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Ski New Zealand 16 September – 9 October 2011

Powder perfect on the descent of Mt Cooper 2,368m

Written by Jim Blyth, October 2011

September and October are great ski months with crystal clear skies, clean air, powder or corn, beautiful mountains and few other skiers. Southern Hemisphere spring in the three best countries for ski touring south of the equator namely Chile, Argentina and New Zealand. Wonderful!

Every year Jagged Globe skiers can top up their turns after the summer by joining a trip to these destinations. New Zealand was this year�s choice coinciding nicely with the 2011 rugby world cup. The country was in party mood and a great combination of good weather, great snow and some rugby fun ensured a memorable experience for the team and ski guides Jim Blyth and Gary Kuehn. Gary lives to ski and is probably the most active ski mountaineer in New Zealand at present. He just loves his turns.

We started with a couple of warm-up days in the back country of two well known commercial ski fields, Treble Cone and Cardrona. The former is a great field for intermediate to expert skiers and has stunning views down on to Lake Wanaka some thousand metres below. Playing the weather is an essential part of the game and a two day slot enabled us to ascend a mountain named Top Heavy. (Some NZ mountains do have curious names!) Top Heavy is on the main divide and is accessed by wading a stream the climbing steeply up through old growth native southern beach forest with a fascinating range of mosses, ferns and lichens. After a night in the Brewster hut the day dawned clear but a huge lenticular cloud was soon over the summit of Mount Brewster and bad visibility prevented us reaching our second summit of the day, Mt Armstrong (both summits skied by the 2009 team).

We now moved north to Mount Cook Village stopping to ski the back country from a small, relatively isolated ski field at Lake Ohau. NZ has many small fields run on a shoestring budget with impressively exposed dirt road access and often expensive daily rates. There is always a warm skier�s lodge at these fields and a great welcome for all.

Skiing from the Tasman Saddle Hut was to prove the �main course� of our trip. We flew in by helicopter on the tail end of a storm. The skies cleared and we were presented with a pristine, white landscape with prefect powder and not a track. We got to work and by the end of the day it was clear even to the casual observer (there were none) that people had had a great deal of fun. We skied Hochstetter Dome twice enjoying some fabulous turns in the fresh snow.

High mountain huts in NZ are basic affairs corresponding perfectly to the French name �refuge�. They provide shelter and that�s it. One needs to carry sleeping bag, stove, fuel and food at all times though this is not difficult if a helicopter is doing the uphill to the hut as is the case most of the time.

The highlight of our time in the Tasman Saddle hut was a day spent on and around Mt Cooper at the head of the Murchison valley. Cooper is a superb ski summit revealing its secrets slowly on the ascent as one skins higher and higher and eventually right to the top with skis on feet. The descent to the Mannering Glacier is steep and exhilarating. In 2009 we successfully skinned and skied Mt Hamilton which was possibly the first time this had been done. Our final day this time was another attempt on the mountain which ended at the base of the summit couloir as it was just too hot to continue safely. After a long pause admiring the views to Mt Cook and beyond we descended on spring snow to our kit depot and on down the Tasman Glacier to our pick-up by Pilateus Porter ski plane.

No ski trip to NZ would be complete without a visit to one of the club fields. These fields provide skiing, food and accommodation and are private affairs established and run by club members. Uplift is by rope tow which is a long line of rope of about three centimeters in diameter which runs in a continuous loop through a pulley system. Skiers wear a belt or harness with the notorious �nutcracker� attachment. One grabs the rope with one hand, gathers speed and flicks the nutcracker over the rope, closing it and holding firmly in the hand letting the weight come on to belt or harness. Not as simple as it sounds and holding on to the nutcracker as it clatters through the pulleys is not for the faint hearted. Rope tows move fast and one�s hands feel ever so close. Our club field experience was at Mt Olympus �Playground of the Gods�. The weather wasn�t great so the Gods must have been elsewhere but we did enjoy the welcome, some great skiing and a couple of beers in New Zealand�s highest hot tub.

The contrast in vegetation and landscape on either side of South Island�s main divide is extraordinary and due to the massive rainfall the west receives (5 metres per year in Franz Josef) compared to the relative dryness in the rain shadow to the east. We enjoyed our drive down the west coast to Fox Glacier where we flew in to our last high mountain hut, Pioneer. Skiing the West Coast glaciers and peaks is unforgettable, the Tasman Sea is so close. There is also something magic about skiing towards the sunset with the sun reflected on ocean that continues all the way to the shores of Argentina, thousands of miles away. It was clear but pretty windy for most of our time at Pioneer though we summitted Mt Von Bulow and Grey Peak and enjoyed some great turns. The final morning as we skied down to Chancellor Hut for the short flight out was delightful on fast, smooth snow. Skis are such fun and such a fantastic form of transport in the mountains! It was the perfect end to the trip.

The Southern Hemisphere ski trip for 2012 is a �Best of�� to Argentina and Chile. The trip is running and there are still spaces available. Jim has skied many times in these countries and rates the experience as one of the best.

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