Mt Dobson New Zealand 2012 - A Closer Look

MT DOBSON

In this article I take a closer look at one of my favourite skifields from the 2012 season and post some extra pictures in addition to those in the New Zealand trip report.

Name - Mount Dobson
Location - Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand.
Closest town - Fairlie and Lake Tekapo.
Closest airport - Christchurch Airport (Domestic and International) is about two and a half hour's drive away.


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Fresh snow on Mt Dobson - 21 September 2012

2012 Season Snow Cover

While 2010 was a year notable for a fantastic early start to the season in June, 2012 had some great skiing, particularly in August and September at Mt Dobson.

By mid-August, Mt Dobson had two metres of snow cover across the skifield. It was to stay this way well into September and there was still 1.5m in early October despite a run of sunny, warm days.

For our two visits there on this trip, the last section of Mt Dobson's long mountain road was surrounded by a spectacular white mountain landscape with no tussock or rocks in sight.

All in all a great year in 2012, and the fine and  fair weather in September meant fewer closed days than on previous visits in other years.

Lifts & Altitude

Mt Dobson is one of the higher altitude skifields on the South Island. The base area and ticket office at the Dobson car park is at 1725 metres. This is higher than the top of Coronet Peak and just about level with the top of the Home Basin six-seater at Treble Cone.

Dobson T-bar and Shirt Front - 29 September 2012

The highest lifted point is 2030 metres, accessed from a T-bar, while the other high point is accessed by a three-seater chairlift that loads just below the car park.

Usually when you arrive nice and early at Dobson the T-bar is running providing access to the main valley first.

The chairlift then opens up the West Valley, and a platter or poma drag lift provides learner and beginner terrain. The T-bar and poma are often self-service.

The three lifts together give access to a lot of terrain, and a little hiking can open up significantly more.


The Runs

Taking the T-bar up the centre of the main valley, you can offload early for cruisey, short blue runs - known as the M1 - down the front of the valley. This is where most of the few groomed runs are.

Taking the T-bar all the way up to 2030m brings you to a ridge with narrow cat tracks in either direction.

The East Trail can take you all the way back to the base area, or you can launch into some steeper off-piste at any point around the bowl.

When the snow cover is good, this bowl offers lots of fun, rolling terrain of varying steepness. In freeze-thaw conditions, the Sunny Run is the first to soften in the sunshine.




When there is fresh snow or powder, the first runs are typically straight down the Shirt Front from the top of the T-bar, as in the video. The 21st September was one such day - freshies all day!

West Valley with options out wide - 21 September 2012

The West Trail provides access to some black off-piste runs and another way into the West Valley.

West Valley has gentle, rolling terrain for intermediates, as well as a nice natural halfpipe under the chairlift.

Going out wide gives a taste of what is accessible with a little hiking. There are lots of options if you traverse this way, and you can even ski below the chairlift and walk back up.

On a good day Dobson is a lot of fun, uncrowded and good value for money with stunning views over the surrounding mountains and to lake Tekapo.

Mt Hutt New Zealand 2012 - A Closer Look

MT HUTT

In this article I take a closer look at one of my favourite skifields from the 2012 season and post some extra pictures in addition to those in the New Zealand trip report.

Name - Mount Hutt
Location - Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand.
Closest town - Methven
Closest airport - Christchurch Airport (Domestic and International) is about one hour's drive away.


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Mt Hutt from Methven

2012 Season Snow Cover

It has been a great year for Mt Hutt, particularly towards the end of the season.

At the beginning of August 2012, Mt Hutt had less than a metre of snow, but even then it had better conditions than many other South Island ski areas. By the middle of that month the measured depth had almost doubled with the heavy August snowfalls.

By late August, Hutt was sitting on 2m-plus snowdepth, and that was how it was to remain until October with regular top-up snowfalls.

The reality at the skifield was certainly reflected up high during our September visit with fantastic off-piste cover across the upper mountain.

However, the cover at the bottom of the Towers Triple Chair was getting dodgy at the end of September due to a warmer season with snowfalls only at higher levels.

The 2012 season was a vast improvement on 2011, where snowdepth failed to top 1 metre. It was somewhat similar to the good season in 2010, but great promotions (half-price lift tickets on weekdays in September) capped some fantastic visits.

Lifts & Altitude

The Summit Six and Virgin Mile Ridge - 16 September 2012

The Mt Hutt base area and car park is at 1620m. A brilliant high-speed six-seater chairlift rockets you to 2086m. All of the ski area and backcountry can be accessed from here - the easier terrain is down the middle, and the ridges, chutes and backcountry are accessed from the sides.

A slower four-seater chairlift accesses the terrain parks, halfpipe and easy slopes from the base area.

A three-seater, the Towers Triple Chair, extends Mt Hutt's terrain below the base area to 1438m. This provides a fantastic total vertical, as well as making more varied terrain available.

The Runs

A wide easy green run is accessed from the Quad Chair, as well as Broadway for developing intermediates. These are good runs for progression, but then its up to the top if you want more variety.

