Coronet Peak Rocks

Well actually there are very few rocks due to the great snow coverage on Coronet Peak and with the amazing and fully automated snowmaking system it is just getting better and better. It's not to say a few more good natural dumps wouldn't be aprecciated however, keep your fingers crossed.

As an empolyee of NZSKI I have to take my hat off the the owners and those that are skippering the boat on its journey towards the future. Serious money has been spent over the last few years and coninues to be in a effort to future proof against global warming or should I say climate change and the bleak world outlook at present and allowing NZSKi to position themselves amongst other things as the leader in snowsports recreation in the Southern Hemisphere. What is possibly more important is the way they are taking the staff on this journey by empowering them to be pro-active in this journey to the future. I have noticed a major pick up in the fact that with returning staff especially the management is treating them with respect for who they are and their backgrounds in the snow and general tourism industry to help the company as a whole acheive its vision for the future and this means respect is being given in return.

I had a great day today, A dozen quick runs on the Quad to get my ski fitness up enjoying the fabulous snow conditions and my new Salomon skis and playing with my early season techinque.

Here's something to think about early season (if you are a skier):

Feel pressure along the whole length of the foot as you ski (not just the heel or the toe).

Widen your stance to hip width or slightly wider.

Focus on disciplined hand and arm position (don't let them wave all over the shop.

Thinking about these three things as you start your season will be a good foundation enabling you to progress faster this year.

Get a ski lesson at an NZSKI snowsports school to find out more! Oh remember to ask for Simon Wilkinson if you want a private ski lesson at Coronet Peak.

Oh I forgot, after my quick ski I decided putting some dinner on the table might be a good idea (keep the wife happy), and popped down to one of my favourite fishing spots near Queentown and hooked and landed three trout one I kept which was a 8.5lb brown trout and let the other two go, dinner for another day! Where can you do that, go ski in the morning and then catch big NZ trout a 1/2hr later! Queenstown and Coronet Peak Rocks!

Opening Weekend of Coronet Peak, Queenstown,NZ

Saturday was opening day at Coronet Peak in New Zealand and hordes of mostly locals turned out to ski the best opening day snow conditions since 1996. The weather was great in the moring but detoriated a little during the day with some cloud drifiting in and the odd light snow flurry late in the day.

I got to have a good hoon around on the Salomon Aero GTs and see what they were capable of and was happily surprised. As they are a hybrid ski I was not really sure what I was in for but found them to be a very good on piste ski with excellent edge control and if you wanted to work them hard they responded well and left trenches in the snow. On the other hand backing off and just relaxing was also rather nice, you did'nt have to work them hard all the time to get good results! Being more of an on piste ski I ws quite surprised at how easily they dealt with the off piste which was quite changeable from nice chalky windblown powder and manky windcrust, they just seemed to eat it up. I will wait for a chance to ski them in deep powder and let you know how they respond to that challenge.

I was up on Coronet Peak again today and it was a blue bird day, quite cold with great snow conditions and the skiing was all go. My run of the day was dropping into Mid Exchange cutting back to the Hurdle and then dropping into West Gates. Lots of nice chalky snow and pockets of windblown powder, lovely!

The coming week looks like it wil start fine and slowly detoriate mid week and a chance of snow as a front bears down on us from a northly direction. With luck the mantle of snow on the Southern Alps will help drop the temperature and snow will arrive rather than the form of precip we don't want, I am not even going to use the word! With luck it will hit the cold Southerly airstream that we have and realy dump!



I didn't gte the chance to shoot any footage but wil pop up 2moro morning for a early ski (day's off) and shoot some and upload something later this week.

Certainly ifi you are um and ahhing about going skiing - nows very good and I think it wil continue to get better and better. as the season rols on! Here's hoping.

Coronet Peak, Queenstown New Zealand opens 2moro

Well it's the night before the opening of Coronet Peak and I have all my gear good to go skiing. I was up there yesterday getting trained about the company culture (NZSKI) and customer service but couldn't help myself constantly staring out the window and how much snow there is up on the peak. It certainly looks like the best base coverage I have seen on Coronet for the last - well since I have been in Queenstown.

I will take some pics 2moro and maybe some video footage so you can all see it.

I am looking forward tomy first day riding my new Salomon skis and will also be posting a full report on how they rip. I will be giving further updates as the season rolls on on how they perform on different conditions.

Remember if you are looking fro a short term rental (3 nights minimum) over the winter check out Book a Bach for our listing.

It looks like the whole of New Zealands ski feilds are setting up well with snow for a great winter.

CU on the snow.

Skiing on Salomon

This year as alway's I wil be working in conjuntion with R&R Sports in Queenstown and will be riding the Salomon Aero GT. They wil be arriving soon and before I know it I will be on them and ripping it up - I will come back and give you a detailed report on how these ski's rip.

The 2009 New Zealand Winter snow season is gearing up

The last 3 weeks has seen some amazing weather delivering a huge amount of snow to the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand. Queenstown and the Southern Lakes has been getting blitzed by tons of snow.

Coronet Peak is reporting a 80cm base

Remarkables and 130 cm base

Considering I live just below CP and Re i can testify that they are on the money with the snow depth reporting.

There will be lots of excited skiers and snowboarders getting geared up for the opening of Coronet Peak on the 6th of June.

We are stil getting snow today and some more is forecast for later in the week with a big high ridging in after that which wil supply the cold temperatures required for snow making.

We normally say that the snow in May never stays but this time I think it is going and the start of the season will be off to a cracker. The long term forecast for the winter is also good with plenty of good storm system that should deliver plenty of snow for the South Island and North Island ski fields.

I will be starting fairly regular updates to my ski blog from now on - stay tuned!