Snowing at Coronet Peak

Big wet flakes of snow and fair dumping for most of the morning at Coronet peak and with temps expected to lower we might see some more of the white stuff and be a ble to enjoy some epic spring powder snow conditions at Coronet Peak over the next few days.

Southern Lakes Heli Ski is running a local day on Saturday the 13th for NZ$ 499.00 - 4 runs 5 heli lifts 2 boat ridesand some beers on the way back -sounds like a great day out to me!!! Take your season pass or account info proving you are a local into the SLH office on Shotover Street and book in for an epic day!

Springtime at Coronet Peak

I have had not too many days this season at Coronet Peak when I have been teaching and NOT constantly worring about being hit by lunatics with bugger all control. At the moment the chances of getting hit by some moron who has either no control or does not have any comprehending of the snow responsibility code or even worse a lack of both is pretty damn slim due to the fact that you can count on one hand how many people are on a run at any given time.

It's fantastic!

The snow is great, no crowds - what more could you possibly want. Well maybe a 3 P day or a helicopter and a bunch of semi clad snow goddesses with you and a large suitcase full of cash ready for apres skiing.

Anyway I digress - those of us who are up there are having a great time with awesome spring skiing conditions at Coronet Peak

The quiet September

It's not quite a ghost town but its pretty damn quiet on the snow at Coronet Peak which is great for us locals to enjoy some good spring skiing conditions. In fact they blew some machine snow last night again and the on piste snow is awesome and off piste remaining firm with the cold temperatures. Normally September is bloody busy and especially so when the snow is in as good a nick as it ever has been at this time of year thanks to the vastly improved snow making system.

It does beg the question did SAR (NZSKI) get it wrong this year by not paying commissions and losing lots (The Remarkables are about 30% down on numbers apparently) of skier and snowboarders to Cardrona in particular or is it just the flow on effect of the tighter economic conditions at present combined with Australia having a very good snow season?

My bet is its about 50/50 but the end result remains the same - numbers are down on the NZSKI.com snow areas in the Whakatipu basin. It's a good time to go skiing!

Coronet Peak Lives On - Dust on Crust

Coronet Peak is skiing well again after the rain finally turned to snow. The skiing off piste is hard and nobbly in places with about 4 cms of fresh on top - Dust on Crust but was surprisingly good fun to ski and the piste hard but good grooming and plenty of grip. The temps are remaining cold and the rot has stopped for now. It has also got a lot quieter on the mountain - maybe the flow on effect of the credit crunch has finally taken hold!

Skiing still good any way so get into it!

How fast it changes!

Coronet Peak and the Southern Lakes have gone from a winter wonderland to sexy spring in just a couple of days. Coronet Peak has hard and fast snow in the morning with softening spring, snow conditions later in the day. The on piste gets quite nasty when it gets past a certain point and is barely enjoyable for mere mortals - certainly the ski instructors hate it!. Off piste has seen some great corn snow if you have been able to work the sun and take into account the cool SW wind effect on the snow.

Forecast is for snow Mon thru Wed next week and that may throw us back to winter but it will only be for a brief period and spring will be back. Its the beginning of the end already but the will be some great skiing here until the end of September and Mt Hutt and Mt Ruapehu will ski well far into Nov and possibly even Dec!

All go down South

The Southern Lakes have really come on over the last 2 weeks with all the ski areas picking up around 60+cms of lovely fresh snow. I have been enjoying skiing Coronet Peak immensly and we have probably not had conditions as good for quite a few years. Having the the new snow making system being able to create a wicked base for the natural snow to fall on and making this season into a ripper. It seems as tho allover NZ has been getting hammered and the one god thins is at Coronet Peak we do nto usualy lose to many days.

Now is the time get on snow!

Heli Ski!


Don't wait.

Heli Skiing in The Southern Lakes, Queenstown

Yesterday saw me and a client I have be skiing with in a helicopter with Southern Lakes Heli ski heading out to Towers Ridge thru quite low visibility. We managed to duck and dive around and get in 4 runs of deep deep powder snow before pulling the pin due to adverse light conditions. 45cms+ of new snow were what we had to play with and it was absolutely wonderful light dry powder with not to much wind effect. In fact it was so good we are going back for some more today. I will come back with another post of conditions from today's heli skiing and hopefully some photos and footage.

