After the long long bus journey, I reached Queenstown at around sevenish. Queenstown was so busy, busier than a normal Christchurch day I should say. The town center was full of ski shops and renatl shops and there was crowd everywhere – in the info center, restaurants, pubs, ski shops, everywhere. I found out my backpackers and settled in. Then I came out to explore a bit of the town. I could see that bungy, skydive, shotover and all other “adrenalin” activities were prohibitively expensive that the sight of the rates itself gave a bit of adrenalin high. I had one day in my hand. Sunday. I explored further. I always wanted to try my hands in skiing – again form the knowledge of skiing from some tamil movies. But I did not plan to do it in this trip.
There are three skiing areas near Queenstown – Coronet peak, Remarkables and Cardrona. The snow center where ski reservations were to be made, was already shut but I could find brochures on these fields. The remarkable beginner pack worked out to be the cheapest – transport, lift pass, two classes and equipment for 112 dollars. Not a bad bargain.
So the next morning, the snow center was to open at 7 40 am. I reached there at 7 45. There was a small queue. I made my card and then reached the bus which was to take us to the Remarkables. The bus journey reminded me of the ascent on tirupati hills in the devasthanam bus. It was very similar with hairpin bends and bit of nauseation sometimes but the difference was there was snow everywhere outside. The ski field was one of the most crowded places I had seen so far in New zealand. Lot of people were pouring in. Literally like tirupati again. I was fitted with the ski boots, skis and the poles. The boots were real tight. Came out of the rental store. There were many young boys and youth already skiing in the low areas. I asked a nearby person to help to put my skis on. There was a small slope next to where i was standing. I have this problem of acting childish sometimes.
I wanted to try and ski myself since I was seeing a lot of people effortlessly doing it. Off I went down on the slope and in three seconds i lost control and fell over on my face. The snow was powdery and soft, i was not hurt but i could n’t get up and stand either with the ski boot and ski on. I could n’t balance at all. After all, the thrill is in balance and control, not in the speed. Again, a good atma nearby helped me get up. I gave up this foolish attempt and went to the cafe to have a coffee.
The class started at 9 50. All the beginners were made to stand in rows of tens. The crowd was so much that two more were added to out row. Our instructor was a girl from UK. Cheerful and helping. She was a good teacher. She taught us how to fit the ski, how to stand, how to walk with the ski on, how to start, how to stop. This took all the morning and i had fallen atleast 8 times already. But now I was able to get up myself.
By now the sun was strong and the whole ares so warm. With the exercise I was perspiring. I took away my gloves. My hands were sweating. I liked the sport not because of the thrill of skating down in ice but because the whole game is about control and balance. I was inspired by the teacher – perhaps five years younger than me, who did the movements on her ski so effortlessly, as if she was born with the skis fitted.
I practised in the lunch break and by the afternoon class, I was no more falling down. But my teacher was not convinced. Among us 12, i was third from last in my capacity. Others were really good. But two performed poorer than me. She prepared us for a big descent. She came in front of me. “Look mate, can you go down without falling?”.
“I think so”
“You think so or you know so? ‘coz I don’t want any accidents here. There are lot of kids around and I don’t want you to wipe out anyone. Hold my hand and come down with me”
This was like my ability tested. The tone in which she said this was not friendly. I know I am not good at control but I told her “Look I can come down myself, you go down and wait for me”
She went down. Just as I started, a kid came fast into my legs and hit me. I fell and he fell too. I got up and then with a firm resolution as to not to fall any more, headed down. I did not fall. The girl came near.
“Good, I see you have practised in the break. You are a lot better now”
After that I did not fall down. I improved. By four, the ski field closed. I went to the line for the bus to take us back. By now all my muscles were aching individually but my neck especially. It was getting cold and I could feel it on my body under the four layers of clothing I was wearing. The queue for the bus was long with some 250 people waiting. I was in the middle. I got my place in the third bus which came after an hour of waiting. Probably skiing is like pilgrimage for these people, I thought.
All said and done, I reached my room only to find out that I have hur tmy neck badly somehow. I realised why they say “pain in the neck”. It is really nagging, like a old wife. Three days on, it’s still not gone.
I fell in love with skiing. I would probably get some more chance before I leave for my motherland, which also has a couple of ski fields. Let’s see. Let the neck get right first.
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