Mt Buller Trip #2 (19.08.07)

After going up to the snow last time...I was completely hooked again...and couldn't keep myself away! After practically no sleep (~ 4 hrs) again....I was woken up at 4:15am by SnowmanX on Sunday morning, who was right on time. I ran down stairs in my daggy PJs to let him in then quickly got ready. I don't think he was too impressed with the fact that I had slept in (Sorry SnowmanX)! We moved all our gear and food onto the car and then was off to pick PowPow up before heading to Mt. Buller. We were well on the road by 5am. PowPow was completely f*cked from like NO SLEEP at all. He had gone out Friday & Saturday night...so he pretty much just fell unconscious once he got into the car. Although I was exhausted too (as I couldn't focus my eyes while i was driving in the dark), I was also super hyper from the thought of snowboarding again ;P I chucked on good music and it was all sweet!


There was actually quite a bit of traffic going up to Buller...which was quite surprising. I was expecting less people because it's so close to the end of the snow season. I guess the fact that it's been a good winter with good snow so people are still psyched (like me)! So we made it to Mansfield in record time, got there just before 7am (except this time there was no crazy Johnny driving). Being "a weekend driver" it felt so weird driving over the speed limit of 100 km/h. Usually I feel weird driving past 60 km/h already....so this really kinda got me excited driving between 110-140 km/h....no need to say, the adrenalin rush kicked in early! I let SnowmanX drive up the mountain from Mansfield coz I'm not a big fan of narrow windy mountainous roads. I was stoked when we were there parked, getting ready for some boarding action by 9am. Best time record ever!!

The weather was absolutely amazing! It was super duper sunny, clear and no wind factor. Actually got quite hot. Snow was not the best...it was incredibly icy! I wasn't use to this coz last time we went up it was nice soft snow. Within the first 30 mins going down Burke St. I had stacked and bruised both of my knees badly. After doing Blue Bullet 2 a couple of times....we headed over to Little Buller Spur...only to find out that it had been semi blocked off for competitions. So instead we went down Wombat a couple of times. Boarding in icy conditions was actually harder than I anticipated, you gain more speed and have to work harder to turn and stop yourself as there is not much snow to dig your board into. My battered knees didn't help coz they became hyper sensitive and every time it touched anything it would hurt! Regardless, we kept going coz it was awesome fun! I practiced my turns and was able to carve for most of the time on the blue runs which made me really psyched!


PowPow and I boarded together the whole day coz we are around the same level. SnowmanX did a couple of runs with us before heading to the black runs coz he's way ahead of us in terms of skills! We all met up for a lunch break round 1:45pm....originally we were gona go to Kofflers Cafe...but there was so many people there it looked like packed sardines. So instead we went to the top of Wombat Run were there were some rocks...and set there looking over the mountain. It was breath takingly (did i just make that word up?) beautiful!

After lunch SnowmanX managed to convince us to go down a black run with him once...think it was the Summit...not sure...but it's the one that comes back up with the Howqua lift. At the start it was OK...but then you approach this slope which just looked like a drop....PowPow and I were seriously shitting ourselves. I couldn't even traverse down properly. Instead I was just fully in the stopping position the whole time but still going down fast coz it was that steep, just plowing all the snow up. I also fell on my bum a couple of times, and it was so scary getting up once you are down coz you literally feel like you are gona somersault and just topple over, all I could do was just lean...yep that's right...lean back. At least now I can say "YAY! I'VE BEEN DOWN A BLACK RUN! HOORAY, HOORAH, HOOROW"! Going back to Little Buller Spur after the black run was like "simple...i can do this no probolemo"! I reckon the last 5 runs of the day were the BEST EVER! I had finally got my carving under my belt, the icy snow had been plowed by everyone, so it was nice and soft but not slushy, I got used to the speed factor so wasn't as scared.....and I just went for it coz I knew the day was approaching its end :(

At the end of the day we all met up again to catch the shuttle back to the car park for the ride home. It had been a super duper awesome sick day! There are not enough words to describe how much I luv boarding. I seriously can't wait till the day that i get my own gear! I WANT TO GO UP AGAIN!!!!! Oh...and I finially got to check out my knees out at the end of the day....and lets just say they are totally battered!



For all the photos please visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dancinghula/MtBuller2190807