Snow Golf Challenge

Some crazy Alaskan decided to start a Fur Rondy golf day, and Daniel spent Friday afternoon "on a course" with the Anglo team. The layout was like a mashie course, but the venue was a frozen lake. The snow around the tee boxes and putting 'whites' had been flattened, but the three-balls had to carry around with them a piece of astroturf to hit the ball from.

Armed with five woods and an iron, the Anglo Albatrosses and two faithful caddies/ groupies set off through the slush to the first hole. Daniel teed off first and coped beautifully with the pressure.

We soon discovered the challenges of locating bright blue golf balls in deep snow, and of keeping the mat from slipping on the ice during every shot. The holes were inflatable green tubes with a flag in the middle, and just hitting the ring constituted holing the ball.

Two of the holes posed an extra challenge as the golfers had to putt "native-style". At hole three they were obliged to wear 'snow goggles' when they reached the green, and at hole seven it was a pair of seal-fur gloves... This just added to the fun, but since the golf was hard enough already, it didn't really seem to affect their game!

The Anglo Albatrosses went round in an honest and admirable 21, but still lost out to some ringers who shot 18...!

The Frozen Oosik

According to the oracle that is Wikipedia, an 'oosik' is a"baculum used for copulation". The one we are referring to is the three-foot long penis bone of a walrus, and it is the trophy for the annual winter rugby match.

Rugby in Alaska is a summer sport, but once a year a few hardcore Pacific Islanders, the occasional lost Frenchman, and lots of local Alaskans who happened to learn the rules of rugby, engage in a match in knee-deep snow. Since the inaugural match a few years ago the scoreline has been 0-0 every single year, and this year was no different.

And so, at the end of a tough hour of running in snow without spilling their beers, the players kiss the trophy (???) and call it an honorable draw. And then head to the pub...

Some rugby players in action

Scrum down: the call was for everyone to go to the front row!

The ref holding the 'trophy'

Fun in the (little bit of) sun

The first month of 2010 has flown by, and we've filled it with all sorts of exciting activities. We were invited to play broomball in the friendly Sunday afternoon league with a huge group of friends. Broomball is a little like Calvinball. The set-up is similar to soccer: two teams, a goal at either end, most goals wins. However, most similarities end there. Broomball is played on an ice rink, but players wear running shoes instead of skates. They use "brooms", which are long poles with a rubber "blade" at the end, and they use these to hit around a kind of mini-soccerball. Feet can be used, accidentally and on purpose, but the use of hands is discouraged (but not illegal).

We're not sure how anyone came up with this game, but we're glad they're did! It's great fun, and it's the only time we end up outdoors wearing just a t-shirt, as we get we a good run-around!

We do also play a more formal sport, although some may argue that it's less civilised. We joined a mixed soccer team and we have league matches every weekend. Neither of us has actually played soccer before, so we were quite hesitant at first. However, our teammates have embraced Daniel's speed and sleight-of-foot, and they put up with my presence on the field when one of the other girls is having a rest...

The matches are all played indoors as the outdoor fields are covered with knee-deep snow. One of the venues, the aptly-named Dome, looks a giant inflatable dome. It is white, and camouflages nicely against the white sky or mountains, which makes it quite tricky to find! Inside there are three fields surrounded by a six-lane rubber running track.

The latest sport we've tried is snowboarding! Although we knew exactly how to excel at it before we even took to the slopes, we left nursing bruised bums and egos. Snowboarding is the "cool" sport at Hilltop, and all the gangly teenagers who whizz past are clothed in baggy shirts, giant hoodies, and ski pants hanging around their ankles. We thought that if we were suitably attired, we'd fit right in, but they saw through us!

Snowboarding turned out to be not that much fun. We didn't take to it as well or as quickly as we took to skiing, and we spent more time falling than boarding. It seems that much of a boarder's time is spent sitting on the snow tying bindings or trying to stand up. It looks like good fun when it's done properly, but we found skiing more enjoyable, so I think we'll be sticking to that!