Helicopters and Hangovers
Posted on August 31, 2010 at 4:30 am

A couple of weeks on and the guys have partied hard but skied and snowboarded even harder, in an effort to get themselves in-shape for the level 2. Training has been really intense and although Queenstown has an abundance of activities that trainees can take-part in on their days off, they’ve often chosen to kick-back and relax at the hotel. The weather here has been far more temperamental since I last  blogged; a number of storms have come-in from the Tasmin Sea and left us with powder and generally much better snow conditions.

Only last weekend the trainees were being shuttled by helicopters to the top of the Harris Mountain range for a day of shredding untouched powder. Unfortunately the weather closed-in a bit but there were still some great stashes of powder to be ridden and the Helicopter pilot wasn’t shy of showing-off his skills.

So far this week all of the trainees have handed-in their ILM assignments and the skiers have begun their level 2 examination, with the snowboarders due to start on Friday. A special mention must go to Lettice and Fay who both passed their level 1 assessment last week, both girls showed a great deal of determination over the past few weeks and have really raised their game.

Tom

Burton New Zealand Open 2010
Posted on August 14, 2010 at 9:04 pm

 It’s not all work on the instructor course in New Zealand and as a self-confessed snowboard addict I was very keen to get the Snowboard trainees across to Cardrona for the final of the Burton New Zealand Open Halfpipe finals. Although Shaun White was absent this year we were treated to an unbelievable final with some of the Worlds top riders throwing-down tricks that I’d only ever seen on TV. Not only was the final spectacular but when we arrived there was 30cm of fresh powder covering the off-piste, so the guys had a lot fun slashing the morning away before spending 3 hours watching the action. It must be said that Cardrona is a wicked resort with a vast array of wide-open slopes and well worth the visit; all-in-all yesterday was one of the highlights of the season. Below are some of the photos that I took of the action:

(Hana and Fay watch as snowboarding legend JJ Thomas throws a 14ft high 1080 spin)

Relentless
Posted on August 13, 2010 at 7:54 am

Conditions at the moment are perfect; temperatures have fallen and the Queenstown area had 30cm of fresh snow at the end of last weekend, all of the guys have been feeling the benefits of these conditions and the groups’ confidence is high.

…..worth the journey!
Posted on July 26, 2010 at 12:19 am

Ever thought you’d travel for two days just to go skiing? Well in fairness I didn’t think I would either! Nevertheless, five films and six in-flight meals later I was descending rapidly into Queenstown Airport with my mouth wide open as I stared, in awe, at the jaw-dropping scenery. I won’t bore you by describing the scenery, as a picture paints a thousand words, but what I will say is this; ‘there was a reason why they filmed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy here!’

After a quick pass through Kiwi customs I was in a taxi and on my way to the Coronet Peak Hotel, which is to be the trainees accommodation for the next ten weeks. The hotel is one of Queenstown’s largest hotels but is a family-run affair with its own bar, bowling alley, sauna and hot-tub; which are luxuries that seasonaires very seldom have access to, with the exception of the bar! The food here is exceptional with a fried breakfast every morning, if you want it, afternoon tea and a big hearty meal for dinner……so there’s absolutely no danger of anyone starving.

Over the next few days the trainees began arriving and exploring Queenstown and the surrounding ski resorts where they’d be training for the next 10 weeks, the Remarkables and Coronet Peak. Even though resorts in the Southern Alps are comparatively small they have great terrain with some of the most awe-inspiring views on the planet. As Queenstown is in an area of New Zealand that gets very low amounts of precipitation and lots of high-pressure weather systems there aren’t many powder days but then again the sun is always shining. Nevertheless the Southern Alps do get the occasional epic powder day and the snow-making facilities are unparalleled meaning that the piste conditions are some of the best in the Southern Hemisphere.

For the snowboarders training began on Monday 5 July with an introduction to the basic principles of snowboarding: stance, balance, rotation, pressure, equipment, and movement. The next three weeks they worked tirelessly with their trainers, Karl and Ben, to reach the standard required for their level 1 examination. The skiers on the other hand began their training on Thursday 8 July after having a few more days to get-to-know the mountains and find their feet. Similarly to the snowboarders the next few weeks would be spent getting to know the fundamental principles of skiing and the basics of teaching somebody to learn their first turns. The trainers, Robin and Todd, have been a huge inspiration to the trainees and I’ve genuinely never met a keener bunch of trainees.

