Queenstown NZ Season 2010 - The Blog

The Introduction

Hi All,

Welcome to the 2010 Queenstown Season Blog. 

Residing in Melbourne for the past 5-6 years, this will be my first full season within an hour of slopes and I am stoked. I am over here with my Girlfriend, taking a year off work to travel the globe, Queenstown being our first stop. We will be spending the whole season here before heading to Canada with some USa trips for the Northern Hemisphere Winter, via a 6 week European break, before heading home via Japan. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, I have 5 months of pure bliss here in Queenstown before all of that.

I have been snowboarding for the past 4 years or so, having made the mandatory trips to Queenstown the past 2 years, it was time for us to do a season. I am sure many of you will be taking a trip over here at some stage this season, so will be keeping a keen eye as I bring you details of how the season is unfolding, not only on the slopes but also in the town. I am equipped with season passes at Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Cardrona, so cannot wait for the season to kick into full swing.

We have been over for a couple of weeks and settled in nicely. We’ve got accomodation and wheels so the basics are sorted. Rachael has scored a job on mountain so we have some sort of income preventing us from eating away at our savings. I am currently looking for some sort of employment for the season, as are the 500 other tourists that have made the decision to spend winter in this glorious town – Competition is tough, but unemployment also means more riding time so there is no rush.

I am sure you will get to know me better as the season goes on, for those coming over at some stage, I hope to catch up for a beer or two.

Cheers,
Brandon

Clearing the Cobwebs - Coronet Peak

So Coronet Peak was the first mountain to open for the season, starting operations on the 5th of June. Weather wasn’t great for the opening so we held off on our first visit until the following Monday.

The first thing returning visitors will notice is the new ticketing system, called Mypass, NZSki have implemented this season. Instead of the traditional paper tags, and handheld scanners, the new system consists of a card (bank card size/shape) and automated gates. First impressions are that is works great. The scanners seem to be really good at reading the cards, a bit of a contrast to lifts in japan were you sometimes need to rub your body against the scanner. The really cool feature of the Mypass is that it keeps track of the amount of runs, vertical metres (based on the lift ride - not hiking vertical metres) and days you ride at all of NZSki’s resorts (Remarks, Coronet and Hutt).

I will post more detail about these features in a later post, but back to the first days.

The first 2 days we visited had a couple of teething problems. On day 1, the lifts didn’t open until after 10, with day 2 bringing us a power failure on the Coronet Express lift. Weather has been variable with last Saturday being the pick of them. You couldn’t have asked for a better day on the slopes with all lifts open, not much of a crowd to speak of, good snow coverage (a few cm overnight) and blue skies. It was by far the best day I have spent at Coronet. Definitely not the “Concrete Peak” I have visited in the past.

I even remembered to take a few shots of the surroundings while up there to wet your appetite…...just

So the season is off to a good start. Can’t wait for The Remarkables to open this saturday with Cardrona following the week after. Get excited, winter is here.

Wow look at all that snow! I’m jealous! Looking forward to reading your blog over the season

Can’t wait to get there and join in the fun! Looks awesome!

Good to have you on board.

Just arrived today in Queenstown, looking forward to getting some time on the snow between trying to find a job! That may be the hard part, bloody tourists (yup, hipocrit i know)

Mad pics… can’t wait to get there in August!

Made You Look

Just a really quick update for today. Opening day at The Remarks tomorrow so need an early night. I will be sure to post a full review and pics of how it goes.

It has been really good at Coronet the past couple of days, mainly due to the crowds staying away. Being so early in the season it is good to ride without the mass crowds or school holiday traffic. Snow cover has however deteriorated a little bit and it became quite noticeable today. A little bit of snow is expected this weekend, but not before some rain aswell. Fingers Crossed for the best.

The reason for this post however is that last night was the Queenstown Premier of ‘Made You Look’. The night was epic and Revolver was absolutely packed with a few sore heads visible around town this morning.

I’m sure many of you have been as eager to catch this flick as I have and I wasn’t disappointed. Granted I didn’t go in expected a high budget masterpiece, but was suitably impressed with what I saw. It’s refreshing to see the all NZ/Aus guys slaying in their own film and shows just how much quality there is in SoHe riders. I highly recommend going to the premier in your city to support the hard work Reason Films and Transfer have put into creating this film over the past 2 years.

