Skiing in the Buff

  Fall's Creek, Victoria, Australia
Sunday, August 3, 2008

face first...

What a week! Snorting too much of the white stuff takes it's toll on the body you know. And no, I'm not talking about any illegal substances, but snow. Not part of my plan to be sniffing it, but it's impossible not to inhale the icy crystals when you land face-first on a ski-slope at several miles per hour, breath knocked from your lungs, legs splayed above you and other body parts tangled in a fine impression of a master contortionist. That was my introduction to cross-country skiing last week at Fall's Creek, Victoria (and for all of you back home, yes, they really do have snow in Australia!!!)


Doesn't sound like much fun, does it? So I can't account for why I enjoyed it so much! Bruises notwithstanding, I am hooked...


(By the way, I was, in fact, skiing in a buff (neckwarmer), rather than in the buff (too damn cold for that!) but after my recent Perth 'kit-off' experiences, it seemed an appropriate title... and if 'Sun' journos can be that tacky then so can I!)


Notes from a Novice
Monday:

wobbling...

weather: wind chill: -25; wind gusts: up to 54kmph (yes, even windier than Cliffoney!); visibility: about 2 cm.
falls: too numerous to tally...; sore spots: everywhere
comments: People pay to do this for pleasure? Really?! There are blizzard conditions, the wind-borne icy flakes act like glass shards on my face, I can barely see further than the tip of my nose, I have zero balance and the snow doesn't quite provide the soft landing I anticipated. Hmmmmm... we'll see how it goes. But I did learn to move up and down a hill (never knew one could ski uphill!) with the help of Rod and John, who were kind enough not to laugh too hard.

Tuesday
weather: wind chill: -12 (a veritable heatwave after yesterday!);

En-Rout to Wombat's Ramble

wind gusts: 24kmph (a mere breeze!); visibility: good!
falls: 7; sore spots: my back (it's rigid), both arms (which have unhappily discovered long-dormant muscles)
comments: It looks very different when the eyes aren't screwed up and squinting, and the mist isn't swirling. Today I could actually see where I fell! Practised up and down the gentle inclines of the Nordic Bowl, fell with elegance (HA!) along the aqueduct, hauled self up Mc Kay Road and ended with the buzz of a short downhill rush on Wombat's Ramble. 'Ramble'? But that implies slow and controlled - not in my case!

Wednesday
weather: worked up too much of a sweat to notice the chill or the wind!; visibility: miles!
falls: 3; sore spots: too exhilarated to care!

girls on skis

makin' tracks...

comments: Surely I must be in the running for the Olympic Team after today... (well, maybe not quite...) It was a HUGE day for one who didn't have a clue what she was at. Up the hill under blue skies (balance...); down into the bowl (wheee... still on my feet - YES!); over the Dam Wall (thanks be to God it's not windy!); around to Watchbed Creek (wow, clear views!); Langford's Gap (very wobbly but I made it); lunch in an old hut (don't soggy sambos just taste the best on a picnic); along another aqueduct (very pretty); across virgin land on which no human had ever set foot (well, not that day, anyway! ...untouched snow on which to make tracks - yeeeeha!); nice gentle bit of a down slope (bend the knees...); back to Watchbed and then retracing steps to the beginning. Wow!!!! Was today's snow-snort stronger than before or was it sheer exhileration that had me giggling deliriously back at Windy Corner? Don't know, don't care, time for a beer!

Thursday
weather: cloudy, chilly and a bit blowy but not too bad at all; visibility: blurred as I was going down too fast!
falls: 3 (but one hurt more than all the week's total put together...); sore spots: knees, dodgy shoulder, all over really...

ploghing... but not stopping!

on my arse... again!

comments: soooooooo tired after yesterday! But couldn't pass up the opportunity to repeatedly demonstrate how I can travel a long way down in snow plough position without actually stopping at all... Watching 8-year olds Luke and Anika fly around with ease like snow fairies, I wish I'd learned years ago...! Foolishly followed some of the more experienced members of the group on a wee jaunt up Mc Kay Road (no bother) followed by a descent on Aitkens Trail (AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!! Steep and fast! Reminded me of canoeing down rapids years ago with school canoe club: head down, go with it and hope you emerge in one piece...) A huge thrill until the mighty crash - surely I must, at the very least, have broken ribs, slipped discs, dislocated shoulder and broken nose after that one... but no, it seems the injury gods are on my side.

Friday

me and my new mate 'chilling'

weather: dry, warmish and not at all windy inside the hut at Windy Corner, with excellent visibility for reading.
falls: NONE!!!; sore spots: after yesterday, absolutely every inch of me, especially the dodgy shoulder.
comments: Done in, wasted, knackered, exhausted and very sore... my left arm and shoulder are temporarily operating on a work to rule basis: beer from table to mouth- yes; manouevring self with ski pole- no. Time for a 'rest day' then: spent the morning in the relative comfort of the hut, with a coffee and a good book, before the drive back to Melbourne.

Saturday
9am: leisurely city cafe breakfast (with no tinned spaghetti - oh joy!)
10.30: browse bookshop
11.30: shopping
12.30: BORED!!! Want to go skiing again...!


THANKYOU to all the welcoming members of Abbotsford Ski Club for your company, music, food, instruction and guidance - I'll be back!

(Kenji - you snowboarders are lunatics!! Never seen it done before but my God, you go at speed. Might just have to try it next time...!)