Extreme Sport on Mount Hotham

Last weekend was a really great experience for us the Zazamazu's. We went to Mount Hotham Ski Resort. It was an awesome adventure but in Gel's words 'EXTREME'. Apart from the family there were 9 others . Iqbal the organizer/chief of the tribe, Suhayl the Jester with Hanom as sidekick/bik, Aina and sister Eli (i might gotten the name wrong) - Zuber sisters lah senang, Pyan the talented architect(direct words from Fariz Helmi) with wife Wani, and the ever good looking couple Jel and Eza.

Seeing that none of us had ever been to Mt Hotham (which is considered a more luxurious ski resort in Victoria comparatively) we (80% of it was from Iqbal's effort) did a lot of research and planning for the trip. Siap buat meetings and tons of email. It paid off cause if we didn't it wont be enjoyable or safe enough. Extreme lah katakan (yes.. your gonna see a lot of the word 'extreme'). First and for most... it took us 6-7 hours drive to the hotel/apartment. Extreme tak.. especially arriving at 230am. In my case, I took a half day and started in the rented car at 230pm so I was really tired after all that time in the car. Had to pickup everybody - wife (port melbourne), kids (Ormond), Gel(Heidelberg) and Eza (Doncaster). The drive was also a little stressful cause we had to rush and reach the bottom of the mountain before 12 midnight to get the snow chains at a rental shop. It's against the law to go up without chains in the car. Good reason too... you wont get anywhere without it.. being stuck and slippery... dangerous too.

The drive up was really scary. It was late, dark, slippery, snowing, windy and extremely foggy. Horror pikir balik. I wouldnt want to do it anytime soon. You know the feeling of slipping and sliding during brakes and turnings.. well we got a lot of that dah lah ngantuk giler (jeles dengar budak dengkur baik kat belakang) at the time. Plus the sesat and slow drive... adventure giler.

So after what seemed like ages, we reached Lawlers Apartment. The best located Apartment I believe in the whole resort - Good choice Iqbal. You can literally ski all the way down from the front doorstep. But the sucky thing was that booking only one apartment we got only one parking spot. So the other van had to park 3 km's down the road (thanks pyan for doing that). Traveling in snow, even a meter seems far. Unloading the stuff into the apartment was also considered a tough task. Everything seems harder and heavier especially walking up hill.

Once everybody was safe and sound in the apartment. We had snacks to get back our energy. The apartment was old but it was very well maintained. It has everything... even washers and dryers. Good cause we plan to cook and everything. So after settling in we slept while dreaming of snowboarding the next day.

Early in the morning, I was excited although with 3 hours sleep. Can't wait to play snow. So being a strategist that I am, I made sure I played with the kids first before I have my own snowboarding time. We made a few snow man and played with the sledges or known here as trabugan (or something that sounds like that). The kids didn't last long in the cold maybe abour 30-60 minutes only at a time. Maybe cause I didn't get them proper gear. Sorry. But I think they didn't mind. They had heaps of fun nonetheless. Ohh.. the frustrating thing about the whole thing was sometimes it took us longer to get dressed/undressed than to actually be outside.

So after some quality time with the family, I had some quality time with the snowboard. I ABSOLUTELY love to snowboard. It was the best thing that I did and most missed when I was in NY. When we were in the states, we went snowboarding every winter.. we even went all the way to Aspen, Colorado the Beverly Hills of snow. So after strapping up the board, I was super excited. Didn't even wait for the other guys. Sorry friends. I bought the lift tickets and down I went. What a feeling especially I found out I can still snowboard after 6-7 years on being dormant. AAAHHHH the feeling of freedom and rush. Wosshh Wissshhh going sideways feeling like a seasoned boarder.. best gilerrr!! but then KEDEBAPPP!!! Now I remember how much it hurts.... But I loved it and kept going for several rounds.

The trails were pretty hard, steep, fast and narrow in compared to the ones I have been to but it was still manageable. You tend to get lost too cause of the various branches of trails and more sky lifts than I can count. Another thing worth mentioning is that Mount Hotham Ski resort is on top of the mountain while most other resorts are bottom based. So getting to the right spot you started was also an adventure. It took me an hour to find the right trail (extreme lagi). Yup being lost and all I sometimes end up in the hard trails (black diamonds category). Thats when I tend to KEDEBAPPP most and learn to read the signs more diligently. Unable to see past 10 meters due to the snow storm wasn't helpful too. But the best thing of all was the snow was super fresh and powdery.

After all the snow play, everybody was exhausted. We didn't really do much that night apart from sharing stories, healing and feeding. Lots of bruises and aches. One story involved was about a run away snowboard. Apparently Iqbal lost and watch his snowboard fall into the bushes with despair. What bad luck... he has been unlucky the whole trip. Another story involves getting the snow patrol in a minor rescue mission but lets keep that confidential.

Moving to the next day, we played with snow again ... it was fresher due to the storm on thats still going on. After the play, I had to get the van. It took forever to get it. Had to get the shuttle bus to get to the car park. Rasa macam kat Alaska cause nobody else was around. Shoveling snow with my legs and fitting the snow chains was no easy task. After getting the van... we loaded our luggage on off we went home. The drive back was still a little scary but at least there were more cars on the road and we can actually see whats over the cliff. The astonishing thing was when we descended there wasn't any snow suddenly.. passed that snow barrier thing. The rest of the drive was nice but still we were cautious of the 'black ice' thing.

After the drive, we reached home around 5pm ample time to rilex for the coming week. I sent the rental van in the city and enjoyed my train ride home replaying the snowboard and snow experience feeling satisfied with the adventure.

If you realize I havent mention the cost of anything cause it was truly madly deeply expensive. It was more expensive than Aspen I reckon. But playing snow is priceless.

ps... so Zareef jangan cakap ayah tipu.. there is snow in Australia!!