It feels strange to be writing this now; I’m not overly late by my standards – not even two months have passed since my last trip, and yet the change in the world around me suggests far longer. Strangely, there hasn’t been a gradual transformation of the seasons over that period. It was a change as sudden as a turning a light on, causing everyone to do a double-take at the world, and wonder how long we’d all slept one night. 
There was no spring - summer just arrived one week, unadulterated and unrestricted. Tens of centimeters of the precious snow base I had watched build up on the mountains were destroyed without mercy. Then, as if mother-nature knew a mistake had been made, the sun made a hasty retreat and the clouds dumped snow on the mountains in an extremely apologetic display. 
Another view could be that we were witnessing the winter’s death dance – a last burst of life energy before giving in to its fate, and then the following week it was as if it had never happened.This year was our first full season for snowboarding in New Zealand. I’d looked forward to it from the moment the mountains closed last year, and lived every moment of the season this year, by the mountain’s weekend weather forecast.
Our first outing had been wet and miserable provoking a cautious hesitancy that saw us watch every weekend for over a month pass by without strapping on another snowboard. When our set did arrive, and good weather was predicted for a full week, the whole of Auckland paid attention, and similarly heading to the mountains. Record numbers of 7000 and 4000 people were seen at the Whakkapappa and Turoa resorts. Still we didn’t care; we were on snow, in or out of a lift queue.
That week brought about the start of a few good weekends of weather and we took advantage whenever we could. I treated myself to a new snowboard jacket, and started braving the sorts of jumps I’d been comfortable on before busting my hand last season. Times were good. We saw more and more of the two resorts and got to know runs like they were our own back garden. I found a new appreciation for Whakkapappa. The plentiful natural bumps provided 
Like all time spent having fun, it passed by twice as fast, and it wasn’t long before that first week of summer arrived. The perfect white veneer was stripped away and the true grotesque features of the mountain. 
As it turned out, we were no more ready to accept this than winter itself, so when that further dumping arrived, we packed our bags, and headed for the mountains once again. All the beginner runs were now nothing but rock, so 2 consecutive chair lifts were required before you could really board anywhere. On the plus side, the restricted runs meant Lucie tackled her first ‘Black Diamond’ run, and there was still plenty of snow on the upper mountain to ease the painful goodbye.
It was a strange season on one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Back in mid-May, before the first snowflake fell, the tephra damn holding back the crater lake burst spilling a lahar of 1.4 million cubic metres of mud, rock, and water smashing down the mountain. This was actually a good thing as another lahar was due, and it was far better to get it out the way now, than mid-snow season. Then on 25th September, after a perfect day on the slopes, a hydrothermal eruption occurred without warning accompanied by a small earthquake. Rocks and ash were thrown into the air destroying the Dome Shelter, and two lahars stained the glorious white slopes. Amazingly, as no further activity was detected over the next two days, the mountain saw one of the busiest weekends of the season as thousands of people flocked to the slopes to see the stark contrast now affecting the mountain. Unfortunately we were not able to join them, and when we did make it back there, new snow covered the scar tissue, thus hiding the evidence of the true power beneath.
As it turned out, we were no more ready to accept this than winter itself, so when that further dumping arrived, we packed our bags, and headed for the mountains once again. All the beginner runs were now nothing but rock, so 2 consecutive chair lifts were required before you could really board anywhere. On the plus side, the restricted runs meant Lucie tackled her first ‘Black Diamond’ run, and there was still plenty of snow on the upper mountain to ease the painful goodbye.
It was a strange season on one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Back in mid-May, before the first snowflake fell, the tephra damn holding back the crater lake burst spilling a lahar of 1.4 million cubic metres of mud, rock, and water smashing down the mountain. This was actually a good thing as another lahar was due, and it was far better to get it out the way now, than mid-snow season. Then on 25th September, after a perfect day on the slopes, a hydrothermal eruption occurred without warning accompanied by a small earthquake. Rocks and ash were thrown into the air destroying the Dome Shelter, and two lahars stained the glorious white slopes. Amazingly, as no further activity was detected over the next two days, the mountain saw one of the busiest weekends of the season as thousands of people flocked to the slopes to see the stark contrast now affecting the mountain. Unfortunately we were not able to join them, and when we did make it back there, new snow covered the scar tissue, thus hiding the evidence of the true power beneath.
No comments:
Post a Comment