Not so hot for a first timer in Queenstown

Mon, 07/26/2010 - 14:35 — jason

Not so hot for a first timer in Queenstown (Source: Sent in by Bjorn Keven)

A blanket of snow covers Queenstown - Source: Sent in by Bjorn Keven

His dark beanie was pulled over his ears, his red ski pants hung low on his waist and he carried his snowboard confidently under one arm.

The fresh-faced boy appeared to be in his early 20s - he looked cheeky.

He took my hands to pull me up from the snow. In my head it's the start of an erotic novel.

In reality it's the start of a red-faced, bruised body saga.

It seems one of the prerequisites for getting a gig as an instructor on Queenstown's snowfields is looking good.

Being young, fit and flirty also helps.

 
Dotting the mountains of the popular South Island peaks with eye candy isn't such a bad thing if you're a pro.

But if you're a 25-year-old clumsy beginner wearing dorky hired snowboarding gear and not enough makeup it's just distracting.
On day one I hit up Coronet Peak - a favourite amongst visitors - and saw snow for the very first time in my life.
I joined a beginners' snowboarding class for adults and found myself holding hands with the cute boy, falling forward on to him, threatening to pin him down - with no false intentions, just because I was rubbish.
 
On day two I tried out the beginners slopes at The Remarkables.
The group lesson was led by a tall Kiwi with an after-five shadow and sexy snow-tan.
Every time I came crashing down I wondered if he could tell how much I weighed as he scooped my battered body up from the snow.
Head of ski patrol at The Remarkables, Aaron Halstead, said he sees about three wrist fractures a week on beginner snowboarders. And knee injuries are a daily occurrence with people learning to ski.
But it's very rare to cop one in a class, he said.
 
"It's more prevalent when they're out practising on their own time," he said.
School holidays are peak injury times, just because there are a lot more beginners on the mountains, and 57% of injuries occur in males because "they push it a little harder but there's also more of them".
Halstead said teenage boys from Australia are some of the most common casualties on the ski fields.
"They mostly sit and watch skiing and snowboarding videos and psych them selves up," he said.
Most of the injuries ski patrols deal with are described as minor to moderate meaning they "won't stop you going to work but will impair you".
Not being male, sticking to classes and falling just outside of the most prone age bracket (20 to 24) I was feeling good about going home injury-free.
 
On my third and final day in the snow I opted for a private lesson with competitive snowboarder Claire Nash at Cardrona, about a 40-minute drive out of Queenstown.
She had spent nine seasons, split between the South Island slopes and the US ski fields, teaching adults and kids how to master the sport. She said adults tend to have more of a mental block, unlike the youngsters who throw themselves into it.
"In my experience, the kids pick it up quicker because they charge more," she said after our three-hour lesson.
 
"They are all over it. They are not afraid to fall and the consequences aren't as great."
Nash also said women have a tendency to "want more hands-on" assistance - I guess it depends on the instructor - and guys are a bit more gung-ho.
By the end of our stint, Nash had me standing on the board, heading unassisted down the beginners' slope, turning corners and avoiding the human carnage created when others had crash landed.
 
My body was bruised, my ego was battered, but I was boarding and no bones were broken.
The writer was a guest of Destination Queenstown.

http://tvnz.co.nz/travel-news/not-so-hot-first-timer-in-queenstown-3673426