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Published: August 31st 2005
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Arrowsmith Range
The first glimpse of the Arrowsmith Range, where the heli-skiing took place. Note the actual snow(hehe). So, I am back from the "ski" trip. I put that word in quotes only because it was meant to be a ski trip, but did not really turn out that way. Let's see, where to start...
First off, Shelby lost her passport, so she had to leave a day early and go back up north to Auckland which is where the U.S. passport services is to get a new one. Now, why is it in Auckland when Wellington is the capital and where the Embassy/Consulate are located? We could never figure this out. We all get to Christchurch finally and pick up our car. It's a Toyota Corolla, nothing special, but it will work....at least we thought. We drive west towards to the mountains, stopping in Springfield to get our ski passes. We were thinking there would be a grocery store somewhere in Springfield or close by, but we were wrong. The closest one was another 30 minutes back towards Christchurch. We drive back to the grocery, get food, and finally head up the mountains. Here, in NZ, they have ski areas called club fields. They are non-profit ski places that are run by a local club or organisation.
Entrance
The entrance to Broken River. This would typically be all snow. Most of the people who run the ski field are members of the club or volunteers(ski patrol). These places are located in the middle of NOWHERE! Nothing like being able to take I-70 to Summit County and just exit right at the mountain. You really have to do some backwoods travelling to find these places. And, once you get there there is no guarantee that your car is going to be able to make it up to the car park/lodge. Our first stop was Broken River/Cragieburn. I've only heard great things about these places. Well, we drove for 20 minutes on a dirt road to get to the car park which was still not up at the actual lodging or ski field. They have what's called an inclinator that you put your skis and bags in and it totes your gear up for while you proceed to hike another 20 minutes through the bush up to where you stay. Once you get up it's nice, but you have to do some work to get there. It was a little warm, and they hadn't had snow in about two weeks. It started out OK, but then some precip moved in and
Our view
The view from our lodge atop Broken River. it was rain/snow mix, which eventually turned into 100% mist. Skiing in the rain was quite an experience.....it was a first for me, at least I can say that. The second day we woke up and it still a little misty so we decided not to ski there and try another place. We drive further into the mountains to a place called Arthur's Pass. Temple Basin ski field was our destination. But, when we got there it was the same story...warm temperatures and wet snow. They actually had closed to ski field the day we got there. After a group discussion we decided not to ski, but go hiking around the area instead. Clint and our friend, Matt hiked up Avalanche Peak which is usually unscalable during the winter months, and Shelby and I hiked up to Devil's Punch Bowl Falls. It was a good time, but no skiing. We spent two days in Arthur's Pass, and then tried one more place. Mount Olympus. Everyone at Broken River/Craigieburn had said this place had the most snow and was still skiable because they had been there a few days ago. After consulting numerous people about how to actually get there we
Normal view
What it typically looks like during a normal snow year. Taken from the same place as my picture. set out. I'd say about 90% of the driving was done on dirt roads. And when I say dirt roads what I really mean is giant boulders stacked together to make a pathway, but in a Toyota Corolla these roads were not really drivable. Too late, we had already committed ourselves. After about 1.5 hours of driving we finally come up on the bottom hut of Mt. Olympus. At this point is obvious that the road the rest of the way up to the rope tows(this is a whole other story) is for 4WD vehicles only. We wait for a ride up. There was some good snowpack on the mountain, but with all the freeze/thaw that had happened over the last couple of days the snow service was like concrete. I couldn't even get an edge of my ski to grip. Ughh....just thinking about it right now is making me frustrated. Somehow, I had to come to NZ to ski during the 3rd worst winter season for both snow and temperatures. I couldn't take it, I didn't come half way around the world expecting ski and not get in some good turns. We packed up the car and drove to
Alpenglow
Sun setting on the snowless Southern Alps. The hut at the bottom is where we stayed. Methven, ski village of the commercial field Mount Hutt, and base for Methven Heli-ski company. Made a booking for the next day knowing I would actually get to some real skiing. This was by far the best thing I've done in NZ, and probably the one of the best ski experiences of my life. The snow was good, AND believe it or not, there actually 15cm of new snow. My guide was really nice, he had been a ski patroller at Copper Mountain for a few years and then finally decided he wanted to work for a heli company. The other people in my group were a family, mom, dad, and son. I thought I was going to stuck with some slow pokes but after the first run I didn't worry. We skied hard all morning then breaked for lunch midway down a run. They parked the heli right on the edge of a cliff and unloaded lunch, a four course meal. Hot pumpkin soup for starters, then sweet chili chicken drumsticks as an appetizer. Smoked salmon for the main course and then chocolate cake for desert. There was also kiwi fruit, apples, oranges, and such. We skied hard the
Our bungalow
A cozy little place to stay. If only there was snow. rest of the afternoon. One one drop off point I could see the Tasman Sea, the Pacific Ocean, Mt. Cook(highest mountain), Mt. Tasman(second highest), and Mt. Aspiring(the Matterhorn of the Souther Alps) all from the top. Very stunning, but I didn't get to take a picture becuase it was too windy and cold and I just wanted to ski. The son in my group had brought a video camera and recorded the whole thing so he is making me a DVD and sending it to me. I hope everyone will get a chance to see this. After a long day of skiing and making it back to Methven, we drove back to Christchurch for a night of relaxation and to see Cathedral Square. Sorry, didn't get any pictures, but I will be back there in a couple months so I will take some then. There really is so much more to talk about, but this entry is already too long. I'm sure at some point I will give more details. For now, some pictures(but not all of them)...
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