Closed Days...Sad Times :(

6st July 2010
Yo yo yo, fewer blogs have been churned out which is good because it means I am busier doing other things though I still want to keep a record of whats going in the lovely little town of Ohakune. I am struggling to recollect the order in which things have happened over the last few days so I will just jot down the most memorable things and my thoughts about whats going on.
Shadowing has been going good I got a few hours with a couple more instructors. There is Dion from New Zealand. The lesson was ok it was a discover snowboard lesson which is like a beginners lesson. There were 4 girls and 2 males. As the lesson went on it was apparent the father and son Wayne and Connor were picking it up slightly quicker than the girls, so Dion pretty much split the group and I carried on teaching Wayne and Connor which was rad. I actually got to do a bit of my own teaching. And i felt I really helped them. They both had smiles on their faces and looked like they were enjoying what they were doing. I was pretty stoked to be teaching for sure. I just need to do more.
Another shadow was with a guy called Stuart he is from the UK Wales I think. He is a level 3 CASI instructor and evaluates level 1 and 2 instructors so he is definitely someone I could learn loads off. We had 2 scottish kids to teach snowboarding to. They were adorable one was 8 and the other 10, but kids really don’t have a huge attention span. Its about fun and games as it is about learning to snowboard. When teaching kids you cant explain to much, just let them do, group manage and try and correct them in the simplest way possible. The lesson was a lot of fun, Stu threw in some nice lesson fun and really made it enjoyable.
One morning I arrived in early (Sunday 4th) and Rob Gordon (my course lead) was hosting a training session for the instructors. I jumped in on it and he focused on how important it was that the clients equipment was set up correctly. At the end of the day its completely true, if when you make movements your board is not responding to what you are doing, your equipment is set up incorrectly and you need to check it. Its confusing for instructors when someone is clearly doing something yet the desired outcome isn’t happening, and its all down to tight boots, tight bindings, and forward lean set up on highbacks so the clients get response to every movement. He went on to run through how to get maximum class activity – because Turoa snow school was rated the lowest school for beginner lessons. The key theme was not to have clients just sitting down waiting for the instructor to help them, but to get them more involved. It was a real good session and a learn a little around how to teach better. After that session I shadowed Rob for a lesson, and lets just say it was pretty good, not only did he coach the class he was coaching me on how to teach. It seems like Rob is a pretty senior in the Turoa snow school, I suppose after 18 or 19 winters (whatever it is) you would be. He was pointing out to other instructors how their students equipment was not setup right as he was teaching. He was definitely interesting to watch.
The social side of things is going pretty well, I have been out and about a few times. There are a pair of sisters who live together and have named their house the ‘brothel’ and they had a pre season piss up house party. I went and met a few more of the snow school to be social, however left early as it looked like it was a one way ticket to smashville kind of event. Another night I really enjoyed was Stuey’s keg night, he won a 25 litre keg of beer at Turoa lodge and everyone tucked in I got to meet a lot more people and it was generally good times. It was a good social surprise and a cheap night for all. Prior to the keg night we had a meeting with Rob and Kyle, our course co-ordinators to discuss the plans for the course. It looks like we will start training on the 12th July weather pending. We discussed things like jobs after the winter and how we should get cover letters ready and places to apply etc... the truth is I am not sure what I want to do so I will hold off for now and see how the training and teaching actually goes. Another point of discussion was working for the snow school and just working in general. We need to demonstrate to the snow school that we are hard working etc... really make an effort. I think with the shadowing I am demonstrating that. Hopefully I hear from the cracking crew too so we’ll see how it goes.
Tony Hill arrived on Saturday, and after shadowing I went to meet him at Miro St to see how he was settling in. He seemed a little shook up with arriving etc... but he’s going to get on just fine. He is a top lad. I spent the rest of Saturday with Tony just introducing him to people in the house and in my place, let him use the internet etc..etc..We did a little shopping and then I cut him loose. Sunday was fun, after shadowing and riding I hooked up with Tony again and we cooked a curry for the MIRO St crew on Sunday. There was 14 of us and it was immense, it worked out really well and was a real nice evening. I really love the guys at MIRO they feel like good friends.
Riding has been pretty good, really getting used to the reverse camber board now, its sooo fun, however having spoken to my course coordinator Rob he is saying the board will make it difficult for me to do the course. So I am looking into buying another board out here, if that doesn’t work I might get one sent from home. I am starting to wish maybe about sticking with what I know and instead of buying a Never Summer Evo R I should have stuck with a Ride DH like i Normally do. After selling the Never Summer plus bindings for £340 i could have got a DH for £192 and got some new bindings. Oh well its the decisions we make in life. And the never summer is pretty incredible anyway. I might still buy the DH because the Never Summer I pretty much got for like £110 plus some birthday sponsorship from friends. We shall see how it all goes. Its another stress alongside my boots saga. Once the clothes saga ends there has to be something else to keep me up at night!! Basically I have sent my boots to be warrantied because the soles have separated from the boot. I got them sent yesterday and I am hoping to hear soon but with these things you never really know. Ah it wouldn’t be fun if it was easy and at least I have my clothes now. I have started thinking if I get another board how the hell Ill get all this stuff back. We’ll see.
The past couple of days the mountain has been closed due to bad weather, so yesterday me Tony and Chris went to Taupo – famous for its Lake. The drive up was soo beautiful! You really get to see how incredible the landscape is here. It is soo un touched you can tell this is a land where not many people live, its soo nice. I was really taken a back by the greenery and neutrality of the place. Every is calm and at ease with the world and its really nice. I am still adjusting, but hopefully it wont be long until I am a little more mellow. We had a pizza hut buffet and walked around town a little. The lake looked beautiful with small little islands dotted about it was really beautiful. The colour of the sky on the drive back was absolutely insane it made me believe I am in a truely special place. Tony managed to sort out all his stuff like bank stuff etc... and I bought a few bits and bobs. We headed home and went to the pub quiz. We came second!
Good news for Tony I think he has a job at the hill so he is stoked!!
Thats all for now folks.