A Season in New Zealand: Summer 2008

[jtran10]

Here's some pictures from my time in Christchurch and the Canterbury ski fields this past NA summer.

Myself at Broken River

Friend Will

There were some good days

Temple Basin

Mt. Olympus

Craigieburn

Olympus again

Here's a video my friend put together:

http://www.vimeo.com/2643840

That's all. Thanks for looking!

 

[Admin]

Welcome to FTO Liftlines, Jonathan! Nice pix!

Myself at Broken River

And with an Alta sticker -- atta boy!

 

[Patrick]

Welcome to FTO JTran, I've enjoyed your TR in another forum. Hope you can cross post some TR here. :wink: :mrgreen:

 

[jtran10]

I plan on it, if we ever get snow in VT again.

 

[jmf3210]

JTrans --
Thanks for the posts. Great pix!
I need advice. I will be in NZ for two months...July-August, 2009. Where would you park yourself for the most skiing, and the best skiing, in closest range?
I am thinking of getting a season pass to Hutt-Coronet-Remarkables...staying in a hostel in Queenstwon, w/o car. Seems most central. And, I can get to other places near C-Church, if desired. Havr to cross of N. Island places, tho.
I can't have it ALL, but do want to make sure I am getting the most I can.
Your views?
Tx,
Jim
jmf3210@gmail.com

 

[Tony Crocker]

It's hard for me to imagine being in NZ for any extended period without a car. So much to see and do, unpredictable weather, flexibility makes your time more rewarding.

Treble Cone is the best South island area terrain-wise, though if $ are an issue the 3-area pass is tempting. I haven't skied them, but don't forget the club areas, which are mostly in same part of NZ as Mt. Hutt. Queenstown areas get less snow than Wanaka or Christchurch based areas, but nothing lift serviced averages over 200 inches.

 

[jtran10]

JTrans --
Thanks for the posts. Great pix!
I need advice. I will be in NZ for two months...July-August, 2009. Where would you park yourself for the most skiing, and the best skiing, in closest range?
I am thinking of getting a season pass to Hutt-Coronet-Remarkables...staying in a hostel in Queenstwon, w/o car. Seems most central. And, I can get to other places near C-Church, if desired. Havr to cross of N. Island places, tho.
I can't have it ALL, but do want to make sure I am getting the most I can.
Your views?
Tx,
Jim
jmf3210@gmail.com

I personally would stay around ChCh and ski the club fields, but the drives are shorter if you base yourself in Queenstown/Wanaka. Don't get the SkiNZ pass, Hutt sucks, Coronet sucks, and Remarkables have some good terrain but nothing worth the price. Instead, look into the Chill Pass (chillout.co.nz) and buy yourself some glove protectors. You'll have a much more Kiwi experience, ski better snow, and meet cooler people. Get a car, you'll want one. If you can't look at snowpool.co.nz (I think that's the site) for rides to the mountain most days of the week. Most people are based in ChCh on this site.

Also, if the snow doesn't fall don't be afraid to nix skiing and do other stuff the whole time. There's so much to do there that I would travel and see things until a storm hits or the base is built a bit, then get your ski fix.

 

[jtran10]

It's hard for me to imagine being in NZ for any extended period without a car. So much to see and do, unpredictable weather, flexibility makes your time more rewarding.

Treble Cone is the best South island area terrain-wise, though if $ are an issue the 3-area pass is tempting. I haven't skied them, but don't forget the club areas, which are mostly in same part of NZ as Mt. Hutt. Queenstown areas get less snow than Wanaka or Christchurch based areas, but nothing lift serviced averages over 200 inches.

Nothing averages a lot, but that's because of the high variability. Last winter was excellent, snowed consistently every other day for a month straight. Some winters it just doesn't snow. I have no clue, but I'd say we got at least 300 inches this past winter.

Treble Cone was a fun area, but is nothing compared with Craigie/Broken River/Temple Basin in Canterbury. I was actually very underwhelmed by the skiing there, and the crowds are ridiculous by NZ standards.

And if $ is an issue, the Chill pass is still cheper then Ski NZ.