Our next stop takes us to a place where the sheep outnumber the people. New Zealand is two separate islands with completely distinct landscapes. The north island is flat yet riddled with volcanos while the south islands backbone is the southern island. Nick Verhaaren is a splitboarder living at the base of the crown of the New Zealand volcanos, Mt Ruapehu which boast two separate ski resorts and enough terrain to keep someone busy there entire life. I was able to meet up with Nick in between powder days to get a feel for the free riding potential in this small corner of the world.
Name: Nick Verhaaren
Primary Location, Home Mountain, or Home Range: Ohakune New Zealand Mt Ruapehu
Age:46
Primary Solid Board: Ride 158 no 4
Primary Split Board: Neversummer Titan 161
Preferred Binding System: Spark Fuse base /ride spi hardware
Boot: Burton Driver X
How Long Have You Been Snowboarding? 20 years
How Long Have You Been Splitboarding? 7 years
What Compelled You to Begin Splitboarding? After spending over an hour to cross 100 metres of deep snow up to my waist to reach the summit on a deep bc day i knew there had to be a better way…
Most Memorable Glacier Travel: that is nearly a compulsory option at mt ruapehu, with 6 glaciers accessible from the summit though winter crevasses are not usually an issue…the photos on my last tr show a perfect day on the Mangaehuehu Glacier (link below).
Gnarliest Line: 1998 was a low snow year..after 3 days of snow and 120 km winds the mountain cleared to a perfect day..amping to get up there to find the fresh snow we arrived to blue ice all the way to the summit..no problems we will just crampon up and over to the crater basin..thats where the snow will be..at the summit col our descent looked deep and white..we had scored..a quick safety check yes it was windblown but..as i descended the crack appeared to my left..avalanche i managed to ride out to the stoke of my partner..we then proceeded to a much bigger line on the same aspect..at least 1000m of vertical…after checking it out i thought it was a no go ..too many similar conditions to the previous slide..but my riding partner argued he hadnt come all this way to ride blue ice….we agrued some more …and then he descended..not less than 1 metre from where i stood the crack appeared like lightning and the whole mountain began to move, my mate was now riding on a slab about 50m across surrounded by other slabs cracking open as the slope began to move…as if in slow motion the snow began to rise to his armpits and he dived forward and began swimming…it didnt look good but i kept my focus on the little black dot…then the slide hit a hill and split in two with the main slide going airborne and the rest of the slide coming to a stop..my mate stood up annd waved…..grade 3.5 largest man made slide recorded that year..oops
Ideal Backcountry Day: Blue skies no wind fresh snow cold temps..no work
Lifetime Goal: to get to the summit of Mt Ruapehu when I am seventy
Favorite Piece of Gear (and Why): My trusty ice axe..can get you out of nasty situations..safety plus
Favorite Place You’ve Travelled (and Why): RedMountain BC.. arrived to snow falling stayed 14 days rode 14 days it snowed every day, had accom on the mtn and a good friend got married on the hill .. a perfect trip
A little bit about yourself: 20 winter seasons at mt ruapehu , produced 2 snowboard videos..run an accommodation business, ride every day possible (60 a season) family man ,coach junior soccer and school skiing groups, passionate about our National Park and New Zealand way of life…no traffic lights or maccas in our town.
Here is a link to a perfect blue bird day up on Ruapehu
