Story:
Mid August 2009 Jeremy and Wil took to the South Island in a Campervan hired from Christchurch. First stop was Mt Potts Heli-Park (Wil) and Mt Hutt for Jeremy.
Mt Potts was fantastic, Mt Hutt terrible.
Next stop, after a long drive in the night, was Treble Cone, out of Wanaka. There had been a decent dump about three days before we arrived, but the snow was now skied out and sun affected. Great terrain, but due to the snow, hard going once you left the main trails.
Day 3 and we headed for Cardrona together with (it seemed) everyone else from NZ. The weather was perfect, and the snow was soft with a good cover. Would have been a perfect day except for the 45 min lift lines.
Day 4 saw us return to Treble Cone. The cover had softened up nicely, which made skiing the off-piste much easier and Jeremy had a run down Matukituki chutes and Poweder Bowl. When they say extreme, they mean it!!! The Chute just kept going, getting narrower as I went down and the drops only got bigger. As with all ski photos, the photos make it look much tamer than it felt at the time. Be warned the walk out at the end is a killer!!!
While Jeremy tried tto kill himself in the Chutes, Wil took the more sensible option and took in a half day lesson. After this lesson and a follow up the next day, he is now looking a lot more like a pro-boarder.
At the end of Day 4 we left Wanaka and headed for Queenstown, enjoying the compulsory Ferg Burger. The caravan park in Queenstown took much to be desired. Having come from the friendly staff, warm showers and spa baths at Mt Aspiring Campsite in Wanaka, the cold showers (which you paid $1 for) and the muddy campsite in Queenstown made the the camp hard to accept. The staff even pretended not to speak english when we asked for a refund when leaving early!!!
Day 5, and we headed for the Remarkables. The weather was ordinary, snow was wet and there was the occassional drizzle. Jeremy retired early for the day, vowing never to return to the Remarkables. Wil meanwhile enjoyed the Terrain Park, practising his new found techniques.
Late on Day 5 it started to rain heavily in Queenstown. Although it was warm, we looked to the snow gods and prayed for rain. They listened, sort of.
Jeremy woke early on day 6 to check the snow reports and see if we needed to get an early start, bad news. Although it had rained all night, Cornet Peak was reporting only 1 cm of new snow (meaning it had rained all night). The situation at Treble Cone and Cardrona was worse. However The Remarkables, the resort Jeremy had sworn he would not return to was reporting 15cm of fresh snow and more falling. So we returned to the Remarkables. What a difference fresh snow makes.
Chains wer required from the 8km mark and it was snowing heavily, but with no wind. Visibility was ok, given it was snowing. Tip - do not put on chains early. We put the chains on early hoping to avoid the need to put them on in the mud only to discover that for a bargain $10 we could get someone to fit them for us!!!
Skiing was fantastic, with a few runs down Homeward Bound in knee deep fresh snow. Even Jeremy enjoyed himself.
Having given up on Queenstown, we headed for Arrowtown, only to discover the caravan park was run by the same people. Discovering this we considered camping out, but the the threat by the carvan park to report us to the police and a $400 fine, meant we stayed in the caravan park.
Mid August 2009 Jeremy and Wil took to the South Island in a Campervan hired from Christchurch. First stop was Mt Potts Heli-Park (Wil) and Mt Hutt for Jeremy.
Mt Potts was fantastic, Mt Hutt terrible.
Next stop, after a long drive in the night, was Treble Cone, out of Wanaka. There had been a decent dump about three days before we arrived, but the snow was now skied out and sun affected. Great terrain, but due to the snow, hard going once you left the main trails.
Day 3 and we headed for Cardrona together with (it seemed) everyone else from NZ. The weather was perfect, and the snow was soft with a good cover. Would have been a perfect day except for the 45 min lift lines.
Day 4 saw us return to Treble Cone. The cover had softened up nicely, which made skiing the off-piste much easier and Jeremy had a run down Matukituki chutes and Poweder Bowl. When they say extreme, they mean it!!! The Chute just kept going, getting narrower as I went down and the drops only got bigger. As with all ski photos, the photos make it look much tamer than it felt at the time. Be warned the walk out at the end is a killer!!!
While Jeremy tried tto kill himself in the Chutes, Wil took the more sensible option and took in a half day lesson. After this lesson and a follow up the next day, he is now looking a lot more like a pro-boarder.
At the end of Day 4 we left Wanaka and headed for Queenstown, enjoying the compulsory Ferg Burger. The caravan park in Queenstown took much to be desired. Having come from the friendly staff, warm showers and spa baths at Mt Aspiring Campsite in Wanaka, the cold showers (which you paid $1 for) and the muddy campsite in Queenstown made the the camp hard to accept. The staff even pretended not to speak english when we asked for a refund when leaving early!!!
Day 5, and we headed for the Remarkables. The weather was ordinary, snow was wet and there was the occassional drizzle. Jeremy retired early for the day, vowing never to return to the Remarkables. Wil meanwhile enjoyed the Terrain Park, practising his new found techniques.
Late on Day 5 it started to rain heavily in Queenstown. Although it was warm, we looked to the snow gods and prayed for rain. They listened, sort of.
Jeremy woke early on day 6 to check the snow reports and see if we needed to get an early start, bad news. Although it had rained all night, Cornet Peak was reporting only 1 cm of new snow (meaning it had rained all night). The situation at Treble Cone and Cardrona was worse. However The Remarkables, the resort Jeremy had sworn he would not return to was reporting 15cm of fresh snow and more falling. So we returned to the Remarkables. What a difference fresh snow makes.
Chains wer required from the 8km mark and it was snowing heavily, but with no wind. Visibility was ok, given it was snowing. Tip - do not put on chains early. We put the chains on early hoping to avoid the need to put them on in the mud only to discover that for a bargain $10 we could get someone to fit them for us!!!
Skiing was fantastic, with a few runs down Homeward Bound in knee deep fresh snow. Even Jeremy enjoyed himself.
Having given up on Queenstown, we headed for Arrowtown, only to discover the caravan park was run by the same people. Discovering this we considered camping out, but the the threat by the carvan park to report us to the police and a $400 fine, meant we stayed in the caravan park.
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