Here is a five star ski tour in the Garvie Mountains, SE of Queenstown. The Blue Lake Huts makes a wonderful base from which to explore from. The terrain has something for everyone; steeps, rolling ridges, bluffs, lakes, chute, ice climbing. Note – this is on private land and permission
Early in the winter season there is often a wintry blast that comes in from the south west, drops a good layer of snow down low in the Mackenzie Basin, and into the Ahuriri Valley. In early July 2015 we managed to sneak a ski tour in, skinning up from
Another ski tour option for the Old Man Range is to carry on over the summit ridge and then down to the Nicholson Hut. As reported to skitouring.co.nz …I thought I’d drop few pics of the next basin over to add to the trip. For some reason it stays really
It seems every Autumn we get an early season blast of cold weather, which brings snow down to low levels. Invariably this is from a strong southerly storm which howls up the central east of the South Island. The Old Man Range catches this wind blasted snow and loads it
Another ski touring option on the North Pisa Range is to base out of the Robrosa Hut. Situated in the north branch of the Cliff Burn it is a short trip from the Snow Park. The hut is surrounded by ski lines and also offers easy access tot he east
The Remarkables has many short day ski tours available. One option is to access the bowls to the East of the ski field, an area known as The Doolans. There are many options here for touring, but a fun loop to do is to head up the Sugarbowl lift, then
Ski Touring in the Two Thumb Range There are plenty of ski touring options in the Two Thumb Range and you can base yourself out of Camp Stream Hut or Royal Hut at the top of Bush Stream on the Mesopotamia side, or, if you want to be comfortable you
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
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
I have had an eye on trying to ski this area for a while. We once tried to ski the Hector Range (which joins the Remarkable Range) from the northern end near Duffer Saddle. We were aiming for Ben Nevis. However due to frost lifting on the road we only