The great crew from R&R sports in Queenstown have lent me the Line Mothership skis for my heli skiing yesterday and today. What beasts! For the depth of snow we had they were brilliant to ride and made it all too easy. If you are going out heli talk to R&R and see if you can test ride a set for they day.

Line Mothership Freeride Skis

The Line Mothership, a true bigmountain freeride ski with a 110mm waist and a hand crafted design. The Mothership will set the pace once again this season. With a burly Metal Matrix design, G-Force Geometry and Easly Rise, the Line Monstership skis have no speed limit. Dimensions: 142-111-131 Turn Radius: 24m @ 185cm

Features:

* Sidewall Construction
* Metal Matrix
* Early Rise
* G-Force Geometry
* Maple Macroblock Core

Specifications:

* Dimensions: 142-111-131
* Turn Radius: 24m @ 185cm

The snow keeps on coming in the Southern Lakes, New Zealand

Huge day at Coronet Peak yesterday with every man and his dog crawling out from under their rocks to ski the 15cms of fresh snow on top of the 110 - 15cms from the day before. Unfortunately district wide power failures (apparently a cow went on a mad rampage in the blizzard and banged up a transformer - highly likely)did not allow the express to open until 1100 but they at least got greengates up and going at around 0930. The snow was awesome and even with the lifts down heaps of happy smiling faces around enjlying some of the best conditions of the season if not the last 2 or 3 seasons!

Still a bit of chaos on the roads and we will have more today because more snow has fallen downtown overnight and another 8cms at the peak and still snowing now.

The CP road has full chain restriction in place - what bollocks! They did that yesterday morning and there was absolutley out of order - 2wd needed chains but not 4wd and same again this morning.

Will post some photos to go with this later today. Enjoy.

Oh heli skiing is great right now and if you are traveling in the backcountry be careful, don't travel alone and get up to speed with www.avalanche.net.nz

Coronet Peak on form and Chaos on the roads

The snow is awesome right now and skiing excellent with a big storm dropping heaps of snow in a short period this afternoon right down to lake level. It will be all go on the snow tomorrow.

Lots of chaos around qt this afternoon and chains (I just used 4wd low ration and slow coming down form Coronet Peak …sweet as) all the way into town – fernhill road closed for a bit both way – dick heads all over the place – 2moro will be interesting – snow is great!!! Back bowls 3 times today before front came in around 1500.

Everywhere in the Southern lakes has picked up some great snow and more over the next 12 hrs expected. Get ripping! Get in a heli! Get on a mountain and rip it up.

Oh Z10's just loving it right now all terrain and great snow - top performer!

Light snow falling at Coronet Peak

Today saw cold temps at Coronet Peak but very good snow and skiing conditions. The morning Coronet stayed mostly under the cloud layer and the snow was in great winter nick. Around 1230 snow stared falling and it may turn out the they pick up 5 cms during the night. Tomorrow should be a pretty good day before the next storm rolls in and more snow is expected. Treble Cone and Cardrona will have picekd up some good snow today and my pick would be to get to TC for tommorrow - no face shots unless you are a telemarker but should be good. The Remarkables have started to come on in the last week or two and is getting a base building up so if the snow arrives this week it will be also worth a visit. The Doolans have been skiing well.

The rest of the week is looking a bit manky but we should see snow on and off for most of it with fall late thurs early friday and the a clearing trend towards the weekend and early next week.

Everywhere is skiing well right now and the cold temperatures are keeping the snow in good nick.

If you have the cash - b looking for a heliski day for the week end or early next week - conditions should be great in the backcountry after what we get this week.

Tight Lines,

Simon

The masters are at Coronet Peak

Lots of old racers rippin around Coronet Peak at the moment with training finished and race starting today. Unfortunately the downhill was canned due to poor light this morning but the slalom went ahead with happy racers have firm race lane conditions and improving light.

