In hindsight, the folks must have taken us spring skiing, and not winter skiing, when we were kids in NZ. I don't remember it being this cold. At the absolute screaming minimum, next time I must have a windproof layer (and my softshell jacket is not windproof). A neck covering of some sort is also essential, as might be a turtleneck jumper of some kind.
JD and I were very much the odd ones out. Even on the sunny days, more than 95% of skiers/snowboarders were wearing goggles and not sunglasses. Technology must have come some way, because I always found them uncomfortable and prone to fogging. And the ones designed to be worn with spectacles were even worse. (I wear contact lenses pretty much 24/7 these days, so that's not an issue any more.)
Another change is that well over half of all skiers/snowboarders were wearing helmets. The zoomy kids have worn them for a long time, but a lot of adults were wearing them too. I'm not sure why the adoption has been so quick, particularly among the "I am immortal" male 16-26 snowboarding demographic, but here are some of the reasons I heard/saw/read:
- If I'm making the kids wear them, I figure I should too.
- They keep your head and ears toasty warm
- Built-in MP3 player and headphones, for tunes as you zoom
- I believe all ski instructors are strongly encouraged to wear them, as role models.
- And, um, the safety reasons - Natasha Richardson's death was not in vain.
Not only are the express chairlifts quicker, the padded seats, and even footrests, made them much more comfortable. (They're quicker because they decouple the chairs from the cable at each end, so the loading and unloading speed is still reasonably slow, but the cable itself, and therefore most of the ride, is much quicker. The older style has fixed chairs, so the speed is dictated by the loading/unloading speed. And the back of your thighs get sore on the hard slats with the weight of your boots and skis dangling unsupported. With the very frequent stops of the McDougall chair (which feeds the main beginners runs), it could be a very long, very uncomfortable ride. The other older-style chair was on the newly-opened Valley View Lift, but was also too slow moving if the wind was up (got too cold).
Chains are a shit-load easier to put on than they used to be, or at least the ones supplied by the car rental people were. None of this putting chains on the spare tyre, then switching that with one of the tyres, chaining that and then switching that. Rotating my tyres is something I'd rather not do on a hillside, surrounded by ice and snow. These ones barely required you to kneel, and could be fitted by one person, with practically no swearing, and in less than seven minutes, including driving forward slightly to do a final tightening.
Credit cards, or even Australian Parachute Federation membership cards, make adequate window scrapers in the absence of anything more specifically designed. Make sure it's an expired card - the cold makes them brittle, and they snap. Very useful when dealing with below-freezing conditions (so using water to de-ice doesn't work).
A front-mounted bumbag (fanny pack for the Murricans) is more useful than a backpack. I carried my phone, wallet, camera, lip balm, camera and scroggin in mine. It had the extra bonus of keeping my lift pass ice-free (it was connected to the bottom zip of my jacket, so hidden/protected by the bumbag). (JD was happy to use the various pockets on his skipants and jacket.)
JD and the kids have become converts to scroggin - mix of nuts, dried fruit, and chocolately bits. NZ supermarkets all seem to have a variety of these available individually or pre-mixed. Ours had cashews, goji berry mix (including sultanas, cashews, peanuts, almonds), chocolate raisins and yoghurt-coated cranberries. A small handful of scroggin can keep you going when the cold weather, altitude and exercise see you burning calories at a much higher rate than usual.
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