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International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) New Zealand 2019 Trip Report

Stacks

Stacks
Skier
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Posts
100
Location
Otago, Aotearoa
Nice, I'm glad someone's getting some waves Stacks. Sounds epic! Do you know if they surf on the west coast? I know it's really remote, but it looked really good. Don't they get after it here too? Scored some amazing views at Porters today. What stunning scenery.....

View attachment 77589

Some of the best views I've seen from a ski area and so unique. I definitely felt like I was in NZ today. I think Norway might have some views like this, I wonder where else?

- Matt
West coast down there definitely has waves and a very small crew of quite hard core surfers. Quite fickle, really need local knowledge to get it on and you want it small, usually massive and out of control at this time of year but as we all know . . . Wanaka locals drive over the Haast to surf the West Coast when it's on. They've also got their own man made wave machine. They get sent a tweet when the dam releases enough water to make it work -
 
Thread Starter
TS
Mattadvproject

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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Apr 24, 2017
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1,097
Location
Granby, CO
July 24th – Skiing at Porters

The weather was looking great so it was time to go skiing. Conditions weren’t looking particularly flash at any of the clubfields, so it really didn’t matter where we went. In the end, we decided to head south and ski the furthest one from Flock Hill and that was Porters. It was about a 35-minute drive (we’d passed it on the way up to Flock Hill so knew how to get there) and no chains would be required, so a potential easier drive in, although I believe Porters is supposed to have one of the tamer access roads. Anyway, this would be a nice introduction to the skiing in the area.

I don’t think Porters is considered to be a clubfield anymore though, I think it’s more of a commercial operation now. I think that clubfields (please correct me if I’m wrong) are normally owned by the members and are not-for-profit (?) and Porters is now a commercial operation. Either way, it’s still small compared to some of the other mainstream NZ commercial resorts, but for a former clubfiled, it’s considered to be quite plush. They have a quad chair (non-detachable), 3 t-bars, a poma and a magic carpet. Mid-week lift tickets were $79 NZ plus $5 for the recharge lift ticket. They have a nice baselodge with a decent cafeteria and outdoor seating area.

The snow report said that it would take some time for the snow to soften, so we didn’t rush to get there and were on snow by about 10:20am. We took the chair and then the 3 t-bars to the top. We did the blue groomer (Sundance) as a warm-up, next to the Sundance t-bar. Then on the next run, we traversed the top of the resort over to McNulty’s Basin (black run). As we rounded a snow-fence we got to see the views behind the ski area. Oh my goodness, I’ve seen some amazing views in my time, but I think the views at Porters are some of the best I’ve ever seen. It’s absolutely stunning. That was my day made, right there.

I really got to appreciate how much mountainous terrain there is, there’s a ton of terrain. Then there are the perfectly flat valleys with the peaks majestically rising, straight up. The snowlines were high on the peaks, but that just added to the scenery I thought. There were large lakes (not sure if it was Lake Coleridge or Lake Lyndon that we saw) and rivers running through the valleys. I was blown away. After seeing that, I honestly didn’t care how good the skiing was. I’ll always have that view in my memories.

Anyway, back to the skiing….. We did a run all the way down to the base and then headed back up for more. Riding the t-bars, you don’t get much of a rest, so I appreciated the workout my legs were getting (and arms trying to hold onto the t-bar as I was riding solo – Eric is on a board and it’s easier for him to ride on his own) in preparation for the upcoming Chile season. At the top, we hiked up to the lookout above the Sundance t-bar for complete 360-degree views. I was able to videochat with my wife and show her the views. I wish she could have been there to see them.

We did another long run down to the bottom and stopped for an early lunch. We were still waiting for some of the north-facing slopes to warm up and be opened. After 12pm, they opened up Head Wall and we did a couple of laps on that, finding the deeper base (nailed some rocks on the first run going too far skier’s right where it was deceptively thin) down the middle of the face. We did a bunch of runs in that zone before calling it quits around 1pm. I think with the right snow; Porters has got some great terrain. It’s got some nice steep bowls (Big Mama, Dome Face, Don’t Miss, Bluff Face) that would be really fun when they are soft. We didn’t get to experience much of the terrain, but it’s definitely there and easy to access. We just have to time it right and get lucky with the snow. That’s probably not going to be this winter, but hopefully I’ll get another chance next year.

Surprisingly we watched around 30 cars coming up the access road at once (apparently it is a school group that comes up every Wednesday afternoon from Darfield and then they also sell an afternoon ticket, so I think people come up for that as well), so it got kind of busy. All good as we were done. We hung out at the baselodge for a bit, spending time watching the Keas doing the rounds (our van didn’t look tasty enough apparently), then we headed down to explore more. We stopped in at the lovely Porter’s Lodge to have a snack and check out the facilities. Eric got to meet the 3 Scottish terriers and 2 of them promptly took a snooze in his lap on the couches.

Next we drove to Castle Hill. Castle Hill is a modern residential area up high on a plateau, surrounded by the mountains. It’s in a stunning location, really picturesque. There are quite a few houses there that I could see myself living in (I’d looked at accommodation options there when I was putting this trip together) but the drawback is apart from all the nice houses, there are no amenities. There are no restaurants, bars or shops, so you are a little stuck if you need those kind of facilities (like I do). If they had those options, it would make a great base. As it stands, it’s hard to beat Flock Hill with their amenities.

Then we headed over to Cave Stream Scenic Reserve (we’d stopped in there on the way through from Christchurch and taken photos, but not really explored). This time we went for a walk down to the river to check out the cave entrances where you can walk through an underground river. That would be a great one for the summertime when the water is low and a lot warmer, but not something we could do at the moment. I’d definitely be up for that later in the year though. We still managed to have our own little adventure, hiking down a deep gorge to the river and then back the way we came. We had a lot of fun scrambling in and around some massive boulders and tight spots. It was a good workout, I felt I had actually burnt some calories today. Must be time for some more lamb!

