This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper, Vol 79, no 7, August 2007
Tararua Xtreme bumsliding team [School holidays ski week]
8 - 12th July 2007
The scene was set: an icy hill, twelve daring youths and a recipe for extreme bummaging . . . . There were 130km p/hr gusts, the mountain was closed and the kids were bored so Felix, our bummage team captain, started the party with an extreme slide down an icy and semi-vertical slope. The rest of the team liked what they saw and quickly followed in his slide marks. Soon the slopes nearby were crowded with members of the T.X.B.T. Even Lady Paula joined in as our most mature participant.
Soon everyone was covered in bruises, but that didn’t deter our enthusiastic team members. We quickly progressed to more technically advanced sliding manoeuvres such as ‘the train’ and ‘the airbus’. We also perfected our tricks on an array of hand crafted jumps. It was not until the sun set and the winds increased to hurricane force that our team decided to call it a day and retire to the Lodge for slushies (on the house thanks to the Raro). All in all it was a very enjoyable afternoon and it would not have been possible without our generous sponsors: Promax Builders and Custance Architecture, and of course our seriously cool trip leader, Jenny Jackson.
- Party members
- Xtreme team: Tai, Mo and Rewa Mourie, Lilly, Lara and Rafe Custance, Josh and Luke Nouata, Simon and Rita Maxim, Josh Jackson, Remi, Jonas and Felix Lamarche, Raquel
Bolton and Stefania Owen.(scribes: Rita and Rafe)