Virgin Mile Ridge - Platter Splatter and Bob's Knob groomed - 19 September 2012

The blue runs from the top of the Summit Six are accessed from a cat track that can be a little busy. But the views over the Canterbury plains to Christchurch and the Pacific Ocean are well worth it!

Grooming was fantastic at Hutt in September 2012 and the runs down the middle were wide corduroy for fast turns on nice snow. The key runs Morning Glory and Fascination are always a great way to start the day.

Hubers is a little steeper in sections and adds some variety while you wait for other areas of the mountain to open up.

The steep, short and fast Race Hill is worth a go at this time, but can become slick quickly.Virgin Mile Ridge with Platter Splatter and Bob's Knob groomed - 19 September 2012

In Spring, International usually opens next and you can link the runs from the top of the Summit Six all the way down to the very bottom of the lifted ski area. The temperature difference can be noticeable!

Towers, International & South Face - 19 September 2012

The Virgin Mile track takes you from the top of the Summit Six along a ridge that provides a wealth of launching pads on powder days.

In previous years there have been few groomed options from the Virgin Mile, but this year there was some great grooming - High Dive, Platter Splatter, and Bobs Knob were groomed, and there was off-piste, advanced skiing all the way across at The Bluff's.

Towers, and the other areas either side of International make for interesting and diverse off-piste, whether its the narrow and fun Log Chute or making your own runs by going wide to the right from Towers and taking a line down towards International again.

Thanks for the great Spring days Hutt!

Snow Report 12 September 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

Here we are in the middle of September and who would have thought the Australian ski resorts would still have over 1m to 1.5m of snow! It has been a long time since it has been this good. Far too long!

So glad, so glad to have been there at the season peak snowdepths for all resorts - I hope you were there too! Great skiing has been had with fresh snowfalls during the week and clearing or sunny weekends through season 2012.

There is still some great skiing to be had across Victoria until the end of the school holidays. I think the resorts will be open for skiing until early October this year. Spring is a great time to learn to ride in soft, forgiving snow and warm temperatures.

Falls Creek - The Ys Groomed

Mt Hotham
Natural Snow Depth: 156-203cms
We hit Hotham's Blue Ribbon area at is peak and you'll need to get up there soon before it gets too warm. So much fun early! Over at The Orchard conditions have been fantastic over the last month. I'm not going to talk about Lower Playground as I was so chuffed to play around here for the first time ever, and its probably all over now! Your loss!

Falls Creek
Natural Snow Depth: 153-169cms
It must be a record for Falls with all lifts open and all terrain open for such a long period of the season. The bottom of The Maze might be a little iffy, but who cares when you can cruise around the open spaces and find your favourites. Let me know if you see The Ys groomed again ... ever!

Mt Buller
Natural Snow Depth: 83cms
Hit Buller only once this year, and although it lost out a little this season, it was damn fine when I was up there and Buller is a fantastic mountain if you know how to make your way around it. May next year bring a bumper year!

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand has decided to hold winter in late August and early September this year! It was looking pretty rubbish across the Southern Lakes for most of the NZ winter. The north of the South Island provided some promise with some great conditions ... and then the past few weeks have turned it on for some brilliant late season skiing all the way across the South Island.

North Canterbury and Nelson

While Rainbow has recovered nicely for some good Spring skiing (50-110cms), Hanmer Springs sadly had to give up under the warm August temperatures. Mt Lyford (126-165cms) is going strong but could do with some cold blasts to stay open for the rest of the month.

Ohau 12 September [Source: Ohau Facebook page]

Canterbury

The weather to date has favoured the Canterbury skifields this year. Porters (150-70cms) continues to look nice, while Mt Hutt is sitting pretty (205-205cms) after recent snowfalls.

The Mackenzie

Ohau (220-100cms) is having a cracking year and is highly recommended for anyone heading over at this time of year. Roundhill and Dobson are keeping up interest in the Mackenzie ski fields.

Wanaka

Treble Cone has welcomed a late burst that has finally covered the Home Basin (216-44cms) and is looking exceptionally promising over this coming weekend. Cardrona opened the Valley View lift again just today to trigger some fantastic skiing across this lovely ski field (115-70cms). Lots more to come in Wanaka this weekend.

Snow Report 22 August 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

Half a metre of snow in a great storm towards the end of last week brought fantastic skiing to Falls, Hotham AND Buller. Falls and Hotham in particular are having their best ski season since 2000!

There is some warm weather currently midweek before a return to snow again. Looks like there could be some fantastic weekend skiing again if the winds hold off!

Mt Hotham
Natural Snow Depth: 165-188cms
As predicted in last week's report, the wonderful Blue Ribbon area opened providing a wealth of new terrain to explore. See my trip report for more on Hotham.

Falls Creek
Natural Snow Depth: 153-165cms
All lifts open and all terrain open - see my trip report for more on Falls.

Mt Buller
Natural Snow Depth: 94cms
There has been a progressive opening of new areas although snow is pretty thin low down still. We'll check out Buller this weekend and report back next week.

