Mountain Fever…

There’s nothing worse then being sick but being crook and sharing a room with someone sucks. Then, what really, really sucks is being sick, sharing a room with someone and having to start work at 5.30am in the morning and WALK 10-15 minutes to work by yourself in the snow at 5am and pitch black feeling more sorry for yourself then previously thought possible. Yep, that describes my past 24hours.

I have some sort of fever/headache/body aches which is not great in the snow. Apparently, a few other people I work with and live with have had this recently so at least I am not alone but that does little to help the aches.

Oh, and I didn’t even mention that of course, I got struck by this horrible mystery lurgie on my much anticipated two days off! What timing. It was back-to-back couch days for me. Oh well, the joys of communal mountain living hey! I am off to stock up on the vitamins.

Simone x

Why fashion clouds common sense

If there is one thing I have learnt this week, it's that heels and snow don't mix. It might sound damn obvious to some people, and in retrospect it does to me too, but I thought I was above the law of slipperiness - well I hoped I was and tried my luck going outa few nights ago in a pair of heeled boots. Really, you can't blame me all that much. I have worn my Oliver, steel capped thick tread boots for a whole month now and I am a real 'girlie girl' when it comes to fashion and these things are hideous and wouldn't even send the most insanely foot fetished feign into a frenzy.

So, I thought heck, we are going out for a nice dinner, it is time to leave the boots at home with Bertha the backpack. Boy, did I pay! I guess I also choose to fogrget there is a big set of stairs and steep driveway leading down from my apartment to the road and with the day before's fresh 20cm of snow - this was never going to be a good idea.

I literally slipped and slide the whole way down, cursing my heart out whilst I had flashbacks of doing the same thing in Verbier Switzerland 5 month's earlier (Pru and Shell will back me up on this one) and having to, yes I admit it, crawl home on my hands and knees after a big night out and that driveway was three times the length of this one. Mind you, I think that was part alcohol induced too!

So, how was I ever going to get back home later that night? The answer was pretty much the same way as I did in Verbier - crawl. Since then I have learnt that boys do have their advantages and have since been piggy backed and winched via a human chain up the driveway! Great look that. Then, miracle hit, I was relaying this story to my much wiser boss who filled me in on a trade little secret - wear your ugly boots and carry your heels in a bag... genius!

Tonight, I am planning a big night out as I have the next day off so I am going to comfortably walk down the driveway with my ugly boots on but with my heels tucked safely under my arm. As for the walk back up later tonight, well I guess I will still be crawling up that damn driveway, you can't blame everything on heels!

x

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

Anyone who has ever back packed will know that sharing a room, a couch, a floor space or beanbag can be (uncomfortable and) tough when you have other people’s bodily functions to deal with.

Right now, after having the room to myself for a fortnight, I am living with a snorer. I am not just talking about a light grunt, a rhythmic snort or a nasal congestive wheeze from time to time. No, I am talking about a full blow train/grizzly bear. It is murder and it is driving me insane. The past two mornings when the alarm sounded at 4.55am (that’s not a typo) I almost wanted to quit my job and risk everything to just stay in bed and actually get some shut eye – every girl needs their beauty sleep, OK?!

The hardest part to this situation is that there is no foreseeable solution. My room mate (who I should add here is absolutely lovely) can’t do anything about it which makes the thought of sharing a room for the next three months horrifying to say the least.

So after 2 nights of creeping out on the couch for a few hours of peaceful sleep, I broached the subject with my roomie. So what happened last night, I had the most wonderful, sound sleep and woke up happily at 4.55amand rolled over and gently turned off the alarm only to find the room empty. The snorer had gone out and had a huge night on the town and passed out on the couch – gold! Now how do I get her to go out every night?! Wish me luck.

Sleeping Beauty… um, I mean Simone xx

P.S. That's the view out of my office - not bad, hey!?

Cougars and kittens... what the?

You learn something new every single day, especially when living with guys. I will never understand how the male mind works but I am at least trying to get an insight into it. However, the other day I learnt something so funny I had to share it - it's called the Cougars vs. Kitten syndrome and it is writh in the snow.

The idea is that men fall into two categories - guys that go for cougars or guys that go for kittens. A kitten is a attractive girl younger in age then the guy which I guess makes sense but a cougar is an older woman who is out on the prowl, knows what she wants, money and goes for younger men! Know any of these women?

Well, there are a few prowling the mountain, I can tell you. I witnessed it first hand at the pub the other night. There is some clever (at least the guys seemed to think it was clever), acronym for cougar too like "Cut, Older, Unattached, Girl, Attractive and Randy"! Trying saying that after a few beers!

