Best start to the season in years !

[Eera]

Oh Nooooo !! Its already being called "The Big Rinse of 2022" Hopefully it didnt ruin your trip as I know you were looking forward to it so much. Hard to believe this time last week we were skiing lovely dry chalky winter snow and those that ventured backcountry had the most sublime light dry powder. For those that don't know we got hammered by what the weather guru's are calling an atmospheric river that originated up in the tropics and made a beeline for us causing total havoc. The lovely high pressure system we had last weekend that gave us such glorious cold bluebird days stalled just off the Eastcoast and made it possible for this "river" to create carnage. Some towns have been devastated by the amount of rain so our poor old snowpack isn't really all that relevant but it still hurts Monday was the last time I got out on ski's due to weather but fingers crossed the snowpack has drained out by tomorrow and I can head back up. Glad to hear your gear held up and hope you get a few more days in x

Nah, I'm not the sort of person to fret over stuff I can't control. We had one crappy day (rain), then three glorious ones with the slushy leftovers - turn out it's great fun to ski on. Last day (today) the whole lot froze solid underneath and had a weird slush-puppy texture on top, wasn't a fan but it came fairly decent around lunchtime.

Anyway, the important thing is that I got on the skis again after a long hiatus. Took me a couple of days to remember what I was doing (yay slush, doesn't hurt when you stack it). And I really, really need to do some leg exercises before those 5km runs in France.

 

[AJM]

Nah, I'm not the sort of person to fret over stuff I can't control. We had one crappy day (rain), then three glorious ones with the slushy leftovers - turn out it's great fun to ski on. Last day (today) the whole lot froze solid underneath and had a weird slush-puppy texture on top, wasn't a fan but it came fairly decent around lunchtime.

Anyway, the important thing is that I got on the skis again after a long hiatus. Took me a couple of days to remember what I was doing (yay slush, doesn't hurt when you stack it). And I really, really need to do some leg exercises before those 5km runs in France.

Fantastic !! I've been having great fun on the slushies this week I hear ya re "leg day", this is the first season were my pre season fitness was shall we say "lacking"

 

[AJM]

Well gals after the Big Rinse a few weeks ago which was then followed by unseasonably warm temps causing us much angst someone left the freezer door open and we woke to this..... yippeeee !

 

[Jilly]

It ain't over, till it's over.....

 

[fgor]

Even in Christchurch we woke up to a little bit of real snow - first time in 11 years, someone at work told me!



Much easier to clear off the windscreen than frost - it all just brushes off with a single swipe of the windscreen wipers

 

[AJM]

Much easier to clear off the windscreen than frost - it all just brushes off with a single swipe of the windscreen wipers

I know right !!! My car ended up being heavily loaded with snow this morning when I set off up the hill (what a S*%t show on the Pass, cars sideways, trucks jack knifed the whole shebang) and I still had a teeeeny tiny bit hanging on near my wiper blades when I got home, what brave little snowflakes

On another note it really was dust on crust when I got up there but at least its cold enough for them to make snow so thats a huge bonus from the freezer door being left open

 

[scandium]

Thankfully the Queenstown fields also got dusted by the snow gods, augmented by cold temps that meant the snow guns have been gunning non stop for the last 48hrs. A great day up Cardrona was had today, although much to my chagrin I'm still often too far back, losing my inside shoulder with far too little separation particularly at the end of my turn, and have a creeping A-frame probably because of the aforementioned issues as well as a lack of effective weight transfer earlier in my turn initiation. Tomorrow is for more drills!

 

[AJM]

Thankfully the Queenstown fields also got dusted by the snow gods, augmented by cold temps that meant the snow guns have been gunning non stop for the last 48hrs. A great day up Cardrona was had today, although much to my chagrin I'm still often too far back, losing my inside shoulder with far too little separation particularly at the end of my turn, and have a creeping A-frame probably because of the aforementioned issues as well as a lack of effective weight transfer earlier in my turn initiation. Tomorrow is for more drills!
View attachment 19147

Ooh have a lovely trip !
So great to see the guns firing

 

[scandium]

So we've been doing Remarkables since Thursday and had incredible bluebird spring days. Adventures included one jaunt down Homeward (MUCH more successful than my July survival skiing, with favourable spring snow) with a small walk at the end, a wander up to the Alta chutes on Friday once we were sure the snow was softish in the afternoon, taking in the vibe of Snow Machine (music festival) on Saturday, and had a very lazy Sunday/Monday with later starts. Hoping for a top up tonight....