We got home around 5pm and I cooked the dinner. Then it was time to plan more of our trip. We’ve decided to leave Flock Hill on the 28th to head to Tekapo and try the clubbies there. I have a good friend in Tekapo running some race camps at Dobson and Roundhill. Looks like they have a little more snow than up here, but more importantly, it’s a new area to explore and new hills to try. That should keep things exciting enough. That still leaves 3 days here at Flock Hill though, so we should be able to ski Cheeseman, Broken River and Craigieburn (probably in that order). Those nutcrackers are coming up soon….

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Clouds still lingered below us in the valley


20190724_095809.jpg The upper road to Porters. This is an easy one for a clubfield. Thankfully there was no snow or ice so it was an easy drive up. No chains today!


20190724_100328.jpg Everything in this picture is normally skiable, so they do have some great terrain. Here you can see the quad chair, snow making, the Stellar t-bar (heading uphill above the snowguns) and then the Leaper t-bar to the upper left. You cannot see the highest t-bar, the Sundance t, which would lead upper left and gives access to a lot of nice terrain up high.


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20190724_104954.jpg At the top of the Sundance t-bar is Willis Peak at 1,980m. These are a couple of the ski patrol shacks.


20190724_110112.jpg Eric P cruising down Adrian's Highway to the McNulty's Basin area. We hadn't seen the views behind the resort yet....


20190724_112313.jpg We hiked up above the Sundance t-bar for the full 360 degree view. It was absolutely stunning, one of the best views I have seen at a ski area.


20190724_112335.jpg One of the lakes you can see from the top, not sure if it's Lake Coleridge or Lake Lyndon.


20190724_122300.jpg The base lodge and of course, the obligatory Kea shot for the day. There were two of them running around. Later we saw them over at the cars, thankfully Pegasus did not get munched on.


20190724_153403.jpg Cave Stream Scenic Reserve


20190724_153415.jpg Where the water enters the cave. It is recommended to walk upstream, so this would be your exit.


20190724_153602.jpg Not sure where that goes..... you might have to hold your breath a bit here!


20190724_161009.jpg
The entrance to the cave walk.

- Matt
 
Thread Starter
TS
Mattadvproject

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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Granby, CO
July 25th – Skiing at Mt. Cheeseman

This was going to be our first proper clubfield experience! They have 2 t-bars at Cheeseman, a base lodge and a few groomers. The lift ticket price was $79 for the day. I was also expecting the drive in to be a lot more rugged than Porters and it didn’t disappoint. It was easy going without snow on it, but would be a whole new level if it was icy. The road starts off in the open plains, with amazing views of the mountains and then it meanders through the forest, getting steeper with quite a few switchbacks. The chaining up areas are well-marked thankfully. Then you hit the alpine and there are the big drop offs the side of the road, tight switchbacks and no guard rail. It’s a dirt road the whole way up.

Then you get to a sign that says carpark and up to unloading area. If you keep going, you take one more switchback up, drop your gear off at the bottom of the steps to the baselodge, turn around and drive back down the switchback and then park. It’s a quick 5-minute walk back up to the lodge (wear your shoes for this) and people also dropping off gear will invariably ask you if you want a lift, which was really nice. Then you go into the lodge and gear up. You can purchase your lift ticket inside (the old sticker and ticket wicket system) and then head outside to the bottom t-bar. This one moves pretty quick and there is no one to help you, so make sure you get in the right spot to be able to grab the t-bar as it comes around the bullwheel.

It’s a steep track at the start, then it mellows out. You go up for a while and then at the top, you need to go left to ski down to the Ridge t-bar. This lift is shorter but a lot slower than the first t-bar. At the top it gets really steep and can be a bit of a challenge to hold on. There is a patrol shack at the top and they are a friendly bunch, they’ll help you out. From the top, you have amazing views from all directions (not quite as good as Porters but still great). To the lookers left, there is amazing sidecountry. You can ski down out of the resort and then hike up the adjacent ridge, ski a lap and then hike back into the resort. Speaking to Patrol, they are totally fine with you do that if you let them know your plans ahead of time and are carrying all the right gear.

To the looker’s right you have some nice runs over by the Mt. Cockayne area with some good steep open black runs. Unfortunately, A Basin and Far Out were closed, so we couldn’t ski too far down in this zone. The snow up top was 1-inch breakable crust on top of 10cm’s soft snow. There were some windblown deposits around and they skied well, where you could find a corridor without refrozen tracks in them. The coverage was fine on the south-facing slopes, but the north-facing was thin with plenty of rocks. I’d say the skiing at Porters was better, mainly because they have longer runs and more accessible terrain, but the snow in the south-facing aspects off the groomers was better at Cheeseman (at Porter’s it was frozen up solid). Porter’s has better inbounds terrain, but Cheeseman’s sidecountry looks pretty good. Cheeseman is quite small, so you will ski a lot of the inbounds runs quickly. It’s a great option for bad weather though as it’s more protected than some of the other fields.

Now what really made this trip to Cheeseman special was the people who were super friendly and accommodating. There’s a great spirit here. People were genuinely excited that we had traveled from so far away to visit and we had many nice chats with the members. The staff were all really friendly and helpful too. So, with the prospect of better snow, I think I’d definitely go back. I really want to hit that sidecountry area and get some laps in there, plus I’d be more than happy to enjoy that same level of hospitality. Cheeseman definitely gave me the proper clubfield experience that I was looking for. Today we head to Broken River! Time for the nutcrackers!

20190725_094905.jpg
More beautiful views on the drive up!


20190725_100340.jpg Some gnarly terrain up high.


20190725_101731.jpg The base lodge and the quick hike up form the car park.


20190725_102243.jpg The unloading area. Best to drive up and drop the gear off first, before parking the car down lower.


20190725_105724.jpg Top of the upper t-bar and awesome views again.