So, at this same night at the pub during an apres ski session a cougar decided to direct her anger at me and went up to the guy I was talking to and said loud enough so I could here, "Really, is she even legal!" implying that I was underage (yes, it's that baby face again!). I was shocked and appalled and went up to her and introduced myself - I figured it was the least i could do. "Hi," I said, "My name is Simone and I am 24." Well that shut her up and the cougar retreated to the cave she had crawled from!

The moral of today's story - watch out for the cougars they can be vicious towards the kittens but they forget kittens have claws too! That's one for the younger generation - meoow.

Simone x

Snow glorious snow

The 2007 season may only just be gearing up but we had 30cm of snow in the last 24hours! Awesome. The picture is from High Noon looking back down to Thredbo village.

I had a great time skiing yesterday, I knocked off work at 2pm (keeping in mind I started at 5.30am so don’t be too jealous) and headed straight to the slopes. There was top to bottom skiing to be had at High Noon which is a blue/intermediate run and I had my first solo stack! And the worst part was, I made it all the way down the steep bits and then on the flatest, of flat bits I just zoned out and got my skis tangled up – typical! I think I was dreaming of what I could get up to that night.

Now I must clarify when I say I had my first solo stack because I had a stack with my friend the other day when we literally headed straight for each other and instead of turning, we both screamed like the big girls that we are and collided and just rolled down the hill as we caused an avalanche of blonde hair! It would have been quite a sight.

So, I am tossing up whether to hit the slopes again this afternoon or go to the gym because one of the major draw backs of working down at the snow seems to be the amount of hot chips, hot chocolate and schnapps I seem to consume on a daily basis. If I wrote it down each time I am sure I would be appalled.

On that note, I am going to have lunch! I will have to get some will power and say no to the chips. Hmmm… but they taste so good.
See you x

One board vs. two

It’s a debate going around the village at the moment: to ski or snowboard?

According to my roommates who just spent last season working as lifties in Snow Mass in the US, snowboarding is going down in popularity as more and more punters are waxing two boards as opposed to one before hitting the slopes. So if it is happening in the US it is bound to happen in Oz, right?

Wrong! The boarders were out in droves in Thredbo today and I actually felt like the minority as I carved up the slopes on two skis. Of course, my goal this season is to learn to board because as an avid wakeboarder (when I can stow away on a friend’s boat) I figure I at least have a slight head start. But as I have just discovered that I am working the next 6 days straight, I guess I will be waiting a little while until I get to test out my backside 180s just yet. So stay tuned for broken bones, bruised bums and hilarious tales of disaster on a board.

If you want to have your say posted on the snowboard vs ski debate, just post a comment on my blog and we will see how many people we can offend in the process! I guess I fall in the category of fence sitting – a skier who wants to board.

On that note, I took my camera on the slopes today and got a great shot of a guy going off a jump at Walkabout up at the Cruiser. That will be me one day – easy!
Simone x

The best fun on two skis...

Greetings from the Snowies,

Another day, another stack-free run on the slopes.

For those readers of my good friend Pru’s blog will know that we all went on a wonderful ski trip to Verbier in Switzerland in January. This was the most amazing trip and we stayed in a gorgeous ski-in and ski-out chalet. Of course for me, the rookie skier, that was quite challenging on day 1 but by day 7 I was fanging it down.

So I now have all my own ski gear and have had two refresher lessons here in Thredbo and proud to say that I can confidently and quickly do a parallel turn. So not only do I look the part but I am slowly becoming the part too! Thank goodness for that.

The only near miss I had on the slopes was when my friend Fiona fell over and I turned around to laugh and nearly collided with a cute Ski patroller! Luckily he knew what he was doing and did a quick turn and got out of my path otherwise I may have ruined my track record and bruised my bottom and my ego!

So it’s Saturday and I am itching to get out on the mountain. I wake up to it out my window and my office is right on the beginner’s trail of Friday Flat. I am going to abandon you for the mountain once again. I hope I haven’t jinxed myself.

Simone xx

Sorry Tom... we are having a roast

I have had a long day out on the slopes today! The weather was very chilly but we had a few centimetres of fresh snow which made carving it up down the mountain great fun!

Now, I am about to head home where my lovely flatmate is making a roast for dinner - how great is that!

My living arrangements have improved drastically and I am enjoying my flaties - who wouldn't when they cook up a storm. Oh, and I know have a kitchen window so the place is getting more homely by the minute.

My room mate is set to move in soon so I am going to have to limit my mess to my side of the room. Anyone who knows me knows that this will be very tough. But everyone is very friendly and communal down here and nearly evbery night we are going out to dinner or aroudn to someone's place - it's fantastic! I managed not to kill anyone with my thai red curry the other night!

This has to be one of the most bland entries I have ever done but after four 12-14hour days at work, I am lacking in creativity somewhat. Don't worry, I have tomorrow off and should be over flowing with witty tales, silly stories of disaster and mishaps because if you are taking the time to read about my adventures I want to keep you laughing and coming back for more.

