Ski Trip 2007
At 6am on the 21st of August, 32 ferrets and 21 non-ferrets were lapsing in and out of consciousness on a 57 seater coach parked on Normanby Road adjacent to the Farrer car park. Most were very irritable and ready to castrate anyone who interfered with their quiet time at such an early hour, however they were yet to know of the incredible times that were to be experienced later that day.
Soon after stopping for brekky at Maccas, American Jack provided some not so light video entertainment of suicidal snowboarders tackling extreme slopes, just to reinstate any fears within first-timers who were worried about hitting the slopes for the first time. Matt was cursing himself for not bringing other DVDs when James GasBBQ started this one for the second time prompting thunderous applause from Jack and loud groans from everyone else.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon exiting the bus after 3½ hours of travelling, some with their self-assurance still intact. Whilst significant snow wasn’t witnessed during the drive up the mountain, that soon changed when we caught the shuttle up to the Mt Buller Village. The sun was shining and after collecting our ski gear, we were set for a great day of skiing.
A lot of the beginners made their way up Bourke St to the ski school to partake in ski and snowboard lessons (some were even game enough to take the lift), as others dispersed to all corners of the mountain to begin their first run for the day. Several ferrets were soon seen returning to the hire venue to shed some clothing after working up a sweat under the warm sun.
American Jack lived up to the suicidal standards he set for himself during the bus ride, being one of few ferrets taking to the large jumps down from the Blue Bullet 2 lift. Onlookers we heard remarking “what a nutcase!”, “absolute f***wit!” and “is that a...? ..oh, American” referring to his aerial antics. President Sinclair and Mitch (non-Farrer) were not far behind, also demonstrating their aerial talents.
Will Heyne, Jason Um, Tim Crosbie and Harprem Doowa were first-timers very quick to grasp the concepts of snowboarding with the more experienced Jack Taylor, Ellie Brown and Tommy Haberfield showing them the way. The skiers showing the beginners how it was done included Rob Capstick, Fred Raftellis, Louise Hilder and Dan Morgan. Partners (brothers) in crime Rahul and Varun along with their mate Madan and Tisha Agarwal appeared, several times, to be playing a game that could be likened to ‘stacks on’, whilst Hannah Ervin preferred to take out complete random strangers. Honourable mention must also be paid to Rowan Patteison for best sunburn, to Megan Gerber for best injury (still undiagnosed) and to Shashi Amarnani for, well…. for being Shashi Amarnani.
The most daring first-timer award went to Tyler Kavanagh (Howitt). Upon returning his snowboard he was accused of snowboarding on rocks by the Mt Buller staff and his board was apparently ‘destroyed virtually beyond recognition’. After voicing his disgust at the claims he later conceded he had stacked several times whilst attempting to “do rails ‘n shit”.
The piker of the day award went to Chinmay Shekkar after disappearing for the day after only a short period on his snowboard (or more precisely: on his arse). He was later seen ordering a 2-foot long chicken fillet from Subway.
The group regathered late in the afternoon, albeit much less enthusiastically, to board the bus and commence the journey back to Farrer. After a short stop for dinner in Mansfield most of the group caught a nap during the remainder of the trip.
A great day was had by all on the Farrer Ski Trip for 2007 and we look forward to an equally exceptional trip and snow season next year.
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