It’s been a funny few days. Now that we’ve finished, I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to do with myself. We had a good night out on Friday and a final Rookie get-together on Saturday, but I felt strangely detached from it. Felt like a bit of an anti-climax (again). Sure, I’ve enjoyed this and met some great people, but it just doesn’t feel like the end of a major occurrence. I think I need to rest and let it all sink in.

Went up the mountain on Sunday and regretted it, the Saddle lift was shut and I was just tired. I ended up renting some skis and having a blast around, which was good fun, definitely need to get some proper lessons though!

Spoke to Tim Williams, the snow school director, about shadowing some lessons a while ago. He seemed quite amenable to the idea, but the past few days, there haven’t been enough lessons going up. But today, I managed to shadow Bronnie’s level 3 lesson and ended up taking one of the clients on my own. Seemed to go well, she had fun and didn’t hurt herself! Managed to get her down Easy Rider by lunchtime. Then spent the afternoon riding in the Saddle, hitting the park – managed to land a few kickers, so result all round today.

Still, feel a bit funny though – not really sure what it is, tired, lonely, lost, bored, down. Dunno really – going to the cinema tonight, then will spend tomorrow packing stuff up and getting ready to move out of here.

Well, Kipling provided the script for today, but in a somewhat different manner than what I was expecting.

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same”

Yep, failed my BASI exam. Was on my riding, I just wasn’t up to scratch. It’s the right decision, but it’s still tough and I’m gutted. But at least I’ve got my Stage 1 and a job to go to.

I’m still proud of what I’ve achieved and how far my riding has come this season – this was always going to be a huge challenge and to have walked away with 2 qualifications and a job means a lot to me. I’ve travelled the road not taken and don’t regret a second of it.

Why I’m up when I should be fast asleep for tomorrow, I don’t know! Anyway, had a good day today – fresh powder, lots of strong riding and positive feedback. I scored well on the areas that we’re being assessed on, but still have work to do. I’m a little disappointed, cos I was hoping to have had it all wrapped up by now so that tomorrow wouldn’t be so pressured. But now, I’ve got one last shot to prove myself – I know I can do it, I just need to get out there, focus and do the business.

You’ve probably noticed that I like to quote various bods, tonight, Kipling is my inspiration for tomorrow:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

Teaching went well today and we had the written exam today too – think that was pretty sweet, so all that’s left to do is the riding assessment. We’ve been continually assessed and last week’s riding was pretty poor by me.

But I’ve had lots of feedback and worked hard on things, so hopefully I can prove myself tomorrow. Just need to focus and remember to relax too!

Chew taught us how to ride boxes too today and I nailed a straight box about 4 or 5 times. Even tried a nose slide (where the tail of the board hangs off the box as you slide along) – just about managed that too – really enjoyed that and look forward to playing a bit more after the exam is over!

On other news, Jen got the job at Winter Park! So we’re all set to head over there, just need to figure out the visa situation – but from initial investigation, doesn’t seem too bad! Can’t believe it is actually happening – will be awesome to be in Colorado!

Been pretty slack at blog entries, partly due to techincal difficulties and partly due to being totally exhausted. So, three days left and I think it’s safe to say that I’ve been through every emotion I’ve got. It’s been a pretty intense time and I’ll be glad when it’s over – snow’s been terrible and the weather not much better.

Started buoyantly as a few things had dropped into place just before the exam started. But, by Wednesday, I was feeling totally exhausted and my knees were killing me. The weather and snow continued to get worse, which made it hard to keep spirits up. We had lots of video sessions and none of them particularly good. But I thought the latter half of the week would be better – we were due to cover carving – an area that I felt really confident on. However, on the day, the snow was really difficult (not that that’s an excuse) and I had an absolute shocker – scoring around 2/3 instead of the 5 I need to pass, so ended the week on a real bummer.

Spent the weekend working on a few things (despite barely being able to get out of bed) and Saturday was great – a bit of fresh snow and the whole day spent working on turns and riding bumps with Mike. Basically, needed to concentrate on closing off my turns and pedalling around the board.

I decided to take Sunday off as I needed the rest, but spent most of Sunday wandering around in a daze and feeling really low on energy. Went out on Sunday night as it was the last night of Wanakafest – watched the rail jam and snapped away with my camera at the fire poi and fireworks displays. It was a good distraction and Monday was a much better day – got lots of real positive feedback on all the stuff I’ve been working on.

Which just about brings us up to date – today was the first day of our teaching assessments. I had to teach garlands to a group of unfit clients – it went well and I feel pretty good about the teaching side. Got one more lesson to give tomorrow – I’m doing it on aft-pressure (basically, pressing the back of the snowboard to get more grip) – something that I’ve only recently discovered but has really helped my riding.