Apart from training on the mountain the trainees have been busy with other activities. After a couple of workshop sessions they all know how to wax a pair of ski’s or a snowboard. All of the trainees have been given tips on how to put together a decent CV and covering letter for instructor jobs, together with a tips sheet that advises them on resorts and work practices. Those trainees taking the ILM have completed the lectures and have had an assessment workshop; they’re currently planning their assessment. We’ve all taken advantage of the weekly bowling sessions with James, Toby C (aka Nick) and Jamie all vying for the ‘Best Bowler’ title, but none coming remotely close to Phil, the hotels Entertainment Manager.

Although the trainees have been very focused on their training they’ve had some great nights in Queenstown; any town with over 50 bars and pubs within 400m² is always going to have a certain draw. Special mentions must go to Jamie and his ability to make a 3kg Fergburger disappear in seconds, Ewan and his remarkably bad chat-up-lines that seem to work, Joe and his severe intolerance to Alcohol…….and Lucy for her tolerance to Alcohol despite only turning 18 very recently. Nevertheless Queenstown has more to offer than just boozing; it’s actually the adventure sports capital of the world as Seamus, or Papa Smurf as he’s affectionately known, has found out. Not only has Seamus done the world’s third highest Bungee but he’s ridden the jet boat through the Shotover Canyon  and has a days heli-skiing and a skydive planned for future days off; it seems the Lord Of The Rings Tour didn’t really cut the mustard’.

Talking of Bungee jumps you’ll be pleased/shocked to hear that the vast majority of trainees did their first jump this past Saturday in celebration of Lucy’s 18^th Birthday…..I can reliably inform you that they all returned home in one piece. Not only did the trainees do the third highest Bungee jump in the World, I was nervous standing up there taking photos, but they also did the Worlds highest and largest swing, the Nevis Arc. Although the latter sounds like a walk in the park a drop of 150 metres with 70m freefall should not be snubbed. A special mention must go to Tommy who enjoyed the Bungee so much that he did it twice, on his second attempt he did a petrifying manoeuvre called ‘The Bullet’ which I can’t imagine he’ll be doing again! I was very proud of all the trainees as they all jumped at the count of three without a single tear or hissy fit……and Jaya even promised to return at the end of the trip and conquer her fear of the Bungee!

So, what’s next? Well the trainees have their level 1 examination this week so I’ll keep you all up-to-date with their progress and post another blog this time next week.

Tom

P.s Below is what some of the trainees, Lettice and Kate, have written about the first two weeks:

NEW ZEALAND – Week One and Two

Two weeks in and our whole team has arrived and settled in. The jet lag has subsided and everyone has got to know each other. Training for both skiers and snowboarders is well underway and has proved to be challenging at times.

Although we are still praying for a snowfall the conditions are still pretty sweet due to the snow cannons at Coronet Peak and the cold spell. We have been training at Coronet Peak but on our days off we have visited The Remarkables here we spend numerous hours in the snow park! Every day we are trying to improve our technique in preparation for our level one exam next week.

However, when we are not on the slopes we have the local cuisine to enjoy; primarily the legendary FERBURGER. The hotel food is also of an exceptional standard, with a buffet breakfast and a huge two-ourse dinner which is perfect for both before and after a hard day on the slopes! We have also sampled the Queenstown nightlife resulting in a series of fantastic nights and horrendous hangovers! During the days when we are not skiing or snowboarding we have decided to try some of the other extreme activities which the area is famous for. So far a few members of the group have sampled the Kawarau Jet boat and the majority of the group have signed up for the Nevis bungee and Nevis Arc Swing (supposedly the highest bungee in New Zealand and the highest swing in the world) for our youngest member, Lucy’s, Birthday.
Fingers crossed for the exams next week and for snow!

Lettice & Kate x

Snow Park & The End of an Era
Posted on September 13, 2009 at 2:26 am

With exams over it was time to chill and have some serious fun! Most of us took a trip over to Snow Park NZ, one of the worlds best terrain park only resorts. The skiers were taught in the morning by some of the Snow Parks pros. Whilst the snowboarders were taught by Karl Dunham, their normal trainer who happens to be a pro too

Everyone tried out new tricks whether it was their first or hundreth time in the super-pipe, on the boxes or going off of the kickers.