NEW ZEALAND

The Canterbury and Mackenzie fields in the centre of the South Island continue to get top-ups of snow, while the skifields in Wanaka and Queenstown get a measly few dustings. Hopefully the weather patterns will improve soon for a run of snowfalls. Snow is forecast for this weekend ... lets hope it delivers!

North Canterbury

Rainbow (45-90cms) and Mt Lyford (150-200cms). Both skifields are fully open.

Mt Hutt 22 August [Source: Mt Hutt Facebook Page]

Canterbury

Porters (70-150cms) is having a promising year. Continued snowfalls will keep it skiing well into Spetember. Mt Hutt (200-210cms) continues to shine with its good snow base and is currently skiing really well.

The Mackenzie

Ohau (100-160cms) is still looking great with full cover. Mt Dobson has 220-260cms.

Wanaka

Treble Cone (91-114cms) and Cardrona (70-100cms) have some good cover up top but lower down is a bit of a worry. Valley View at Cardrona has not been able to reopen and the lower Home Basin at Treble Cone looks very green.

Queenstown

In Queenstown, more snow is needed at both Coronet Peak (30-70cms) and the Remarkables (66-86cms).

Snow Report 15 August 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

A few cheeky snowfalls during this past week have kept snow conditions lovely, nice and fresh at the Aussie ski resorts. Conditions are at their peak for season 2012, so go skiing! That's right, go skiing now!

Yet another fantastic winter storm cycle is coming through in the lead-up to this weekend. There is some uncertainty about what it will bring - potentially (and hopefully) another big dump in time for some fantastic weekend skiing!

Mt Hotham 14 August [Source: Hotham Facebook Page]

Do I need to tell you again that you need to go skiing now?

Mt Hotham
Natural Snow Depth: 128-136cms
Parts of the Blue Ribbon area have opened since last week. This has provided access to the top parts of the runs above the Davenport access trail.

Another dump on Friday might see the lift turning for the first time this year. Meanwhile, the Extreme area reopened for skiing.

Mt Buller 10 August [Source: Mt Buller Facebook Page]

Falls Creek
Natural Snow Depth: 113-120cms
All lifts open and all terrain open - what more is there to say?

Mt Buller
Natural Snow Depth: 71cms
More snow at Buller has seem more lifts operational. This includes Bull Run (giving access to Standard run) and Grimus (linking Horse Hill to the Summit area). Some more snow would continue this progressive opening of new areas ... we hope!

NEW ZEALAND

Bang! More mid-August snow for New Zealand, in particular for the Canterbury and Mackenzie fields in the centre of the South Island. These areas now have deeper snow than this time last year, a vast improvement ... and its looking great for spring.

North Canterbury and Nelson

Lovely little Rainbow (40-80cms) is doing OK, but Mt Lyford (140-190cms) is the standout in the north as it has added about 65cms in the past week thanks to the easterly nature of some of the weather.

Canterbury

Mt Hutt 15 August [Source:  http://www.facebook.com/mthutt ]

Its all systems go at Porters (70-150cms). Nearby Mt Hutt (190-200cms) has added almost a metre in the last week, but has struggled to stay open in the difficult conditions and has also suffered from wet lower slopes again.

The Mackenzie

Ohau (100-160cms) I love to ski ... and ski you will with a trip to Ohau. At the other end of the Mackenzie, Mt Dobson has reported 220-260cms!

Wanaka

Treble Cone (92-110cms) and Cardrona (70-95cms) are doing just fine thank you and the conditions are nice in the Southern Lakes.

Queenstown

In Queenstown, things are OK but some more snow would be welcome at both Coronet Peak (45-85cms) and the Remarkables (66-86cms).

Snow Report 8 August 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

Mt Hotham 7th August [Source: Mt Hotham Facebook page]

Now we're talking! The forecasted storm system has arrived today (as people in Melbourne would have noticed!) and will continue to bring snow to the Victorian ski resorts over the next couple of days ...even Mt Buller!

It is looking very promising for great skiing and boarding throughout the rest of August 2012 and enough snow has fallen in recent weeks to keep the ski resorts open throughout September.

Mt Hotham
Natural Snow Depth: 116-121cms
Mt Hotham has been skiing well in recent days and sustained snowfalls have opened up more of The Orchard area - an area so important to the resort. The runs skier's right of the skilift are now fully open and the creek back to the lift is properly filled in. The Davenport access trail has reopened and another good dump (or even a sustained snowfall in the next 48 hours) would get the wonderful Blue Ribbon area open. Here's hoping!

Falls Creek 8th August [Source: Falls Creek Facebook page]

Falls Creek
Natural Snow Depth: 95-104cms
With the best snow of the season to date on the ground this week, Falls Creek is having a great year with all its lifts open and much better cover over some of the advanced areas around International and The Maze. You can imagine much more of The Maze will be open now, particularly this weekend so we should be going to check it out next weekend.

