In August 2019 I travelled to the south island of New Zealand with Todd Robinson and Ryan Castel for a week of skiing in the club fields. We rented a car and were completely flexible with our itinerary. We chased the forecast and managed get some quality days skiing in at Craigieburn, Ohau, Mt Dobson and Fox Peak. We took our touring gear, and whilst we didn’t go too far away from the boundaries of the ski fields, a little bit of extra effort meant we were able to ski many more quality untracked lines.
Craigieburn
The 2019 winter season had been looking pretty dry and bleak for most of the season, and three weeks out from our trip we were starting to wonder whether we’d need to go up to glaciated areas in order to be able to ski anything at all. Fortunately, the Southern Alps got a dump of snow one week before we arrived, and then another fresh dump the day before we arrived. We thus arrived at Craigieburn on the best day of the season up to that point.
Craigieburn is a club field, meaning it is run privately by a ski club who own and operate the lodge and on-mountain facilities. This keeps the cost low. However, it also means the facilities are basic. The only equipment available for getting to the top of the mountain are 3 rope tows (no T-bars or pomas). We had to wear harnesses and use ‘nutcracker’ devices to attach ourselves to the rope tows. This was a new experience for me – definitely not the most cruisy or relaxing way to get to the top of the mountain, but still quicker than skinning up.
Ohau
We spent 2 quality blue-bird days at Craigieburn before another storm hit the Southern Alps. We analysed the forecast and decided to relocate to Ohau. It was a good decision. The 5 hour car journey meant that the following day we were cutting fresh tracks through 25cm dry powder in blue-bird conditions.
Pretty much every run we did was a fresh track. Although the pistes tracked out by mid-morning, an abundance of hiking / touring terrain meant we continued to get beautiful fresh tracks into the afternoon. We were a little concerned about the avalanche danger, but on traversing to higher ground we found the snowpack to be satisfactorily stable.
Mt Dobson
Although we had a great day at Ohau, we were finding that shallow rocks were buried underneath the powder which were posing a risk to the longevity of our skis. With no more fresh snow in the forecast, we decided to relocate to Mt Dobson which had a much thicker base than Ohau. Whilst the visibility was good and the snowpack thick, windy conditions had turned the snow to hard-packed crud and ice on pretty much all aspects.
We stuck to piste skiing on this day and did not venture into the side-country. Although the skiing wasn’t great on this particular day, we could see that this area had great touring potential for when the conditions are better. And being so far away from Christchurch or Wanaka/Queenstown means that the crowds are pretty light.
Fox Peak
After a rest day spent at Mt Cook / Aoraki national park, we decided to go to Fox Peak. Fox Peak is a weekend-only club field which held a bit of mystery to us. We had heard that the terrain was some of the best on the South Island, but this place is a bit more obscure. Lodging only cost $25 per night. When we arrived (in rainy/sleety conditions), we understood why it was cheap. The lodge looked like it had been cobbled together by farmers about 40 years ago using scrap materials gathered from a paddock. There was no-one there to greet us on arrival, so we had to follow written instructions to turn on a diesel generator for electricity, and start a liquid-fuel heater to create some warmth.
Although there had been a dusting of fresh snow the night we arrived, high winds again meant that we were dealing with slick and icy wind-slab. The skiing on the day after our arrival looked so average that we decided not to buy tickets for the rope tow, instead opting to skin up on our own legs.
Upon reaching the top of the rope tow (which was difficult – the icy conditions made upwards progress difficult for those of us without ski crampons), we could see some extremely appealing looking terrain. Steep bowls and chutes galore, all only accessible through touring. However, the wind continued to get worse, so we decided to call it a day in the name of safety. We descended back down to the base of the hill and relocated to Darfield for the night.
This was my first ski trip within New Zealand. Whilst the ski fields are not as big and grand as those available in Canada or the USA, for those with touring gear, the potential for amazing fresh lines and epic alpine traverses is basically limitless. One has to be willing to be flexible – New Zealand has notoriously unreliable weather and good snow days are not as common in North America. We were extremely lucky to get 2 quality days in by going to where the snow was going to be the best and getting up as early as possible to beat the crowds. I will definitely be back for more.