The joys of 630 :)

Ok, so its a pain to get up at 630 in the morning for work, but when you get views and sunrises like this - it certainly makes things a whole lot nicer.

Woheeee - look at me!!

See what happens when you drop your goggles down the stairs!!

What a week?

Two days on the bottom of Captains, one day at the bottom of Mc Dougals and a day at the bottom of Captains. Four 630 morning starts and four 530 evening finishes - by the end of the week I was shattered. Today myself and Orla spent the afternoon hanging out with Neal, Chris, Sean and Julie-ann at the Albert town lodge. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shinning - a gentle breeze. We spent the afternoon sitting on bean bags, reading, doddling, kicking a football, a rugby ball, a frisbee... it was a summers day. Hard to believe. The weather this week has been amazing. I was working in a t-shirt yesterday.

Met up with James and Michael yesterday. They came up to Cardrona for the day and found me on my lift station. It was great to see them. However, it was a bit surreal - meeting on a ski slope half across the work. The amount of irish climbers I have met on this trip is rather outrageous. Is there anyone at home?

Sunset at the Lake

After a great day in Treble Cone we spent a while at the Glendhu boulders taking in the wonderful light as the sunset over Lake Wanaka.

People are strange!!

Touch wood - I have never had a major issue with chair lift. Move forward, look behind you for moving object, bend at the knees, and sit. But you'd swear it was rocket science. I have no idea how people can make such a mess of it - but they do. Working on the lifts has certainly been an eye opener. 5 and 6 people trying to sit on a 4 person lift. The gates only allow for 4 and yet more pile through. It mostly occurs when the lift has slowed for some reason or another and that gives the extra one or two enough time to get out and cause havoc. Parents not making sure their kid is on the lift and a second later its dangling by the arms. Snowboarders turning their boards so they are no longer straight. People not looking and cutting the person beside them off so they can not sit down. People deciding to go and then changing their mind mid flight, stopping in line with lift. The list is endless and mind boggling - and basically results in the injured party getting whacked by the chair.

What a day?

Some days things just don't go according to plan:

Found my goggles in a bucket of engine oil.
Broke the aerial of the side of my phone.

What's worse, a friend of mine fell skiing and ruptured ligaments in her knee. Not good at all....

Looking for camera tips ...

I came across an article while searching for camera tips. I guess it was written 5+ years ago. I got a giggle from this paragraph .......

"Digital doesn't offer much for the climbing photographer. Good digital bodies are still extremely expensive as of 2002, they fear rain, they are heavier, they suck a huge amount of battery, image storage is expensive (a slide film holds 37 images for 4$, how many on a 100$ memory stick ?), you can't read their tiny screens in the sun, quality is is not up to a good lens with a 100 iso film, the trigger delay is annoying, but most important they do not have wide angle lenses available (that's a problem due to the smaller surface area of the CCDs that won't be solved cheaply)... A whole bunch of reasons why I stick to film and use a slide scanner at home; this way I get 20 MegaPixels for much less than $1000. And I can still use a disposable camera and make great scans off of it if I need to"

Big Ass Jumping :) and Learning to Take Photos

Not in the mood for doing much boarding today, I took my camera out for the afternoon and took some photographs of the snowboarders and skiers in the terrain park in Cardrona. These are the big boys and girls doing the big ass scary jumping. Its really impressive to watch.

It was a first attempt at taking them and will require some more practise, but a few of them are quite interesting...

Almost Powder days and Sunny TC

It rained all day Saturday, so early Sunday morning 2 cars loads of Irish (Myself, Orla, Neal, Chris and Julie-ann in one car Sean, Kevin and Michael in the other, Mel on the hill and 2 of Orla friends from home bumped into us for the afternoon) got up early and hit the hills in search of powder, one thing lead to another and our early rise got later and later. Our aim was for first lift, we made it there by 10. Petrol, flat tire and chains - the gods were against us. But we did finally make it - and managed to grand a few tail ends of fresh tracks and lots and lots of powder. With the day that was in it, we decided to all have dinner at our place. A completely impromptu affair. Down off the hill at 530 - dinner at 7 - it was never gonna happen - but we had fun trying.

