Why: I've always gone to the snow and every year seen at least one idiot skiing in just his underwear and one time I thought to myself one year I want to be that idiot.
Problems: Was rather cold, comfortable in own body??, sense of dignity, cold!
What Happened: On the 25th of July 2010 I embarrassingly walked out of my hotel at Thredbo in nothing but my skin tight short skins and a thin T-shirt. Instantly I was hounded by strangers at the local bar, attracting my fair share of wolf whistles and cat calls but I held my head high.
After booting up and locking into my skis I met up with my fully clothed friends and told myself how much I hated them for not joining me. Soon an eager crowd had gathered out of curiosity to see first hand why there was a young man skiing down the busiest slope on the mountain practically naked.
On the chairlift I began to realise just how cold it was, my fingertips had gone numb and my friend delightfully pointed out "Mate you cold? I can tell, you should have at least put some socks down there or something." How colourful of him. He then proceeded to put snow down my back.
As I left the chairlift the local 'liftie', or chairlift operator, questioned if I was cold. He was the 14th person to ask me in the 10 minutes since I'd left the hotel.
Before I knew it my friend had the camera and was filming me as I removed my white shirt, to reveal a chest almost as white anyway, and laughing as I began to ski down the slope followed by my mate who was eager to push me over and watch me freeze to death.
After getting my picture taken by strangers and waving my shirt above my head like a flag on the final stretch to be welcomed home by an applause from a group of strange middle aged tourists I put my shirt back on and returned past the pub and to the hotel, this time acknowledging the catcalls and wolf whistles:)
What I Learnt: In a situation where you will most likely never see the people around you again feel comfortable as yourself and let go, have some fun. Still, to this day I do not understand why people ski in nothing but their underwear.
Video To Follow Soon...