We were even treated to some serious pros like Simon Dumont struting their stuff on the big line.

It was a great day but that wasn’t the end of it. That evening was the course awards ceremony. The catergories and winners were:

Most Questionable Quoute – George Howell

Most Silly Scenario – Sarah Ellis

Best Goggle Marks – Alex Charman

Funniest Laugh – Charlotte Simister

Joker of the Course – Nick Kempster

Most Improved Skier – George Howell

Most Improved Boarder – Simon Moore

Awesome Award – Chris Thorpe

After all the awards and prizes were handed out it was time for karaoke. There was some interesting choices of songs. The best performance of the night for me was by Karl Dunham, the snowboard trainer, who did "A total eclipse of the heart" by Bonnie Tyler. I just wish I had a video of it to show everyone

Well it has got to that time when we have to wrap things up. It has been an amazing 10 weeks and I’d like to thank everyone involved from the hotel staff to the trainers but most importantly I’d like to thank the team. You were all fantastic throughout the course, giving myself plenty of support and each other. I hope we have all taken away some great memories and have made some lifelong friends.

See you all in London on 7th November for the "Queenstown Super Instructor Reunion"

Safe journeys,

Your course leader,

Sam Feltham

P.S. Don’t forget to checkout all the photos from the course on the facebook group!!!

Snow, Wind & Level 2
Posted on September 11, 2009 at 8:34 am

 The end of the course is looming so that meant time for more ski and board exams. Eight days of intensive training and testing for the skiers started on Tuesday to the amusement of all the boarders who had a long lie in as they only have to work for five days.

A week of not being able to go out partying has led to the invention of new games throughout the hotel. This week was football tennis in the corridor complete with armchair net and toilet roll court markings. It was certainly an improvement on the last new game of stand against the wall while everyone takes turn to kick the ball very hard at your back.
The NZ weather continues to just do its own thing and surprise us. I have become convinced that every Kiwi is a weather forecaster and none of them have any basis for their predictions. The infamous “Coronet Peak Snow Line” that you phone to check if the mountain is open always insists “Coronet Peak is open today and it is a glorious day across the mountain with great skiing on and off piste”. This ignorance of the real facts continued as 100kph gales hit the peak and closed most of the lifts. With everyone convinced that spring had come to Queenstown, the NZ weather again surprised us with a nice big dump of snow to boost the exam conditions. This was the road that had been totally bare the day before:

Tuesday was the last day of exams and full of extreme tension, with all the testing finished by lunchtime there was an agonising 5 hours of waiting. The general consensus was to celebrate anyway with a range of civilised (champagne drinking) and less civilised (centurion of beer) events before heading to the Copthorne hotel with the other training groups.

The level two exams are known to be hard so there were some ups and downs to the evening as the results were received. A generally good pass rate for Peak Leaders, 87.5% for the snowboarders and 77% for the skiers. Everyone stuck together through the evening and kept each other’s spirits (and levels of spirits!) topped up whatever the results. The tradition of midnight jumping into lake Wakatipu was continued much to the amusement of the instructors and spectators on the lakeside. We even found a photo that was acceptable to publish.

So just a few days left now to do some final skiing, bunjy jumping and final sampling of Queenstown nightlife before a lot of goodbyes on Sunday.

What a week!
Bruno

P.S. Don’t forget to checkout more pics on the Facebook group!!!

Now 100% Level One & Sparkle Motion
Posted on August 30, 2009 at 6:46 am

Exams being only a week away everyone has been working very hard for the duration of this week towards those. From Skiers practicing more wedge demos to boarders teaching 180s and ollies, it really is a borders life… The 2009 winter games have also been going on providing some great entertainment.

Monday morning started with the usual groan as everyone slumped from there beds and into the bus for yet another day of skiing and wedgedemos down the big easy. The boarders however went for another awesome free style day at Remarks which ended with Max pulling of a 540 and most of the others landing 360s. The following days gave us terrible weather which meant the borders retired inside, while the skiers miserably continued in the wind and rain. Tuesday night saw the opening of the world famous SPARKLE MOTION night club in Ryans Room. Huge amounts of fun was had by all. Including those who dared try Chris’s Sparkle Motion special which included the special ingredient Listerine, the night was very messy, George.

