Wednesday, August 17, 2005
~ 4:13 AM ~
Hi mates! As I have not received the photos from my frens yet (think they r all busy for now…doesn’t mean I m free horz..lolx), I shall just post the pics that I have for the Mt. Buller Trip. Will post the remaining pics at a later date
On the 6th August, 25 of us gathered at the Halls of Residence at 3:30am. The reason why we met so early in the morning is to compensate for the time lost lest we lose our way. We rented 5 Toyata Camry s and the 5 drivers were assigned to pick us up from our homes. Unexpectedly, I overslept. I was supposed to wake up at 210am but I didn’t hear my alarm ring. Luckily for me, Rachel gave me a call at 3:15am and I had a change parade! I was in Ivy’s car by 3:30am.
We set off for Mt Buller from the Halls at 4am and the long journey began. Most of the passengers (including me) were sleeping throughout the journey. Poor drivers…lolx!
We arrived at a ski equipment rental shop at around 7am. We had to rent some equipment in order to get some chains for our cars. The purpose for the chains was to tie them to our car wheels should there be snow on the road as we drove up the mountain later. The chains would prevent the cars from skidding.
We had a brief breakfast at the town where we stopped before continuing our drive to mt. buller.
I took some photos along the highway as we drove the mountain. I was amazed by the green vast land and the animals grazing on the land. It somehow gives me a sense of peacefulness and joy within me, a world far away from the hectic and cruel reality.
The speed limit was ard 35km/h as the drivers battled driving the winding road up the mountain. I would call it a treacherous drive as there were no barricades along the roadside. Any mistake by the driver would cause the vehicle to plunge down the mountain. As we drove higher up, I finally saw snow for myself the 1st time! The snow covered the trees and the sides of the road. It was as though a White Xmas!
We finally arrived at the place and rented our ski equipment. Within an hour, we were taking the lift up the peak to begin our snow skiing. As usual, I was awed by the view that greeted my sight on the way up.
very cold and 'silent' on the way up...
Upon reaching the top, I immediately put my skis on. As soon as my skis were on, I began sliding down a minor slope which I had been standing on and oblivious to! I shouted to my frens asking how do I stop. Someone shouted back “Make a Vshape with ur skis!” true enough, I stopped. Having had a tiny scare, I took off my skis and walked…lolx
People in a snowy environemnt...the photo is not blur..visibility was like that then..lol
As we were too big a group, we were split into 2 groups for the 2 hour free coaching session by the ski staff.
the grp i was in! prepared to ski!
Jane, Ian and Richard
During the 2 hour session, we were taught simple drills that would enable us to ski, turn, brake and walk with our skis on. It was a session filled with laughter as some of us fell. Luckily for me, I did not fall during that 2 hours although there were certain occasions that I nearly fell. However, I cannot say the same after the 2 hour class.
in the process of braking after skiing down a slope...stylo tak? haha!
The guys challenged a slope that spanned about 200-300 metres shortly after the class. As expected for beginners, none of us made it once without falling at the beginning. The main problem was that we were going down too fast and therefore would tend to lose our balance. I thought of a strategy and I went up the slope again.
As I skied down the slope, when my speed became too fast, I turned to the left, then to the right, then to the left again…TADA! I made it down without falling!!!!!! The turnings that I made were intended to slow my speed down and maintain control and it worked out perfectly! Yahooz! However, that turned out to be the only successful ski down for me as I fell for successive attempts. The glad thing was tt there were guys who also finally made it down the slope when I shared the tip with them. One of them was Robby.
After lunch, Rachel, Ian, Christian, Jeffrey, Sylvia, Jane, Ivy, Chung wei, myself and some other ppl whom I cant remember now (sighz..lolx) adjourned to the beginners area to have a snow fight! Haha! It was really fun throwing snow at each other and trying to dodge them! We became more physical when we started to ‘smash’ snow directly onto the person himself! Haha! Jeffrey was very brave to pull off the beanie on my head and smashed one whole chunk of snow onto my head when I was unaware…he paid a very heavy price for that…muahahahaha!
After the exhausting snow fight, we built a snowman and took photos with it. Credits to jane for making our snowman look like a snowman! Haha! Will post the pics of our snowman when I receive them from Christian. I was absolutely elated as tt was the 1st snowman I have ever built!
As we were taking photos with the snowman, antonius came skiing up to us telling us that they had found a slope that was much longer, spacious, snowier and easier to ski than the one we had previously skied on. Apparently, the slope was named “Easiest”. Quite a no. of us hesitated as the slope was steeper and considering that we were beginners, were not confident of making it down safely. In the end, all of us skied down the slope, wanting to experience skiing for one last time and to make our money worth it.
True enough, I fell in every way possible. It was just too difficult to ski down. I tried doing my left and right turn strategy but somehow, the speed got just too fast that I could not turn my heel to change the direction. Therefore, I would keep turning in a certain direction and fall. I must highlight at this juncture that the location of falling and the position of landing are 2 different locations…get wat I mean? Lolx!
The longest distance that I managed to ski down without falling down was about 150-200 metres…not too bad an accomplishment I think. However, the last fall I had was the most serious and worst. After the fall, I had to walk up about 20 metres to collect my spectacles, my 2 skis, my 2 ski poles and the scarf that was originally around my neck. The fall was so bad that one of my skis was spoilt and I could not insert my right boot into the ski. I walked the remaining 100 metres down the slope. Luckily for me, I did not need to pay for the damaged skis…phewz!
Apparently, many people came back having injuries after skiing down that “Easiest” slope. Rachel sprained her thumb, Sylvia had bruises on her back, antonius sprained his neck muscle. I also had a small cut on my face and a small bruise on my left leg. (I am fine mum!). But the bottomline was, everybody returned safely and in one piece.
Well, that sort of wraps up my 1st experience with snow skiing. If u ask me whether I would wanna ski again, I would say YES! But under a professional’s supervision should I ski down a steep slope again. Haha! It was fun and I have no regrets!
