So despite a big weekend every body was bright eyed and eager to back into this Monday morning.
With just one week now until level one exams the urge to learn, progress and beat the nerves was very obvious and great to see. Getting the confidence to teach in front of their peers is often a daunting task for many students but ourselves and the instructors encourage and support them all the way and it really is satisfying seeing some of the more quiet of the crew come out of their shells. Having had an introduction to teaching last week they now had to start really smashing those lessons and to our pleasure they are all killing it and on track to maintain our 100% pass rate! Go team!!
As you can imagine the pressure has been on so Monday and Tuesday nights were very quiet with a few beers and group study sessions in the hot tubs. We hold a weekly poker tournament on Wednesday nights which is a fun way to get together and maybe win yourself a jug of beer for Friday, though there maybe a stewards inquiry if the same person keeps winning (Tom)!!!
However Thursday was Australia Day and this is one of the biggest events in the Big White calendar. The main seasonaire population hailing from there means you can’t go anywhere without hearing ‘G’day mate, how are ya?!’. The day starts off at 10am with a group ride down a run here named ‘kangaroo’ which saw about 60 people (many in boardies or bikinis) clutching beers with native flag capes flowing behind them. Quite a sight!! We then moved up to the ‘hostel rail jam’. A yearly event held at the hostel here which as you may have guessed has a 95% Aussie population. A fantastic event with rails, jumps and a awesome Dj.
The vibe was amazing and got more and more wild as the day went on and the beers flowed! All our students finished lessons a bit early and came up to get involved with many hitting the jumps and making sure everyone knew NBS were in town! We partied here until dark then on to Sams to continue the merriment. As everyone was still in their riding gear we only stayed for a couple then headed back to t our apartment building. All I can say is ‘wow’ it was brilliant! ?
Friday morning was a little dusty but everyone was up and ready for it and after coffee and some deep lungs of mountain air off they went for the last days training this week. We have a weekly debrief on Friday afternoon and we were proud to hear all our students have excelled in both their riding and teaching, awesome!
Our Friday night meal this week was at ‘Sessions’ and was fantastic. It just what we all needed after the night before! A few beers but most people took a early bath so as to be fresh for Saturday and some practice teaching on each other.
This Saturday night Joey and I had our 2nd ‘come dine with me event’ to be held by the level 3 group. Not massive fans of cooking they (controversially) took us to the steakhouse for a slap up meal and fine wine! It was great however there is now a petition to disqualify them! (seems people want to petition everything nowadays hey?!). Anyway having had a nice civilised meal the immortal words ‘quick pint in SAMs were mentioned’, the writing was on the wall then! However it was another great night and many of our crew were out and many of the instructors. It’s really good that we all bond socially as it makes for a far more friendly relaxed atmosphere on snow. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.
Everyone enjoyed nice quiet Sunday watching movies and getting ready for the first exams of the season!! Good luck guys, stay focused, you got this!!!!
Peace and love snow friends, Ant and Joey x