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What a sight it was! Forty two students at 4 am in front of the Medical Building. Being half asleep, I just stood there in a daze. Suddenly, Ruey appeared and welcomed me aboard the 5 star ˇ§USA-Buslineˇ¨ coach. ˇ§Welcome aboard! Make yourself comfortable! Help yourself to the toilet if you wantˇ¨. Unorthodox, but spirited. His enthusiasm was infective and soon, I was caught up in the excitement. My heart began to pound with anticipation as I dreamt about what the next three days will hold for me. At the same time, however, questions raced through my head. What was it going to be like? Would I freeze? Would I fall? Would it snow? Would I see the abominable snowman?
The former was particularly worrying as I had only brought two pairs of jeans and no matter how expensive they were, they were never going to be waterproof. Sing-Jill answered my prayers when we stopped over at Mansfield four hours later to rent out ski clothes and have a nice HOT breakfast! A few moments later, we were weaving up the mountain to Mt Buller. Having two fully functional semilunar canals, I felt every single curve of the winding road. Looking around, I noticed that I was not alone. Just as we were about to have a bus full of vomit, we reached the peak and for those who had never seen snow, there was an awe of amazement. For those who had, there was a hint of disappointment.
There wasnˇ¦t much snow and so only a few runs open: Bourke St, Summit,
Little Buller Spur, half of family run and a quarter of Wombat. However, this
didnˇ¦t dampen our spirits, as being Medical students, we were eternal
optimists. After all, if we had survived the experience of cutting up dead
bodies, jabbing ourselves with lancelets and taking glycerol trinitrate, a bit
of ice, grass, rocks and moguls wasnˇ¦t going to hurt us!
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Having reached our lodge, the AJAX (no, we didnˇ¦t have any predilection towards detergents), we split into two groups. One group headed straight for the snowfields to ski or snowboard. The other decided to explore the serene village, build snowpeople, have snowfights and toboggan. I belonged to the former and before long, I was in skis and set to go. But there was one problem ˇV I had forgotten how to ski. Foolhardedly, I decided to proceed down the slope, foolishly thinking that it would automatically come back to me. Having travelled 1 cm, I tripped and snowballed down the slope. Again, being an eternal optimist, I prayed to good Lord and my prayers were answered when and instructor came and gave us lessons.
Before long, the basics came flooding back and I started enjoying myself. It was a feast for the senses ˇV the crackle of friction as fibreglass met ice, the piercing chill as the wind bit into our faces, the throbbing heart as the slope flashed past at rapid speed. It was a wonderful experience. Life as it was meant to be. But like all good things in life, it ended at 5pm when the lifts closed. Then began the long hike back to AJAX.
Back at the lodge, a hot three course dinner was waiting for us. A big fat
juicy steak with warm pumpkin soup, finishing with apple strudel. Following this
scrumptious meal, was a relaxing massage in the spa and some chatting in the
sauna. The rest of the evening was spent playing pool, table tennis, gazing at
the stars or just reading those fabulous thrashy magazines lying around. For
those of us who had the foresight to bring a driverˇ¦s license, the pub was
also an option. Here, the night was spent drinking cinnamon schnapps, playing
Daytona and enjoying the crackling fire. After a few drinks, tales of humour
began to be told. Unfortunately, alcohol does terrible things to my memory and
so I cannot recount any of them.
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The second day was just as good as the first, if not better. Starting with a continental breakfast, everyone eagerly headed to the snow. After warming up by ourselves, we were divided, based on our experience, into groups of around seven skiiers/boarders. Each group was then tutored by an instructor for 2 hours. The lessons proved to be worthwhile because after many falls and trials, we more or less got it right and by the end of the day, we were all skiing/boarding to our heartˇ¦s content.
Again, the day flew past and before long, we were taking the taxi back to AJAX. Again a hearty meal of beef burgundy pie, chicken soup and trifles was awaiting us. After dinner, the medical students among us, being compulsive hypochondriacs, spent the night comparing bruises, grazes and cuts. For those who were less worried about having epidermolysis bullosa, the night was spent playing games and pigging out on the large stores of KitKats, instant noodles, chips, etc. we had bought up with us. Having fulfilled the adage of ˇ§eating, drinking and being merryˇ¨ we fell into a deep slumber. I had never had such a good nightˇ¦s sleep. Perhaps the exhaustion helped.
Last day was the day to go extreme (for some, anyway!) No need to worry
about overstretching muscles, tearing ligaments and breaking bones. After all,
we had two weeks to recover! So off we went going down slopes full pelt and
looking for any hills to jump. Some of the more daring (e.g.. Jill Singer, hint,
hintˇK) who had only been skiing/boarding for two days, took on blue and black
runs. (Green = beginner, Blue = intermediate, Black = suicide).
Eventually, darkness fell and the 5 hour trip back to Melbourne began.
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All in all, we had three full days of maximum enjoyment where we met a whole range of wonderful people from those who drank five bottles of coke a day to those who loved Mission Impossible. Of course, all this wouldnˇ¦t have been possible without the tireless efforts of the OMSS (did I mention Damien anywhere?) and for them, we are eternally grateful. Hopefully, the same thing will happen next year, and this time, Iˇ¦m going to bring my girlfriend (if I get one by then!).
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| 1999 Mt Buller Ski Trip photos | Page 1 2 |
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