September 14th, 2013

Location: Harris Mountain Heli Ski, South Island, New Zealand

Weather: Sunny with a bit of wind…chopper is flyin’

Riders: Slaythegnar, NZphotoslave (@milesholden – twitter), and Geoff Small (our guide)

NZphotoslave…ready to slay!

Slaythegnar enjoying the horrible view…

Smally telling the Yank he’s too fat to ride…

Photographers: NZPhotoslave & Slaythegnar

POV VIDEO Saturday Session of Succulence @ Harris Mountains Heli-ski NZ – September 14th, 2013

Saturday Session of Succulence @HMHheliski NZ – September 14th, 2013 from SlayTheGnar on Vimeo.

Music: Fracture @ ease up, Conne Island 24-11-2012

Java Porn: Two Flat Whites with extra NZ pronto!

Synopsis:

What is the best way to spend your last day on a ski vacation?

Heli-skiing is crucial to experience the Southern Alps of New Zealand for snow enthusiasts. Access to the interior of the Southern Alps is extremely tough due to their massive stature without any gradual elevation gain from the plains. This is why most of the ski fields are located on the exterior of the range…it is just too difficult to throw in a road and build a resort. Higher elevation, steeper slopes, better snow, longer descents, and incredible vistas are what you will find. Therefore, when its raining at the resorts, you can almost guarantee some fresh snow accessible by one of the well-known heli operations.

For my last day of riding, the cards lined up perfectly where new snow, blue skis, and a lack of wind allowed us to venture into the North Buchanans due North of Wanaka with Harris Mountains Heli-ski. We were a bit skeptical since two days prior it rained to extremely high elevations and then froze solid, making ice skates a necessity for our downhill descents. However, we were greeted by about a foot of fresh snow with low moisture content. Some Northern and steeper aspects were still bulletproof, but others were as if it didn’t rained at all.

OK, Blog begins now…:

McDonald’s sounds about right for a drive to Wanaka…

Lake Wanaka…a lake near Wanaka, NZ

Hannah from Mons Royale decided to fly today…but where’s Hamish? Hmmmmmm.

NZ Heli pickup parking lot…

Mt Aspiring – 3,033m and looking stunning this morning….

Sweet as mate!

HMH has some wicked terrain…too bad this steep stuff is sitting on bulletproof.

Mountains…

Smally’s head barely survived this photo op….

First lap was ok I guess…

I suppose its fun to ski powder in September…

Geoff Small in his element…

Smally always working with a smile…

Possible terrain when the conditions are ripe…

Another lap?

NZphotoslave slaves up for the camera…

Oh my, that’s impressive geology…

NZphotoslave performing the Bob Marley pow turn…

Slaythegnar prefers a bit higher bpm…

Time for lunch…

Scoping another aspect in the middle of the Southern Alps….

Natural warning sign…

‘Just don’t step over there and you’ll be fine’…

Mmmmmmm…who’s first again?

Slaythegnar goes anti-powder8….

Silky smooth…

NZphotoslave entering the white room…

Slaythegnar all alone…

Mentos, the Freshmaker!

Back to reality…

We finally meet up with Hamish…who DIDN’T go heli that day. Sorry bro…

…end of NZ 2013 trip transmission