Bit of a photo TR of the NZ South Island winter so far.
Winter arrived with a hiss and roar dumping the biggest snow fall in Canterbury in 25 years.
Its pretty rare in NZ to be able to skin from the road, let alone along a road at 800 m elevation
(Photo: Yossi Jagger)
(Photo: Yossi Jagger)
(Photo: Yossi Jagger)
Went for Camp trip near Arthurs Pass Early morning above camp
Unfortunately the snow line retreated back to its usual elevation…
A few lines around Mt Temple, Arthurs Pass
Avalanche Peak, Arthurs Pass
We are in need of bit more snow as we are already getting spring-like conditions. Fortunately there is still a bit of winter to go so fingers-crossed for some more snow!
Looks like you’ve been getting some good turns in!
Had some pretty nice conditions out the back of remarks this week, on the southern side anyway! Still pretty sticky and spring-like on north facing, thanks to the wind and warm weather.
Just checked out your blog and looks like you guys scored some good stuff down in the Southern lakes recently. I assume your Draizuhs partner..??
Looking forward to meeting you guys up at splitfest. Looks like TB got a bit of snow over the last few days so hopefully it will be a bit more filled in by the time of splitfest! Corn is fun but I would prefer to ride it a bit later in the year..
Haha yep thats the mrs! Def gonna be there this year. Im going to try get to cheeseman or porters for a day before splitfest if you guys can suggest any good zones? Thinking tarn basin at cheeseman if its rideable, never ridden canty besides hutt so hoping to get some lines in! Firstlight, are you gonna be around before the fest??
Awesome. Looking forward to meeting all of you guys at Splitfest. I think I will be taking a couple of days off just prior to splitfest as well to do a bit of riding so be sure to hit me up.
Tarn Basin at Cheeseman is really good and so is Crystal Valley next to Porters. Probably a good chance to experience Crystal Valley before it gets dominated by the Porters expansion… Both Cheeseman and Porters offer oneway lift tickets to access the backcountry as well which makes the access a little easier.
Anyway, a couple of quick hints for Splitfest at Temple Basin (not sure if these have been mentioned on the Splitfest facebook page or not). Be sure to bring an ice axe and crampons if your planning on getting into the backcountry or sidecountry. You can access a lot of lines touring around Temple but most require a little bit of booting along ridges and having crampons and ice axe will definitely give you a bit more security when boot packing. Don’t be put off by the fact crampons and ice axe are needed as the lines you can access with them are worth it.. Also make sure you purchase a leather glove protector to stop your gloves getting eaten by the rope tow. These only cost $15 and you can buy them from the Temple ticket office.
Was at Temple yesterday and the terrain up high is well filled in and riding well. Lower down it definitely needs a bit more snow so lets keep hoping for more snow in the coming weeks!
Wasn’t going to bring all that stuff as I’m dragging the wife over with me and shes not that confident in the BC. (managed to convince her that the NZ trip was our honeymoon!!!)
I might just pack my gear and let here take it easy in the accessible stuff on her level.
There is definitely terrain for all abilities around Temple, but worth bringing the crampons and axe if you have room in your bag (and have the weight allowance if flying) just in case. Not a biggie if you don’t bring them. With a bit of luck it will be all pow and they can stay in the pack anyway!
Not sure what a rigger glove is, but have a look here..
Firstlight, if it makes you feel any better I plan on just taking it easy and working on technique rather than getting to caught up about getting into the back country, so your wife will have at least one person to play with!
Oh man I hope I haven’t put anyone off! There are heaps of zones you can access just from touring without the need for ice and crampons and terrain for all abilities. Sorry if I made it sound like something else.
Oh man I hope I haven’t put anyone off! There are heaps of zones you can access just from touring without the need for ice and crampons and terrain for all abilities. Sorry if I made it sound like something else.
Nah, all good! I’m just starting out anyway, so going to make the most of having some experienced minds around rather than anything else…maybe next winter though! :thumpsup:
hey guys, just attended splitfest nsw and had a great time. will be heading over to NZ sept 1st for a 4 day backcountry awareness course. Ill be in wanaka from sept 5th onwards and free so was wondering if there was any chance of finding some touring partners to show me around the area before heading up to NZ splitfest at temple.
Weather has been terrible around these parts for a while but still some decent snow on south facing aspects. Unfortunately the current long range forecasts is for rain rain and more rain. Hope fully some of that will be white at altitude.