An upcoming ski trip to New Zealand will include skiing and snowboarding The Remarkables, Coronet Peak, Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone Ski Area.
Skiing the Southern Hemisphere's New Zealand offers skiers, snowboarders and all wintersports lovers a chance to enjoy winter in the Northern Hemisphere's summer.
What's a truly passionate skier to do when hit with the mid-summer blues?
Go ski the southern hemisphere.
In this case, New Zealand.
New Zealand skiing is legendary, almost mythic, to we northern hemisphere denizens. Phrases like "the Southern Alps" and ski movie clips showing endless powder fields have made the place-especially the South Island and the Queenstown area in particular-a ski/snowboard icon.
This writer's first-ever trek to ski New Zealand begins on August 21. Having hooked up with Holidaze Tours, a small collection of ski writers and photographers, and their guests, will spend a week in Queenstown.
When the rest of the group returns to the U.S., this guy will hop off the plane in Auckland to spend a week with friends and to ski the North Island's Ruapehu.
Luckily, New Zealand's experiencing a banner snow year. Queenstown area snow reports talk of 220 centimeter base depths (that's 90-plus inches) minimum, and the photos show plenty of coverage.
The itinerary looks like this:
Ski Day One: The Remarkables. In business only since 1985, it's known for attracting freeskiers, terrain park rats and families.
Ski Day Two: Coronet Peak. Bills itself as the South Island's most popular ski area, the birthplace of South Island skiing, and home to the New Zealand Ski Team.
Ski Day Three: Cardrona Alpine Resort. Which looks to be mostly open-field, above-treeline style skiing.
Day Four: Treble Cone. Holds the South Island's highest lift accessed elevation (1960 meters, or 6400-plus feet) and the most skiable terrain.
On the North Island, Mt. Ruapehu is comprised of two ski areas, Whakapapa and Turoa. Whakapapa claims to be the country's largest ski area, and Turoa the highest.
All this skiing appears to be above treeline. The resorts all appear to be smaller than most major western U.S. resorts.
We'll see. No matter what the resorts' size, or the specific ski or weather conditions, the opportunity to travel to and ski the far reaches of the world, and to experience a different culture, will make the trip worthwhile. It always does.
And, that phenomenon-the chance to experience other places and meet people who have similar interests-is one of skiing's major lures.
Hopefully, if the mobile technology works, we'll be reporting back directly from the New Zealand ski fields. But, no matter what, it'll sure beat mowing the lawn on a humid day in New Jersey.
The copyright of the article Skiing New Zealand in Winter Sports is owned by Mitch Kaplan. Permission to republish Skiing New Zealand must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Aug 24, 2006 7:16 AM
Jodi Gallegos
:
I have to admit, I had no idea New Zealand had skiing during the US's summer. I hope the slopes and the snow are amazing. Have fun!
Aug 24, 2006 11:45 AM
Jill Florio
:
this is so cool, mitch. I hope you are having a blast.
Aug 27, 2006 2:22 PM
Alan Sorum
:
I look forward to a report on the adventure! This sounds like a great excuse (Like I needed on) to make the trip.
Aug 30, 2006 10:18 PM
Mitch Kaplan
:
thanks for the feedback guys. i'm still in new zealand, and haven't been able to log on (way too expensive in the hotel) until now. the snow's been terrific, the weather perfect and, yes, it is winter down here. more later. mitch
Sep 5, 2006 1:36 PM
Jill Florio
:
I still have not got to NZ yet, but Dan and I are eventually going to have our honeymoon there. Once we can afford and have the time, since I want to spend at least two weeks there (otherwise, why go?)
Anyway, I won't go in the winter (brrrr) but do long to see this magical land. :)
Sep 13, 2006 10:19 AM
Fran Folsom
:
I'm not a skier and I've never been to NZ, but after reading your article I can't wait to go. I look forward to more travel articles about it.
Sep 15, 2006 7:18 AM
Mitch Kaplan
:
but it's not that cold in winter. daytime temps were in the low 50s to low 60s the whole time we were there. golf courses were open. of course, i imagine that (unfrozen) water sports were limited, but . . . anyway, go asap. it's worth the time, money and effort.
and, fran - thanks for the kind words. there's a lot more story(ies) to tell, but probably closer to next summer (their winter).
