up on the ridge.
After a bottle of wine over dinner, I lost a game of pool to a couple of 9 year olds....better to retreat back to my room and go pack...we unfortunately have to leave tomorrow.
Friday morning was glorious, our reward for a week of cold, windy and snowy weather. I decided to start my day on a high. Olympic, the steepest black run on the mountain, caught my eye in the morning sun as a bright white wall of fresh snow just begging to be carved out with fresh tracks. I got off at top station and made the steep traverse across to about mid-way up Olympic and skied down the lower section...my skis felt great and didn't let me down as I put in some strong turns.
I'd promised little pool shark Brendan and his dad, Ian, that I'd show them some good blue runs and hopefully I didn't disappoint. Sun Valley has been my favourite run all week, even in adverse weather, so with today's improved conditions it was simply perfect. Groomed to perfection, it was an absolute dream run, I couldn't resist just gunning it down the lower sections and I don't think I've ever skied faster...what a rush!!! Brendan and Ian loved it as well. Brendan must have been one of the only kids on this side of the mountain and he was handling it really well, only a couple of little spills (not counting the couple of times on the T-bar with me...ooops, sorry Brendan!!). Brendan told me how he was born deaf and that he'd had an operation as a baby to restore his hearing...what a great story, it sure hasn't slowed him down! He was one of those kids that you meet that have a real spark, and real charisma, and you can tell that their mind is always ticking, absorbing everything around them. After a few runs on Sun Valley I suggested we try the Towers run on Mt. Perisher, one of my favourite runs. Unfortunately it looked like the groomers had given this a miss overnight and the snow was really slushy and slow...and not much fun. Ian's legs were still burning though...Towers is always good for that! I took the opportunity to take Brendan and Ian to my favourite spot on the mountains...the top of Mt. Perisher! On a perfectly clear day like today there is no better view than looking out over the main range of Australia's highest mountains. So we took off the skis and trudged upwards through sometimes knee-deep snow to look out over the back of Mt. Perisher. They weren't disappointed! I had to go meet Michelle and so I took this opportunity to say goodbye to Brendan and Ian. Was very touched when Brendan told me that I was the best friend he'd made all week...what a great little person! I told them that I'd decided to take on Olympic...from the top this time.
I've probably mentioned this before but Olympic is one of the steepest black runs in Australia, and a real challenge for a non-expert skier like myself. With steely determination and a fair amount of bravado, I caught the dog-leg T-bar to the top of Back Perisher Mountain and joined the ranks of skiers and boarders teetering on the edge of the concave cliff face. After some photos and video to capture the moment, I took a deep breath. Hurtling down the face at a million miles an hour, carving aggressive lines through the soft fresh snow and hitting the bumps with some jumps would have been a really cool way to die! So instead I took the first few metres nice and easy before slowly putting in some hard, aggressive parallel turns all the way down the mountain, following the steepest line that I could. I was so puffed at the end...really hard work, but wow, what a buzz! I'd had problems keeping my skis attached during previous attempts at this run, but everything felt perfect this time, my bindings were on a harder setting and the flex and power in my Salomon CrossMax 700's was great...did I mention that I loved these skis!
Still buzzing, I met Michelle for lunch and told her all about my great morning and promised that I'd challenge her skills this afternoon. We decided to ski out the rest of the day instead of heading back to Sydney early. I took Michelle up to Top-station and on the Blue Cow Expressway and Copperhead Road runs down to Pretty Valley. After taking her on a few ridge traverses and pushing her to her limit a few times (and over it on maybe one or two occasions) I was really proud at how far she had progressed. Her determination had sure paid off, and I promised that I would take her over to Mt. Perisher to take on some blue runs...this caused hardly a flinch!! This girl is up for anything! First up was Sun Valley...not in as good a condition as the groomed paradise of this morning but still a considerable challenge for someone who had only been skiing for less than 5 days! Michelle handled this run pretty well, with only a couple of spills to complain about. I felt completely unbreakable after conquering Olympic this morning and must have done my largest carve stop ever at the base of Sun Valley, just showing off to Michelle I guess! I decided to take Michelle to Eyre next, the scene of my accident on Tuesday morning. I later found out that this was quite a difficult double-blue run, no wonder Michelle got a tiny bit cranky at me...but she was still determined to conquer it, even after a spill going up the T-bar, which again was possibly my fault...did I say this girl was tough! Of course, what better way to end our week than with a walk to the top of Mt. Perisher. After a few complaints about tired legs I finally convinced Michelle that it would be worth it...and she wasn't disappointed. Some clouds were rolling in over the distant main range but it just added to the spectacle. On this note we bid farewell to the mountains and made our way back to the Ski Bunny to collect our luggage, drop off our rental gear and catch the skitube back down to Bullocks Flat.
The plan was to head back home to Sydney tonight, and after a pizza craving driven dinner stop in Jindabyne, it looked like we wouldn't make it home until well after midnight. A close encounter with head-on crash death on the road to Cooma convinced me that this would not be such a good idea. It continues to anger and amaze me how people can pay so little respect to their lives and the lives of their family and others when put behind the wheel of a car. They think they have a right to disregard speed limits and no-overtaking lines for whatever petty reason is in their tiny little minds at the time their decisions are made!
A night's rest in Queanbeyan before heading home on a beautiful Saturday was just what we needed...
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