Time to start making use of my cheap day passes and ski at Treble Cone. Myself, Kevin, Sean, Michael and Chris piled into Ruby and headed up the hill for another day of powder fun. As usual the aim was to get there for first lift at 9 am but as always something crops up and guess what - we made it up by 10 am. Heading straight for Saddle Basin to get away from the piste and the crowds, I spot a couple of potential hikes. It only took my have a run to convince the boys that hiking was the way forward, bags and boards on bag we trekked up the hill to find some SWEET powder. Ok, so it was a short run, but also a short hike and with only a few other tracks on the hill - it was easy to get your own fresh line. We hiked that hill 4 more times that day. Unfortunately, I hadn't realized that the last lift was at 315 and not at 330. We arrived down to a very grumpy ski patrol. I can understand his point of view - we were late - but it was a genuine mistake. Oh well these things happen.



Sean on Cloud 9 in Treble Cone


Chris on the little bit of powder we found - hiked up skiers right of the saddle basin lift, TC


Chris and Kevin on top of the world - well, ok then TC

What Luck ??

Whilst climbing in Australia I managed to tear the the cartilage in my shoulder. A rather useful bodily part for climbing. Now, whilst snowboarding, I have pulled my quad. What luck? Never mind, a few days forced rest, I could probably do with that. But its making me think. I am doing something wrong.

• Not resting enough
• Not stretching enough
• Not training enough
• All of the above
• None of the above and something else

I am not sure. But, I rather not injury myself. So time to start pondering about it, making a plan, perhaps even sticking to it and see how it goes. By the way I wouldn't recommend doing your quad in. Its sore. But it could have been worse, I could have completely torn it. I think the injury was an indirect result of a fabulous day in TC last weekend and not enough recovery time after it. It was the hardest off piste I have had since last year in France. Follow that with a few hard piste days - my leg just decided enough was enough and started to spasm a bit. Now, any sensible person would probably have taken that as an indicator. But, I thought nah, tis grand and off I went back up the mountain. Caught a couple of edges, took a few tumbles and really left it quite sore. Yesterday, I did the sensible thing (better late than never, eh) and took myself off to the mountain physiotherapist. As I suspected, I pulled my quad and need a few days rest. Which isn't the end of the world - maybe I can get rid of this lingering cold.

Full time employment :) or :(

I just got a call from Scottie in Cardrona. I am not sure whether to be happy or sad. I appear to have full time work from next Monday onwards. To be discussed in the next couple of days.

As I said, I am confused. Its good, I need the money, the snow isn't as good as it I'd like it, so I may as well be working. But I have grown accustomed to this life of leisure. It also has been thrown thoughts of what to do in the future into my mind. Should I start thinking about a career. Oh those life questions, they really churn my stomach and make me quiver. Long live the traveling bum.

Daily Shots

Learning to jump, 06 August


Playing with Car and Camera, 05 August


Introducing our little orange bumble bee and car travel companion, 04 August


Cobwebs, 03 August



Ferns, 02 August


Julie-ann jumping the pilons in Wanaka, 01 August


Hospital Flats, 31 July


Playing with weeds, 30 July


Tibet Prayer Flags, 29 July


I think I am giving up on night shots in Wanaka - they just aren't working for me, 28 July



Ah the all important, iron, 27 July


Another Night shot attempt, its just not as pretty as I would have liked, 26 July



Fishing by the River in Wanaka, 25 July

Treble Cone

The joys of working in a ski resort, even if it only be part time. One of the perks, is cheap access of other ski resorts.

Myself and Orla headed off to Treble Cone this morning, bright and early (10 am is bright and early, right??), to find some fresh tracks and sweet powder. Well, we were a tad late for the fresh tracks, but we did find lots of sweet powder, some wonderful lines, gullys, bowls, shots, you name it was there. Treble Cone is amazing, absolutely a fantastic place to ride, especially if what you
like is off piste just after a good snow. Treble Cone has 2 basins and is serviced by 2 lifts. There is very few actually pistes, its a case of
a free for all. The pistes that are there, really function as a home run and conncecting the basins.

We spent about 2 hours in the morning and the same in the afternoon and managed to pack in about 12 runs, which wasn't too bad, when you
consider each lift takes about 15 mins to get from top to bottom.

Not only is the skiing wonderful up there. The views are awesome. You are at the back of the lake Wanaka and can see pretty much the entire lake, the village of Wanaka,
Mount Iron, Albert town...

A Day in the Park :)

When you can think of nothing better to do, get a frisbe, a football and a group of friends together for an afternoon of activity in the park. Let me tell you, its great fun, entertaining and very tiring all rolled into one.


I highly recommend it.

Shocking Discovery Revisited !!

Those of you who know me well will understand from the photos why I went pale when I walked into the garage last week.



I am still shocked, but I must admit - I know how to walk to through the garage now and not feel sick. I don't even see it now. Hood up, eyes adverted.