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.
Heading to the Treble Cone Backcountry
We made plans to head up the lifts and tour of the backside of the resort. We didn’t know what we would ride or where we would go but we just went with the flow and took in the views.
From the moment we skied off the backside of the resort we could tell the ridge behind Lorenzo in the photo above had good snow. That was the place we wanted to ride.
It was a board on your backpack type of day as we climbed to a small peak off the ridge. To our east was a stunning view of Lake Wanaka and the Hawkdun Range.
As we dropped off the upper slopes it was pretty good snow but it had been a bit wind affected. If you know anything about New Zealand you know you are at the mercy of the wind.
Run Number 2 on Treble Cones Backside
Once in the gullies snow quickly improved to wind loaded powder.
Once on the lower face conditions got much better than above. We were having by far the best turns of the day on the lower face.
With the lower face being so good we decided to follow our boot pack up for another lap. While the lighting was a contrast from shade to sunny the snow was great top to bottom. You can barely see Lorenzo but he is on the left side in the photo below.
It was great riding powder in the sun as this is a rare event in New Zealand. We were finding amazing turns in the Treble Cone backcountry.
Heading back to the resort and our exit
The day was starting to get late so we boot packed back up to the top of the resort. Once on the summit ridge we walked over to the scenic view spot and took in the views. In the photo below you can see the Matukituki valley and Mount Aspiring National Park.
While I had 3 free day tickets I would only end up using two of them as I felt happy with a day of groomers and a day of backcountry. My wife was leaving New Zealand in a few days and I had already made plans to tour with my friend Adam Flemming once she left. For the next two days we hiked around Wanaka and enjoyed some amazing Kiwi Pies.
It was both random and great seeing Lorenzo as I had no clue he was in New Zealand. I had a great day touring with him in the Treble Cone backcountry and I look forward to seeing him again in another random place or a planned trip. (hint hint)
Thank you for reading and If you enjoyed reading this and want to see more ski tours within New Zealand check out this link