Snowboarding on Mount Turoa

Didn't know that J and I could snowboard? Well, neither did we, and yet that's what we did this weekend! Well, J knew that he could snowboard a little over 10 years ago, but I'm not sure that counts. And I have been skiing once, and was actually decent for the 3 or so hours that I got to do it before skiing of a cliff and spending the rest of my day in the hospital. So let's just say we're beginners.

It was a wonderful trip, full of excitement, beauty, and adventure. Allow me to give you the guided tour.

We left home at 6:30am, drove to Whanganui and met up with Anna and Ollie, then we all drove up the mountain together. Mount Turoa is part of Mount Ruapehu, which is next to Mount Tongariro, where J and I went hiking fairly soon after we arrive in NZ. We'd never been to Turoa before, so it was nice that Anna and Ollie, who go skiing often, knew where they were going.

As we drove up the mountain, we drove into increasing wind and sleety misty greyness, which did not bode well for our day. When we got out of the car, we could barely walk for the ice covering the parking lot and the wind that slid us across it, but we made our way towards the blurry mass that was almost entirely obscured by the mist, comforted by Anna and Ollie's assurances that it was the lodge and we would be sheltered from the wind inside. At this point, while J was being uncharacteristically stoic, my toes and hands wer already numb, and my brain had taken up, "Why did I think I wanted to do this?" as its new mantra. Ugh.

Here is a picture of the beginner slope (which was the only thing not too iced over to use), just after we first arrived. Fortunately, the slope was a bit sheltered, so all that greyness wasn't actively pelting it as people skied/snowboarded.

Despite the vicious weather, we got all suited up. My spirits were much improved by the purchase of amazing Goretex mittens and by Ollie's life-saving gift of hand and foot warmer packets, which undoubtedly saved me of at least a few amputations. Once I wasn't terrified of the cold on my circulation-less extremities, I was able to get excited again about the actual snowboarding part!

Side note: While shopping for mittens, I found out that beards are very stylish. Maybe Dad's looked like this before it went grey?

First thing I didn't realize about snowboarding: Turns out, it is hard to stand up on slippery snow with your feet strapped to a board and your ankles unable to bend.

Second thing I didn't realize about snowboarding: Once you do manage to get up, the only functional way to move is to start snowboarding, because shuffling just makes you fall over again.

Something I knew but never fully appreciated about mountains: The weather can change very quickly. Within 10 minutes of us being on the slopes, the nasty weather blew away, leaving glorious sun and much less frigid winds. Yay!

Note: This is the same view as the first picture. Bet you didn't even realize there was a mountain there, before!

Third thing I didn't know about snowboarding: Apparently you solve the inability to move problem by unstrapping one of your feet when you get to the bottom of the slope. (Hence my one foot strapped in, and the other just placed near the straps). This works pretty well, but you have to be very careful not to do some nasty twisting of your knee of the leg that is still strapped in. Also, the straps are user-friendly, but it is still a bit of a headache strapping and unstrapping so often.

Fourth thing I didn't know about snowboarding: For being a couch potato, J is very good at it!

Anna took this picture - good thing, too, because I didn't get my camera out quickly enough to catch the wind as it buffeted the snow from the peak. Mountains are interesting places.

Anna skiing down the slope. 

Ollie skiing down the slope. 

Unfortunately for them, the lodge had already sent home most of its staff when the weather cleared up, so they didn't open any of the harder areas. Anna and Ollie are too experienced to really want to spend a whole day on the beginner slopes, but they were good sports about it, and they love just hanging out, so they were glad to spend the whole day on the same slope as us. They also went back the next day when everything was open, so they got that later.

Fifth thing I didn't know about snowboarding: According to my limited experience, a snowboard is harder to control than skis. When I went skiing, I had no problem with the beginner slopes, and was actually quite comfortable with the next steps up in difficulty, whatever they are called. I found the zig-zagging to control speed very intuitive, and didn't feel out of control (with the notable exception of the flying off a cliff incident). Snowboarding, on the other hand, basically had two options for me;

1) Let the board go where it would and focus on keeping my balance until I went so fast I crashed, or

2) Make an attempt to steer and immediately crash.

I tried both of these plenty of times, and discovered the my balance was actually quite good, and I could do almost the whole beginner slope without falling, as long as I made only minimal attempts to steer. Also, after some practicing, I did managed to figure out how to turn my board sideways and lean back so that I could stop without falling. Which I'm pretty sure means that I am a superhero. And J must be a deity of some kind, because he managed to do all that and more!

Sixth thing I didn't know about snowboarding: You can fall really hard and not have it really hurt, because the board/boots seem to hold your body in fairly helpful positions (unlike, for example, skis and ski poles, which pull your limbs in all the wrong directions).

Fun times on the mountain! I am just realizing that we never asked someone to take a picture for us, so there are no pictures of the four of us. Oh well.

Seventh thing I didn't know about snowboarding: Just because J can do something, doesn't mean I can do it. Anna and Ollie were having fun going down a steeper slope at the edge of the official slope, and asked if we wanted to try. We did, and J went first, and made it look easy, so off I went, not pausing to think about how I was actually going to do it. Unfortunately, I lost control and started to fall right at the top of the slope (before I started the hard part), and ended up sliding down it on my hands and knees. More unfortunately, because not many people had gone down this particular bit, it was frozen quite hard and offered little padding.

I know knees are lumpy anyway, but the swelling between the arrows is not meant to be there, and indicates a lot of pain. (Also, yes, my knee is covered in many, many oddly-shaped scars, but those are old news).

After it happened, it hurt really badly for a few minutes, but then the pain really went away, so I figured I would be fine. I rode the lift back up and headed down the slope again, no problem. Until I fell. The pain of falling on the knee was exponentially worse than injuring it in the first place, and convinced even enthusiastic me to call it a day. We only had about 45 minutes left for our rentals, anyway, and I was getting very tired, which is dangerous in-and-of itself.

Anna, Ollie, and J were all ready to quit with me, but I convinced them to keep going so I wouldn't feel bad about them missing out because of me. While I was sitting for a bit, I also got some of those action shots, so it was time well spent. 

Eighth thing I didn't know about snowboarding: If you are worried about falling on your knees, just sit on your snowboard, and it turns into a very fast and exciting sled, with virtually no risk to your knees, even if you do topple off. I had a great time!

Ninth thing I didn't know about snowboarding: No matter what the ups and downs, or how sore you are the next few days (spoiler alert: very sore), you definitely end up wanting to go again soon!