CORONET PEAK SAYS COME ON UP WE HAVE SNOW - Day 7
The Mountain is OPEN…for me that means rise and shine bright and early and get suited up. Of course I’ve got all my gear on right from breakfast and I’m amping to get up there and onto the snow.
Our buddy Mark Wilson picks us up with his trusty companion Jose all spruced up ready to dominate in The Speights Dog Derby, one of the Winterfestival events since the very beginning. Farmers and their dogs come from all over to get amongst and show their skills on the snow. They travel by Coronet Express chair to Meadows and then the race is on. We followed Mark which was hilarious…he nailed the downhill slope race but Jose was left way behind so Mark had to run back up find him and lead him down…Lisa what did you do to that dog, too much pandering on the ride up I think…I guess good old Jose, normally an office dog couldn’t resist taking in the sights while he was up there… Good Times…
It didn’t finish there though the next quest was for the farmers sheep dogs. This is crazy, imagine 20 or so dogs all running up the snow while every farmer whistles and yells calls at them as they try and direct the dogs up through the Speight’s gates….I think I only saw one dog go through, the rest were running a muck, urinating and excreting belongings on the snow and getting rid of the competition by chasing the other dogs away... Pity for Lisa as she was stationed right in the mix of it all…..Pure Gold…As she was stuck in there this was my opportunity to sneak for a run down the mountain…I’m off...Shhhhh!
I leave the dog scrum and do a quick 360 around the slopes to find no Jo in sight anywhere..Hmmm M.I.A…her favourite song and favourite move…anyway I’ve got my suspicions as to where she’s ducked off too..cunning…she’s hoofed it up the mountain for a quick board..she just can’t help herself and left me down here with the barking pack…..So, I head off to the presentation, grab a sausage and indulge in some banter with the farmers..I’m from Canterbury I can speak the lingo…
Jo rocks up with a snowboard acting like nothing has happened and is quick to change the subject back onto the farmers, well for about a second..then she’s off dancing with the dogs and convincing Jax – Awesome Festival Photographer, Fay Awesome Festival Organiser and myself - ahhhhh yip just awesome …to do snow fairies…distracted much…time to reel her in…
We're off. We load up with Mark and Jose and head down to the Speights Dog Barking. Strewth we have hit the jackpot here as Mark busts out some human barking on the ride down, there is a prize for the best human bark..I am so in there!! Lisa can I put you in a dog outfit??? Let’s get this prize..
No way Jo, I head right into the ring and witness not only dogs giving it their best shot but also owners…then low and behold I hear on the mic “next up is Jo” I think noooo way could it be Jojo?? What has she got? Then hello Jo enters the ring with “her dog” or should I say horse this thing is seriously massive..Where the heck has she found this beast..I dunno but ironically it’s called Holly…Let’s wind up for some barking from Jo..
Yes Lisa, I had cased the surroundings and found ‘Holly’ a great dane/dalmation who looked like a bit of me and clearly with the name “Holly” a great choice. Holly jumped up on the hay bails and did a fantastic performance, shaking hands, ducking and diving but no barking. When your dog doesn’t bark you have to step in and take the honours..so I grabbed her owner and we took on the challenge together..I’d have to say I may have a new skill here….bring on that prize..
With our trusty companion in tow we shot of to the Speights Ale house, sunk our teeth into a nice seafood chowder and good old garlic loaf in preparation for the Stag Roar. As the registration sheet went around I was very quick to nominate Lisa to have a crack at the roar…Nooo was the answer…but it was too late. After many attempts from competitors to perfect the stag roar Lisa took to the stage..I put her name down as Stagalicious…hahaha..She blew everyone away and was actually pretty darn good at imitating a stag..hmmm she may have a new skill too.
Yes, thanks for that Jo, didn’t you feel the daggers I shot you when you put my name down. Being the first female to do the roar I felt quite intimidated by all the masculine men that had roared before me…all I knew was that I wanted to roar, and roar loud for more than 2 seconds….and I delivered…look out stags…bummer though didn’t take home any prizes…hey but neither did Jo…unlucky.
Next we shot home for a quick change and off I went to film behind the scenes at the Alpine Health and Fitness Ladies Fashion Challenge..The ladies were part of a 12 week challenge and now are reaping the benefits of looking and feeling better with their awesome achievements. Out the back they are getting all dollied up and feeling the nerves settle in as they are about to walk the catwalk in front of a massive crowd. I might add here that they are looking absolutely stunning and radiating. Oh and they strutted their stuff alright, they worked that catwalk. Jax was amazing with the ladies, I caught up with her backstage and she was so inspiring, and calming for the hot looking women, they can rest assured that they are in great hands and Jax will definitely get all the amazing shots. Well done ladies!!
Then we jet setted off to the Ice Skating rink to film with the Southern Stampede…They were training when we arrived so we decided it was totally appropriate to name all the drills they were doing, one was cut the cabbage, another hustle and bustle and a few others…we weren’t really that creative with the names as we shivered rink side but hey we thought we were funny. But then it was time for us to shred the ice. Jamie threw us a couple of “players jerseys” yes they smelled..but what the heck we want to learn to play so on they went. Mike was the best, we learnt how to pass the puck, stop, smash for a goal, slap something and flick something…can’t quite remember the slang used here but we had a good crack at it…Highlight slamming into him…just like they do on game day…that was us!! We told Simon if they need any subs for the big game tomorrow just to give us a buzz…Now we want to take up ice hockey…look out…
Supper time..we dashed to grab some Japanese, yes we had more mayo then the actual food but we loved it…Now time to rest up….The mountains open so we need to be up with the early birds and on our boards….
Until tomorrow.
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