Kiwi Stoke, New Zealand 2012

[Gerome]

It's time for skiing, New Zealand! Snow dumped at sea level in Christchurch on June 6, 2012 and a meter fell at Arthurs Pass. Hopefully it's looking a little better than last year's drought when there wasn't snow until July (eek!).

Proof from NASA that a little snow fell across the southern island:



To get things started, here are some Useful links:

Weather Conditions:

Resort Snow Reports by TGR: http://www.tetongravity.com/ski-reso...w-zealand.html

Avalanche conditions: http://www.avalanche.net.nz/

Met Service: http://www.metservice.com/national/index
(let's be honest though, if it's sunny or raining today, it'll be the opposite tomorrow or the next day)

Places to ski:
Club Field Ski Mountains and Passes: http://www.chillout.co.nz/

Mt. Hutt, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables: http://www.nzski.com/

Treble Cone: www.treblecone.co.nz

Dreamland: http://www.aspiringguides.com/condit...onal_park.html



Planning:

Topo Maps: http://nztopomaps.com/11420/Fox-Glacier/West-Coast

New Zealand Alpine Club: http://alpineclub.org.nz//

Did you know that there are over 900 Backcountry Huts in New Zealand!!!
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...uts-by-region/



Links to help you plan a trip to New Zealand (helpful travel tips provided by kiwi maggots searched in older threads):
cheap flights around the islands: www.grabaseat.co.nz
Used classifieds: www.Trademe.co.nz
Used cars: www.turnersauctions.co.nz

Did your favorite bar, cafe or restaruant close down after the 2011 earthquakes? Find a new one that just re-opened.
http://www.neatplaces.co.nz/

[Mike Pow]

Awesome. Well played.

[DHogg]

Craigieburn after storm ...

[kiwinig]

snow.co.nz Snow Reports here:

http://snow.co.nz/snowreports/

Even though Queenstown missed out on most of the snow this week its opening day at Coronet tomorrow (probably only 2 trails) but still skiing time has come again so yeehaa!!

[Ottime]

excellent idea. cant wait until this thread gets legs to help me through summer.

[GravityPilot]

I'm flying in 6/20 and I am stoked for the season, hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

[skier666]

My only remote possibility of my own two feet walking up the chutes of the Remarks is in September.

But wouldn't that be fun....

[jerr]

In NZ even the trains get after a bit. Some pretty nice face shots towards the end. This is from yesterday.

[digger]

Seeing this reminds me that there can be an endless winter.

[Alkares]

Seeing this reminds me that there can be an endless winter.

This! Amazing to think you could be done for a whole month then head south and start all over again....

[yelimsa]

I posted up this video of my trusty hound Larry, to share the sphincter-puckering results of New Zealand's 6/6/12 front, after it hit the South Island earlier this week.

http://youtu.be/3cgvO_hqHug

Great way to kick-off the NZ season. Bring it on.

[Gerome]

I love the Swiss family mountain dog!

Last week had to be a novel experience making a few turns at sea level. I was off work and hiking before dark.



Sadly, I never shut the zipper on my pocket and my phone ran away from me. I spent my Saturday morning with a metal detector. I'm pretty sure I'll never take up this as a hobby.



By Sunday, temperatures were rising and the club field roads were still closed. So I haven't had a quality run yet.



But the club field in Kaikoura may open this weekend and snow level will be about 300m. With wave heights around 2 meters, a combo surf and ski may be on the agenda.



And since I can't provide any good ski stoke yet, here's a few shots of ice climbing at Fox Glacier with the NZ Alpine Club before it snowed.













Good night!

[leftfield]

http://www.liftie.co.nz

A friend of mine started this site- discounted lift passes, heli rides, etc- might be of some interest to y'all.

[rangerjake]

I love the Swiss family mountain dog!


By Sunday, temperatures were rising and the club field roads were still closed. So I haven't had a quality run yet.



But the club field in Kaikoura may open this weekend and snow level will be about 300m. With wave heights around 2 meters, a combo surf and ski may be on the agenda.











Good night!

That is living right there. Beautiful stuff. Envy drips.

[jtran10]

Great thread, great place

[Kyle Miller]

Hmmmm I really need to get out there this Winter/Spring

[Sluff]

The train vid was money.

[daver]

i shouldn't have clicked this thread.

i really want to fly to nz and buy a car to live in and see what happens. if you show up at a ski area with experience and references mid season with a working holiday visa is there a chance of getting any work?

[Gerome]

i shouldn't have clicked this thread.

i really want to fly to nz and buy a car to live in and see what happens. if you show up at a ski area with experience and references mid season with a working holiday visa is there a chance of getting any work?

If you've got a holiday visa, I don't see why not. You could call the resorts and club fields in advance and try to get leads that way. If you are in construction, you could get a job in Christchurch easily too. The majority of the club fields are opening this weekend, so the season is just beginning.

Porters opened on Friday. It rained Saturday, but it finally turned to snow on Sunday. It's amazing what 10cm will do for you, although my skis paid a price with some ugly core shots.

[satori]

Need to find a way to convince the missus we need to go skiing in NZ this summer rather than hiking/mtn biking around here...must get to NZ some day, looks spectacular!!! Thanks for the stoke!

[TripleT]

This thread is $$$. Perfect timing for my first summer blues of the year. Links in the original post are super helpful for planning, I will definitely be using them in the future.

Thanks!

[GoldenBear]

Yeah. It might be time to go back for a summer.

[Gerome]

Most of the club fields opened this weekend. It's a tough life if the toughest choice I had to make this weekend was which club field to visit first. I decided to follow some coworkers and friends to Mt. Olypus. I've heard they have some of the best terrain around. It was time to find out.

Skiing in New Zealand is much more about adventure. Just getting to the club fields is a serious undertaking. the resort webpage requires chains on real four wheel drive vehicles. I'm assuming my Subaru won't be making this trip any time soon.

So how many engineers does it take to change a tire anyway?



And we're not even to the snow yet


Tire chains for everyone!


Because the drive will simulate the experience of a helicopter ride.


Cause we're going skiing


And it's looking very good


But first I'm going to have to learn how to use the nut-cracker


As I find out, it's about as edgy and scary as being towed behind a car, probably about as safe too. This midieval torture device will be taking me to the ridgeline fast.


And we'll be going down faster








And when conditions improve, we'll be hiking to some sick terrain.

[skier666]

Nice to see you are getting the full Kiwi ski experience! That bottom tow at Olympus isn't easy for first-timers...throw me down on that list.

Here's a little writeup from a trip to Olympus is 2003...

http://www.slaythegnar.com/2003/08/n...pus-nz-081503/

[Gurutasker]

Well after lurking through the summer cashing in on all the visual stoke from the Northern Hemisphere, I figured it's about time I could start contributing now our season is underway. Just did my first weekend up on Mt Ruapehu for the season, and while there are sharks a plenty we still managed to have a blast.. almost spring like conditions with the sun beating full force. No shots as of yet as I was testing out the new camera (POV only, just to test some editing), so here is a shot from last season.

Mt Hamilton, Craigieburn


This year I've joined the Ruapehu Mountain Hosts on Turoa ski field, so if any of you are making the trip over to NZ hit me up for the sweet-spots!