 

[Jenny]

Boy, does that look like fun - and so beautiful.

 

[liquidfeet]

@scandium, I love your sense of style.

 

[AJM]

Fabulous !!! Gotta love that favourable Spring snow .
It looks like you really scored with the weather, I do love Spring skiing its so much fun and oh that outfit

 

[AJM]

Hoping for a top up tonight....

You should take advantage of the top up and the following fine weather and go heli skiing later in the week .... just sayin
Hubby sprung a surprise on Sunday morning and asked if I wanted to go but the weather wasn't great so we didn't bother but hopefully there's a weather window that suits us before the heli ski season finishes.
I'd love to go with Harris Mountains in Wanaka as we know a few of the guides and also because the terrain looks nice and roly poly and isn't as exposed as some of the other operations.

 

[scandium]

@scandium, I love your sense of style.
View attachment 19207

Thanks! With Snow Machine on and full bluebird conditions, half the crowd was either wearing costumes, bright retro gear, or Tipsy Elves/OOSC onesies that day. Apparently the metallic made it harder to spot me that day - usually I've got either a pink or purple jacket which matches the pink/purple goggles and helmet combo.

You should take advantage of the top up and the following fine weather and go heli skiing later in the week .... just sayin
Hubby sprung a surprise on Sunday morning and asked if I wanted to go but the weather wasn't great so we didn't bother but hopefully there's a weather window that suits us before the heli ski season finishes.
I'd love to go with Harris Mountains in Wanaka as we know a few of the guides and also because the terrain looks nice and roly poly and isn't as exposed as some of the other operations.

Maybe next year....I need to split it with the ski friends that would be able to afford it!

 

[Eera]

A decent flurry on the webcam at the moment. Not jealous at all. Nope, not at all...

It's great that the first real season back has been so wonderful most of the time.

 

[scandium]

Update: Currently up Coronet which LOOKS nice but is utterly terrifying as it's dust on concrete in some areas, and the snow has collected in the troughs of ice moguls so there's juuust enough to make it look smooth in less tracked areas - not sure if you can see the blue shimmers here under green gates! This morning has been edges on ice and then suddenly boot deep into soft stuff. I'm breaking for coffee while my brain processes trying to keep my weight forward and centered with this variability!

 

[AJM]

Update: Currently up Coronet which LOOKS nice but is utterly terrifying as it's dust on concrete in some areas, and the snow has collected in the troughs of ice moguls so there's juuust enough to make it look smooth in less tracked areas - not sure if you can see the blue shimmers here under green gates! This morning has been edges on ice and then suddenly boot deep into soft stuff. I'm breaking for coffee while my brain processes trying to keep my weight forward and centered with this variability!

Yikes ! So glaciated with a dusting on top ? Take it easy that sounds brutal

 

[scandium]

Yikes ! So glaciated with a dusting on top ? Take it easy that sounds brutal

Well we have collectively given up as the visibility has packed in and my knees are protesting. I have to say it's some of the oddest conditions - fresh wintery snow on ice and solid groomer, and slush at the bottom! Thank goodness we all have season passes so it doesn't feel like a wasted day.

 

[AJM]

Thank goodness we all have season passes so it doesn't feel like a wasted day.

Yes thank goodness for season passes ! It sounds pretty awful, its hard enough to ski in those conditions when you can see let alone when the vis goes. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. We've got fresh snow as well but we'll see how it pans out tomorrow. I'm always suspicious of fresh snow at this time of year, it generally turns to glue pretty quickly but its supposed to cold so fingers crossed

 

[Eera]

Well we have collectively given up as the visibility has packed in and my knees are protesting. I have to say it's some of the oddest conditions - fresh wintery snow on ice and solid groomer, and slush at the bottom! Thank goodness we all have season passes so it doesn't feel like a wasted day.

haha, that's my every experience of Coronet summed up right there!

Hope you get some great days in during the final throes of the season; there are some large dumps forecast this side of the ditch so it'll be great if you catch those as well!