Great Winter Roundup – Highlights from the 2009 Season
Tags: great winter roadtrip
You can read the entire archive of my 2009 season here, or by clicking on the following links. Each post contains a list of that month’s snow days with commentary. I’ll warn you, it’s not exactly compelling reading. I decided to write them as a complete chronicle of my ski season, kind of like an online road diary. I included nearly everything I could remember at the time of writing and published it. As a result it’s a bit of a verbose ramble. You’ve been warned.
Great Winter Roadtrip Part One – Pre-season
Great Winter Roadtrip Part Two – May-June
Great Winter Roadtrip Part Three – July
Great Winter Roadtrip Part Four – August
Great Winter Roadtrip Part Five – September
Great Winter Roadtrip Part Six – October
However if you don’t want to wade through all that, you can just check out the following.
Most memorable moments from the 2009 season:
Beating my previous record for earliest turns of the season: Mt Cheeseman – 10th May
The skies started puking in early May delivering over a foot of fresh snow, so Alan and Ryan from the Snow.co.nz forum organised a daytrip up to the mountains to check out the conditions and get a few turns in. We drove up to the skifield gate and hiked/snowshoed for 45mins to get to the lodge. There were a fair number of skifield staff/club members around preparing for the season, as well as a couple of ski-tourers with skins. From the lodge we hiked another 15mins or so to get a wee 30 second run. We followed that up with a wee kicker session before skiing back down to the car. There were heaps of rocks around; my new Volkl Gotamas (which were being used for the first time) were pretty scratched up, but nothing too major. Ryan’s snowboard edge took a pretty big pounding though.
On the whole a good day out – nothing compared to a good mid-season day, but fun all the same – plus I beat my previous record (Queen’s Birthday Weekend) for earliest turns of the season by 2 or 3 weeks!
The Temple Truck breaking down again, and again, and again: State Highway 73 – 6th & 7th August
Through July to early September, I spent a lot of time carrying out Temple Basin food resupply missions. A typical TB food run involves waking up at dawn and heading to Trents to spend a few hours working through a several thousand dollar shopping list. After loading about half a ton of supplies onto the truck, I head to Growers Direct to pick up more groceries, then drive two hours up to the Basin, usually arriving around sunset. I then spend the next hour or two sending the food up to the lodge in the goodslift while fending off keas, then commence the hour-long walk up to the field by the light of my head-torch (or if I’m lucky, the moon). Whilst the food run (usually Thursday) is a long hard day’s work, you get all your volunteer work out of the way in one go, and get to spend the next few days skiing without having to worry about more chores. It’s a fairly good gig.
The fly in the ointment is that you have to do it all in the Temple Truck. This ancient behemoth is notorious for its unreliability, and has broken down on me more times than I care to remember. (Admittedly, the first time was my fault – let’s just say that I’ll never forget to check the oil again).
This season provided a few hairy episodes, including a couple of trips undertaken with one headlight and no indicators, horn or interior lighting. (Ever worn a headtorch while driving so you can see the speedometer? I have). However undoubtedly the worst of the season was the Fire & Ice food run, which involved 2 days’ work (dawn to midnight), 8 hours driving the Temple truck, 5 tonnes of food and alcohol, and 2 truck breakdowns.
Day 1′s breakdown happened at the Arthur’s Pass railway station when I stopped briefly to visit the toilet. When I got back to the truck it wouldn’t start. I spent the next hour defending two tons of exposed food from half a dozen ravenous keas with a ski pole, while trying to get the truck going again. To compound my frustration, the AA refused to help me because my membership apparently doesn”t cover vehicles that size (Never mind that the size wouldn’t have made a difference in giving me a jump or tow start – fuck you AA!). Eventually I managed to get a tow start from the friendly local DoC ranger (Cheers Chris, you’re a champion!) and finally delivered my supplies to Temple Basin (minus a few loaves of bread – casualties of the kea war). On arrival I was informed that after unloading I’d immediately have to return to Christchurch to get the truck fixed and pick up more alcohol. Not only that, but during the two hour return journey I could not under any circumstances allow the truck engine to stop or stall, as I would not be able to get it started again on my own. Fortunately I arrived shortly after midnight with the truck intact.
I spent most of Day 2 waiting for the truck to be fixed, and finally managed to get on the road in the late afternoon with nearly two tons of beer on the back. The trip went smoothly until Flock Hill, when I suffered a complete gearbox failure while coasting down the steep incline. Luckily, I managed to pull into a siding not 200 metres from Flock Hill Lodge, and was able to use their phone to call for reinforcements. The next few hours were spent guarding the precious load and trying to keep warm while smaller vehicles ferried the alcohol 40 minutes up the road. I finally arrived at the Temple Basin lodge around midnight, where I was treated to a well-earned beer 
.
Tracking out the fresh pow before the student hoardes arrive: Temple Basin – 1st August
The morning of the 80s Party heralded back-to-back shallow pow runs in fresh, beautiful, untracked snow with barely a chunky spot in sight and barely half a dozen punters on the field. Stoked!
