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Update from the Snowfarm
An Update Coming to You from the Snowfarm in New Zealand
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\r\nBy Rebecca Dussault
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\r\nAfter a grueling 14 hrs of airplane travel time we arrived here at our final destination. The Snowfarm is a cross-country ski area and lodge in the Southern Alps of New Zealand’s South Island. Our travels were very smooth. Tabor was disappointed when we finally landed in Queenstown because that was going to be our last airplane ride for about three weeks. He does amazingly well with all the travel.
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\r\nThe immense beauty of this island impressed us instantly. At one point from the plane I could see the ocean, a city, farmland, hills, and massive snow covered mountains. It reminded me of what the U.S. might look like if condensed into a small island only a couple hundred miles wide. The lower elevations have a lot of vineyards and sheep. There is something like 4 million people and 10 million sheep that inhabit the islands. Since the Lord of the Rings was filmed here it has tripled the number of tourists to the area.
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One of the many good vistas around here...
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\r\nWe deplaned and waited for the rest of the ski team to arrive an hour and a half later. When they got in we loaded all our stuff nearly sky high onto this poor little Toyota truck and its trailer. We left the lower elevations and drove into the high mountains where they get snow. The first thing that caught our attention was how everything is completely opposite in terms of driving down here. You have to drive on the left hand side of the road while sitting in the right side of your car. Our head coach did a fine job, as he has been here a couple of times. If I was driving I know I would have found myself in the wrong lane occasionally. In the upper right-hand corner of the drivers window is a sticker that states, “ To stay alive always keep left.”
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\r\nUpon arriving at the Snowfarm, we all made our way into our rooms and then gathered upstairs for some tasty lunch. Then, wasting no time we all headed out for a skate ski. The trails wind all over the place and disappear down into little canyons and go up and around small rises in the land. It is really an ideal place from training. It is roughly about 5,000 ft. here.
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\r\nThe food is really good and that is so important to us. Our room is nice and spacious, but we have to walk way down the hall to fill a water bottle, use the restroom or take a shower. We are trying to get used to that. Some of the more spoiled athletes have an upstairs room that has a private bath and a television. Next time we will have to request one of those rooms.
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Rebecca Dussault. This is Rebecca's first year on the National Team, and first trip to New Zealand. Our group has enjoyed having her and her family (husband Sharbel and almost-three year old son Tabor) as part of the team!
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\r\nOne of the reasons that I am finding time to write this is that I have been suffering from a bout of the 24-hour stomach flu. This has limited me to mainly bed rest for the last day. Sharbel and Tabor have been creatively finding ways to spend time out of our room so I can rest.
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\r\nThe last couple of days have been very snowy and cloudy. This afternoon the clouds began to burn off and again reveal the view that makes you max out your camera’s picture taking ability. Everywhere you look is another snow covered and ragged peak. I have decided that I also have to see this place in the summer before I die.
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\r\nThere are a lot of people staying at the Snowfarm right now. The Canadian National Team, as well as a huge group of Rocky Mountain Division juniors make up the bulk of the group. The Snowfarm is also a testing place for a couple of car manufactures i.e. Porsche, Volvo, Toyota, Honda and many others. I haven’t found out what exactly they are testing but there are a lot of vehicles out on the trails so we have to be careful not to get hit! Just kidding, they have their own roads that they cruise around on. I will try to find out a little more as to what exactly they are doing.
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\r\nTomorrow we will head back down the windy treacherous road, which goes to Queenstown to attend mass at the local Catholic Church. In the afternoon I will do an over distance session, provided that I fell well enough to. We are having a good time here. So far, the highlight for me has been watching Tabor learn to go downhill on his skis today. He would crouch in a little tuck and ride out the hill. He was very proud of himself.
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\r\nWe’ll that’s it for now. We will give you another update soon.
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\r\nThanks for tuning in!
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Wendy Wagner.
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Written By: RDussaultDate Posted: 8/11/2004Number of Views: 324
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