Coronet peak is skiing very well at the moment - on piste went very hard (like a smooth table top) yesterday although off piste in S/E aspects i.e. exchange skied well. A little dusting overnight saw silk snow conditions over the whole peak and once again reminding me out fantastic the Coronet Peak is - the smallest of fresh snow drops and she comes alive again. We may get a bit more tonite maybe 1 -2 cms but unlikely although after night skiing is finished I am sure it will be cold enough to blow some snow so the snow makers will have to do some work. Actually the have done an amazing job with the new system and considering we have about a 90 cm base and about half is man made that probably gives you some perspective!

Hut will probably get a bit more out of this system and there is another on barreling in from the north which may also produce - we may get some down here with some luck.

Heli skiing conditions are good although much of the terrain of all the operators has been tracked out and the will be wanting some more in the next 3 - 4 days. Next week looks a bit messy after this high passes over this week end.

Ski Hard -Play well

Coronet Peak skiing well

Coronet Peak today saw choppy snow conditions off piste with a firm(ish) base underneath this morning after yesterdays warm/wet conditions in the afternoon. On piste was semi hard and fast with a huge 2cms of fresh at the top and about 0.2cms at the bottom but as they day wore on the conditions softened both on and off piste and very nice late winter/early spring conditions prevailed for the day giving feel god snow and skiing. It may be hard and fast tomorrow morning!

Looks like we have some more snow on the way for next week - nothing major but a couple of dusting's will keep things skiing well here.

Some things never cease to amaze me - random guy today couldn't get any part of his boots done up(not even the power straps)and was convinced he would be able to ski just fine. I quietly pointed out that his skis with boots attached could quite possibly fall off while riding the chair creating injury to others as a direct hit off the chair or hit the ground and become a missile(ie. run away skis) and if he made it successfully to the top without getting frostbitten toes his first turn may result it in complete and utter failure resulting in either a snapped leg and a run away ski ski scenario --- it took some time to convince him and I had to threaten to remove his ski pass. I don't think he knew how to at all or was just to bloody lazy as I had to do them up for him. After about 10 mins I had him sorted but could not convince him a lesson may be useful.

Hutt gets another 100cms and Coronet Peak gets 7cms

Wow!!! Mt Hutt is really getting blasted with another huge dump dropping 1m of snow in 48 hrs so when they get it open the skiing will be awesome up there (there is more snow on the way early next week for Mt hutt too).

Queenstown mostly missed out but we did pick up 7cms at the bottom of Coronet Peak and about 10 at the top so this morning the skiing was great with freshies for all - Coronet Peak is amazing how so little snow really makes it go off. Fog and flat light from about midday on but the snow stayed in good nick.

Get to Canterbury for this weekend as a wee fine break hits before the next storm rolls in or if you can't do that hit Coronet Peak - it is skiing well!

Remember to visit the R&R Sport boys if you need any gear. Make sure you are up to speed with the back country advisory thru www.avalanche.net.nz - make sure you have all the right safety gear and don't go alone. Rip it up and have fun.

While the rest of the country gets blasted.......

Coronet Peak just got foogy this morning and windy later on. Good thing was the snow is in great nick for skiing - no big, fat face shots ... unfortunatly. The last 5 days have delivered wee dustings each day that have made it good chalky and grippy snow. Backbowls is probably worth a ski after tonight as the wind may have transported some fresh into it? We may receive some snow out of this but unlike the rest of the country will mostly miss out. Mt Hutt is going to win again snow wise with the potential of a another 50+ cms! At least we get to ski while Mt Hutt stays shut - don't get me wrong I would mind the snow either but at least we get to be out on what we do have mostly down here. I think the heli ski operators would be keen to get some more and see the systems switch back to the West rather than this E/SE crap.

90 cms snow at Mt Hutt

Nearly 1m of snow at Mt Hutt so after they manage to clear the 3-4m snow drifts from the road and get access to the ski area there should be some pretty amazing skiing. At present Mt Hutt is on hold until midday which I think is optomistic and they will probably not get any skiing facilities open until tomorrow.

