Always fun to head below the equator in search of the endless winter. This summer it was the south island of New Zealand. I drove from my home in Durango to Albuquerque to catch a flight to LA and then to Auckland and finally Christchurch, New Zealand. These long trips suck the energy out, but I had a great flight on Air Nerw Zealand. I hung out in the Air New Zealand lounge in LA and had some grub and some tasty adult beverages from down under. Once aboard the flight I enjoyed some incredible food and a pretty fly entertainment system in my Pacific Premium seating class. The 13 hour flight felt like 4 and things were off to a good start.
The south island of New Zealand has comerical skiing but is famous for "Club Fields". These fields are owned by member and the profits are put back into the ski areas. The lifts are rope tows and are ridden by a device called a "nutcracker". The nutcracker is a hinged metal device that is attached to your person by a mountaineering harness. The device swings over the rops and closes and then is held with your free hand. These ropes go through pullies every 50-100 feet and require constant attention so you don't eliminate digits from you lead hand. These lifts are very easy to maintain and go very fast up extremely steep slopes. The nutcrackers drop you off high on peaks or ridgelines allowing for unlimited skiing options. Nothing is groomed so this isn't a place for those looking for amenities or the bunny hill. Lodging at these club fields is very basic and consists of little more than bunk beds. Dining is communal style but very good after a day rising the ropes. I visited the Club Fields of Craigieburn, Broken River, Temple Basin, and Mt Olympus. They all have their own personality and charm. The club fields remind my of skiing in the 70's when it wasn't about selling real eatate or the $12 burger.
The second part of my journey was the resorts near Queenstown and Wanaka. We started at the Remarkables juts outside Queenstown. Not a single road to any of the ski areas on the south island would be legal in the states. These roads are narrow, fairly rough and offer no second chance for mistakes behind the wheel. The utter lack of guardrails quickly drives home the fact that thankfully New Zealand is a much less litigious society than America. The Remarkables were great because I got to ride a comfy chairlift and ski some really good snow. Fun lines were everywhere on our first day. The snow was falling so it was a day off at the office. No photo's for the entire day meant laps of freeride heaven. The second day the storm was over and we had our first legit day of bluebird in 2 weeks. Camera shutters were flying as we lapped fresh snow above lakes and lush green valleys.
Next stop was Wanaka and some days at Treble Cone. TC has some unreal backdrops with Mt Aspiring and it glaciated canvas always looming in the distance like a great white incisor. Cool rocks, lots of fresh snow and steep terrain made a great combo for the tail end of the trip. Spent the last day watching another storm blow in while sitting on the couch overlooking Lake Wanaka.
NZ is full of extremely friendly people and unreal scenery. The landscape is full of sheep just like you would imagine. Every road is like a postcard and the people make the country very warm. Locals show you the good spots and are happy to show you a night on the town.
The trip home was a combined 40 hours of travel. I walked in the door and made a beeline for the coffee pot. I brewed up a batch of Silver Joe's Kona and started the process of catching up and dreaming about the next global adventure.