Treble Cone Powder day in November

Treble Cone seems to be a place I only go to once it is closed for the season. Being so close to Wanaka and the biggest resort on the South Island it pulls in a lot of people. If it’s a powder day you can expect that number to double. From my one previous experience we had two good powder laps before the place was tracked out. So when snow arrived in late November and I had a few days left on my trip it was time to give the place another chance.

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Tasman Glacier Ski tour back at the Kelman Hut

Ski Touring on the Tasman Glacier

The plan was to do a ski tour on the Tasman Glacier after a wild trip up to the Liverpool Hut. Soon we were driving toward Mount Cook Village for a 4 day ski tour based out of the Kelman Hut. Our plan was to spend our time snowboarding around in hopes that the snow would be great. This would be my forth time touring around the area so by know I was quite familiar with the area.

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Mount Barff and the Liverpool Hut Sufferfest

Mount Barff is a beautiful peak situated in the Mutukituki valley with the Liverpool hut at its base. My friend Ben arrived in New Zealand for a two week trip of ski touring and exploring. We went over different ideas of places to go once he landed at the Queenstown airport. We decided to drive North to Wanaka and after picking up some groceries head to Mount Aspiring National Park. Once there we would climb up to and stay at the Liverpool Hut and do a ski tour around Mount Barff.

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Exploring the Treble Cone Backcountry

I started my 2017 season doing the traditional renting a Juicy Van and driving around and locals yell at you type of trip. There were two reasons for this, One you can camp wherever you want and two you get free tickets to Treble Cone ski resort. Though to some it may seem like a waste I used to my ticket to go ski touring in the Treble Cone Backcountry with my friend Lorenzo Rieg.

I’ve known Lorenzo for a few years taking a trip with him to Norway as well as a week long trip in his home of Innsbruck Austria and he just so happened to be in Wanaka New Zealand.

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Hope Lake in the Otago Backcountry

Climbing a chute above Lake Hope

In 2017 I found myself back in New Zealand and ready to go on some new adventures. I had gone down on a trip with my wife and after a month of tourist based activities it was time to get back out in the backcountry. My friend Adam came up with a plan to do a heli accessed mission to Hope Lake in the Otago Backcountry. Once dropped off we would set up a tent and ride some lines in the area.

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Mt. Rolleston High Peak, Armstrong and Philistine in a 24 Hours Sufferfest

Ski touring Armstrong, Rollestons high peak and Philistine in the Arthurs Pass National Park Backcountry

Mount Rolleston is the crown of Arthurs Pass National Park on the South Island of New Zealand. The mountain stands proudly above all the other peaks in the area. When riding at Temple Basin one just stares and drools at such a beautiful mountain and I kept hoping that one day I would ski it. The day came in late November 2015 when Ryan Nicol came up with a plan to do a triple peak tour climbing Armstrong, Mount Rolleston via the high peak and Philistine in a single day push.

It would be a long day but it was possible with an alpine start. It was obvious that it would be an ambitions mission but I was happy to go along with it, Finally we were going for in a zone I had dreamed of snowboarding for years.

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Climbing and snowboarding the Warrior up the Rakia River

Climbing The Warrior in New Zealand

It was an honor to be invited on a 2 week hut mission base camping at the Lyall hut. We would have access to numerous options of potential mountains to snowboard. We had loosely set our eyes on climbing The Warrior which is a distinct peak in the Armoury Range. It’s one of the more isolated regions in a massive range that’s known for isolation. so it’s out there. Ryan and his friend Yossi took a helicopter to the hut while I decided to hike in the 20kms.

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