Mt Buller
Natural Snow Depth: 43cms
Finally some breaks for Mt Buller. This storm should enable the ski resort to progressively open more terrain and lifts. Southside is already turning, and you'd imagine other areas could come online with some sustained snowfalls.

NEW ZEALAND

Finally, New Zealand gets some regular snowfalls! And when it snows in New Zealand ... it snowswell! Many skifields across the country have doubled their snow depths over the last week or so. The season is saved and some excellent skiing across the South Island can now be found.

As forecast last week, the Canterbury and the Mackenzie fields have done best out of these storms with it still snowing across the northern part of the South Island.

North Canterbury and Nelson

Sadly Rainbow (25-65cms) had to close again after some warm weather, but the current snowfalls will; fix that quickly. Mt Lyford (95-135cms) is continuing to get pelted and is having a fantastic season to date.

Canterbury

Ohau 4th August [Source: Ohau Facebook page]

Porters (50-90cms) is now sitting pretty and is experiencing its best conditions of the season. Mt Hutt (110-120cms) is again shut while it waits out another storm - lucky days for the people there when it reopens!

The Mackenzie

Ohau (84-135cms) will have great skiing through August and into September and is one of the places to be at the moment in New Zealand.

Wanaka

Treble Cone (92-100cms) is looking fantastic again, which must be a relief for the marketing people who were so concerned earlier in the season when things weren't quite so rosy! Cardrona (70-80cms) must be close to reopening the Valley View lift.

Queenstown

Coronet Peak (42-82cms) has had to do a lot of work to recover from the warm weather with its lower altitude. The Remarkables is skiing better right now with a snow depth of 66-86cms.

Snow Report 1 August 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

A little snow this past weekend was oh-so welcome, but has sadly not really added a lot to the skiable terrain at the Victorian ski resorts. What snow did fall has, however, done a good job at keeping some marginal areas of the resorts open and available to ski. Not a lot of snow is forecast in Australia until a possible storm sometime in the middle of next week. Cooler conditions will keep the snow from melting in the meantime. Look - you can't really complain, its just sad that the weather didn't carry on with it and deliver a bumper year for us all!

Mt Hotham
Natural Snow Depth: 95-109cms
The fresh snowfalls have kept The Orchard open which is essential in peak season to prevent overcrowding, although the lack of snowmaking over there is a concern. Cold nights all this week must be helping generate lorry-loads of manmade snow ... but the areas we really want to ski at Hotham don't have snowmaking! Fortunately Heavenly Valley doesn't look like suffering and will no doubt be skiable for the rest of the season.

The Summit at Falls Creek [Source: Falls Creek Facebook page]

Falls Creek

Natural Snow Depth: 76-86cms

Falls Creek is interesting, with all its lifts open but very patchy cover in the sun-exposed International and Last Hoot areas. As you would expect with the snow depth, all the intermediate areas from Tower's to Ruined Castle have great snow cover making it the best choice in Victoria for intermediate skiing.


Mt Buller

Natural Snow Depth: 33cms

Buller only has natural snow cover thanks to the recent snowfall. Snowmaking areas like Bourke Street, Summit and Wombat make up the bulk of the skiing.

NEW ZEALAND

At long bloody last - the drought is over, the sun has buggered off, and some snow has fallen transforming all the New Zealand skifields into a winter wonderland!

It was really getting desparate, but now there are smiles all round again with the return to winter conditions. The storms over the past few days have brought lots of snow. Its not powder really at resort level, apparently it was quite wet snow. But thats perfect to get started on building the bases again and adding more.

More snow is forecast for Canterbury and the Mackenzie this week, while the weather has cleared in the Southern Lakes. Note, the snow depths below are likely to be revised upwards in the next day or two as the fields open again.

Porters [Source: Porters Facebook page]

North Canterbury and Nelson

Rainbow (20-60cms) has fixed its road and the snowfalls have reopened the pretty little skifeield; while Hanmer Springs (5-85cms) is hoping to reopen soon. Mt Lyford (80-120cms) has received 65cms of snow in the past 48 hours.

Canterbury

Porters (40-80cms) has got a welcome dump and it is still snowing. Mt Hutt (75-80cms) is shut while it waits out the storm that has already brought 60cms of new snow in 48 hours. Cheeseman and Mt Olympus now have a metre of snow up high.


The Mackenzie

Ohau (70-100cms) is in business again. Roundhill (40-60cms) has opened and I've been caught off-guard as I read they have a new T-Bar!

Cardrona [Source: Cardrona Facebook page]

Wanaka

Treble Cone (79-80cms) has opened the Motatapu Chutes for the first time this season, and skiing will be excellent in the Saddle Basin. Cardrona (70-75cms) looks beautiful again with up to 30cms new snow.

Queenstown


Coronet Peak (40-80cms) could still do with some more natural snow, such was the lack of snow before this storm. The Remarkables is now in a vastly improved state thanks to a snow depth of 60-80cms.