A shorter drive than getting to Mt Hutt is going to Ohau where they have picked up 35 fresh and will be skiing pretty well although I would be very wary of hidden obstacles!

Only 1-2 cms of fresh at Coronet Peak yesterday and hard icy base on the lower thrid of the mountain but the top 2/3rds were skiing pretty well.

I didn't get my first tracks because there were some icing issues on the lift! I find it stunning coming from the North Island and working at Whakapapa for 10 years that a tiny sliver of ice stop them opening a lift here. They could do to send some staff to Mt Ruapehu and learn how to deal with real ice, that would sort the problems out!

The heli ski operations will be happy as they have picked up 30 - 40 cms of new snow in the higher and more western terrain so as soon as the get a flying day it will be all on.

Have a great day out there!

Huge dump at Mt Hutt

At Mt Hutt they have got 60cms and still snowing and all closed up while they re-open the road. It wouldn't surprise me if they end up with near on a meter. The skiing at Coronet Peak to day will be good with some fresh overnight maybe 10cms using my imagination but enough to head up early for first tracks and a breakfast laid on by nzski to say thanks to staff over the school holidays. I will come back with a report later today. In the meantime head to Mt Hutt - they will get it open but if its by the weekend the place will be nuts and you would want to be on the Mt Hutt mtn road by no later than 0730 otherwise you might miss out!

Fog and Flat light at Coronet Peak

Today at Coronet Peak the visibility was nil, zero, non-existant - a complete white out and unfortunately not due to blizzard conditions although it did snow for a bit. The forecast is for some snow tonight down to low levels (600m and lowering to 500m tomorrow). It looks like we won't miss out but we wont get too much either - maybe Mt Hutt and the North Island ski fields will be the winners - my bet is if you want some fresh to go skiing on/in and have the flexibility head to Mt Hutt.

There is some possibility of some more decent snow next week for us so keep your fingers crossed that a) I am wrong and we will get absolutely hammered out of this storm and b)the snow gods love Queenstown!

Snow coming

Its my day off and I woke to find rain on the roof and temps cold enough to be snowing at Coronet Peak. Unfortunately it has now stopped raining in the valley so the snow has stopped on the Peaks around Queenstown ---- for now! All the weather forecasts are looking like we should pick up a good amount of snow this week from now thru to Sat. It is coming in Northly first and then should swing to the South late on Wednesday so all the fields in the basin should do well. It snowing at Treble Cone right now. It wil be good for the heli skiing too with this falling on top of a pretty good base - if you are around next week it could be a good time to book a seat on a chopper.

I had a couple of free runs the other morning on the Z10's high speed GS down the hurdle - had a great tune job and was thankful as the snow was hard - my god they loved it for an all mountain ski the made some wicked GS turns.

Heli day in the Southern Lakes

Took a group of 10 for a private charter heli skiing day and worked as the second guide. Give the grey sky to the north we flew southwest from Queenstown to stay in the blue sky and sunshine and went in behind Walter Peak and down towards the Western Eyres. 8 runs with 6 on corn snow and the last 2 found a high true southerly shot which had about 5 fresh light and dry to about 1/2 way down (400 meters vert) before changing into a hard rain crust. All in all given the conditions it was a great day our with this group and they throughly enjoyed their first heli skiing experience in very moderate terrain and of course and excellent lunch with lovely surrounds. The silence out there is deafening - what a nice change!

Given the base out there right now with one more good size fall and then some top ups there will be some great heli skiing this season. C U out there!

Coronet Peak update

Coronet Peak has seen some warmer temps with snow melt happening and then refreezing so its been a bit hard of late first thing in the morning but if you time it right its nice to enjoy the spring snow when it releases a bit. I decided a tune was in order so got that sorted and the Z10's are ripping it up and enjoying the hard snow. On shady southern aspects like exchange it has remained fairly good with chalky snow to ski. It has been a little bit quieter this week with the crowd spreading out around all the mountains in the Southern Lakes but still busy enough. Iwt would be handy now to see some more snow and the later part of weekend and early next week may produce something looking at the weather.