20190725_105812.jpg Looking down into the basin of Cheeseman. Nice and protected during major storms.


20190725_110111.jpg Some pretty rough snow up high, but definitely softer than Porters. You just needed to find a smooth corridor to make more enjoyable turns.


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20190725_111254.jpg The sidecountry at Cheeseman looks awesome. Would definitely be keen to head in there.


20190725_124706.jpg

Overall a fun day, great to see somewhere new and experience proper clubfield hospitality.

- Matt
 
Thread Starter
TS
Mattadvproject

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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1,097
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Granby, CO
July 26th – Skiing at Broken River

Or trying to….. this was a lot of hiking for very little skiing unfortunately. Sadly, I was beaten by Broken River and the nutcracker tows! This is what happened….. We left the cabin around 10:20am as Broken River (BR) is pretty close, only about 25 minutes away from Flock Hill. I was expecting a tough drive in (I was thinking that BR and Craigieburn were going to be the toughest roads in) but I was wrong. BR is a really easy (and of course beautiful) dirt road that doesn’t have any switchbacks or drop offs in the alpine zone like Porters and Cheeseman. You are in the open plains down low before ascending through the forest and gaining height. You get to a parking lot for the Tyndall tramway, a funicular that normally takes you up to the start of the lodge.

Unfortunately, the tram is not working at the moment as it is being inspected. They hope to have it running again in a couple of weeks, but we’ll be long gone by then. Now you have to hike all the way to the tows with all your gear on your back. The first part is on a road for a couple of switchbacks. In hindsight, we could have run the van up to the start of the footpath and dropped our gear off which would have saved a little time and effort. Then you walk along a winding path through the forest until you get to the top of the tram and the ticket office. That took us about 20 minutes. You purchase your ticket there ($75 NZD for a day pass) and if you need to hire any tow belts, then you can do that there also. You have to be careful as the office is only open from 8:30 to 11:30am in the morning. Don’t miss it or that could complicate things.

Then you walk up past the 3 lodges and the staff accommodation up some stairs and along a wooden walkway. Finally, you come to the Stairway to Heaven, a steep and narrow section of roped stairs that give you your first full view of the mountain (and a great view it is). That takes about 10 more minutes. From there, you have a couple of options. If you are an experienced ropetow (nutcracker) user, then you can take the Access rope tow. You do need to be an experienced nutcracker tow user to use this tow as it is pretty full-on. This is not a tow to be learning on as the rope moves at the speed of a high-speed chair and there are some bumps in it due to the lack of snow (plus all the pulleys). We chose to walk up to the Palmer Lodge, another 15 minutes along a snow path. I’m glad we did that as it would have been really hard to ride that tow for the first time.

By the time we got to the Palmer Lodge it was after 12pm. I had a quick bite and a drink and then we got ready to start learning how to ride the nutcracker tows. Thankfully we had Craig, the operations manager, show us the ropes (pun intended). What is nice about BR is that they have a couple of different tows you can learn on, to make transitioning to the proper tows, easier (be warned though that even with the Tyndell Tram operating, you are still going to be walking at least 25 minutes to get to that beginner tow, so be prepared to work hard when you come to BR). They have a beginner rope tow right in front of the lodge. You turn it on in the Palmer Lodge and then can practice getting on with your nutcracker. It’s just a long, heavy rope that moves at slow speed that doesn’t have any pulleys on it and is a great place to learn.

For those that don’t know what a nutcracker is and how it works, here’s a quick rundown. You wear a belt (climbing harnesses work even better) and you have a short length of rope that attaches from your harness, to the nutcracker. The nutcracker is a large metal clasp (like a giant walnut cracker) that goes over the rope that you can grip on with. There is a real knack to applying the nutcracker quickly but once you are on, then the cracker will grip the rope and your harness will carry your weight. There are several pulleys along the way, to support the rope. You have to pass through those, with your hands only a couple of inches away from the fast-moving rope and the pulleys. It’s a little scary until you are confident at it. Anyway, back to the story……

Craig gave us a few demos on the beginner tow (there are several different ways of attaching the nutcracker: the toss which involves throwing the nutcracker up and over the rope which is quicker but you have to be very precise, the nutcracker must be thrown on at exactly 90 degrees to the rope for it to engage; then you can also place the nutcracker over the top and then down, with two hands, which takes a little more time but might be easier to do). I tried the toss and was successful first time. You grab the rope with one hand (we had bought glove protectors for this and they definitely came in handy) and start to squeeze onto the rope until you have grabbed hold of it. They you quickly take the nutcracker and toss it up and over the rope, squeeze the two prongs together until it clamps onto the rope, give it a slight twist and it locks on. Relax your arms a little so that the harness supports you (I had my tether too long at the start so my arms were taking all my weight. Once I had changed to a shorter tether, then my harness started to do the work). Then to get off, you grab the rope again and pull yourself forward a little, then open your hand and the nutcracker should disengage. Ski/ride away from the rope.

I must have practiced that about 30 times. I was feeling pretty good about it so Craig suggested we try the Traverse Tow. This is a high-speed rope (goes at the same speed as the main tows) and has one pulley in it. It looked pretty straight forward so we went for it. The first thing is that the speed of the rope is way higher than the beginner tow. It moves really fast. Grabbing hold with the hand takes some strength and it takes a few meters, before you are moving at the same speed as the rope. Then you can try and deploy the nutcracker. I was definitely struggling here. If you have your hand too far forward, then you won’t be throwing the cracker on at exactly the 90 degrees it needs to go on at. The cracker kept bouncing off. It took 5 or 6 goes before I finally was able to get the cracker set up properly and then I could close the two ends and actually engage and grip with the cracker. That’s great, but now you are moving at high speed and there is a pulley coming up. Thankfully on this tow, you have some time before you get to the first (and only pulley).