On Thursday, the Level One retakes began. It finished today, Sunday, and I’m happy to report all 7 passed. That makes it 100% pass rate for Peak Leaders at Level One this year!!!

On Friday, thankfully there was 10cm of snow as the temperatures have been a little high recently. This meant the boarders spent the day doing jumps,  while the skiers were ripping it up on the big easy doing demos.

Saturday almost everyone ventured up the hill to practice for the coming exams, and later in the evening a mix of boarders and skiers ventured up the hill to go night Skiing, it was an awesome night!

Those brave enough to venture up on Sunday sourly regretted it. The two main lifts were shut due to gale force winds, and the weather was terrible. But thankfully we still have sunday night to look forward to. Being Simons 18th, the night is going to be a wee bit messy, and doubly for him having just done the Nevis Bungy, the second biggest bungy in the world.

Good luck to everyone with their Level Two exams, the skiers start on Tuesday, and the boarders on Friday. Being smarter and just generally better the boarders only have 5 days of examination while the skiers have to suffer through 8.

Kenya

P.S. Don’t forget to checkout the facebook group for more pics of the team

Poker, Luge & Synchro
Posted on August 23, 2009 at 3:58 am

The poker tournament on Tuesday was a thoroughly good night all round, when the majority of the group took part in all their glory. This turned out to become a dress up affair including a TellyTubby and a Pimp care of Ryan and Max. This went on through the night and beyond, culminating in Joe being the winner followed by Bob in second and Simon in third. Further games then carried on until the hotel was about to start serving the next morning’s breakfast.

Wednesday saw Gavin’s group up Coronet with another day of training with, yet again, copious stupid comments from Karl. For those not at school an adventure took place including Robin, Little Chris, James G, Posh Alex and Simon… Little Chris decided that he was too insane for the gondola so walked up the hill going the wrong way up the extreme downhill mountain bike track under the threat of possum traps, construction sites and the odd orcses.

Friday saw the infamous synchro skiing competition with everyone, including our rivals that cannot be named. However, in the morning there were a few individuals a little worse for wear as their A-Level results were released the night before, *cough Mark cough!*

Toddy’s group decided that it was a fancy dress affair, and thus scored bonus points for originality to make up for the lack of any synchronisation in the actual skiing. Robin also managed to score a one in a million photo of the Tellytubby and Noel Baxter on the T-Bar in the background. This followed an amazing spread of food for lunch at Heidi’s Hut where everyone easily had their fill. The day ended with the following result: 1st – Robynne’s Dirty Rotten Rotators, 2nd – Wah United and 3rd – Toddy’s Tellytubbies.

Saturday loomed with another run for Robin, Tim, The Cannon, and George with some excellent finishes from Robin coming 2nd in the 5k and The Cannon coming 5th in the 10km, improving on his time from the last race with a pained look on his face suggesting he may actually be part human rather than all machine that we suspected. The rest of the group followed in the footsteps of those that went up the gondola on Wednesday to have an awesome day luging.

The week has ended with a few minor injuries from luging and general aches and pains from many of the group from the large amount of training. So the weekend has been a relatively sombre affair compared to previous weeks in preparation for exams starting, for some with Level 1, on Thursday – eek! 

Hope all is well back home,

M

P.S. Don’t forget to checkout the copious amount of other photos on the facebook group!!!

Demos & Heli-Shoosh
Posted on August 16, 2009 at 7:59 am

 As the second week of level two training kicked in, the potential instructors settled in for another hard week of intensive skiing/riding. Imagine then the skiers disappointment after spending three of our valuable four days on the baby slopes doing, wait for it, more wedge demos! A week of these and the new fangled Wedge Christies was enough to dampen the mood. Tuesday was particularly bad due to rain and low-lying cloud – tempers ran high with surly students and impatient trainers (Todd nearly caused an avalanche after screaming across the piste at Bruno). It wasn’t all bad news though; due to the rain the boarders probably just went home!

After a very technical few days our spirits were restored with a go-mission on the heli-shoosh day (shoosh being the correct term for skiing and snowboarding together). The group gathered for a 7.30am start only to have this delayed for two hours whilst the guides inspected the runs. Finally we were split into our groups and headed off into the backcountry. Froggy (Chris Thorpe) was terrified of his first helicopter experience and his face was a picture as he took off in the first helicopter headed to the Heli-4 expert slopes. Other notable nerves came from me, Ben Thomas, I found myself in a group with my instructor, examiner and the training director (eek) and whose guide was an ex powder ski champion. Ryan was concerned that the helicopters might not have the high standard of luxury that he was used to when flying to and from the Tully mansion.

