Welcome! This is ski touring made EASY!! Here are details of some of the most EXCITING and interesting backcountry ski tours in NZ, so you can make the most of your ski time.
New ideas are posted regularly to keep your skiing FRESH
PLEASE share your ski ideas (submit a ski tour) with others, or comments (discussion) so we can make this a valuable tool for all ski tourers’ reference.
Mt Barff ski tracks
Please don’t be put off by the name!. This is a good AT ski tour with some reasonable access, and is quite feasible as a 2 day ski trip. Best time of the year is late season and is especially good after a southerly storm has laid down some fresh powder. The main south basin of Mt Barff is glaciated and crevassed, but by late season the crevasses generally are mostly filled in. Mt Barff catches a of of its snow from the West, and expect pockets of wind loading especially along the SW ridge. Continue reading 'Mt Barff ski tour, Mt Aspiring National Park'»
Approx route down to valley floor
The winter of 2011 was an unusual season with low snow levels and better quality snow at the lower elevations. Cardrona back bowls are a favourite because of their ease of access. The Cardrona carpark is one of the higher elevated carparks and the skinning up to the summit of Mt Cardrona does not take long and is a pleasant skin along the western edge of the skifield, half of it on quiet cat tracks. Continue reading 'Cardrona Back Bowls and down to Golspie Valley Floor'»
visual map
A fun and medium-easy day trip, especially after a low level snow fall with a moderate 900m vertical climb to the top. From the top the skiing into the “back bowl” (looking into the St. Bathan range) is really good and the south east aspect keeps the snow in good nick.
Access: From SH8 approx 1.5 km north of the Lindis Pass turn off to a gravel road (Doc sign post) and either park there or drive up another km to a locked gate. Continue reading 'Old Man Peak 1826m'»
Taking in the views
This back country ski was highly recommended to me. It can be done on the exit day from a trip higher up the Tasman Glacier neves. This ski tour has been claimed to maybe be the finest New Zealand ski tour. It offers a huge 1400m ski descent from a 3000m peak. The route is continuous and in parts reasonably steep. The exit couloir to the summit ridge of Mt Hamilton is between 35 and 40 degrees. There is obviously glacier travel involved and so crampons, ice axe, crevasse extraction equipment and all the usual gear are required. Continue reading 'Ski Mt Hamilton, Mt Cook NP ski tour'»
Summit ridge Mt Moltke
One of the most popular ski tours in the Mt Cook National Park. The Fritz range leads in a NW direction from the main divide of the Southern Alps out towards the Tasman Ocean, parallel to the Franz Joseph Glacier. The Range holds its altitude the length of the Franz Gl, and so involves passing over several peaks. The Fritz range ends with a descent to the Franz Gl terminus.
Mt Barth back country ski tour
This was a lovely 3 day ski telemark trip in the Ahuriri Valley. Mt Barth makes for a good adventure ski tour with long fall line skiing and varied terrain. It really stands out from the rest of the range as a large massif that holds a its heavy coating of snow well. We skied this in late October as a mini ski expedition of 3 days.. Continue reading 'A back country ski traverse of Mt Barth and Mt Heim'»
Nth ridge of Buchanan Peaks
I highly recommend this ski traverse – the descents are long and fall line, the terrain is varied and interesting, views are gorgeous. There are multiple route options and some steep descents are possible from the top of both peaks.
Logistics are a little tricky for this trip and permission to cross West Wanaka Station private land is required from the Cochranes (03 443-7144). Also the lower the snow line the better as it saves on knees for the short but tiring end of day walk into the Matukituki Valley. Continue reading 'Mt Alta to Buchanans Traverse'»
skis on bikes
Mt Melina is in the Hawea Conservation Park. We accessed it from the Ahuriri Valley using mountain bikes. I must admit that I am a bit soft and usually walk my bike up anything that resembles a hill, however the trail/road in is graded by DOC as an easy grade 2, and so even I managed it. Continue reading 'Mt Melina from the Ahuriri Valley'»
I just received this in an email – well done to this fellow. This is a huge trip. Awesome.
Sir,
I was interested to read recently on your website an article concerning a short ski tour in the Hawkdun Range. I thought that you may be interested to know about a ski tour I completed during August 2002 with two companions. It started at the same gate shown by the author of the Hawkdun tour mentioned above. The tour was on Nordic mountain ski touring skis and was self sufficient throughout – preferring the independence and flexibility of a tent, collecting pre-positioned resupply as we linked through valleys to reach the next range. We traversed the Hawkdun range crossed over to the St Bathan’s Range before descending to St Bathans, ascending to traverse the Dunstans and then descending direct to Cromwell. From here we went up towards the Wanaka end of the Pisa range at Queensbury to traverse the Pisas down to Bannockburn. Then onto Duffer’s saddle over the Old Woman Continue reading 'the ‘Big’ nordic ski tour'»
View from Summit Black Peak - Mt Rob Roy on left, Aspiring on Right
Black Peak in the Harris Mountains offers some good touring, especially if accessed via helicopter. We landed in the chopper right on the summit of Black Peak one September. After taking in the great views we skied a line from the summit down the south face , then sidled around the peak. Like a corkscrew we circumnavigated the summit and headed from the south to west over to the North and then made a ski descent of the the northern bowls. These are great fun, full of natural half pipes and roll overs. The entrance however was steep, icy and with a little Continue reading 'Black Peak to Treble Cone'»
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