South Island Slaycation, NZ – 08/06/10
N33D sum SUmME9 sTOKe???
Dates:
July 29th through August 6th, 2010
Locations: Remarkables, Coronet Peak, Broken River, Craigeburn, and Ohau.
Weather:
Skiers:
Skier666,, Sheepdog, WheresTom, Mr. Kingswood, MasterSam, JasonNZ & BonTak
(click each of their pics to visit their blog)
Sheepdog – a damn fine wedding and sports photog
BonTak – well, its BonTak.
Tom – A rippin’ skier from Oz competing in the Heli-Challenge
MasterSam – legendary Kiwi freeskier
Mr. Kingswood – makes some of the world’s best skis
666 – he thinks he’s funny
Picture Takers:
Sheepdog, 666, Tak, MasterSam, Mr. Kingswood
POV: It’s a long one, but I don’t usually get to film 8 days in a row…heh. Its also Summer and it feels good to do a decent winter edit. Enjoy.
Music: Magnetic Man – “I Need Air’
NZ Java Porn
Synopsis:
Good snow, rain, bad snow, good people, long drives, short hikes, nutcrackers, and of course, some skiing.
Summer so far:
A view of Tallac from the boat on July 4th…
A true American…
Then off to LaniKai for a few days for my niece’s 1st B-day
July 27th, 2010 – Departure
The flight to NZ was fine except for ONE THING…
…and then instantly its July 29th, 2010
Made it to Auckland and quickly grabbed my first coffee. Talked to Ted Davenport who was off to compete in the heli challenge…nice fellow.
Warmer on this part of NZ…
Colder…
Mt. Cook looking nice…
Queenstown approach…
…touch down
Sheepdog picked me up and we headed straight for thee hillz…
Kiwi liftee…
Doesn’t look too bad across the way…
Alta Chutes looking wintery…
First turn…out of focus but look at those nice tracks in the background eh?
Soft…
Takeshi tells me to say hello to Tom from Oz.
Late afternoon goods…
Tom Costa practicing for the Heli-Challenge…
While 666 goes for a single turn…
Double Cone looking a tad gnarly…
So we then headed into Telex…
Wasn’t exactly fun, but the snow was soft….the rocks were not.
Playing around the boundary…
Sheepdog finds a stash…
Day one a success!
The new James Bond?
666 finishes the long day with some grease soaked marine life…
July 30th
Another day at the Remarks…
Newest addition this season…guardrails.
Tom, Tak , and Sheepdog survey the steeps…
Tom airs in…
666 goes for a safer route…
Yep, he’s one of those…
Good view, just watch your step…
Tom drops in…
666 airs from the top so he can hip check a rock. Yippie!
666 goes for a scenic run while Tom prepares some jumps…
Like this…
And this…give 6er some credit on the one-click shot eh?
666 must be getting old….
Tom is like a rubber band…
Nice….
Good work Sheepdog…
Back inside the resort, Tom gets some Diagonalator action…
Always good snow in here…
Even Tak gets some pow!
Some of us decided to hike to the hanging snowfield above the terrain park…
Hmmm…which one…?
This looks to be a safer bet…
The Alta chutes and Double Cone from another point of view…
Here’s a vid made by Tom with highlights from the day…make sure to visit his site for more vids:
July 31st, 2010
Tak and I decide to ride the Remarks again knowing how good it was the last couple of days. However, a storm is approaching and the wind was going to be relentless…
Alta Chutes still deliver…
Diagonalator…
Here comes the wind…
Upper Pipeline…
Tak drops in…
Rocky exit…
Tak makes it out safely…
Another lap?
Tak didn’t mind…
Another hike to Hanging Snowfield delivers yet again…
The Kia were out to watch…
Its Saturday Night….might as well…
Which one are Sheepdog’s?
Pretty hard to get night shots with a P&S…
But we still tried…
Did I mention that it was raining?
Day 3 = DONE!
August 1st, 2010
Pouring rain all night. Waited until half-day to try and hit a gap. This was the best run of the day…
August 2nd
I begin a solo drive to Lyttleton…only 6 hours or so….alone.
Mt. Cook is back there somewhere….
Not a 6er TR without a tunnel shot eh?
Made it!
Turns out, I arrived just in time for a proper feed at Scotty’s place…
Once the little guy was put to bed, Mr. Kingswood goes to work…
And we’ll just let that rockered ski sit overnight….
August 3rd
Its time for some Clubfield action at Broken River…mainly because it was the only place open AFTER the rain storm…
The drive through Canterbury…
with four dudes…
There she is!
Access road…
The lift to the ticket office is rather new…and a bit on the sketchy side.
Nice quiver for 4 skiers on less than ideal conditions…
Looks better than expected…
Nice views…
Nutcracker time.!
Mr. Kingswood gets DEEP!
…his edges gets a faceshot.
MasterSam is loving it…
Here’s a rare sight of a snowboarder that can use the nutcracker…
666 was there…
This guy ate my gloves when I ran inside to put on more makeup…
Jason getting hella scenic…
Mr. Kingswood’s re-entry…
View off the back…
Mr. Kingswood on the steeps…
The NZ glory photo!
August 4th, 2010
Its Craigieburn time.!
Access granted…
just a short walk to the ticket window…
It was WAY too crowded…
Oh no…
Hi-speed single…
Backside views…
Our playground for most of the day…
First run…
MasterSam finds some windbuff…
Jason carves a Turkey…
…and finds a slot.
666 is a tired Yank….
but has room for one more run down to the road…
August 5th, 2010
I stayed the night up at the Mt. Cook Village at Sir Edmund Hillary’s place…
This is the best the clouds would do for me…
So I decided to hit Ohau for a half-day Spring session…
Stopped by Lake Ohau for some peace of mind…
Some of the best views anywhere from your drive TO the ski field…
Ahhhhhhhhhhh…..
Packed as usual…
Ohau is all about its ‘hike to’ terrain. But those hike also yield to some damn fine scenic’s. Here’s a good view of the resort.
See what the rain caused?
Pretty mountains….
Don’t go that way!
I has a viZatoR…
Scary mountains….
Self-timer steeze…
The world’s greatest CORN farm…
Another stop by the lake…
Bye bye…
August 6th, 2010
One more session at the Remarks!
But boy were the chutes treating me well. Here’s a shot of Pipeline…
Time for my last run…
Not a bad area…
Adios Amigos!
Big Thanks to everyone at NZSKI for supporting the cause, Moment Skis, Tak for his dry sense of humor, Woody for letting me put 1200kms on his car, Sam for the Canterbury tours, Jason for the endless supply of Redbull shots, the Kingswood family for letting me feel like PART of the family for two nights, Mr. and Mrs. Sheepdog for the OUTSTANDING hospitality, and biggest thanks to Mrs. 666 for putting up my ski expeditions on this long year…YOU ARE THE BEST!
…no more TRs from me. I need to relax.