Typical Day

today was pretty typical, so I will let you know what it was like. Wake up at 7.00am. It is still pitch black. Usually the girls knock on our door to wake us but the wheelies (guys in wheelchairs) will wake us a couple of minutes later wheeling around the kitchen which makes a sound not to dissimilar to a turbo prop plane taking off. The bathroom is a shyte fight. I share with two girls and a boy. The boys take less than five minutes combined but for some reason we are always waiting for the girls. What the hell do they do in there? Breakfast is usually 7.30am. Continental style ceral and toast and fruit. Leaves me wanting sometimes so i often get something on the slopes like a breakfast burrito or a breakfast pizza. We start to get changed around 8am, this takes me less than two minutes but yet again the girls seem to take hours. Our assistant coach Graham, aka the hoff, arrives about 8.20am and warms up the van. The four wheelies, the two blinkers (blind peeps) and the cerebal palsy dude take about ten minutes to get all our ski gear in the van. We take turns helping the wheelies into the van as they need to get their wheelchair real close and kind of hop into the van. We then pack the wheelchairs into the back of the van. By 8.30 hopefully we are off. The drive to the slopes is my second favourite time of the day. The music is cranked up (usually trash - but still brings a smile to my face_. Our direct route gives us a great view of the mountain as we live on a hill with a valley between us and the mountain. The route takes us through downtown Kimberley, all eight streets. We take a right up the mountain drive and often see wildlife like longhorn sheep or buck (deer). I like seeing the animals, always give me a sense of place and being. The route takes about five minutes maximum. When there are more than two cars in front or behind us the locals call it a traffic jam. We arrive at the mountain and being all disabled get dropped off about ten meters from the main quad chairlift. Another ten minutes is spent getting the wheelies out of the car (we again take turns) as well as all our skiing gear (including the wheelie's buckets, which are quite big_. The blinkers, the one legged and the cerebal palsys often are the first in the queue. I have had the first chairlift twice and only been here a week. This is obviously my most favourite part of the day. Even today, a Saturday, I was the seventh chairlift up. Most mornings we make first tracks on our favourite groomed run called Midnight. We all love it because it has a gradual rolling pitch where everybody is confident enough to go fast. The only exception to this rule is the powder day, where we veer skiers right onto the boundary run, where the best powder runs are found. By the time we are at the bottom of the first run the wheelies are ready to go and all the coaches and trainers have arrived. We all go up and break up into groups. The wheelies, the blinkers with each of their guides, and the one leggeds and cerebal palsys. We ski in our respective groups until lunchtime at 12 midday. A homemade lunch is provided by Tegan, the head coach's wife. We take it in a little warming hut at the bottom of the mountain. Usually it is a ham and cheese roll, or egg and lettuce roll with a hearty soup. Cordial, Muffins, cookies (woops I mean biscuits) and fruit are also provided. I also like to finish lunch with a coffee. Albeit a dodgy Starbucks one which seems to be the closest thing here that resembles the real stuff. About quarter to one we all go up and free ski for a run to warm up again. At quarter past one we again meet for the afternoon session. Breaking up into the previous groups we do drills, routines and practice, practice, practice. Sometimes the race course is set up and we get some practice (today for example I got my first untimed shot at Giant Slalom - which I was comfortable with). The afternoon session finishes at 3pm (good for me as the sun starts to go down behind the mountain). We can freeski, practice drills or just warm up in the pub. Today for example I did two more runs after 3pm practising my carving technique with proper up and down movement. Incidentally, I really got the hang of this and for the first time I experienced the "popping" sensation (where most of the turn is done in the air) when doing extra steep moguls. At around 3.30pm most of us can be found in the pub drinking warm drinks, or in mine and the wheelies case, beer. We also love to get their waffle fries, full of extra good fatty grease. At 4pm we usually pack up and head, again loading up the van with skies, buckets, wheelchairs and ourselves. We often stop at the grocery store or the ski shop on the way back just to pick up a few things. By 4.30pm we are usually always home, unloading the car, chucking snowballs, watching the ice hockey players across the road, or just unwinding. I always help unload the car so I can be the first in the showers. By being first in the showers I can also be the first on the internet (like now!). It is freetime until about 6.15 when dinner is served. Dinner is also a favourite time of the day not so much because I am so hungry I could eat a dog a cat and a horse but because we all gather around and talk about the day and joke and fool around. After clearing up and helping Tegan with the dishes, I often do some stretching in front of the TV while the others watch a movie, use the internet, read a book or tune skis. By nine I am always thinking about sleep. By ten thirty I am always asleep. So this has been my life for the last week and will be for the next three. I can honestly say it is without a doubt an eye opener. In saying that I am also 100% committed to the cause and I love my life here. I do miss my fiancee exceptionally and that for me is the only thing that is really missing. So there you have it.