Snow Report 18 July 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

This past week saw snowsports enthusiasts waiting (im)patiently for the rain across Australia to turn to snow. Wow, how the temperatures hovered tantalisingly (but ultimately disappointingly) around 0c or above - the colder air took longer than expected to arrive. Thankfully most of the Australian resorts had some fresh snow on Sunday and Monday after a wet week. This coming weekend  is looking fine with some sun, so a perfect time to learn or improve skills. Unfortunately, there's not much snow in the forecast for another few weeks which is a shame as continued storms would boost the ski season for a really good year rather than just maintaining the snow cover.

Mt Hotham
Snow Depth: 75-107cms
We skied Hotham on Friday 13th - our first day of the season for 2012! Perhaps because of this we managed to put up with the generally crappy, warm and wet conditions with the occasional lightning strike. However, I would say that the skiing in Heavenly Valley early in the day was pretty good. Soft snow meant that everywhere was skiable at Heavenly. The Twilight Zone run was very enjoyable, and perfect for Friday 13th! The Orchard was fairly patchy on Friday, but the 10cms or so on Sunday and Monday would have kept it open and brought Hotham out even after the rainy days.

Powder Day at Falls [Source: Falls Creek Facebook page]

Falls Creek
Snow Depth: 73-107cms
Falls Creek was pretty unpleasant on Saturday 14th, with pellets of frozen rain in the face when skiing and while on the lifts (free skincare treatment?). The visibilty was rubbish also, and lifts had to close focusing the people who did brave the weather on the Towers and Wombat's Ramble area. It began to snow on Saturday afternoon and by Sunday morning Falls claimed 20cms of fresh. The conditions were brilliant for skiing and boarding on Sunday morning with better visibility opening up the off-piste powder across Sun Valley and Ruined Castle. Lots of slightly heavy powder to be had for those in the know and we were all hooning around Quartz Ridge getting lots of powder goodness. No pics I'm afraid - far too busy skiing! The Maze still needs more snow, but cover is pretty much complete across the resort.


Mt Buller
Snow Depth: 12-71cms
Buller had another horror wet week, recovering with a little snowfall on Saturday/Sunday that was oh so desparately needed. Conditions are therefore pretty much the same, if maybe a little worse on the ground. Snowmaking areas like Bourke Street, Summit and Wombat will provide the best skiing for the foreseeable future.

NEW ZEALAND


Blimey ... from dry as a bone to soaking wet in one week! The warm tropical moisture that gave Australia problems late last week steamed across the Tasman drenching both islands over the weekend. The north of the South Island which, ironically had been doing the best this season, copped the worst of it but nowhere escaped entirely. A bit of snow at the end of the system provided some relief and some positivity, but some skifields are still to recover. New Zealand skifield marketing - from the commercial skifields at least - has been fairly crap in truthfully reporting snow conditions over the past week.

Porters [Source: Porters Website]

North Canterbury & Nelson


Rainbow (10-55cms) is now closed as the rain washed away part of their access road; while Hanmer Springs (5-100cms) lost too much cover at the bottom to be able to run its ski lifts for the timebeing. Mt Lyford (40-100cms) had a good enough cover to survive a tough weekend.




Canterbury




Porters (30-70cms) looks a bit patchy and skiing is limited to the groomed runs alongside the T-bars. Mt Hutt (75-80cms) also lost a good deal of snow, which has appeared to close the International area and the Triple Chair. Temple Basin, Craigieburn and Mt Olympus had to close and are waiting for new snowfalls.

The Mackenzie


Ohau (60-80cms) has little cover going by the webcams with limited off-trail skiing.

Coronet Peak [Source: Coronet Peak website]

Wanaka


Treble Cone (40-60cms) got some rain but then scored a nice 10cm top-up at the end. Most of this was in the Saddle Basin and the lower part of the Home Basin looks like it has little snow. Cardrona (50-55cms) doesn't need much snow to open a lot of runs, which is fortunate ... as it doesn't have much at all. The skifield nearly lost the wonderful Captains area in the rain, but has now reopened it. Valley View was not so lucky and remains closed.




Queenstown


Skiing is mostly limited to snowmaking runs at Coronet Peak (50-80cms). The Remarkables has a snow depth of 35-55cms.

Snow Report 11 July 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA


The forecasted rain arrived early this week and fortunately didn't do too much damage to the slopes. Falls Creek and Mt Hotham came out about even, and Mt Buller lost little cover. There is another day or so of marginal temperatures before it gets colder for the weekend and any precipitation will fall as snow. A little concern about the winds on the weekend, but hopefully not enough to halt lift operations.


Mt Hotham
Snow Depth: 82-102cms

The wonderful Orchard area has been open for more than a week now in this 2012 season, which is promising after missing out on skiing it altogether last year. I'm still optimistic and hopeful that Blue Ribbon will open in a week or two with the current snow forecast. That would see the whole of Mt Hotham ski area open in July.