Hard and fast at the Peak

The snow at Coronet Peak in Queenstown, NZ is getting hard and fast now as many thousands of skiers have been over it. Make sure you have clean edges on your skis or board - it will help. To be fair though it is testament to the quality of snow that is being produced by the guns it is still in pretty good shape and skiing well. It ain't boiler plate like I have seen it before with that kind of traffic here.

The Rossignol Z10's love it no matter what they come across - on piste, off piste, crud and powder it all seems a breeze with these skis.

Some weather on the way - keep your fingers crossed - see the met service report below:

Fri Jul 11 Issued at 5:32 pm 10 Jul 2008 NZST
Scattered rain spreading from the west at times, falling as snow above 1300 metres.
Wind at 1000m: Northwest gale in exposed valleys 75 km/h.
Wind at 2000m: Northwest rising to strong gale 90 km/h.
Free air freezing level: 1800 metres.

Sat Jul 12 Issued at 12:42 pm 10 Jul 2008 NZST
Rain about the headwaters, with some heavy falls there until afternoon,and scattered falls further east until late afternoon. Snow above 1200 metres.
Wind at 1000m: Strong northwest tending westerly and becoming light.
Wind at 2000m: Gale northwest tending westerly and easing.
Free air freezing Level: Lowering to 1400 metres.

Sun Jul 13 Issued at 12:42 pm 10 Jul 2008 NZST
Fine apart from areas of morning fog, and showers about the headwaters.Northwesterlies developing at low levels, westerlies about the tops tending northwest and strengthening.

Mon Jul 14 Issued at 12:42 pm 10 Jul 2008 NZST
Fine and cloudy periods, and the odd shower about the headwaters.Northwesterlies dying out at low levels, and tending lighter westerly about the tops.

All systems are go in the snow!

The snow that came thru on the last storm has certainly made a big difference to the skiing. Everybody is up and go - all the mountain ski resorts and heli skiing are underway. To be sure another good drop on snow soon (ish) in the Queenstown area would be great.

Coronet Peak has had some extremely busy days with over 5000 people on the mtn and 1600 odd thru the snow sports. The building has handled it well. Cars have been parked further down on the side of the road than I have ever seen before and there has been mayhem at the end of the day with everybody wanting to get down at the same time. Word of advice if its busy either leave a touch earlier or head to the bar and relax for a bit (make sure you have a sober driver of course.

Maybe the big pull to Coronet Peak is a combination of the snow making system and the new building being far too intoxicating for punters to go elsewhere - I would imagine that after a rough start the CO is feeling much better now. Hint - hire me for a full day private lesson so you can jump the lines all day long!

We have got another storm brewing and likely to hit on Friday/Sat so I am sure there will be more snow at higher elevation fall and with luck Coronet Peak will pick some more up to along with all the other southern ski areas.

Big Dump

Snow, snow and more snow - NZ's getting hit good and hard. Even Queenstown! Yesterday saw snow falling on and off throughout most of the day at the Coronet Peak and the skiing was good with maybe 5 to 8cms of fresh. The big front had slowed down and didn't impact until late during last night and Coronet Peak by morning had picked up another 15cms and the Remarkables hitting 25cms. The odd flurry coming thru since the major front stopped at about 1000 means they have probably picked up some more and will maybe see the odd snowy flurry through out the day.

Cornet Peak, Remarkables, and Cardrona have closed for the day but Treble Cone is open (day 2)as they are further inland and out of the southerly (they got a good wack yesterday while the system was still in the NW phase).

2moro is going to be a a big day with great powder skiing at all the resorts that have been closed today and it is also going to be very busy with every one wanting a sniff of the white stuff!

The Whakatipu basin has also a good coating right down to lake level with about 10cms all over the basin.

The back country has picked up 25cms and the avalanche danger is high (check out www.avalanche.net.nz. If your are going back country keep in touch with that website and make sure you have all the correct equipment, transceiver, shovel and probe -- minimum! If you haven't got it go get it from R&R Sport in Queenstown.

All of the heliski companies will be happy now as they will now have enough snow to offer some good product and as the season continues this will only get better.

C U on the snow!!!

