Skiing and snowboarding

Way back, a couple of months ago, we planned a skiing holiday at Mt Ruapehu for the recently-passed school holidays.  We'd booked our accommodation and everything.

This would've been my first time skiing in over a quarter of a century, and the first time ever for everyone else in the family.

But unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, and the ski fields ran out of snow.  Apparently, the managers of the ski field decided to not maintain any beginner slopes during the school holidays, and only maintain intermediate and above.  (No idea why they didn't try to get the school holiday kids business.)

So, with no slopes suitable for us we had to cancel our holiday trip.

Instead we decided to try out indoor skiing much closer to home, at Snowplanet.

Three weeks ago today, during the school holidays, we had an evening of skiing.  Mulan and Miya skied for four hours, while Mama and I had two hours.  (Cost: $41 each, including equipment.)

We'd watched a few YouTube videos introducing how to ski, so we knew what to do.  Very quickly, Mulan and Miya took off on their own on the beginner slope, while I stuck with Mama helping her.  Towards the end of my two-hour session I tried out the steeper intermediate zone, and after a while Mulan came up with me too (though she fell over lots!).

After a half-time bite to eat, Mama and I relaxed and watched the girls keep going on their own.  Here's a couple of videos of the girls:

It was well worth it, and the time on the slope was about right for us beginners.

But then we heard that the homeschoolers were organising ski lessons during school term time, again at Snowplanet.  $28 each, including gear, for two hours.

Miya and I jumped at the opportunity, while Mulan was grumpy that she missed out and had to be stuck at school.

I thought I may as well try out snowboarding (first time ever), and Miya got another ski session.

By the end of last Tuesday's session Miya was much steadier on her skis and was going up beyond the beginner slope and into the intermediate zone.

Meanwhile, I was getting slightly steady-ish on my snowboard on the beginner slope.  I found my introductory lessons (alongside the homeschool kids) really useful to get me started.

My verdict?  I enjoyed snowboarding, and it was great to try it out, but I prefer skiing.  If we ever go skiing/snowboarding again, I'll probably opt for the skis rather than the board.