The Running Man

Hardkor3 weekend

Just came back from the much anticipated 'Hardkor3 weekend' trip up at Thredbo. In a nutshell...there was not enough snow (and we were meant to be in the middle of snow season...disappointing). Andrew and Pras both came up from Perth specifically for this weekend, as both of them haven't seen the snow before so it was an experience for them. I wanted to learn how to properly carve up the snow with my snowboard (ie. doing a nice 'S')..that was my objective for the weekend. For Anthony it was a 'warm-up' to his really hardcore NZ ski trip coming up in August. The picture on the right is us at about 2am on Sat morning about to leave, see we are all decked out in our snowboarding gear. Briefly the itinery was that we leave Pyrmont at 3am, drive down to Thredbo when the lifts open, snowboard until dark then do the same the next day and leave by 4.30pm (last lifts) to head back to Sydney. No time for comfortable hotels, meals, sighseeing, etc...this was going to be Hardcore stuff.

After driving for sometime, it got really foggy from someplace just after Canberra. Vis was probably only about less than a couple of meters in front of the car. We stopped at this petrol station for a break and look what we discovered...a haunted motel! Ok so maybe I am exaggerating and its probably a very nice motel (in the middle of nowhere)..but it was probably the fog and the environment that makes it look spooky..luckily we are not staying there that night (if it is even open). The picture below shows it more clearly... (look at that dirt track! it all adds to the effect).

After hours of driving with a couple more stop-overs to pick up our gear and check into our accomodation, we finally arrived at Thredbo..to be greeted by the bright and warm sunshine (for those non-snowboarders..this is never a good sign). Here is the four of us all decked out in our gear with our boards doing the traditional 'pose with the boards' picture. Got pretty good stuff too...Burton boards and boots.
As it is both Pras and Wongerss' first time snowboarding, Ant volunteered us to be their instructor, dissuading them from taking the beginner classes (provided by boarders who could board so much better than us). So after a little intro on the technique (I was quite new myself and by no means an 'intermediate') on Friday Flats (all man-made stuff), we went up the Gunbarrel Express chairlift to go to 'Walkabout' (where there is some decent snow.
Now, let me tell you teaching beginners is tough (especially since you are pretty much a beginner yourself)...got some fond memories of that. The morning was slow (because of the 'lessons') but after lunch Ant and me went off on our own to work on our technique and try out other slopes on Thredbo. The sun was still shining bright and the slopes were all ice, except for the top part.

This is us going up the Gunbarrel Express...all looking very cool. Taken by Ant with great skill (giving credit). I am wearing my new Dragon DX goggles...just simply love them. Was so useful throughout the trip (prevents the wind/snow from getting into your eyes so you can see properly). Also it is part of any essential snowboarding gear..


Wongerssss and me at the top of the (or near the top) of the mountain...'Walkabout' is my favourite slope..nice and simple for me to practice carving. 'Squatters Run' was icy and'Ballroom' isn't too bad. As you can see there is real snow up here too.





Me again, just sitting on the snow, waiting for Pras to get his bindings on (wasting valuable boarding time..haha)

Now this is one of the more interesting and unusual characters you might meet on the snowfields. This dude is getting married (A 'stag') and so I think as part of some Australian/Western tradition he is being made by his friends (who were accompanying him) to wear that outfit. Needless to say, it drew lots of attention and laughs. His name is Jason by the way (it was written on his shirt). Congratulations Jason!

There is something about snowboarding (and scuba diving) that makes you so ravenously hungry at lunchtime. It may be the huge amount of energy (maybe this is applicable only to beginners) you expand to snowboard and only when you sit down you feel like you could eat a cow! Eating on the snowfields is very expensive, but when you are tired and hungry the last thing on your mind is to save a few bucks...I think that quite a substantial chunk of Thredbo's revenue comes from their cafes situated around the mountain. My beef burger costs A$11.50, about double what I would usually pay for a burger in Sydney city..but when you are tired and hungry...

Nearing the end of the first day, Ant and myself tried to maximise our time on the slopes and that plan also included taking the Gunbarrel@ 4.30pm (last lifts). We took this picture, just as we were going to go down 'Walkabout' for the final time. Ant always looks angry in his pictures...but he isn't :P

After linking up with Pras and Wongersss...I did a 1 run of night snowboarding down one part of the 'Supertrail'. It was freezing cold (mostly due to the air vents on my jacket and pants being open..due to the warm weather in the day). Still just did it for the experience of snowboarding at night...one to be remembered.

For dinner, as I was ravenously hungry we ate outside our motel at a pub called the 'Hungry Ewe' (a female sheep)..can you believe on the drive from Thredbo back to our motel in Berridale, there was not a single fast food joint anywhere...such a torturous drive back. At the Hungry Ewe, I ordered a T-rex spare ribs (basically double the serving of a normal portion of ribs)..it was huge (I am not greedy, but Pras and Wongerssss assurred me that they would help me finish it...this was not the case :P). Just look at those ribs covered in chilli plum sauce...

On Sunday, Ant and myself when up to Eagle's Nest...now this is where the highest cafe is in the Southern Hemisphere..the food, as usual is expensive, but should you go up there..you have to try the Pork knuckle (approx A$30). When you are tired and hungry...

Recommended.

On this trip, because we didn't want to waste valuable snowboarding time, we didn't eat at Eagles Nest...but we did take a few pictures up here and get this...snowboard down. Now this is the first time I have done this and I feel its quite an achievement.

I even brought up a sign I'd made up for Serene's birthday present. My aim to go to Eagle's Nest to take this very picture...and I even dragged Ant (my cameraman) with me to take it. Hopefully the effort will be worth it (haha)...

Now here is my 'promotional' advertisement for Nestle...promoting the Milky Bar (because Ant works for Nestle and it was a crazy joke of mine that we should bring some Nestle chocolate bars and take pictures of them and eating them after a "hard day of boarding"). Maybe Nestle will sponsor our trip? haha...just a joke seriously.

Ant and myself did some jumps...I managed to do my 1st jump, got some air between my board and the ground..but still stacked it (fell over). I thought I was up in the air pretty high, but it is all perspective and I was probably only like 10-20cm off the ground..haha. I also felt that I had achieved my objective of at least being able to do some 'S' and not do a falling leaf everytime I go down the slope...still got lots of room for improvement.

The drive back to Sydney was long and tiring (not to mention the general all body soreness we were all feeling). Pras and Wongerss left on Monday. Well from the 'snowfields' of Thredbo...I am signing off.

posted by Darren at 2:35 PM