As I said before, it’s not the most relaxing experience holding onto to your metal nutcracker and passing over a spinning wheel and rope, with only a couple of inches to spare. The first time I went over the pulley, I must have been slightly leaning away from it (you have to lean into it to stop it from derailing) and I pulled the rope off the pulley and let go with the nutcracker. Off I came. I didn’t know what to do then, so the closest patroller (they are all-stars who are also lift operators, lodge attendants, pizza makers, cashiers, they do pretty much everything on the mountain) came down from the Main Tow down to the top of the Traverse Tow and basically scooped up the rope below the pulley and lifted it back on. I would do that next time, if I derailed it again. I had to keep trying, although I felt a little embarrassed to be messing up so much.

I went down again and was able to grab hold of the rope and toss my nutcracker under and then over and clasp it together with my free hand. I was on and locked. Then came the pulley. This time I held my breath and leaned in a little more. Clang! Over I went and the cracker held on and the rope stayed on the pulley. Success! Now I just had to get off the thing. I grabbed the rope with my free hand, held on to release the tension on the rope and then opened my hand a little with the nutcracker and it popped off. Then I could move away from the rope. I had made it. Finally! That took some effort but I had to keep going. I wanted to dial it in if I was going to try the Main Tow. I did it about 15 more times, getting on (with effort), pretty much every time. It was time to graduate to the Main Tow.

Not that it was busy, but pretty much everyone that was skiing and riding BR that day, was using that tow for access. I didn’t want to get in the way of other people and I certainly didn’t want to derail the tow again, so I was a little nervous about trying this tow with a lot of people around. I waited until there was no one in line and over I went. Here you sidestep up onto a little platform. It has a slight downslope off of it, so you can a little bit of momentum when getting a hold of the rope. This rope was moving really fast, maybe faster again, than the Traverse tow I had been practicing on. I grabbed the rope really hard, got up to speed and then tried to toss the nutcracker up and over. By the second go it was over, but the rope started to move upwards and away from me, as I skied into a little dip and I couldn’t get it closed. I tried again but then I came to the pulley and I had to let go and move away. Grrr! Try again. I went back down and jumped straight on again.

The same thing kept happening over and over. I just couldn’t get the cracker locked on before I got to the first pulley, the rope kept rising up and the cracker wouldn’t close. I needed to pull down on the rope more. So, I tried again, and again, and again. Finally, by about the 7th or 8th go, I managed to get the cracker on and locked. Amazing! I was on and moving really fast. I came to the first pulley. Clack! I made it through that one, then the next one and the next one. Clack, clack, clack. I was actually doing it. I felt good. Then I came to a pulley where the rope went underneath. Ruh roh….. was that supposed to be like that? Was the rope in the wrong place? Was my hand going to get mangled if I went under it? I must have leaned out again because when I hit that pulley, there was a big whack and the cracker was knocked out of my hand. Off I came, spinning backwards downhill towards the angry tow. Thankfully I managed to control myself and bring myself to a stop. Whoops! I looked down the track and I had managed to derail the rope about 3 pulleys downhill of me. Oh man, I wasn’t going to be making any friends today. That was enough excitement for me that day. I watched as an experienced club member (I can’t imagine his age, somewhere in his 70’s or 80’s), came up the tow and popped the rope back on as he moved along, cleaning up the mess that I had made. I apologized and he easily cleared the pulley that had dismounted me. I skied back to the Palmer Lodge with my tail firmly between my legs.

I sat in the lodge and reflected. What an experience. I felt very humbled. I have so much respect for the people who have been riding these tows for decades. They rule that place. It’s pretty inspiring but I know I have a lot more work to do. I went back to the baby tow to try and figure out a different way of putting the cracker on (I tried the two hands method) but I didn’t have the nerve to try again on the Main tow. We still had a 30-minute climb down, so we skied down to the bottom of the Access tow, transitioned to our shoes and attached all our gear on our backs for the walk down. I was pretty tired by the time I reached the bottom.

What a day. How did I feel about it? Well, I was trying not to feel too sorry for myself but I definitely felt a little defeated and a little despondent. Seeing everyone else make it look so easy, made me think I would be able to get it quickly, but that didn’t happen. I tried hard but ultimately got my butt kicked. Those nutcracker tows are legit. I was definitely a little nervous about trying them for the first time and they had ultimately gotten the better of me. I don’t want to finish it there though. We’ll have some more nutcrackers to try in Tekapo when we get there. I’m determined to make it all the way to the top on the next go. I think Roundhill has the longest and steepest nutcracker in NZ and we’ll be going there. I don’t care how long it takes, but I’m getting up that thing. And I’m going to do it a bunch of times! That will be my redemption……

20190726_101241.jpg
Beautiful morning at Flock Hill Station, where we are staying.


20190726_101312.jpg This is a working sheep station with over 36,000 acres of land.


20190726_101321.jpg


20190726_103543.jpg As always, incredible views on the way to BR. This was surprisingly, the easiest drive up out of all of the clubfields so far.


20190726_103641.jpg
The Tyndall Tramway. Normally you park here and take the tram up to the bottom of the lodges. It saves about a 25 minute plus walk.


20190726_110302.jpg You start off on the dirt road and climb up a couple of switchbacks, then you hit a path that winds it's way up through the forest. It's better to have your hiking boots on and have your skis and boots on your pack, on your back. In hindsight we probably could have dropped our gear off here, before starting the hike up. We did see that one person had parked their car here, but I'm not sure of that is allowed or not.


20190726_113705.jpg Our first view of the ski area.


20190726_113923.jpg Rounding the last corner before taking the "Stairway to Heaven."


20190726_114230.jpg 1o minutes of walking past the lodges gets you to the last stair climb. This is the famous "Stairway to Heaven" and it's aptly named.


20190726_114232.jpg Becasue we hadn't ridden a nutcracker before, we decided to keep walking up the the Palmer Lodge (the white building right of center). That took another 15 minutes.