The Amazing Peak

It always amazes me how fast Coronet Peak can change.

We got a 10cm drop of the real stuff last night and wow! On top of all the man made snow that has been produced the conditions went from pretty good on trail skiing to going off trail in many places with yells and woops coming thick and fast. It continued to snow for a few hours this morning before tuning into a mainly fine day.

In behind this small clearance it looks like we are going to get a real snotting tonite and 2moro so if it comes thru (I think it will) Coronet Peak will be ripping!

On another note the first tracks have started now and if you have paid the extra 2hundy on your season pass and get off your arse and hit the slopes at 0800 (1hr before the slopes open to the general public) you get to ski all the fresh lines. This means that you can be having a coffee and admiring your handcrafted signature when the general public get on the lift for there first runs!

Across the valley Remarks looked like it picked up some fresh to but they really need to get pounded out of this system and they have a good chance So with NZ school holidays looming mother nature may just pull one of the bag and comethru with the goodies.

Here is the Metservice forecast for the next several days:

Fri Jul 4 Issued at 1:06 pm 3 Jul 2008 NZST
Becoming cloudy, and outbreaks of rain developing in the morning. Snow lowering to 200 metres in the evening.
Wind at 1000m: Northwest 50 km/h developing in the morning, turning southwest 40 km/h in the afternoon.
Wind at 2000m: Northwest 65 km/h developing in the morning and turnng southwest 60 km/h in the afternoon.
Free air freezing level: Lowering to 400 metres.

Sat Jul 5 Issued at 1:03 pm 3 Jul 2008 NZST
Snow showers clearing during the morning and becoming fine.
Wind at 1000m: Strong southerlies.
Wind at 2000m: Southerlies rising to 80 km/h in exposed places.
Free air freezing Level: Around 400 metres rising to 900 during the day.

Sun Jul 6 Issued at 1:03 pm 3 Jul 2008 NZST
Mainly fine. Southerlies gale force about the tops.

Mon Jul 7 Issued at 1:03 pm 3 Jul 2008 NZST
A few showers in the morning then fine. Winds tending westerly, gale force about the tops.

Good Skiing at Coronet Peak

Another all night blast from the snow gun battery saw approximately 5cms of fresh man made powder laid on all the main trails at Coronet Peak overnight so there was some excellent on trail skiing to be had again - the man made snow they are producing is excellent quality. Tip if you rip - check out Exchange - the man made snow has been transporting in there and its pretty damn good skiing and riding right now.

Z10's got a full tune today and now are set for my man made snow tune at .5 deg on base and 3 deg on side so they should be ripping on the hard stuff - I'll let you know. They are awesome - every day I ski them I like them even more.

Me being me and liking to see the start of the day I took some footage at dawn from Coronet Peak looking out over the basin. Enjoy - oh that's my office window!

Coronet Peak.

A bit more new snow last night and still snowing lightly this morning - maybe 5 cms in total using your imagination! Pretty bleak day on the peak with limited visabilty i.e. White Out - but the snow quality was really good on trail.

2moro (Monday) is looking like good weather and then a big front coming thru on Tuesday - lets keep our fingers crossed it stays cold enough to produce snow at the Coronet Peak.

The conditions are getting better day by day so make the most of it.

I took some footage of the base building from inside - soz about the quality it was taken on flip and I was probably moving too fast and then squished the file to load up here.

Official Opening Day at Cornet Peak

Coronet Peak put on a good show today for all with a 1/2 price deal on almost everything - a lot of people took full advantage of course. It was also the the official opening of the new facilities with Helen Clarke amongst the guests for the ceremony. The new base facilities handled the big crowds easily and made it appear that it wasn't actually busy at all - the cars were parked on the side of the road a long, long way down the hill below the car parks!

The skiing/riding is surprisingly good with the man made product being pumped out at full noise. With all the main trails open the crowd thinned out very well over the mountain. The forecast front arrived about midday and has produced a small amount of natural snow over the course of the afternoon but nothing major - maybe it will keep snowing tonite with some luck. The on piste snow quality is pretty good with the technology in the new guns pumping out wet gorilla snot but nice light dry snow. 10 more cms and Coronet Peaks' off piste will open up - keep your fingers crossed! It is rumored that the Remarkables will open on Monday 30th June and I am sure there will be a lot of snow borders checking out the stash. I hope that the Remarkables side of the Whakatipu Basin may have received a bit more snow today than Coronet Peak.

