Thrills and Spills

L-R: Posers LAC Dave Whalley, CPL Jack Russell, CPL Rob Taylor, CPL Rowdy Roe. OH-07-0666-27-tn.jpg.

Ohakea’s Alpine Sports Club hosted the 2007 Inter-base Alpine Tournament 2007 at Whakapapa Ski field on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu over 17 to 21 September. FGOFF Simon Isemonger reports on the action.

All photos by AC Grant Armishaw.

After a pearler of a Monday up the slopes the teams arrived at the lodges where the 36 of us were welcomed by the friendly, fun loving wardens John and Greg. John is a 72-year-old skiing vet who put many of us to shame on the white stuff. He has a never ending smile; loves the amber stuff and seemingly has eight fingers on each hand. Greg, a bearded, bright eyed scout legend got us ship shape from the start. Never shy of a joke or method of taking the mickey, he celebrated his birthday with us and his family on Thursday night.

A piercing wake up call sounding like a cow bell rung by an eight-year-old had us tumbling out of bed and we soon tucked into a hearty cooked breakfast then sat on our hands, watching the weather roll through. It was a horrible, wet day and some decided to go to find out up close; others were a lot smarter and went to the hot pools. Wednesday morning looked promising, so we got cracking early and were racing by ten. The first event for all was the Giant Slalom. The skiers led the charge, slashing some quick times down the course before the boarders made their best attempts to do the same. A few passing clouds kept the racers honest and it was decided to shoot the skiers down the much tighter slalom course in the afternoon. Thrills and spills described the day as skis, poles, bodies and Cossack hats regularly tumbled down the slope. Casualties were kept to a minimum until later in the day when a clash between two competitors left a damaged board and a very big bruise that cut numbers down by one.

LAC Liam McGrath turns into the purple ninja turtle for the Big Air. OH-07-0665-96-tn.jpg.

We enjoyed a quiet evening in National Park and a few bleary-eyed individuals joined the rest of the pack in the lift queue on Thursday morning.

This was downhill day for the boarders and some were definitely feeling the need. A wide, sweeping course was laid out and our guest photographer put himself in the perfect spot for snaps of the action. Pushing and shoving ended with rolling, bouncing and skidding down the course. The wide smiles on faces said it all. It was a very successful and popular event with everyone digging deep to get one up on their mates.

The competition’s final day was not over yet. A big air event came complete with cameo of none other than Donatello, the hero in a half shell. Some dodgy inverts sporadically appeared throughout some clean spins and grabs. Morale was high and even the novice riders hit the kicker for a laugh. Air of the day was a squeaky clean 360 from the victor. The only hero or villain with a limp on skins night was the aforementioned casualty. The crew closed the successful week of competition with a light bevy or three and a different kind of racing for the punters enjoyment.

The week was highly successful and enjoyable. Thanks to the Ohakea Interbase Committee for making the tournament possible and, ‘well done’ Team Ohakea 2007 for taking out the gold. Special thanks go to our photographer, AC Grant Armishaw, for the great snaps.

CPL Jack Russell shows winning form in the Big Air. OH-07-0666-17-tn.jpg.

Contact your local OIC Alpine Sports for madness on the mountain next year. Get involved; dominate.

Sponsors

A massive thanks goes out to our generous sponsors and supporters:

• GROOVSTAR
• COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR NZ
• SCHNAPPS BAR
• JUNCTION SKI & BOARD
• SKI FM
• TCB
• ROY TURNER SKI & BOARD
• EIVINS SKI & BOARD.