20190726_135416.jpg Inside the Palmer Lodge, with amazing views of the mountain. You can buy snacks, drinks and their handmade pizzas which are really good. You clean up after yourself and take any trash back down with you. Sadly we didn't see any Kea's, but we saw signs for them.


20190726_135429.jpg The view from the Palmer Lodge. You get great wifi/cell phone service from up here. There is the baby rope tow we started on. To the upper left, you can see the Main ropetow that I had difficulty with and only made 1/3 of the way up. There are 3 more tows (Traverse, Ridge and Rugby tows), that you cannot see in the picture.


20190726_152840.jpg
The ticket office at the top of the tramway, where you buy tickets and can rent belt tows.

- Matt
 

Turoa Kiwi

JH
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May 27, 2016
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2,496
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Wellington . New Zealand
July 26th – Skiing at Broken River

Or trying to….. this was a lot of hiking for very little skiing unfortunately. Sadly, I was beaten by Broken River and the nutcracker tows! This is what happened….. We left the cabin around 10:20am as Broken River (BR) is pretty close, only about 25 minutes away from Flock Hill. I was expecting a tough drive in (I was thinking that BR and Craigieburn were going to be the toughest roads in) but I was wrong. BR is a really easy (and of course beautiful) dirt road that doesn’t have any switchbacks or drop offs in the alpine zone like Porters and Cheeseman. You are in the open plains down low before ascending through the forest and gaining height. You get to a parking lot for the Tyndall tramway, a funicular that normally takes you up to the start of the lodge.

Unfortunately, the tram is not working at the moment as it is being inspected. They hope to have it running again in a couple of weeks, but we’ll be long gone by then. Now you have to hike all the way to the tows with all your gear on your back. The first part is on a road for a couple of switchbacks. In hindsight, we could have run the van up to the start of the footpath and dropped our gear off which would have saved a little time and effort. Then you walk along a winding path through the forest until you get to the top of the tram and the ticket office. That took us about 20 minutes. You purchase your ticket there ($75 NZD for a day pass) and if you need to hire any tow belts, then you can do that there also. You have to be careful as the office is only open from 8:30 to 11:30am in the morning. Don’t miss it or that could complicate things.

Then you walk up past the 3 lodges and the staff accommodation up some stairs and along a wooden walkway. Finally, you come to the Stairway to Heaven, a steep and narrow section of roped stairs that give you your first full view of the mountain (and a great view it is). That takes about 10 more minutes. From there, you have a couple of options. If you are an experienced ropetow (nutcracker) user, then you can take the Access rope tow. You do need to be an experienced nutcracker tow user to use this tow as it is pretty full-on. This is not a tow to be learning on as the rope moves at the speed of a high-speed chair and there are some bumps in it due to the lack of snow (plus all the pulleys). We chose to walk up to the Palmer Lodge, another 15 minutes along a snow path. I’m glad we did that as it would have been really hard to ride that tow for the first time.

By the time we got to the Palmer Lodge it was after 12pm. I had a quick bite and a drink and then we got ready to start learning how to ride the nutcracker tows. Thankfully we had Craig, the operations manager, show us the ropes (pun intended). What is nice about BR is that they have a couple of different tows you can learn on, to make transitioning to the proper tows, easier (be warned though that even with the Tyndell Tram operating, you are still going to be walking at least 25 minutes to get to that beginner tow, so be prepared to work hard when you come to BR). They have a beginner rope tow right in front of the lodge. You turn it on in the Palmer Lodge and then can practice getting on with your nutcracker. It’s just a long, heavy rope that moves at slow speed that doesn’t have any pulleys on it and is a great place to learn.

For those that don’t know what a nutcracker is and how it works, here’s a quick rundown. You wear a belt (climbing harnesses work even better) and you have a short length of rope that attaches from your harness, to the nutcracker. The nutcracker is a large metal clasp (like a giant walnut cracker) that goes over the rope that you can grip on with. There is a real knack to applying the nutcracker quickly but once you are on, then the cracker will grip the rope and your harness will carry your weight. There are several pulleys along the way, to support the rope. You have to pass through those, with your hands only a couple of inches away from the fast-moving rope and the pulleys. It’s a little scary until you are confident at it. Anyway, back to the story……

Craig gave us a few demos on the beginner tow (there are several different ways of attaching the nutcracker: the toss which involves throwing the nutcracker up and over the rope which is quicker but you have to be very precise, the nutcracker must be thrown on at exactly 90 degrees to the rope for it to engage; then you can also place the nutcracker over the top and then down, with two hands, which takes a little more time but might be easier to do). I tried the toss and was successful first time. You grab the rope with one hand (we had bought glove protectors for this and they definitely came in handy) and start to squeeze onto the rope until you have grabbed hold of it. They you quickly take the nutcracker and toss it up and over the rope, squeeze the two prongs together until it clamps onto the rope, give it a slight twist and it locks on. Relax your arms a little so that the harness supports you (I had my tether too long at the start so my arms were taking all my weight. Once I had changed to a shorter tether, then my harness started to do the work). Then to get off, you grab the rope again and pull yourself forward a little, then open your hand and the nutcracker should disengage. Ski/ride away from the rope.

I must have practiced that about 30 times. I was feeling pretty good about it so Craig suggested we try the Traverse Tow. This is a high-speed rope (goes at the same speed as the main tows) and has one pulley in it. It looked pretty straight forward so we went for it. The first thing is that the speed of the rope is way higher than the beginner tow. It moves really fast. Grabbing hold with the hand takes some strength and it takes a few meters, before you are moving at the same speed as the rope. Then you can try and deploy the nutcracker. I was definitely struggling here. If you have your hand too far forward, then you won’t be throwing the cracker on at exactly the 90 degrees it needs to go on at. The cracker kept bouncing off. It took 5 or 6 goes before I finally was able to get the cracker set up properly and then I could close the two ends and actually engage and grip with the cracker. That’s great, but now you are moving at high speed and there is a pulley coming up. Thankfully on this tow, you have some time before you get to the first (and only pulley).

