Camping Under Mt. Doom

We woke to seeing our breath this morning...inside the camper van in New Zealand's carrot capital, Ohakune. Though we had tried both settings, we decided to give it another try at lunch after snowboarding at Mt. Doom, aka Mt. Turoa.

The wind was howling when we pulled up to the mountain, and it was as if the wraiths were after Frodo and his ring. But the sun was shining, and we had plenty of layers, including AJ's top gear pick of 2011: the Mammut 750 Down Sweater (which he really didn't need because it was 30 degrees and sunny). The mountain was gorgeous, wide open with varied terrain, steep drops and long cruisers.

We took a few intermediate runs to warm up and then headed for the top on a six-person high-speed lift. The higher we climbed, the strong the wind ripped. At the top of the lift we faced the most treacherous part of the mountain: a 30 foot long ice platform where the chair unloaded. If you were a tiny bit cavalier or careless, your ass or knee kissed the crystal concrete.

But the riding was amazing. The trails were hard packed but groomed, and as the day wore on, the sun softened everything.

We broke for lunch, and AJ chose to frustrate himself with the GoPro for a second time (he'd already failed to get it working before we left in the morning), and unfortunately, the heat still wasn't working. He had a brief, self-contained bitch-fit, until he remembered he was in New Zealand snowboarding on a snow-covered volcano with perfect conditions with the woman he loves. The GoPro can wait, and the heat, we'll schedule an appointment at the motor car place in Taupo when we leave Whakapapa (after a second day of snowboarding).

So we don't have any heat. But the range works and we have double comforters, and we're camping in the Shire for $4 NZ. We're just a few kilometers from Mt. Doom, and tomorrow, we're going to shred it. If we have to sleep in all of our snowboard gear, we'll be ready to go at first light and have plenty of time until first chair.