Knocking off the Grand Traverse: Temple Basin – 9th August
Brian and I trekked from the top of the Elevator Chute, across the top of Upper Bills (just under B’limit) to reach a point just short of Cassidy peak at sunset, culminating in my longest Temple Basin run to date – 10 minutes from the peak to the bottom of Temple tow (including the Cassidy bridge crossing on skis). Although my skiing was a little sketchy due to loose boots and sticky snow, I managed to hold it together and make the descent without bailing nor losing the ear-to-ear grin from my face. A fitting end to an epic Fire & Ice weekend.
Hikers in Upper Bill's. Snaking past them was sadistically fun.
Poser
View of our line from the bottom, just after sunset
Winning a t-shirt in the Gnomes Freeride Competition: Temple Basin – 22nd August
Downhill Basin (the originally intended site for the comp) was out because there wasn’t enough snow to allow a good line, so the comp was moved to the top of Upper Bills. Everyone got one run to show their stuff. We had earlier been advised against ‘hucking our meat’ off big drops if we were unsure about sticking the landing, and that the judging would instead focus on aggressive, fluid, controlled riding. With that in mind (plus my comparative lack of ability) I chose a real mellow line with no airs, and a quick dodge between some rocks at the start. I didn’t see my entire score card, but from what I did see I could tell that I had done pretty much as expected – a good score for control but a poor score for my line. I ended up coming 14th (out of about 20), and Neil picked me out for a T-shirt spot prize due to my years of service (cough), so I was stoked with that.
Simmo's line (click for big version - and I mean BIG)
Actually getting to sleep in my car: Broken River – 31st August to 2nd September
My plan for the winter was to spend the vast majority living in my car and exploring each of the 12 Chill ski fields. Foruntately/unfortunately that didn’t happen – I ended up getting regular volunteer work, accommodation and food at Temple Basin, so I stayed there instead. As a result my investment in a car electrical system, roof box, curtains, mattress and camping stove were largely wasted, and my planned ‘Great Winter Roadtrip’ turned into a ‘Great Winter Ski-Bumming at Temple Basin’. However I did get three awesome days and two nights camping out in my car at the bottom of the Broken River access road.
The original plan was to try to make it to Cragieburn, Cheeseman and Mt Olympus and thus finish off the Selwyn fields that I hadn’t yet visited. Due to weather I ended up only managing Cragieburn and Broken River. The two Cragieburn days were dominated by strong winds. There was a fair amount of fresh snow on the ground, but the winds had redistributed it so that ridges and exposed points were extremely icy. The upshot of this was that the basins, gullies and chutes were filled to the brim with powdery goodness, and any ski tracks were quickly erased by the gale-force winds. Hooray, unlimited freshies!
The weather during the second day was horrible, and the word on the grapevine was that everywhere was closed but that Broken River would be opening at 6pm for night powder skiing. I spent the day idly mooching round Castle Hill and hanging out at Flock Hill Lodge, then when dusk came I made a move up to BR. It had been snowing most of the day and was getting pretty Epic – over a foot of fresh pow on the ground, woop woop! Everyone was completely stoked, with powder-day grins from ear to ear. I bumped into a few familiar faces while there – these days it’s getting pretty hard to visit a club field without spotting someone I know. I guess the club field community’s pretty small.
Sleeping in the car was reasonably comfortable, albeit a little cramped and cold. The new car battery setup only managed to power my laptop for an hour unfortunately, meaning that I needed to run the engine for a bit to allow me to finish my Deadwood episodes.
On the way up Cragieburn on the third day, the CHARDIS’s snow chains struggled to pull the car up the road, and broke a few links. I tried to persevere but the chains on the front right tyre ended up ripping themselves apart and wrapping themselves around the axle of the wheel. I had to remove the wheel in order to pry the chain loose, which proved to be an adventure in the fresh snow on a steep hill. Eventually I got it off and managed to get a tow up to the field from a helpful dude in a 4wd. That’s the last time I buy cheap shitty chains off trademe – next time I’m getting some snow-sweats.
Watching the Black Diamond Big Mountain Competition: Temple Basin – 5th & 6th September
Screw rugby and cricket – what could be better than reclining in a deckchair with a beer on a sunny skifield and watching some of NZ’s best freeriders slay a few epic lines? A highlight included watching Neil Williman and Sam Smoothy hit the huge cliff near Main chute, and compete over who could claim the biggest drop.
I managed to stick my first ever 180 that weekend as well, which was also pretty rad
Enjoying a beer on the summit, at midnight, under a full moon, with a group of pro skiers: Temple Basin – 5th September
The evening of the Big Mountain Comp was clear with a bright full moon, so instead of partying, I joined Ross and a small party of pro skiers to climb to the top of Hot Pocket. We left the lodge at around 10pm and climbed from Temple tow with ice axes in hand. The snow was pretty hard, which made for fun climbing if not for good skiing. We had had a beer on top of the ridgeline overlooking the Mingha backbowl at 11:30pm, and skied down at midnight. It was an amazing night – I am completely stoked on it.
