Best start to the season in years !

[AJM]

Well gals as you're basking in Summer up in the Northern Hemi we down here in little old NZ are having the best start to our ski season in years ... yay !! Some folk say its due to the Tongan volcano that erupted back in January and caused cloud seeding, not sure if that's the case but we'll take it. Yesterday was fantastic with around 65cm new snow, ok so it was very wind affected but still heaps of fun. Here's a shot of us all patiently waiting at Porters for patrol to finish control work (they heli bombed the day before then finished it off with hand charges. If you zoom in you can see a few point releases.) before we were allowed to drive up. And yes that zig zag is the access road and its one of the easiest ones !! If you're considering coming down then this is the season to do it x

 

[Jenny]

Happy you're having a good start - hope the whole season is great. We want to see pictures!

 

[AJM]

Happy you're having a good start - hope the whole season is great. We want to see pictures!

 

[AJM]

Yay I got the image the right way up !!!

 

[scandium]

Up Mt Dobson the last 2 days, and it's stayed cold and dry (but cloudy yesterday) so the snow was beautiful. Still fresh turns to be found yesterday without hiking! Today had better photo weather though.

 

[AJM]

Up Mt Dobson the last 2 days, and it's stayed cold and dry (but cloudy yesterday) so the snow was beautiful. Still fresh turns to be found yesterday without hiking! Today had better photo weather though.

Fabulous, its great that we are getting the goods. Its been years since its been this good Did Dobo get the weird wind warped waves that we got here in the Craigieburns? They are quite something !!!

 

[scandium]

No, they missed the weird wind bumps (at least on what I skiied off the chairlift)
Hutt had very bumpy waves on Thursday though so I wonder if that was the wind.

 

[AJM]

No, they missed the weird wind bumps (at least on what I skiied off the chairlift)
Hutt had very bumpy waves on Thursday though so I wonder if that was the wind.

We all got slammed here with them and the fun part was they went across the slope! I got eaten up and spat out by a couple of them on Thursday They were slightly less intense today thank goodness.

 

[Jilly]

I so needed those pics...it's +35C where I am today. But we'll be on the liquid snow!!

 

[Jenny]

I so needed those pics...it's +35C where I am today. But we'll be on the liquid snow!!

Did everyone make it there?

 

[Jilly]

Not yet. 3 are in the air!! We just came back from practice. Hot, hot, hot!!

 

[scandium]

We all got slammed here with them and the fun part was they went across the slope! I got eaten up and spat out by a couple of them on Thursday They were slightly less intense today thank goodness

Hahaha. A good leg workout for sure.

Remarkables is remarkably empty today with minimal queues (we only got there at 8.15am when we normally aim for 8am and still got top carpark) however I suspect it's because of the forecast - flat light and now with the weather front rolling in (bringing snow, though!) the snow is getting a bit wind-blown. Of course, my photos are from the morning and when we headed over to Shadow for the views.

 

[marzNC]

@AJM : thanks for starting the thread! Looking forward to pics over the next couple months.

 

[AJM]

Remarkables is remarkably empty today with minimal queues (we only got there at 8.15am when we normally aim for 8am and still got top carpark) however I suspect it's because of the forecast - flat light and now with the weather front rolling in (bringing snow, though!) the snow is getting a bit wind-blown. Of course, my photos are from the morning and when we headed over to Shadow for the views.

I know Porters and Mt Hutt have pretty much closed for the day now due to the incoming storm and accompanying wind, lets see what its all like once its passed ... fingers crossed we get more snow than rain. Hubby went off touring this morning off the back of Porters so hopefully he makes it back in one piece !! I think the Canterbury fields were quieter today than yesterday again due to the forecast I suspect. On another note havent the sunrises and sunsets been incredible ? Again due to the volcano I understand x

 

[AJM]

@AJM : thanks for starting the thread! Looking forward to pics over the next couple months.

You're welcome, hopefully we here in NZ can share some fun times with you all x

 

[AJM]

Here's a shot taken from our backyard, if you zoom in you can see all our lovely snow being hammered by the wind x

 

[fgor]

Hahaha. A good leg workout for sure.

Remarkables is remarkably empty today with minimal queues (we only got there at 8.15am when we normally aim for 8am and still got top carpark) however I suspect it's because of the forecast - flat light and now with the weather front rolling in (bringing snow, though!) the snow is getting a bit wind-blown. Of course, my photos are from the morning and when we headed over to Shadow for the views.

That sunrise picture is just gorgeous!!

 

[newboots]

Hot and extremely muggy (humid) here today. Staring in astonishment at your beautiful mountains!

 

[liquidfeet]

^^ Ditto!

 

[scandium]

35cm of snow in the last 48hrs. So much snow they didn't open the chairlifts until mid morning!