This is what we like to see at Falls Creek [Source: Falls Creek Facebook Page]

Falls Creek

Snow Depth: 68-94cms

Over this past weekend Falls Creek opened Lakeside Poma, meaning every lift was running across the mountain. A magnificent effort! There must be some patchy areas in The Maze, but the Summit looks to have good cover that has not been much affected by the rain.

Mt Buller

Snow Depth: 26-72cms

What can I say? Buller has been really unlucky so far this year but still manages to get a good deal of lifts and runs open. I'd like to see Bull Run, Southside and Grimus lifts running before I made the trip up ... but there is some fine skiing boosted by some good snowmaking.


NEW ZEALAND


Wow ... the long, dry continues in New Zealand with little snow to mention since the last update. Worse news is that this weekend the forecast is rain for almost every skifield. And if it could get any worse, the extended forecast is for the rain to be followed by another dry and sunny high pressure system. New Zealand sometimes has these years where snow is hard to come by, but thankfully history shows that the systems eventually break down bringing some snow storms. The best skiing and snow cover has been in the north of the South Island to date.


Mt Lyford
Snow Depth: 60-120cms
You still need to fit chains on your car if driving up the brilliant road to Lyford, so that gives an idea about how this part of the South Island has been faring. Nearby Hanmer Springs is doing well also, and Rainbow up in the Nelson Lakes has had some fine early season skiing.

Mt Lyford gets some snow [Mt Lyford Facebook page]

Porters

Snow Depth: 40-70cms

Mt Hutt

Snow Depth: 95-100cms

Mt Hutt may be lucky this weekend as it is a little protected from the direction of the warm, rainy weather system.

Ohau

Snow Depth: 70-100cms

Treble Cone
Snow Depth: 40-50cms
A bit worried about Treble Cone this weekend in the forecast rain. Hopefully its colder than anticipated and there is some heavy snow in the Saddle Basin.


Cardrona
Snow Depth: 50-60cms


Coronet Peak
Snow Depth: 50-80cms

The Remarkables
Snow Depth: 50-60cms

Snow Report 4 July 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA

Another good weekend of snowfalls followed by some persistent cold weather to encourage lots of snowmaking on the groomed runs has seen Australian skifields in the great position of being able to open most of their terrain at the beginning of July. There is just a little concern about a possible rain event next week, however.

Mt Hotham
Snow Depth: 84-101cms

Mt Hotham on Tuesday opened a big swathe of terrain after touching on 1m snowdepth. The Keoghs, Gotcha and Orchard lifts began turning for the first time, doubling the resort's skiable area in one go. Another good snowfall could see the fantastic Blue Ribbon area open, resulting in a fully open resort for three months.

International @ Falls Creek [Source: Falls Creek Facebook page]

Falls Creek

Snow Depth: 75-82cms

Beautiful Falls Creek now has everything across the ski area open except for Lakeside Poma (and you can still ski around there if you want). The Summit opened early in the weekend, with The Maze following on Tuesday. Almost the whole of the ski resort is open, although the advanced areas of The Maze and Summit could do with a bit more to make them truly skiing well.

Mt Buller

Snow Depth: 24-75cms

Still a little to do at Buller with more snow needed to get more than half the skifield's terrain open. For intermediates, Wombat, Summit and Howqua are the go. Good snowmaking is making up for the lack of natural snow so far this year.

NEW ZEALAND

The skifields in the South Island of New Zealand got a little snow last week, but have since then basked under a big high pressure system which has delivered clear, crisp and sunny days, but not a lot of new snow. Not a great deal on the horizon either, so a slower start for New Zealand particularly in the Southern Lakes, although Canterbury has done better early and will get a little extra snow this week.

Mt Lyford
Snow Depth: 85cms
Some extra snow for Mt Lyford this week and most of the ski area open.

Looking down at Ohau [Source: Ohau Facebook page]

Porters

Snow Depth: 40-70cms

Snowing also at Porters midweek, but the legendary Big Mama is not quite ready.

Mt Hutt

Snow Depth: 95-100cms

Some fine skiing at Mt Hutt all the way down to the Triple Chair.

Ohau

Snow Depth: 70-100cms

Ohau continues to have a good start.

Treble Cone
Snow Depth: 40-50cms
Treble Cone has lost some snow in the sunny, dry spell down south but has kept its fantastic groomed runs open with snowmaking cannons. I'm not sure about TC's Facebook marketing spin about skiing "manmade pow" on Wednesday!

Cardrona
Snow Depth: 50-60cms
Cardrona has now opened the Valley View chairlift (which I am yet to ski but itching to get a go at this year!). It doesn't take much to get most of this fun mountain open.

Coronet Peak
Snow Depth: 50-80cms
Lots of manmade snowmaking has given Coronet Peak an edge in Queenstown. All of the main runs are groomed and open

The Remarkables
Snow Depth: 55-65cms
Fairly limited skiing at Remarks.

Snow Report 19 June 2012 - Australia & New Zealand

AUSTRALIA


Mt Hotham

Mt Hotham [Source: Mt Hotham Facebook page]

Snow Depth: 30-35cms
OPEN. Mt Hotham has done well to build on its opening weekend with some natural and artificial snow to open the Village loop, a series of connected runs that make for a good ride. More snow from this weekend will see a good deal of terrain open.