Well my new skis - WICKED. The Rossignol Z10's are great - straight out of the factory and on snow and they ripped. The ski has plenty of grunt when required but if you back off they still ski well. I managed to get a little in the back seat a couple of times and watch out the are fairly ferocious back there --- it took a bit of recovering to stop going down in a screaming heap. They ski a GS and Medium radius tun very well but I found a little slow edge to edge for cranking short radius turns which is to be expected considering the width under the foot. I will be interested to see when I get the new arms attached how the go in a short Radius turn. Given that it was all on piste skiing today they performed as good as they are designed and look. I have a feeling from todays performance that they will rip off piste too. Anybody who is a top end (NZ level 6) skier will like these skis a lot. If this is you and you are in the market for a new ride check them out you will enjoy them! So where to from here with the Z10's - I will ski then one more day with the factory tune and then I will get them tuned to my liking and see what happens (I imagine they will only ski better) and of course get them in some off piste terrain, try the different arms and keep testing. I will keep you posted on what I learn about the awesome Z10.

I will take my flip vid and shoot some footage to load up 2moro if possible.

10 more fresh

10 cms of fresh fell yesterday afternoon so Coronet Peak is starting to look really good again. We should probably get some more natural on Friday (2moro)and the snow making is continuing. Compare todays photo with yesterdays and you will see a difference! I am sure there have been plenty of people having a great time already up there while I sit here writing my blog and can see the Peak out the window - ahh bugger!

My Rossignol Z10's (170cms)arrived and they do look like a wicked ski (see photo). They have an intergrated ski/binding system that is incredibly easy to set to the the boot size required and the binding din has plenty of room to move with minimum being 3.5 and maximum being 12 so this range caters to most skiers. The ski binding has a changable arm setting that comes out along the ski towards both the tip and the tail of each ski - by putting different lengths/stiffness levels on allows you to change the radius the ski will do. The tip measures 127, waist 75, and tail 108 so it has plenty of side cut to ski hard piste yet keeping plenty of underfoot to ride well off piste.

The Z10's will feel the snow under my feet for the first time on Saturday - I am going with the factory tune as it apparently is very good (looks good too) and we will start to put them to the test. I am pretty excited to ski them - if they ski as well as they have been constructed and look I imagine I will be a pretty happy fella.

If you are going to be at Coronet Peak and need to get up to speed and really start enjoying your time on snow come have a lesson with me - ask for me by name at the Coronet Peak Snowsports School. If you want to try some Rossignol Z10's check out the R&R Sports ski and snowboard demo center which will be on Coronet Peak on Wednesdays and Sundays and they have a great range of Rossignol gear to try out. Alternatively pop into the Rand R Sports shop on Shotover Street in Queenstown and have a chat to them - trust me they will look after you very well.

CU up the peak soon!

Bring on the snow!

Coronet peak opened to day with 15cms of fresh with 48 hrs of man made and the good news is the next front has just hit and is snowing again! We should pick up another good amount today and tonight and there is some more forecast to come in on Friday. I would suggest that by the weekend (the weather looks good for Sunday) that most of the terrain will be open and it will be ON at the Peak. Bring on the snow!

Coronet Peak is Under Way Again

After being closed for 12 days now Coronet Peak is about to re-open tomorrow - with plenty of time to spare for winter festival opening. The storm that has been forecast came through with a large drop in temps and snow making began last night and there has been a small top up of natural snow as well. The temps are looking good for more snow making to be done over the rest of the week and we may see some more of the natural stuff fall as well.

Its amazing with the most advanced snow making system in the world that we are still down to the mercy of the weather but one thing is for sure - when the snow making system does fire up it can certainly put out the goods.