As I said before, it’s not the most relaxing experience holding onto to your metal nutcracker and passing over a spinning wheel and rope, with only a couple of inches to spare. The first time I went over the pulley, I must have been slightly leaning away from it (you have to lean into it to stop it from derailing) and I pulled the rope off the pulley and let go with the nutcracker. Off I came. I didn’t know what to do then, so the closest patroller (they are all-stars who are also lift operators, lodge attendants, pizza makers, cashiers, they do pretty much everything on the mountain) came down from the Main Tow down to the top of the Traverse Tow and basically scooped up the rope below the pulley and lifted it back on. I would do that next time, if I derailed it again. I had to keep trying, although I felt a little embarrassed to be messing up so much.

I went down again and was able to grab hold of the rope and toss my nutcracker under and then over and clasp it together with my free hand. I was on and locked. Then came the pulley. This time I held my breath and leaned in a little more. Clang! Over I went and the cracker held on and the rope stayed on the pulley. Success! Now I just had to get off the thing. I grabbed the rope with my free hand, held on to release the tension on the rope and then opened my hand a little with the nutcracker and it popped off. Then I could move away from the rope. I had made it. Finally! That took some effort but I had to keep going. I wanted to dial it in if I was going to try the Main Tow. I did it about 15 more times, getting on (with effort), pretty much every time. It was time to graduate to the Main Tow.

Not that it was busy, but pretty much everyone that was skiing and riding BR that day, was using that tow for access. I didn’t want to get in the way of other people and I certainly didn’t want to derail the tow again, so I was a little nervous about trying this tow with a lot of people around. I waited until there was no one in line and over I went. Here you sidestep up onto a little platform. It has a slight downslope off of it, so you can a little bit of momentum when getting a hold of the rope. This rope was moving really fast, maybe faster again, than the Traverse tow I had been practicing on. I grabbed the rope really hard, got up to speed and then tried to toss the nutcracker up and over. By the second go it was over, but the rope started to move upwards and away from me, as I skied into a little dip and I couldn’t get it closed. I tried again but then I came to the pulley and I had to let go and move away. Grrr! Try again. I went back down and jumped straight on again.

The same thing kept happening over and over. I just couldn’t get the cracker locked on before I got to the first pulley, the rope kept rising up and the cracker wouldn’t close. I needed to pull down on the rope more. So, I tried again, and again, and again. Finally, by about the 7th or 8th go, I managed to get the cracker on and locked. Amazing! I was on and moving really fast. I came to the first pulley. Clack! I made it through that one, then the next one and the next one. Clack, clack, clack. I was actually doing it. I felt good. Then I came to a pulley where the rope went underneath. Ruh roh….. was that supposed to be like that? Was the rope in the wrong place? Was my hand going to get mangled if I went under it? I must have leaned out again because when I hit that pulley, there was a big whack and the cracker was knocked out of my hand. Off I came, spinning backwards downhill towards the angry tow. Thankfully I managed to control myself and bring myself to a stop. Whoops! I looked down the track and I had managed to derail the rope about 3 pulleys downhill of me. Oh man, I wasn’t going to be making any friends today. That was enough excitement for me that day. I watched as an experienced club member (I can’t imagine his age, somewhere in his 70’s or 80’s), came up the tow and popped the rope back on as he moved along, cleaning up the mess that I had made. I apologized and he easily cleared the pulley that had dismounted me. I skied back to the Palmer Lodge with my tail firmly between my legs.

I sat in the lodge and reflected. What an experience. I felt very humbled. I have so much respect for the people who have been riding these tows for decades. They rule that place. It’s pretty inspiring but I know I have a lot more work to do. I went back to the baby tow to try and figure out a different way of putting the cracker on (I tried the two hands method) but I didn’t have the nerve to try again on the Main tow. We still had a 30-minute climb down, so we skied down to the bottom of the Access tow, transitioned to our shoes and attached all our gear on our backs for the walk down. I was pretty tired by the time I reached the bottom.

What a day. How did I feel about it? Well, I was trying not to feel too sorry for myself but I definitely felt a little defeated and a little despondent. Seeing everyone else make it look so easy, made me think I would be able to get it quickly, but that didn’t happen. I tried hard but ultimately got my butt kicked. Those nutcracker tows are legit. I was definitely a little nervous about trying them for the first time and they had ultimately gotten the better of me. I don’t want to finish it there though. We’ll have some more nutcrackers to try in Tekapo when we get there. I’m determined to make it all the way to the top on the next go. I think Roundhill has the longest and steepest nutcracker in NZ and we’ll be going there. I don’t care how long it takes, but I’m getting up that thing. And I’m going to do it a bunch of times! That will be my redemption……

View attachment 77727
Beautiful morning at Flock Hill Station, where we are staying.


View attachment 77728 This is a working sheep station with over 36,000 acres of land.


View attachment 77729


View attachment 77730 As always, incredible views on the way to BR. This was surprisingly, the easiest drive up out of all of the clubfields so far.


View attachment 77731
The Tyndall Tramway. Normally you park here and take the tram up to the bottom of the lodges. It saves about a 25 minute plus walk.


View attachment 77732 You start off on the dirt road and climb up a couple of switchbacks, then you hit a path that winds it's way up through the forest. It's better to have your hiking boots on and have your skis and boots on your pack, on your back. In hindsight we probably could have dropped our gear off here, before starting the hike up. We did see that one person had parked their car here, but I'm not sure of that is allowed or not.


View attachment 77733 Our first view of the ski area.


View attachment 77734 Rounding the last corner before taking the "Stairway to Heaven."


View attachment 77735 1o minutes of walking past the lodges gets you to the last stair climb. This is the famous "Stairway to Heaven" and it's aptly named.


