After a successful trip to Australia I was landing in Christchurch New Zealand. One it town I got my gear situated and picked up my Licence to Chill pass so I would have access to the club fields. It was the beginning of September and I was on a 3 month stint climbing and exploring the backcountry.
Lift access ski touring
Exploring the Treble Cone Backcountry
I started my 2017 season doing the traditional renting a Juicy Van and driving around and locals yell at you type of trip. There were two reasons for this, One you can camp wherever you want and two you get free tickets to Treble Cone ski resort. Though to some it may seem like a waste I used to my ticket to go ski touring in the Treble Cone Backcountry with my friend Lorenzo Rieg.
I’ve known Lorenzo for a few years taking a trip with him to Norway as well as a week long trip in his home of Innsbruck Austria and he just so happened to be in Wanaka New Zealand.
Returning to the Remarkables for Some Late Season Powder
It was time to leave Mount Ruapehu and the North Island to head back to the Southern Alps. After a long night of hitch hiking and getting onto the first plane available. I was heading back to the South Island and meeting up with my friend Adam Flemming. With new snow in the high country it was time to returning to the Remarkables.
Powder Day at Temple Basin
New Zealand is full of surprises and after most of the club fields were shut down the Craigieburn Range and Divide received 3 feet of snow. It was time to head back up to Arthurs Pass and have a powder day at Temple Basin ski area.
A Quick Stop in the Remarkables
With the snowpack returning it was time to head south into the Otago Country. Wiggles and I took a bus down to the Queenstown area where we met up with Adam Flemming. We made our way up to the local ski hill for a backcountry ski tour in the Remarkables.
Powder day at Cragieburn Valley Ski Area
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.
Temple Peak at the Temple Basin Splitboard Festival
We arrived to Temple Basin ski area while the rain washed away most of the snow. A group of 50 other skiers and snowboarders waited in the hut for the weather to clear. On Sunday it finally happened so it was time to go Splitboarding at the Splitboard festival. Ryan Nicols and I decided to go on a quick mission to summit Temple Peak.
Dire snow as we Head to the Crystal Bowl in Porters Ski Area Backcountry
Conditions were pretty dire all around New Zealand without any precipitation for two weeks. Wondering what to do we started looking over the maps. It was decided to head into Porters ski areas backcountry focusing on the Crystal Bowl in hopes of finding something fun and edgeable. With the temps being so warm the snow pack was melting away making me wonder if the ski season was over with.
Mount Wall in the Cheeseman Backcountry
After a great day ski touring up in Arthurs Pass it was time to focus on another aspect in hopes of finding powder. After staring at the maps for a while we decided to ski tour Mount Wall in the Cheeseman Backcountry. Yossi had showed up and now it was a crew of 4 with him Ryan, Wiggles and me as we drove up to Mount Cheeseman ski area.
A Day Snowboarding Powder at Mount Cheeseman Ski Area
After a day of making the most with the ski conditions at Porters ski area we decided to go check out Mount Cheeseman Ski Area. There was a rumor that they were going to open the upper slopes. Our plan was to ride as much powder as we could before the place got tracked out.