I had a good look a the new base building last week while there was no snow around and I have to say it is a very impressive development and will keep CP in good stead for many years to come. It is a vast improvement and should certainly allow visitors a much more pleasant and user friendly experience even over the very busy school holiday periods. The building is a little stark being all cement, steel and glass but does provide very easy flow through out and should help minimize queing time maximizing snow play time (or coffee drinking depending on what floats your boat) Great improvement on the creche facilties - expanding by about 3 times in size and well kitted out. The cafe and restaurant should be able to handle the crowds no problem and there is also a snack shack outside on the new HUGE deck so getting a bite to eat will be a breeze. I didn't get to see the VIP lounge but if you know the right people and have NZ$ 7000.00 to spare for a season you can enjoy this area too and all the bene's that come with it.

I am just about to pick up my new skis 2moro, some Rossignol Z10's and will come back with a full report on my next blog. Until then I hope you all get to enjoy some snow time.

Still Waiting!

Well it seems as though the snow in May never does stay.

Unfortunately 7th June opening for CP came and went but they didn't get open due to a nasty windstorm. They did manage to get open on the Sun 8th and thousands flocked to see the new base area structure and enjoy what snow hadn't been ripped away by the howling winds - most seemed to have a great time even while lining up at the lift with one of the new snow making cannons letting loose at the people waiting to ride. Temperatures were not particularly conducive for making snow for the rest of the week so the cannons didn't see much action. Then the dreaded R word happened- it started raining on Wednesday night, very warm rain and CP was awash. Thursday dawned clear and unseasonally warm and with the damage to what had been a pretty good base apparent for all to see. CP made the right and probably only decision to stay closed for the day. More warm rain fell on Thursday and Friday nights (both days were clear but warm)and the snow continued to wash away. CP is still closed now for (5 consecutive days in a row). With the freezing temperature at 3000m today it is not likley they will get open for tomorrow (Tuesday) either. It must be frustrating having a 30+ million dollar development sitting there ---- closed. I have seen it far worse still at this same time of year. The good news is the freezing level does look like it should drop later on Tuesday so I am sure that CP are keen to show off what is meant to be the most technologically advanced and largest snow making system in the world. When it does get a chance to swing into action I am sure that we will see CP do it's chameleon impression and be looking fantastic in the blink of an eye.

With global warming, fuel prices, power prices, food prices (in fact you name it)all having a major impact on the world we live in, I want to thank the owners for having the outright balls to spend that kind of money on a re-development in a time of such uncertainty. I am sure that I will see the benefits of it in Queenstown for a long time to come - if it gets cold!

The Long Wait

Right at the end of April we had a storm come thru delivering snow to CP and all the other higher Mtns. As always the town chatter picked up that skiing and riding wasn't too far away. The old saying goes the snow in May never stays and the old hands didn't miss a beat with autumn chores still to be done, ducks to be blasted out of the sky and the odd bit of trout fishing still left in the season. By May 20th with the snow still sitting at CP (some melt but not much) and the report of snow coming an even more heightened sense of awareness has picked up along the bush telegraph.

For a change the forecasters even got it almost right -- the snow materialized. A lot of snow. Yesterday morning CP was saying 40cms ---- not bad. It looked like the weather was lifting and while I was sitting plucking some ducks contemplating that in 2 weeks the mountain will be open, the storm rolled back on us. It started raining in the valley and only being around 4 deg C you know it is snowing in the hills. The precip keep on going and now it is 10am the next day and it is still snowing. It looks like CP might have picked up another good amount, maybe looking around a total of 75+ cms for the storm.

The chatter is all go today, the Whakatipu ski sale is on and every one is talking it up except the old guys The snow in May never stays they are saying quietly in the background but already there are packs of jibbers hiking to the top of the Peak, riding down acting like mini groomers, packing down that virgin new season snow into a firm base.

It's getting near the end of May now and it's certainly been a long time since the Peak has had this much snow towards the end of May. Maybe just maybe, this time May's snow might stay and we will start the season with a terrific base.

In the mean time I have got more autumn chores to finish, some more ducks to pluck and one more fishing mission left to do. The snow in May never says, hmmmm, we'll see.