The adventure begins

Well these last couple of weeks have all been a bit of a blur. Labour weekend started off with a fantastic boot-deep powder day on Mt Ruapehu. Who would've thought! Fresh powder on Labour Weekend! Alas, it was not meant to be as at 11 I got a phone call from a very pained fiancee... I instantly knew from her description that she could have torn her ACL. A few hours later we were in Taumaranui A&E and it was confirmed. We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing in Taupo, and enjoying our last free evenings before a whirlwind week ahead.

Banana boats on powder days

The week comprised of dinners every night with friends, finishing up errands at work, and trying to get everything I needed packed away into two bags. Unfortunately I hadn't quite thought throw my ski transport option, so a quick online purchase was needed and hoping that it would arrive in time. Thankfully all the necessary items were in place by Friday, although the weekend planned was not going to be very productive!

Friday night was a fantastic night out with a large group from work. With another staff member leaving the same night, we started at 3pm and didn't get home until the early hours of Saturday morning. This left very little recovery time before leaving drinks with friends and family on Saturday night. The venue was fantastic, a perfect size for the group, and once again much fun was had until the early hours of the morning. Stopping for a moment, I looked at this group and once again thought how lucky I was to have so many fantastic people in my life... I'm sure going to miss all of them!

Finally the last couple of nights have been a special few dinners with my family, and a night to ourselves with my fiancee. Wellington has certainly turned it on as well, just to let me know what I'm going to be missing out on, 21 degrees is almost too hot! (In Vancouver I think it's raining... a lot)

And thus, we are caught up to now.. 4 hours before my flight and I'm disconnecting from the digital world for a while. I hope to have heaps of pictures and tales to tell when I next clock in, so until then stay safe and keep smiling!

Less than 2 weeks..

Well the countdown calendar on my wall at work is looking well and truly crossed out now, and every night and lunch time seems to be booked with final catch-ups and family gatherings. I still haven't started packing as I'm hoping to get a final few days up on Mt Ruapehu this labour weekend. The weather isn't looking the best it can be, but anyone who spends enough time on the mountains knows that it has it's own ideas when it comes to weather and sometimes you just have to be there.

Counting down in the office...

This week was the realisation that I will be arriving in Vancouver on October 31st... Halloween. Unlike New Zealand, where typically the most you will see of this public holiday is a few children squirting water pistols around the street after gorging on large volumes of candy provided by complete strangers... it looks like Vancouver is going to be party central the night I arrive, and costumes are mandatory!

Do you think I'll be getting any sleep tonight?

So the theory is if I stay on the NZ time zone during the flight, when I am still awake and partying at midnight in Vancouver it will only feel like 8pm! That's the theory anyway.. stay tuned for how it actually turns out.

While the closer it gets, the more I feel like I'm cutting things fine by only spending 3 days in Vancouver before heading up the Sea to Sky to Whistler, I am lucky enough that there's already a huge group of fantastic people heading over before me that are constantly feeding back tips. If you haven't already, make sure you join up the Whistler 2012 Facebook group! Here are some gems that have already been shared;

• Make sure you have a towel for your stay at hostels in Vancouver, as they aren't provided.
• Kiwi's and Australians will continue to debate 'Thongs or Jandals' throughout the season
• High heels while desirable, are not required or practical
• Everyone wants a single room for staff housing, not many will get them
• Getting appropriate insurance for off-piste/off-trail cover can be a nightmare (I think this could warrant a blog post on it's own)
• If you're flying in to Vancouver within a month of starting, it's almost guaranteed someone else heading to Whistler for the season will be on your flight
• The team at The Working Holiday Club love to get involved

If you've got some sweet tips that have come from your experiences then comment them below!

Finally, thanks to Max Verwey for a sweet house mix that's kept me entertained writing this morning, you can find it here; http://soundcloud.com/max-e-mix/vibes-no-2

Not Another Summer..

Ski films, waxing benches, gym routines and internet videos.. these are my coping mechanisms. Mechanisms to keep myself (and those around me) sane through another 8 months without... another 8 months I just couldn't take. It wasn't enough... I needed something new.

Capturing the essence of Winter

Thus began my planning for my northern hemisphere escape. What better way to forget about the absence of winter, than by planning another one? Most people think the idea of leaving a New Zealand summer for another winter is absurd. Winters for them are months to be suffered through.. but for those of us who live for just one more breath of mountain air, there is nothing else.

Before I make my off-mountain life sound boring and lack-lustre, in the past few years I've managed to buy my first home, get engaged and clock over 5 years working in the IT industry. Some would say at 25, I'm having my 'quarter life crisis', but I see it as another step in understanding just what makes me get up in the morning.

Other things that get me out of bed in the morning

What started off as a simple winter holiday plan, soon developed into back-to-back winters. With some understanding from my fiance a simple enquiry to The Working Holiday Club injected some much needed reality into my plans. The team soon had me more excited about how achievable this dream was, and before I knew it the next few months were filled with interview preparation, document application, trips to Auckland and job offers.

Soon the focus switched from planning my ultimate 'summer', to the winter at hand. My winter schedule is fairly predictable. Every weekend, public holiday and leave day I can muster is spent on the mountains of NZ. This season had the added excitement of joining the Mt Ruapehu mountain hosting team... showing people around the outer reaches of the Turoa ski area.

As I have been told that I can talk longer about a ski day than it actually was, I won't regale you with every moment of the season thus far. Thankfully I have this year invested in a camera to capture my exploits and am trying my hand at editing. Here are a couple of the season thus far;

My goal for these 18 months is to spend no less than 100 days skiing. With a total of 25 days clocked this season thus far, and only a few days left of the NZ season.. Whistler has a lot to live up to!