View attachment 77736 Becasue we hadn't ridden a nutcracker before, we decided to keep walking up the the Palmer Lodge (the white building right of center). That took another 15 minutes.


View attachment 77737 Inside the Palmer Lodge, with amazing views of the mountain. You can buy snacks, drinks and their handmade pizzas which are really good. You clean up after yourself and take any trash back down with you. Sadly we didn't see any Kea's, but we saw signs for them.


View attachment 77738 The view from the Palmer Lodge. You get great wifi/cell phone service from up here. There is the baby rope tow we started on. To the upper left, you can see the Main ropetow that I had difficulty with and only made 1/3 of the way up. There are 3 more tows (Traverse, Ridge and Rugby tows), that you cannot see in the picture.


View attachment 77739
The ticket office at the top of the tramway, where you buy tickets and can rent belt tows.

- Matt

Ahhh Nut crackers. Yes. Great devices for keeping the crowds away from small ski fields.
Its a real shame for you that there hasn't been much early season snow yet in the South Island as Broken River and its neighbouring club fields are all awesome venues with great terrain.
The nut crackers do take a bit of mastering. I tend to grip the rope gently to start with to get some forward momentum going . Then holding the nutcracker (in the other hand) below and to the side of the rope ,flick it up under and then over the rope so that it only takes a gentle to firm grip to engage the rope. Let go of rope with your hand. The first pulley wheel isn't far away now. Then lean back on the harness and off you go . Don't have any of your body weight getting dragged by the nutcracker at all . Roundhill is a great little club ski field. Before you try out the worlds longest and steepest nutcracker make sure the snow conditions are suitable . If it has been a while since a snowfall hope for soft spring season like snow up there . The views from the top are beautiful Good luck Enjoy
 
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Mattadvproject

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Stunning pictures Matt. You're right about Porters - an underrated field that skis great when there's a bit more snow.
If you're heading to Tekapo you might consider doing a day at Hutt on the way down. Looks like they have better coverage than Porters: https://www.mthutt.co.nz/weather-report/

Yes Peter, heading to Mt. Hutt tomorrow on the way to Tekapo. They have a better base and more lifts open, so hopefully we'll be able to get some decent skiing in. The forecast is for thick cloud though, so not sure if we'll be able to see anything. Fingers crossed it's not like that!

- Matt
 

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Yes Peter, heading to Mt. Hutt tomorrow on the way to Tekapo. They have a better base and more lifts open, so hopefully we'll be able to get some decent skiing in. The forecast is for thick cloud though, so not sure if we'll be able to see anything. Fingers crossed it's not like that!

- Matt

Excellent! I hope it clears for you - the views of the Canterbury Plains are pretty cool. Here's one I snapped last year (although not really of the Plains):

z00sJS2Vw48Anxr1Rs49A4-1JchhIIdhr0rhkEhraX7k9iyjflxP4jsitTAxqiR1SfL3_W0M45iRdUwYekasMjhNq7fZ1Quwi1bayoYftPT15lBfMZpGAuyZr1RzKcjy3jE3sXCgF4KLI1RZPNlZBgtqwyO1_iOTmc_wA0kvnciwD6a9m3IdHvA6hqvQlMPg-oIDf2iVgMa0Z_ZW9CGD5GCesJ4ap4ZfptFz_blnd1P7LPrwI7R9RlnvCASaer1RrE-0-DIeCAr5Ly29Epdwm6nLN7fSIka7rRHfFvSq8pnH5tnEoeFayEcxSzi_zSxrnUJ_8pW34FAJK7YwSl5_jSAVwhe51Q7al4TSr14hJQCknVhq7NYyCsxbGRDf8wVFUByrUP5uAXlBLpp7aFufrW7Lo89zPomyeZ68S3GOz4BNru_5fAxvTvdpO0KlZCJNU3o3Rc9yqgCITEv6lSrvKTZpp4o1dnOUffc9p9sIDJwqmuWUz3snuw-B7XlNWH2E78e11l3yj17tmwpmUZOI1WuID-rkhQ-GPL6SGvNDKk4qsJHaF3eMWElcB9HYA8kgexkrDN5UovGqAQ1s2dz6EoHvF8Mti3pMk96TNVQDoHWMdfOdS-UfxNGW_3q25xxikE96ny6Wovsorf-uDB0RKjFsnEPVfNI=w1095-h821-no
 

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Think you may have over practised and overthought the rope tow. Don't worry about knocking it off the pulleys, happens all the time and like you say someone behind comes along and sticks it back on. No one gets too worried or upset.
 
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Forecast is radically improving for the next couple of weeks, might just score? Fingers crossed for you.
http://www.metvuw.com/forecast/forecast.php?type=rain&region=nzsi&noofdays=7

Yep, starting to get excited that we might actually get some pow pow! That would be awesome. You just arrived in Tekapo last night and the forecast is looking very promising. There is some snow forecast for Ohau tonight so we might look there tomorrow and then Dobson on our way out on Wednesday. I just pray the roads will be open to the ski areas so we can actually get some skiing in.....

- Matt
 
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Think you may have over practised and overthought the rope tow. Don't worry about knocking it off the pulleys, happens all the time and like you say someone behind comes along and sticks it back on. No one gets too worried or upset.

Yes, I think you are right there Stacks. I was a little nervous about them before going to the clubbies, so I think I was overly thinking about it. We are heading to Roundhill today, so if their nutcracker is open today, I'm jumping on it, no hesitation!

