Snowboarding a lot of fun, once you get the hang of it

Once the basics are mastered, snowboarding is sublime. Picture / NZski.com

Winter holidays usually mean escaping overseas to warm places. Breaking with tradition we decided to embrace the cold and explore one of New Zealand's great southern landscapes. Lured by mental pictures of gliding down snowy mountains we headed to Queenstown. Our mission: to learn to snowboard.

Our first day dawned clear and I experienced a mixture of excitement and apprehension as we wound our way up the narrow dirt road towards the Remarkables skifield, 45 minutes from Queenstown.

I eyed with envy the hot-air balloon rising into the empty sky above.

There had been no snow for several days, so we were able to drive to the foot of the skifield without chains. Outside the car the icy ground was crisp and crunched beneath my boots. But the sound of my footsteps was deadened as if swallowed by the snow. My lungs filled with cool mountain air. Inside a Gortex jacket and layered with clothing, my body was cosy and warm.

Arriving an hour and a half before our first lesson was a wise move. By the time we exchanged our vouchers for mountain passes, lesson tickets, snowboards, boots, bindings and wrist guards our instructor was ready to begin. He was good humoured and Australian.

We spent the morning practising the snowboarding stance, making small traverses down the learners' slope and learning how to stop. I was unbalanced, but found I was in good company with a dozen other awkward-looking learners. Interestingly, none of the others was a Kiwi.

By lunch, with more time spent on my bottom than on my feet, I confessed to feeling an element of frustration. Will I ever get up that mountain? I wondered as I gazed longingly at the glistening snowy trails above.

I watched with pride (and a tiny bit of envy) as my companion Olaf, who was already an accomplished skier, sped down the learner slope in a more than semi-controlled fashion.

By the end of the day Olaf was on the chairlift and traversing the upper slopes. I was still on the learner slope struggling to link my turns together to make a nice steady S-shaped curve without falling over.

On the morning of the second day I found myself still on the learner slopes and surrounded by Australians. "It's cheaper than skiing back home and the snow's better here," they told me.

Maybe they were the incentive I needed. One hour into the lesson, and I was confidently swerving around beginners on the lower part of the slope. I felt like a pro.

Getting to the upper ski slopes meant taking a chairlift. I discovered the hard way that this required a whole new set of skills. With one foot clipped on to the board I awkwardly shuffled and slid to get in line with four others before a chair came swinging towards us and lifted us off our feet. We were carried up the mountain suspended above tiny skiers and snowboarders silently zigzagging their way down.

Getting off the chairlift was an unexpected challenge. We were supposed to slide from our seat in unison, travelling in a controlled direction without knocking each other over. We ended up in a tangled heap and scrambled to clear the area before the next chairload arrived.

My first journey down the mountain was slow. I spent a lot of time on my knees and backside, which by now were bruised. But when I reached the bottom of the slope for the fourth or fifth time I decided I liked this.

Having tried a number of sports that take a frustratingly long time to master, I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of the snowboarding learning curve.

On day one as a total beginner I was classified as level 1. By the end of the first day I was 2B, a novice, which meant I could make basic turns but couldn't link my turns in a single successful movement, without falling over. By the end of day two I was intermediate level 3A. I was comfortable on the easy (green) trails and could make linked turns and successfully negotiate the lift.

By day three Olaf was already classified as an intermediate level 4. He could confidently ride the intermediate (blue) trails in full control. By day four he was almost a level 5 advanced snowboarder, who could ride intermediate (blue) and easy advanced (black) terrain. Olaf's previous experience as an intermediate to advanced skier meant his learning curve was faster than mine.

After each day, my shoulders ached and my knees and bottom were tender. My face glowed from the sun and wind and my body had an all-over warm feeling from a day of physical activity.

On one day my head pounded from the whip-lashing of a hard fall but while my body was tired each day, my heart had been touched by the magic of the mountain and my mind was clean and clear.

In the evening I'd watch in awe as the snowy peaks around Queenstown glowed pink then gold under the last of the sun's rays. We'd walk into town for a well-earned meal and cold beer.

Queenstown's streets are lined with bars, cafes and restaurants with something for every budget and taste.

On our fourth and fifth days of snowboarding, we enjoyed the wide expanses of the Cardrona skifield. Cardrona is an hour's drive towards Wanaka from Queenstown.

Our fifth and final day was hot, clear and windless. As I glided down the mountain wearing just a singlet under my partly unzipped windproof jacket I had to remind myself that it was winter.

I marvelled at the effortless speed generated by the smooth underside of the board and enjoyed the cutting whoosh of the snow beneath me. As I slid down the mountain I focused only on the moment, the movement of my body and the breeze on my face. I was now completing runs with little or no time spent on my backside.

At the end of the afternoon we took the chair to the top of the field for the final run of the day.

We sat and absorbed the views, waiting until everyone else had gone, leaving us alone with the mountain. The afternoon sun gave the snow a golden hue.

As I glided down the mountain for the last time, relaxing in my stance, I enjoyed the simple beauty of the curves I created with my board. With satisfaction we reflected, it had been a great way to spend our winter holiday.

CHECKLIST

Queenstown

Snowboard lessons

There are several package deals for those wanting to learn to snowboard. We bought lessons, equipment and lift passes as a package which enables you to hire snowboarding equipment on the mountain. Equipment can also be hired from a number of stores.

Adult packages for the Remarkables and Coronet Peak (Cardrona has similar deals available) include the novice starter pack. Approximately $107, this includes two 90-minute group lessons and hire of snowboard, boots and wrist guards.

The progression pack for the second-time snowboarder is approximately $138 a day, for 110-minute group lesson, all mountain lift pass and hire of snowboard, boots and wrist guards.

Transport

Four-wheel-drive rental vehicle with roof racks and chains costs approximately $120 a day or a shuttle can be taken from Queenstown to Cardrona for about $36 return, and to Coronet Peak and the Remarkables for just $20 return. Accommodation
 Prices vary from $12 to $1500 a person a night. A comprehensive list of accommodation is available online (see link below) or by contacting the visitor centre at (03) 442 4100.