Falls Creek
Snow Depth: 19-30cms
OPEN. Falls has capitalised on cool temperatures to keep open its beginner runs and Main Street. Like Hotham, the coming weeks will open up all of Falls Creek's intermediate runs and some advanced skiing.


Mt Buller
Snow Depth: 1-11cms
Buller missed out for opening weekend but will open more and more lifts and runs with the coming storms and fronts that will hit over the next couple of weeks.


NEW ZEALAND


Mt Lyford
Snow Depth: 65-90cms
OPEN. Great, early start for Lyford, right up in the north of the South Island near Kaikoura.


Porters
Snow Depth: 20-50cms
Thanks to some snowmaking to boost the natural snow from the recent Canterbury region storm, Porters will be able to open on Friday 22 June.

Ohau 19 June [Source: Ohau Facebook page]

Mt Hutt
Snow Depth: 70cms
OPEN. After a great early start - one of its best in ten years - Mt Hutt continues to lead the way in the South Island, opening the Towers Triple Chair this week to give access to the fantastic International area thanks to the new snowmaking down at the lowest part of the ski area.


Ohau
Snow Depth: 30-50cms
Lovely little Ohau is due to open on Saturday 23 June.


Treble Cone
Snow Depth: 15-30cms
Treble Cone has missed out on early snow due to the unfavourable wind direction of the recent falls. Not set to open until the 28 June, I am pretty sure it will catch up with the others once winter is under way as it typically starts later and gets better snow in mid-season.


Cardrona

Cardrona 19 June [Source: Cardrona Facebook page]

Snow Depth: 35-60cms
Due to open on Friday 22 June with enough cover for some good skiing.


Coronet Peak
Snow Depth: 30-40cms
OPEN. Coronet Peak have done well to open early thanks to their massive snowmaking system across the mountain. Many of the main runs from top to bottom are groomed and open despite a lack of natural snow so far.


The Remarkables
Snow Depth: 20-30cms
OPEN. Not much snow at the Remarks yet but ... remarkably ... they are open with limited skiing.

Ski Touring in New Zealand 2011 - West Coast, Southern Lakes and Canterbury

11 days skiing
7 mountains (3 first-time mountains)
6kms vertical descent per day
77kms vertical descent over the trip
2 whales
13 seals
1 glacier
4 Kea

Franz Josef Glacier

Sadly, departing the wonderful Nelson Lakes via the dramatic white-water Murchison River gorges the journey was tinged with a little regret at not staying in the area a little longer. But we must get going and make our way down the West Coast of the South Island over the next two days.

We reach the Tasman Sea at the town of Greymouth, then speed (no tickets) down the coast through Hokitika to arrive - after a long and uneventful drive - to spend the night at the lush rainforest town of Franz Josef Glacier.

It is a fine and - wow - remarkable sight, this slow-moving river of ice tumbling out of the majesty of the Southern Alps down into a narrow strip of rainforest between the mountain peaks and the Pacific Ocean. The millennia that these natural processes have been at work beyond human influence is evident.

And what better way to consider glacial dymamics, the weathering of rock formations, the power of H2O, the richness of rainforest flora, clear evidence for global warming, and the sheer uniqueness of this amazing island ... than ...

... on the back of a kick-arse, noisy quad bike!

These chunky little mechanical beasties are lots of fun - especially when powering through the narrow, extremely muddy rainforest trails, and when careening and splashing within the deep, fast-flowing river! Yee-bloody-ha baby!

From Franz Josef Glacier and the Glacier Country the West Coast drive proceeds to lonely Haast at the end of Middle Earth. The only road winds through more rainforest and along the coast and the absence of human population is noticeable. But somehow they still manage to have cheap bananas for sale.

Haast Highway

This twisting road for a time seems familiar - we get a sense of deja vu. We haven't been here before? The ways it switches back, the closeness of the ocean ...

Ah, that's right - it is similar to the beautiful Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia, cavorting and swivelling above the cliffs with the ocean far below, waves crashing against stubborn rocks.

At one roadside visitor lookout the ocean swell creates white-water on pointy rock stacks. In this picture, if you look very closely, you can see the curvature of the Earth on the horizon.

What? Yeah! Bit of science comin' at ya! 

More pictures of the Franz Josef Glacier, the Haast Highway and Lake Paringa in this album.

Wanaka and Mt Iron

The West Coast town of Haast marks an important point in our trip since it began a week earlier - wow, that seems a long time ago - in Christchurch.

We have been to this place, seen this town before in previous years and are now, once again, in familiar territory as we head inland to cross the Southern Alps through the winding mountain passes.

Arriving finally in the ski tourist town of Wanaka it even feels a little like home after the wildness of the unfamiliar West.

But while we without fail visit Wanaka every year, this is actually the first time we have stayed in this town for more than a few nights in a row. In previous years we have instead chosen to stay in sparkling Queenstown or in cute, historic Arrowtown.

