23rd January 2007, 18.53
Meadowridge, Fraser – home, sweet home

Finally, I’ve got round to an update! Anyways, life’s beginning to take shape for us here now after quite a tumultuous month. Things have been quite tough on both of us; work for Jen hasn’t been great and she’s not as into the snow lifestyle as I am. It’s been made harder by the contrast with how much I’m enjoying myself and how well work has been going for me. It’s been even tougher cos we’ve been trying to adjust to being in a new country and moving into a new place, plus the lack of phone and internet access means we’ve been a little cut off!

But things are much better now, Jen’s been making the most of being here and getting out there more. She’s been enjoying skiing much more (snowboarding is on hold for the moment!) and has been shadowing kids skiing lessons. Plus now we’ve got internet and a PO Box, so contact with other people is much easier. Ronnie came out over New Year and I think that helped Jen get a bit of perspective on things and appreciate life here for what it is. It’s still tough for her, but things are getting better!

Anyways, now we’ve both got two days off a week (Tue and Wed) – most mornings I have clinics at 8am. For me, morning line-up is at 9.30 (when we find out if we’ve got work or not) – I’m teaching adults so work is either at Sorensen Park (total beginners), Plaza (upper level lessons) or Burton Learn to Ride (4.5 hour all day lessons for total beginners). I usually finish my morning lesson at 12 and then have to be back at afternoon line-up at 12.30 – but by the time I get down from the mountain, I’m normally left with about 15 mins for lunch, so it’s a little rushed!

Sometimes I get privates (I had quite a lot over the holidays) – it’s less pay, but generally better tips and you get to give more personal attention. But overall, LTRs are my favourite as you get to spend all day with the same people and can take more time to develop skills.

Work has been really quiet after the Xmas rush – so I’ve been learning to ski and to instruct skiing. Got myself a brand new pair of Salomon Foil freestyle skis for a great price and have been loving it! Other than that, I’ve been working on my riding – riding a lot of park and had a few clinics on the halfpipe and bumps. We’ve got some great trainers here, including Chris Hargrave who wrote the AASI book on freestyle. After a clinic with him, I’ve learnt to frontside lipslide on boxes and actually enjoy riding rails now!

The snow here is out of this world – we had a huge storm before Christmas and had about 20 inches of snow in 24 hours. Cos it’s so dry here, the snow is really light and powdery – perfect for riding! The only problem is that I have to dig my car out of snow from time to time and driving can be a little sketchy at times. It’s also bloody cold here – the last few days have been around -38 Farenheit. But things are warming up now and blue sky has returned!

So, life is going well here – I’ve got a car now (a 1991 Subaru Legacy), which makes it easier to get out of resort and visit Denver or Boulder. In fact, we’re heading to Boulder tomorrow (over the Berthoud Pass, which people seem to think is scary, but they obviously haven’t been on NZ roads!).