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Up early (6:45). We ended up getting ready quickly, so we headed up earlier than planned (I was told to get there at around 9 am, ready for the 9:30 am lesson start for Ethan). We got there around 8:15 am. Turned out that this was quite fortuitous, as the place is a shambles! But we managed to get to Ethan's lesson just after 9:30 am.
Ethan had a full-day lesson (from 9:30 am - 3:30 pm), and they provided lunch for him.
I had an intermediate lesson in the morning from 10 am. Ended up just being 2 of us in my group & the instructor we had has been teaching for 45 years around the world! And now lives on the mountain. Glad I did it as I had forgotten many key things. However, I was able to pick it up with a few pointers quickly. And spent most of the day practising on the same run (a longer one - but the main practice slope), the visibility was very poor & it was quite wet, and at times it felt like there was no one else there - then suddenly a crowd of people would emerge. I wasn't prepared to go on any other slopes as I couldn't see a single person ahead & I had no idea if I would be going the right way…
Ethan's lessons for the day were restricted to a small short hill - and he was very keen to go up the ski lift to the first run as soon as he had finished lessons for the day. So we gave this a go, and he was very confident, and it went well, considering it was his first time. We did have one fall, which was made worse as we had almost got the ski back on; someone (an adult) who obviously didn't know what they were doing slammed into us both at full speed! But we were eventually able to recover & it didn't put Ethan off at all! I filmed half of Ethan's second run & he went well (unfortunately, the video upload not working at the moment…). After doing 4 runs of the first slope (from the Bourke Street Express lift), we took a second lift almost to the top of the mountain (a very long lift - ABOM Express - the same one I had been practising on all day), and skied all the way to the bottom - Ethan did great. He made it the whole way without issue, despite visibility being very poor.
Throughout, Ethan was very confident that he would be fine and just went for it without hesitation! And complained that I wasn't going fast enough for him!
Overall Ethan had a great time (albeit he was very cold by the end of the day), he has one more day of lessons, and then we have 3 more days to ski. He's looking forward to this.
It was a slow drive back following a very slow car. Ethan eventually fell asleep. Came back to the accommodation, had long hot showers, then went to IGA to get some stuff for dinner (pizza), came back - Ethan watched videos for a while, we had dinner & now to get some rest before another early start (fortunately not quite as early now that we have our gear).
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-----My frustrations from the day… Learning for the future:
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Despite having pre-paid parking passes, we needed to cue for them to print a pass, as when I booked, I didn't know the number plate and was told to put in "rental". I had checked prior and was told I could have them printed on the first day once I knew the car numberplate - it turns out this is incorrect & we will need to cue and pay $6 every day for them to print a pass! Despite having already paid online, I now need to pay additional every day… I would have been better off not pre-purchasing and just paying when we get there. Having pre-paid also makes it more time-consuming as they need to manually look up my details to confirm I have paid - before still needing to charge me $6!
On parking, we went to the ski hire, following the signs, which was conveniently right next to the car park. However, that's where the convenience ended… Had to cue up, only to be told to go to a computer and enter our details, then come back, cued for the computer - filled in a form with details I had already provided when booking - with a computer not designed for the purpose so was frustrating to use, then had to re-join the cue. Then provide details again to have a ticket printed so we could go 5 meters to be fitted… When I gave the ticket to the person doing the fitting, they told me I need to cue up to pay - despite trying multiple times to explain I had already paid online & cued up twice already; he insisted I need to re-cue. Fortunately, the person at the counter saw this and confirmed we had paid & could be fitted - but the fitting guy said the tickets didn't scan… So the cashier then needed to look into why this hadn't worked - until I pointed out to him (the cashier who couldn't figure out what the problem was) that the guy who was meant to be fitting us had never even tried to scan them… So when the cashier came over to the fitting area and actually scanned them, it turned out they were correct! This whole fiasco took ages and meant the extra time we had was used up.
After getting fitted, we're told to catch a bus and then go up 2 flights of stairs to get to the ski school. It turned out the directions to the bus were problematic (resulting in us walking in a circle, including down a long set of stairs unnecessarily - in ski boots), then followed the instructions to get to the lessons, which it turned out were also incorrect! We were also told there would be people to help direct us - of this; there were none! Also, there was no signposting!
Eventually, we found the lessons - it turns out they're a long way up, and we needed to take a path halfway up the first ski run to get to them. (or catch the ski lift & ski down to them..!). As the skis were heavy - Ethan couldn't carry them, so it was quite a process to lug everything a few hundred meters up the mountain.
Also, it turns out; the ski gear can be collected from just near the ski school, which would have been an awful lot easier than lugging it up the mountain & catching a bus with all the gear etc. It Would have been useful if this was pointed out to us!
In asking at the lessons where I could put down bags, none of the instructors knew… ended up just hanging it on a post (I later found that there were lockers in the building next to the lessons)…
When the lesson passes, we're printed (at the ski fitting place). They noted that only 1 lesson had been printed for Ethan despite my paying for 2, so to check with the ski school re the second one. This invoked me cueing up at the ski school again, only to be told they only print a single pass & it will be ok for tomorrow (we'll see). On the way out of the kid's ski school, I asked one instructor what time I needed to collect Ethan & if I needed to be with him for lunch - they had no idea… Fortunately, someone else came past who did now - were quite abrupt but could tell me where and when to pick him up!
On collecting Ethan, I wasn't told what lesson he needed tomorrow until I enquired; he has progressed to stage 2. I then had to ask separately where this meant he had to go - glad I did, as it was a completely different spot.
On leaving, I needed to wait forever for the bus in a huge cue (meant to be every 5 min, but it was much longer than this). On finally getting bussed to our car park Ethan & I were getting off along with another family with very young children, all of us standing and walking to the door when the driver closed the door and immediately took off, sending us flying! When we called out (and some who had got off started banging the bus) the driver slammed on the brakes, sending us flying again! He clearly hadn't bothered to check the rearview mirror to check before leaving. The family with little kids were understandably furious as they were holding probably a 2 y/o when they were sent flying along with a few slightly older ones standing up.
The sign-posting to drive out is also, well, absent; cars were going both ways out the exit - it turns out, however, that only one way actually gets you out (I followed the car in front, and we got it wrong). Not a single sign pointed in the direction of the exit.
There were other small frustrations throughout the day… like they don't provide much space to place ski's when going inside, so you need to find a rail or bin etc… to lean them on (everyone was having to do this) - All the other places I have been having plenty of space. Poor signage on the mountain…
All that said, Ethan had a great day and is keen to keep going & I enjoyed the skiing part! So not so bad all-in-all.
Also, the cues on the ski lifts were pretty good - better than everywhere else I've been - so that was a big positive.
- comments
Jill/Nanna Wow, You have done amazingly well to cope with all that Luke. Obviously worth it, Ethan is in his element. Guess who will want to ski in the future!