But hold up ... first things first, its time to start skiing again after a couple of days travelling. Too much driving through rainforests and ocean roads and not enough sliding!

There are four ... yep, four ... commercial ski areas within reach of our gorgeous Mt Iron accommodation in Wanaka - there are skifields at Treble Cone, Cardrona, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.

To enable a thorough exploration of the best of them we settle in, get comfortable, do a big shop at the supermarket (check the cheese and wine aisles first) and spend a great five days in this fantastic value luxury cottage just out of town at the base of Mt Iron in Wanaka.

Treble Cone

First up - its Cardrona - and wow Cardrona was warm this year! How seasons differ. Last year we were challenged by gale force winds and temperatures of -11c.

This year it was calm, warm and sunny at lovely Cardies. To give you an idea, in the evening afterwards I was flipping burgers at the BBQ outside with only a T-shirt on.

The two days at Cardrona were a lot of fun as us seasoned skiers now know this cruisey mountain so well that we can pretty much command the whole field! In a nice way ... we are very careful not to scare newbies with our hooning!

As the sun softened the off-piste areas we could cruise around the Captains area and link the runs nicely while enjoying the comfort of a chair lift for the first time this trip!

And then ... there was marvellous Treble Cone and the conditions were similar: Sun, sun, sun!

A lot of effort was required changing gear to try and keep cool - sunscreen and water (far too warm for hot chocolates in these conditions!).

What is great about Wanaka is that you can actually see the front basin of the massive Treble Cone ski area from town ... as you can see the town of Wanaka from Treble Cone!

This skifield certainly has some of the most inpsiring, picturesque views over the lakes and valleys of the Southern Lakes of New Zealand. The skiing was fantastic with Spring conditions, softening very quickly and there was almost nobody there.

More pictures of Wanaka, Cardrona and Treble Cone in this album.

Over the Crown Range Road

Despite the fantastic scenery, and great forgiving and soft Spring skiing conditions, there had been one something missing a little this year ...

... fresh snow and lovely powder!

Thankfully we were fortunate to finally get some ... but not at Wanaka, which the storm inexplicably missed entirely, but at Coronet Peak near Queenstown.

When I read the snow reports at dawn I knew it was on, and this meant a slightly longer early morning drive past Cardrona and up over the brilliant and snowy Crown Range Road.

Coronet Peak

As we came round the bends right at the top of the pass, the valley was suddenly spread out before us, snow blanketing everywhere save for the wheat-green valley floors.

And then there was Coronet Peak, looking splendid with inviting new snow!

Coronet Peak is the most commercial of the New Zealand skifields, on account of it being an easy, convenient 20-minute drive from the bright lights of Queenstown and its international visitors.

It is also one of the lowest-altitude ski areas and prone to ice at this time of year, most years. But 2011 is Coronet's year to shine and 10cms of fresh snow awaits and there are not many people around and plenty of space for us to enjoy the mountain.

View to The Remarkables and Queenstown

It is a brilliant day's skiing - definitely one of the best in visiting CP over the many years. There are some fantastic runs through soft powder and great views to The Remarkables and Queenstown itself.

More pictures of Coronet Peak in this album.

We decide to stay an extra day in Wanaka, skiing two days each at Cardrona and Treble Cone again as we get very settled in our lovely unit.

But we must be on the road and head northeast again, up towards the city of Christchurch. This final sector will complete our round trip of the South Island of New Zealand.

Mt Hutt and Canterbury Plains

In previous years visiting we have stopped off in the Mackenzie Country where there is skiing at Lake Ohau, Mt Dobson and Roundhill ... but sadly none this year.

The lack of rainfall has not been kind to these parts and we speed (no tickets!) through on our way back to Canterbury and Christchurch. Not so quick that we can't stop for a soak in the hot pools at Lake Tekapo, however!

When we arrive in the town of Methven we are only one hour away from Christchurch Airport, yet we still have four days of our trip to go and there is plenty of skiing around here, with Mt Hutt above us and the mountains deep within the Craigieburn Range.

Lyndon Road to Castle Hill

In Methven we stay in a lovely apartment attached yet separate to a new property owned by local artists, their works tastefully decorating the walls of our new home.

Art inside, sheep and llama grazing on the paddocks outside!

Once again it is very warm again up on the mountains ... more sun ... great views ... sunscreen ... fluids!

A hidden gem in this area is the back road that links Methven to Castle Hill - I can't think of a short drive that is better for the range of vistas, countryside and views in Canterbury.

At Mt Cheeseman one day if felt more like lying on a beach doing a bit of surfing than skiing!

From Methven you could do both in the same day ... ski in the morning and 24c in the afternoon at the beach.

Whether you're on the beach or on top of the mountain, it doesn't really matter ... this place is real and magical at the same time. A wonderful, natural and amazing part of the Earth that is in tune with the adventurous at heart.

More pictures of Methven, Mt Hutt, Mt Cheeseman and Wakanui Beach in this album.