The snow was hard work at the top of the slope and very soggy at the bottom but in the middle of each run was near perfect powder. Settlements (a precursor to an avalanche but without the snow actually falling) and scary landings aside, it was a fantastic day. ‘M’ managed to bury her entire body bar her head under the snow and Tim did a fantastic – and possibly not deliberate – jump over a 15 foot cliff. Well-done Tim… Robin managed to take over 250 photos of the groups, not to mention his head-cam footage and Froggy is now a helicopter enthusiast.

All in all a productive week with a fantastic ending – without a doubt Saturday was most people’s best day of the course so far. With just two weeks to go until the final exams, the nerves are kicking in and the nostalgia of the days gone by begin to emerge.

Bring on level two,

Ben T.

P.S. Checkout the facebook group for a large amount of pics

Avalanche & Freestyle Training
Posted on August 9, 2009 at 5:40 pm

After a hard week with the level one exam and celebrations, week 5 started with our first freestyle day up at Remarkables. We had such good conditions after the weekend’s snowfall that the day became a mixture of Off Piste and Park, with the emphasis on a fun day. We managed to escape the day with no major injuries, just a few minor sprains and bruises which was a result. Holly Wright embarked on a series of head plants for the week that has left her with a “duelling scar” (Rumour has it Toddy thumped her, it may be true as he has been absent and in hiding from Ben ever since) The 1st being a 50 metre face plant and roll off a cornice at the top of the Shadow chair, also closely followed by Mark Jackson who managed a greater distance but had nil points for style.

Tuesday had the start of our Avalanche Awareness course with an evening session lecture followed by a full day in the mountain with the Ski Patrol learning how to recognise risk and use the Avalanche Transceivers’. I think most found it interesting and useful, but it has led to the quote of the week courtesy of George Howell, when the group were asked what they had learnt, he replied “how to dig holes in the snow”. Chris Thorpe and Ben Thomas volunteered to be buried and spent time in the cold and dark. Rather them than me. Thursday and Friday had more short radius turns followed by more short radius turns. Freddie Groom has discovered that his balls aren’t big enough, and he has to ski like he has huge ones!!! On Friday night was the "Rail Jam", which means that copious amounts of skiers and snowboarders jump on to rails and try to pull off the best trick.

There was no bowling this week as the alleys were booked up with paying punters. It was just as well as the current record holder was feeling a wee bit tired, and couldn’t wait until he got back to his room to throw out a few Z‘s. 

For a few, a hard weeks skiing is never quite enough, 4 of our intrepid “wanna be” instructors, all skiers (apparently the boarders were either not up for or to it) decided to enter a 10km race at Jacks Point on Saturday morning. A bit of friendly rivalry between The Roadrunner (Robin Phillips) and Mike “Top Gun” Cannon, with Top Gun being challenged by the Roadrunners previous best of 38 Minutes. Saturday saw battle commence under a blood red sky, a dry but cold day, with a glorious red sunrise for those that were up to see it. The race got off to a fast start with an early lead being taken by The Road Runner. By the 6km mark The Road Runner had dropped back but The Top Gun was still going strong in what transpired to be his 1st 10km race.

The race winner came in at 35minutes followed in 5th place by the Top Gun with a very commendable 39m 50s, sub 40 minutes in his 1st race – Well done. Followed in by Road Runner, George Howell and a limping James Gould, who twisted his ankle at the 6KM mark but still hobbled in with a creditable, sub 60 minute time. The next race is in 2 weeks time will any boarders be up for the challenge? And can anyone better the Top Guns time, if anyone can Cannon can!! 

Sunday was Avalanche training for the rest of the group who didn’t do it on Wednesday, and we had a far better day for it weather wise, although there were a few sorry looking souls that made it onto the bus after a very late Saturday night out, with Nick Kempster deciding that he needed to soak a few rays half way through the morning. Not content at this later in the day Nick decided on all over tan was an essential to complement the goggle tan, but modesty and censorship prevents me from showing more, we just hope someone remembered to slap on some sunscreen.

Over and out,

Tim Watkins

P.S. Don’t forget to checkout the facebook group for more pics of the team!!!