Ok, night from this brain dead snow bunny.

xxxx

'Tis the season to be jolly

The 2007 winter season kicked off this past long weekend and what a cracker it was! We had sunshine, smiles, stacks and... drum roll please... snow! What more could a snow reporter ask for.

I have managed to squeeze in 3 days on the gorgeous slopes of Thredbo. I have definitely found my snow legs again and am carving it up on a base of fresh natural and manmade snow. Gosh, I really do sound like a reporter don't I?! It's hard to drop the lingo when you have been churning out radio, TV and print snow reports from 5.30am this morning. I never thought I would know what a bonk bin was and no, it's not what it seems.

Snow showers are forecast for the rest of the week which is terribly exciting. My goal this season is too learn to snow board.

Once I catch up on some much needed beauty sleep I shall report back with my latest adventures both on and off the slopes as the apres ski sessions are just warming up.

Hope to see you on the slopes of Thredbo

Simone

P.S. Bertha the backpack sends her love. She is enjoying a peaceful rest under my bed.

Yes – Australia has snow!

I have had the last three days off – the calm before the storm of work – as I am calling it. The time has been great and has allowed me to meet a heap of new people, both locals and seasonal staff who are starting to trickle in.

One of the funniest things, apart from realising just how high the percentage of guys to girls is in Thredbo, is that overseas travellers didn’t realise Australia has fantastic ski fields and all year round alpine villages like Thredbo. This is fair enough when you think of some of Australia’s ambassadors and celebrities such as Crocodile Dundee, Ian Thorpe (Olympic swimmer), Nicole Kidman with her former days as a BMX bandit and any other sporting champion who excelled in summer sports. Let’s face it, where is Olympic gold medallist Steven Bradbury who made us shocked but proud as we ice skated to victory at the Winter Olympics to reieve one of our ONLY two gold medals in history?

So for those of you unfamiliar with Australia’s ski fields, consider this your Course 1.01 in ‘carving up the pow down under’.

Australia’s main ski fields are located in the Snowy Mountains region in NSW and in Victoria. The main ski resorts include my current home of Thredbo which is a 6 hour drive from Sydney and 7 hour drive from Melbourne, Perisher, Selwyn ski fields, Falls Creek and Mount Hotham.

The Aussie ski season kicks off this long weekend (June 9th) and goes until around the start of October, depending on what mother nature brings to the slopes. Of course, thanks to technology snowmaking has improved over the years meaning there are more days for skiing, snowboarding, snow shoeing and snow fighting than every before. You gotta love that.

Like your big resort towns in Canada, the US and Europe there are a heaps of jobs on offer and let’s face it, a heap of skiing, boarding and partying to be had because that’s what most of us are here for.

So, if that hasn’t motivated you to come and work a ski season in Oz or to at least come for a visit, you could always come in summer as the mountain biking and summer sports expand at villages such as Thredbo.

OK, that’s the end of the lecture. I will have a pop quiz for you next time.

It’s time to hit the gym and get fit before hitting the slopes. Come on snowy goodness!
Simone x

June 1 - the first day of winter

I have arrived in Thredbo.

The best news is, the season doesn’t kick-off until the June long weekend and there is already snow on the slopes and in the village – what a wonderfully white welcome to Thredbo.

The drive from Sydney takes about 6 hours and although I had my car fully serviced before going down to the snowy mountains (including getting anti-freeze in the radiator), I didn’t factor in my female instincts which prevented me from filling up with petrol before hitting the freeway! What can I say except that I am living up to my name – blonde with a backpack.

Luckily, a BP was just over the next hill as I hit rock bottom so as I rolled down in neutral and released a sigh of relief. My passenger, Chris who is also coming down for the season, was known the wiser, despite thinking I was a little too excited about filling up for gas.

So each day more and more staff are rolling into the village and it is starting to buzz. I have spent the last two days in orientation and am terribly excited about the season ahead. The only major draw back – staff accommodation!

I am in an apartment block named Bogong 4 but when I was first handed the keys and told to go move into ‘bogan 4’ I thought it was a joke. The truth is there were some serious bogans living in my flat before me and they made it their mission to make the place as filthy as they were. Example one of 50 was the fact I no longer have a kitchen window. A thin curtain may have disguised the fact at first, but after a very cold first night I quickly discovered this vital element to my new home.

Luckily, this has been fixed and I currently have the place to myself and it has been cleaned. My room mate (yes, room mate) will be arriving soon and my two flatmates arrive next week. I have been told that they are lifties (lift operators) so I am expecting two robust, hairy guys named Bazza and Wazza to come knocking on my door next week. Let’s hope I am pleasantly surprised.

I do, however, have a spectacular view of the snowy mountains from my bedroom window which is a dream to wake up to.

Simone signing off, from Thredbo.
x