For now it is off to bed for an early start tomorrow. I will post pics and possibly some video of opening day at the Remarks tomorrow.

nice - lets hope it keeps on falling

woah those pics are awesome. Wish I was there.

Remarkables - Open for Business

The Remarkables opened their lifts to the public for the first time for year yesterday. The forecast for the day didn’t look great, with rain in Queenstown overnight and more forecast. I made it up the mountain by about 9:15, without the anticipated traffic jams heading up. We arrived up the mountain to be greeted by blue skies and very little snow in the car park, meaning the rain in Queenstown didn’t turn to snow up high as hoped. New snow or not, it was still exciting to be back at The Remarkables.

The mountain itself looked alright considering the lack of new snow over the past week or so. The groomed runs were pretty icy early on, with the ungroomed stuff being really sluggish and heavy (not to mention the large amount of rocks hiding just beneath the surface. The Remarkables did a great job of having all lifts open on opening day for the second year running, and the Dirty Dog Terrain park looked immaculate. The snow tubing park was closed for the day, and one fun box in the learners area was all that was available for beginner park.

The terrain park did seem like the busiest place on the mountain and was good viewing all day. I have compiled a little edit of a small amount of action (apologies about the shakiness at the beginning) from the day below, which lead to the delay in posting (the internet in this part of the world is not exactly lightning speed). 

As the day progressed, the conditions became really warm and very spring like. The drive being probably one of the trickiest I have experienced. At one point contemplating pulling over to chain up, not because of ice, but the amount of mud had me sliding a little. With some cautious driving, I made it home successfully and absolutely beat from what was a great day.

As I look out my window typing this entry, it looks like the snow level is finally lowering after raining most of the day, so hopefully we will get a well needed top up over the next few days. Cardrona Opening day on Friday.

Amazing that there is so much snow in NZ so early on…

Enjoy your season!! Will keep checking your blog.

Queenstown Gets Fresh

Just as I was saying that a top up of snow was needed, Mother Nature delivered. We had already planned to head up to the Remarkables today, knowing it was meant to clear in the afternoon, but waking up to the below outside our house on Queenstown Hill was amazing. Never before have I seen Queenstown this white. Rad.

We got our shit together super quick and headed out the door at speed. We made it a few streets before realising that perhaps the tyres on the Ol Subi were balding a bit. Heading sideways around the corner, we decided that maybe it was a good idea to chain up if only we could stop sliding. After coming to a stop somewhat to the side of the road, I soon starting wishing I had practiced putting the new chains on before this moment. The anticipation of heading up the mountain was quickly spiralling into frustration. Chains on, we were on our way, slowly, very slowly to the remarks. After the incident this morning we decided that perhaps we should park at the base and hitch up.

By this time the snow had stopped and as we made our way up the hill, blue skies started shining through. The morning did not disappoint, fresh lines, knee deep all over the place and the sound of explosions being set of ski patrol in the Shadow Basin, It was awesome. 

In come the weather to spoil the party. The wind picked up, visibility dropped and snow was freezing our cheeks. Time for a rest. We sat and waited to see if it would clear and sure enough, 30 minutes later, nothing but blue skies again. All in all, the day was really good. I wouldn’t call it epic, but it was one of the better days I have had on a mountain for sure.

This is why I came here for the season.

So for tomorrow, new tyres are a priority, then it will be opening day at Cardrona on Friday.

That’s sick! Stoked you’re getting fresh lines, Brandon! Snow looks unreal in NZ for early season.

The number of people that wait UNTIL it snows to learn how to use chains is astounding. For all you Aussies that are coming over for the winter and renting cars - either get the rental car company to show you how to fit them, or practice in a nice dry carpark at least once. The best way to ruin a day shredding is cold, wet, muddy hands from f*cking around with chains for 30 minutes while everyone else beats you up the hill. Not to mention the hazard you are if you have to stop somewhere other than a chain bay to fit them.

Safety first, kids. Respect to Bran for actually buying new tires, you’re one of the few skibums that actually would!

I’ll never forget how many confused people were on the side of the road when I drove up to Treble Cone. After I fitted chains on our car, I helped about seven different cars get their chains on. They were all standing around cluelessly, waiting for someone to help them. I’m always happy to help those in need, but you’re right, I bet they didn’t take the time to practice even once.

By the way, Boardworld Chain Fitting Tutorial coming soon!