- Matt
 
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Ahhh Nut crackers. Yes. Great devices for keeping the crowds away from small ski fields.
Its a real shame for you that there hasn't been much early season snow yet in the South Island as Broken River and its neighbouring club fields are all awesome venues with great terrain.
The nut crackers do take a bit of mastering. I tend to grip the rope gently to start with to get some forward momentum going . Then holding the nutcracker (in the other hand) below and to the side of the rope ,flick it up under and then over the rope so that it only takes a gentle to firm grip to engage the rope. Let go of rope with your hand. The first pulley wheel isn't far away now. Then lean back on the harness and off you go . Don't have any of your body weight getting dragged by the nutcracker at all . Roundhill is a great little club ski field. Before you try out the worlds longest and steepest nutcracker make sure the snow conditions are suitable . If it has been a while since a snowfall hope for soft spring season like snow up there . The views from the top are beautiful Good luck Enjoy

Thanks Turoa Kiwi,
I think I was doing most of that, but looking back at some footage of Craig, the mountain manager of Broken River and the advice he was giving me, I think the missing link was not pulling myself forward with my hand that was on the rope, so I was not close enough and therefore perpendicular to the rope. I remember that the arm I was grabbing the rope with, was quite straight, so I was throwing the nutcracker up and over without it being 90 degrees to the rope and hence the reason I was not latching on immediately. We'll see today if we go to Roundhill. I'm going to give it another go.

- Matt
 
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July 27th – Rest Day

Eric wanted to have a rest/work day, so we didn’t go too far. In the morning, I walked around Flock Hill Station and took some promo shots of the property for our website. Then in the afternoon, we drove past Castle Hill and checked out the Kura Tawhiti/Castle Hill Conservation Area where they have these beautiful boulders and rock formations, with the backdrop of the snow-capped mountains behind.

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- Matt
 

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Yep, starting to get excited that we might actually get some pow pow! That would be awesome. You just arrived in Tekapo last night and the forecast is looking very promising. There is some snow forecast for Ohau tonight so we might look there tomorrow and then Dobson on our way out on Wednesday. I just pray the roads will be open to the ski areas so we can actually get some skiing in.....

- Matt
Ohau is a great little field. Hike the Ridge and ski that out and then Hemi's Bowl out the back. Great terrain, with very few punters.
 
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July 28th – Travel to Tekapo and Ski Mt. Hutt

We were up early to hit the road and travel to Mt. Tekapo, our next zone. Tim, the manager of Flock Hill, had kindly let us cancel 3 nights of accommodation so we could travel further south and try and find better conditions. I’d originally planned to visit Lake Tekapo when I had first put the trip together, but now with a lack of snow up in the Selwyn area and their only being 2 of us, meant we could find accommodation in Tekapo last minute, quite easily. I found a really nice 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom house for rent via Booking.com and off we went.

The skies were red as we left Flock Hill. We took the sealed road so we headed back to Darfield and then took the 72 to the 77. It’s a quiet road pretty much all the way and in about 1 hour 45 minutes, we were at Mt. Hutt. We had some great views of the mountain from the valley, a massive white peak looking straight up from the plains. The road is dirt, but it’s nice and wide so pretty easy going. There are a few corrugated sections so don’t go too fast. It was just after 10am by the time we got up there and given it was a Sunday, the upper parking lot was closed. Not to worry, we parked lower down and had the mountain shuttle give us a lift to the resort.

Mt. Hutt is a mid-sized commercial ski field. They have a high speed 6-pack chair that goes from the baselodge area to the summit and then a quad that runs ½ the way up, servicing lower level terrain. Then they had a triple chair that runs below the baselodge area and it runs about 2/3 of the way up the mountain. It was pretty busy with decent queues for the 6 pack lift for the first couple of laps and then by 11:30am, it had quietened down a lot and you could get on the 6 pack lift very quickly. The triple chair was quiet the whole time and you could jump straight on that.

There were some decent groomers to be had off the 6-pack and triple chairs, but anything that had not been groomed, was solid ice. That meant that all the really fun stuff (sidecountry access, rocky outcrop areas inbounds), were all shut down. So by 1pm, we’d had our fill of groomers and it was time to head off again. Even though it was grey and overcast, the views of the Canterbury plains below and the Rakaia River, were awesome.

We stopped in Arundel for some lunch and it took us close to 3 hours, to reach Lake Tekapo. It was starting to get dark, but we could see some decent peaks with what looked like, a lower snow level than what we had experienced further north. We didn’t get much of a view of the lake, but saw the main street with all the shops and restaurants. It will be nice to be able to walk to different places at night and try some different food. We went to Reflections Restaurant and had a nice steak and some lamb shanks. Then we walked around town checking out the different restaurants and stopped in at the pub, but they were closing. Off to Roundhill tomorrow.

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Red ski in the morning, shepard take warning! Beautiful skies on the way out of Flock Hill.


20190728_074647.jpg Just a hint of pink


20190728_083949.jpg Mt. Hutt. Almost looks like Gulmarg!


20190728_092524.jpg Awesome views of the Canterbury Plains as we got up higher.


20190728_092546.jpg Our first view of the ski area.


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20190728_093543.jpg The views were amazing, even on a somewhat gloomy day. You can also see the Rakaia River and the east coast shoreline.


20190728_101218.jpg It's the weekend, so it was busy. Here you can see the 6-pack chair, plus the quad to the right and then the triple, in the upper left of the photo. There are some nice chutes and rocky features to play around in, but they were all closed as they were solid ice.


20190728_103128.jpg Muggins and the view.


20190728_103155.jpg The view from the top of the 6-pack, looking over the backside of the mountain.


20190728_104609.jpg Riding the triple chair back up. We were skiing from the top of the 6-pack down to the bottom of the triple and that gave the best vertical. I think this platform that juts out is for bungy jumping?


20190728_122148.jpg Lunchtime rush!


20190728_161643.jpg Our new digs in Tekapo.


20190728_163513.jpg It's a brand new, 3 bedroom/3 bathroom house about 150m about a 7 minute walk from the town center and the restaurants. We have some beautiful views of the mountains and a partial view of the lake. Tekapo is expanding rapidly and there is a lot of building going on right now.


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Lamb shanks at Reflections restaurant.

- Matt
 

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