Tenille and Zane's Overseas Adventures: Snowboarding, Polar Peak and Drinkopoly

On Tuesday I thought I'd give snowboarding a go. I had always resisted the urge, partly because I didn't want to spend a day of precious snowtime falling on my ass, and partly because I was worried I would enjoy it more than skiing. I had no reason to fear. It was fun and all, and the first couple of times I fell over Zane and I laughed but after more falls Zane was still laughing but my giggles were turning into tears. So after being very stubborn and continuously getting up only to fall over again I had a tantrum and we went in for a coffee.

While warming up and calming down we ran into some friends that were planning to hike up Polar Peak, which is the highest point on the mountain (7000ft) and can be reached when the weather is nice. So quick as a flash I swapped the snowboard for my beloved skis and we started the hike up. First you catch the Timber Chair, which takes you up to Lost Boy's and then you ski down to the White Pass Chair which takes you up to the top of Currie Bowl. From there you traverse along as far as you can go and then begin the hike. It took the four of us about 45 minutes to hike the incline and it was grueling. It was a beautiful sunny day, but the wind was roaring and it was hovering around the -25 Celsius point. The air continued to get thinner and our breaths started to get shorter and my lungs felt like they were freezing from the inside out.

But it was worth it for the view. Only once we'd finally got to the top and I'd had a little lie down to catch my breath could I fully appreciate the view. From the top of Polar Peak we could see all the mountains that completely surrounded us and the sweeping valleys and plains. Unfortunately we had only taken the one photo on the way up before the camera died but luckily Zane managed to get some photos and a video on his phone.

The ski down was pretty good as well, and we even stopped halfway down for a celebratory beer. To top off the day we headed to the Grizz Bar for a Jug of beer and a Taco Salad, we'd sure worked up an appetite!

We managed to get one photo before our camera battery died. Lucky it was a good'un!

The view from Polar Peak!

So I think I will definitely give snowboarding another go, but only on crappy days. We had 15cms of snow last night so there was no way I was going to waste the day falling over and having tantrums! It was skis on and over to snake ridge this morning and it was awesome. Zane and I are trying to ski/board the whole mountain by the end of the season. We've got quite a few to conquer (mainly blacks and double diamonds) but I think we will be able to do it! We ticked off a few today, some good, and some that had Zane cursing and swearing that he'd never go there again but you can't win all the time. He did have a rather spectacular fall off a cliff and is now sporting a large bruise on his arm but he'll heal. I, however, had possibly one of the best runs of the season so far and can't wait to go back, possibly dragging Zane kicking and screaming.

One of the girls I work with has decided to leave Fernie and go back to Sydney to go to uni. I think she decided this on a whim, during one of our rainy days, as when we were skiing fresh pow together on a beautiful day last week she kept wailing "whhhyyy am I leaving???"

Despite my continued efforts to make her change her mind and stay forever like me, my skiing buddy left on Saturday. To farewell her, we had a nice morning tea at work and many drunken nights out on the town.

Working hard at Lost Boy's

Rach and Perchin' Percy

On one of these drunken nights, we played Drinkopoly. This version of Monopoly was created by Belgium, who used to work at Lost Boy's before a groin injury had him relocated to the base of the mountain. Instead of British landmarks, you can buy Fernie drinking establishments, not with money but with certain amounts of drinks consumed. Landing on someone else's establishment incurs a drinking fine on that person. There are also drink cards instead of Chance and Community Chest cards which instruct the player to do any number of shots in various ways, or instructs players to do silly things like create a rule which everyone must obey, or remove one item of clothing. We do have some photographic evidence of the last thing occurring (luckily not to us) but I don't think it's blog-able.

Drinkopoly!