By Chris Charpentier
Well, we're in Wanaka, New Zealand for the ski and snowboard season.
We're a Canadian from Vancouver and an Aussie from South Australia.
We had high hopes for the upcoming snowboard season. We arrived in
late May to 30 centimeters of new snow. The mountains weren't scheduled
to open for another three weeks so needless to say we were quite happy
about the prospects for good snow this season. We have already purchased
seasons passes for Treble Cone, the steepest mountain in New Zealand.
Three weeks later and we are depressed beyond words. It's been,
sunny, cloudy, foggy, rainy and everything in between since we arrived.
Everything, that is except snowy. The mountain will be unable to
open on time due to lack of snow. The next two weeks don't get any
better, except for some cold clear nights to make snow. Fortunately
I have purchased a mountain bike and the trails near our house are
quite good. We are also lucky enough to have a nice wooded area
behind our house, so I spend some of my free time constructing a
whiffle golf course.
What's whiffle golf you ask? Well, imagine mini golf in the woods.
But instead of putting, you have to chip. You get three whiffle
balls (Those little plastic practice golf balls with holes in them.
You can hit then as hard as you like and they will only go about
15 meters.) and try to chip into a square or circle shaped landing
area anywhere from 5-10 meters away. You get 1 point if your ball
lands in the square, 3 points if you manage to get it in the hole.
There is no putting, just three chips from the tee box. Trust me
it's really fun. Every single person that has tried it here in Wanaka
has enjoyed it. There may soon be courses in Queenstown and Scotland
according to impressed first timers.
Anyways, Treble Cone finally opens 13 days after it was supposed
to. Most of the snow at this point was man made, but the night after
the first day it snows 18 beautiful centimeters of snow. This begins
a month of decent snowboarding. It only snowed more then 10 centimeters
in 24 hours a few times in July and early August. The snow was often
good, but never amazing. More times it was icy or slushy or both.
Finally on the 9th of August winter truly arrived. In one week
we received almost a meter of snow. During that week it snowed 60
centimeters in 48 hours. I had 8 days of great snowboarding before
the first hint of trouble arrived. The terrain on Treble Cone is
steep and there are lots of gullies and chutes to enjoy. I could
easily compare that week to a good week in Canada, if only the mountains
here had trees and more terrain.
So what trouble happened after 8 days of bliss you ask? Well it
rained to the top of the mountain. No big deal. It ruined the nice
snow, but winter has finally arrived so there will be lots more,
right? Wrong! For the last 3 weeks it's been warm rainy and all
of the snow from that epic week has melted. In fact it is worse
now then before. If the spring is warm and rainy as it's been for
the last three weeks, then the mountain will surely be forced to
close early.
While the snowboarding has been average this season, it's the other
activities that make Wanaka truly magical. You see, down here the
snow doesn't fall all the way to the valley, except on rare occasions.
So you can mountain bike, rock climb and play whiffle golf all year
round. So overall a very poor winter has been quite fun. There's
plenty to do if the snow isn't up to par. I just don't have that
option in Canada. The valleys are full of snow and you are limited
to what the snow Gods provide you. A week of icy snow makes for
a pretty boring week.
So my conclusion is that a winter in New Zealand can be fun no
matter what the snow conditions. You just have to come here with
a different attitude. If you come here just to ski or snowboard,
you may be disappointed. Instead come here to have fun and see what
presents itself. You may find that the skiing or snowboarding wasn't
the highlight of your trip.
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