Enjoying a well-earned beer on the summit
Club Championships: Temple Basin – 12th September
The photo says it all really:
Sticking my biggest ever air: Temple Basin – 13th September
“ok here we go… hmmm going a little fast… stay balanced… hit the kicker… HOOOOOLY SHIT THAT’S HIGH… hold it together… spot the landing… absorb the impact… keep your skis together… don’t eat shit… alright I’m not gonna fall, sweet… ok time for a celebratory fist pump… fuck yeah!” 
‘Breaking hearts and saving lives’: Temple Basin – 19th September
Saturday the 19th (International Talk Like a Pirate Day and Aoife’s birthday) was the also beach party day, and the weather turned out perfectly with sunny blue skies and light winds. We had a bbq outside on the veranda with a badminton net (complete with coke bottle shuttlecock), and all the staff were wearing Hawaiian shirts. The most exciting event of the day (for me at least) was injuring myself in an act of derring-do:
It was pretty icy in the morning on Temple tow. I was manning the rental dept, and rented some gear to a Danish girl then taught her how to use the ropetow, and she got to the top first time. I rode up with her, checked she was ok, then skied back down. I was hanging around the bottom and noticed she was taking her time, so I rode back up to check if she was ok. I got about halfway up the tow and she just started sliding down out of control from the top, lost both her skis and slid at breakneck pace towards a field of rocks. It was terrifying, she was screaming and looked like she was gonna nail herself. She mostly missed the first patch of rocks (thank god), while I hung on to the tow and willed it to go faster. As soon as she was almost level with me I jumped off the tow, bunny-hopped some rocks and skied over to her as fast as I could and grabbed her to help her stop, but we slid together for another five metres or so until I could get us to a stop. She had broken her wrist on a rock and had to be helicoptered to a hospital. While we were treating her I noticed that my arm had a fair bit of blood on it from the icy slide, cos I was only wearing a hawaiian shirt at the time. It was a really bad graze and took a month to heal, but it was totally worth it for the manly story. 
Catching the ultimate snow day: Temple Basin – 23rd September
The 23rd was hands-down my best day of the season. We’d had about 10-15cm of fresh snow the day before, and it was snowing on and off that morning. Shortly after I arrived at Downhill, the sun came out for an hour and I got some sweet turns in good vis before heading in for lunch. It socked in during lunchtime and delivered about 5cm which covered up most of the morning’s tracks. Then as we were heading outside again, the sun reappeared as suddenly as it had left, and we had 4 hours of bluebird freshies! The afternoon snow was if anything even more fun than the morning’s, and we thrashed it till 5pm. I got the last tow out of Downhill back through Lower Bill’s, and had a sweeeet run through Cassidy chute. Then, to top it all off, it started snowing again less than 5mins after I arrived back in the lodge. Perfect
Favourite shot of the season: Hucking in Downhill Basin
The epic snow was enough to tire out even Willy
Playing snowboard instructor: Temple Basin – 27th September to 2nd October
During TB’s final week we were overwhelmed by the arrival of 26 kids between the ages of 5-16. The mountain became a noisy place filled with, in the words of Dylan Moran, ‘miniature drunks’, whose only purpose seemed to be converting sugar into violence.
Whilst we had a couple of ski instructors, there were no qualified snowboard instructors on the hill. As I used to snowboard before switching to skiing a couple of seasons ago, I grabbed a board out of ski hire and gave the kids some lessons. It’s a pretty cool feeling when one of the kids comes up and says thanks for the lesson, and that the tips I gave him really helped his snowboarding.
TB’s final open day of the season: Temple Basin – 4th October
After a season of cajolling, Hugo and I finally managed to drag Aoife up to Bill’s Basin and show her the field’s full potential.
Aoife laying down some turns in Cassidy Chute - not bad for someone in her first season
Aoife and Hugo, coming out of Lower Bill's
Staff-only powder day: Temple Basin – 5th October
After the final TB open day, the staff finally got a day to themselves to pack their bags, tidy the lodge, take down the trip cords, and of course ski the empty slopes! I spent a couple of hours at Downhill taking down trips and picking out pow between the ice patches, then headed back through Lower Bill’s with a pack full of tools.
Fresh pow on closing day, and not a punter in sight - woohoo!
Skiing on Halloween: Mt Olympus – 31st October
Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in.
Mt Olympus announced a final weekend of skiing over Halloween with a forecast for blue skies and corn snow. Paul invited me to join him so I ignored my dire financial situation and tagged along.
The access tow wasn’t running so we had to hike to the lodge. The walk’s difficulty showed me just how much the last month had cost my fitness. The spring sun was boiling, everything was exhaustingly hot and the snow was spring corn, which melted and became very slow after lunch in sun-affected areas. The riding was still pretty sick though.
Final 2009 Winter Tally:
Snow days: 43
Ski fields visited: 6
Cheers 2009 for an awesome ski season!
