When everybody had given up on the season the snow finally started falling and with over 30cms of powder. We were off to the Craigieburn Range for my one and only time riding Craigieburn Valley ski area this season. Huge thanks to Licence to Chill for helping get access to this gem of a resort.
For the past month and a half there had been no measurable precipitation so people were starved for powder. From the ticket sales to the Rope tows it was a mad rush to get the goods.
With the snow being maritime I was at an advantage and while others fell left and right I was able to find the goods.
Craigieburn like many other NZ club fields uses Nut Crackers which means it’s harder to go uphill and the slopes get tracked slower.
The backcountry went as far as you are willing to hike. As I rode throughout the day I would just traverse a little bit further each run.
It was great when you hiked for a few minutes and had huge slopes that still had untracked areas. Cragieburn Valley has a great setup and is another special resort.
At the end of the day I hiked along the ridge line for 30 minutes to an untracked face in the sun but when I got there it whited out. Only in NZ
While I couldn’t see anything the turns were amazing.
Thank you for reading and If you enjoyed reading this and want to see more ski tours within New Zealand check out this link