So there we have it, my BASI so far, feeling totally exhausted and tired of being assessed continuously, only a few more days to go – just writing my lesson plan now, then will have a good sleep! Tomorrow is the last teach, then there will be two more days of riding assessment – a chance to redeem myself from last week’s performance.

My quest for space took me up Mount Roy today. It’s been ages since I’ve done any proper walking, so it was quite a nostalgic relief to go up the side of a mountain.

Mount Roy (or Roy’s Peak) is at around 1500m, so is over 1000m above the road – pretty vertiginous climb, steep switchbacks snaking all the way up. It took Kev and I nearly 3 hours to get up (via a small diversion into some prickly tussock – oops!). The views were spectacular – right the way down the Matukituki river to Mount Aspiring, over to Treble Cone and right back over to Wanaka. Couldn’t have asked for better weather – clear blue sky and not a breath of wind in the air.

As we reached around 1200m, we hit the snowline and had to dodge the odd patches of spring snow. Right up the very top, we were forced to trudge through snow to climb the last few metres up the ridgeline.

I was supposed to be having a rest day before BASI, but I’m glad we went. I needed to get out there and do something (not that I don’t do that on a daily basis, but you get what I mean).

I’m looking forward to starting the exam tomorrow – not sure how I feel, don’t feel worried as it feels just like another week of training. Well, we’ll see how it goes. I feel much more confident about my riding (and feel that I’m now riding like a Stage 1 qualified instructor!) and the teaching is pretty much the same, so am quietly upbeat about it. I’ve just got to focus and consistently show that I can do it.

Today was our last day of training – it kinda crept up on me, but there we have it, all we’ve got left is the BASI exam. It’s been a challenging experience, I have in equal parts hated, admired, reviled and loved the trainers, but what is undisputable is how far I feel that I’ve come. In terms of my riding, my resilience and my understanding of myself and others.

Coming here was a real step for me and looking back, I’d forgotten quite how much this means to me. Somewhere amongst the changes, the stress of exams, self imposed pressure to improve my riding and wanting to be seen in a good light, I’d lost perspective. But in the last week or so, I feel like I’ve remembered what I came here for and how life is. I’ve remembered that life is fun!

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Awesome (must stop using that adjective…) day today – snow is still a bit rubbish today, but it was a bit colder today and there was a little fresh last night, so all in all, it wasn’t too bad! We had yesterday off-mountain because of the rain, but it was a good break.

I’m in a group with Tom as our trainer this week – still with Pete, Claire, Nipper and Chelsea. We’ve been working on improving our flow and moving fore and aft on the board a bit more. Had a bit of a breakthrough on Monday with Tom and practised it a bit today – starting to feel more fluid in my riding now. Still need to work on my heelside posture (I tend to break at the waist), but we did a great exercise with Neil last week that really helped – he dragged us around with a drag lift handle to get us to resist and stand up properly.

But the real exciting thing today was a new board! Having demoed the Burton Seven and not liking it, I tried a Capita Shapeshifter – and loved it! So, I’ve treated myself to one, managed to get quite a bit off cos it’s the end of the season and cos I’m a qualified instructor!.

Can’t wait to play with it tomorrow – looking forward to BASI exam now, feel less stressed about it, partly because of the style of the trainers and partly because I know I’ve got my NZSIA already.

Was roasting today – glorious and sunny, but way too warm. Spring is creeping up on us! Spent the morning on the platter practising the BASI Central Theme – basically the beginner stuff. Being a geek, I found it real interesting to compare it to the NZSIA approach.

For the afternoon, we all rode together and hit the bumps in powder bowl – tough work, but great fun – Neil even said that my run would be a pass in the exam. Also managed to make my first grab on a straight air today – and it’s even on video! It must have been the demo board, cos I managed to land a 180 later on. Really enjoyed the board today, but will try a few others – have picked up a Burton Seven to try tomorrow.

Day 1 of the BASI training and I had possibly my best day riding ever. Things just flowed today and I was riding like I should be. Was a real confidence boost and I thoroughly enjoyed myself today. I reckon it’s cos the pressure’s been lifted and I can relax a bit more now.

We had an evening lecture setting out what was required and going through some theory. Basically, BASI score things from 1 to 6 and we need to be scoring 5 on most things, which is the ‘early acquired’ phase – which means that we are doing it without thinking about it. I’m feeling pretty buoyant about this and we’ve got 2 weeks of training to get to that level, so I hope I can do it. Again, I’m pretty confident about my technical knowledge and my teaching, just not so sure about my riding. Well, we’ll see how things go!

I’ve also decided to demo a few more boards, trying a Rome Agent 158 tomorrow – it’s a bit more freestyle and has loads more pop than my old board, so will be chucking me about the mountain!