When everybody had given up on the season the snow finally started falling and with over 30cms of powder. We were off to the Craigieburn Range for my one and only time riding Craigieburn Valley ski area this season. Huge thanks to Licence to Chill for helping get access to this gem of a resort.
Cragieburn area
Cragieburn Traverse 2014
Damian was kind enough to drop me off at the airport after our trip in Mount Cook National Park. While in Christchurch I waited for John Blankenstein to arrive from Australia before meeting up with Chris Rayner and Wiggles. We stocked up for a overnight trip attempting the Cragieburn traverse. It would be around 30kms and 10,000 vert going past 4 ski fields with an overnight stay at Mt. Olympus.
Dire snow as we Head to the Crystal Bowl in Porters Ski Area Backcountry
Conditions were pretty dire all around New Zealand without any precipitation for two weeks. Wondering what to do we started looking over the maps. It was decided to head into Porters ski areas backcountry focusing on the Crystal Bowl in hopes of finding something fun and edgeable. With the temps being so warm the snow pack was melting away making me wonder if the ski season was over with.
Mount Wall in the Cheeseman Backcountry
After a great day ski touring up in Arthurs Pass it was time to focus on another aspect in hopes of finding powder. After staring at the maps for a while we decided to ski tour Mount Wall in the Cheeseman Backcountry. Yossi had showed up and now it was a crew of 4 with him Ryan, Wiggles and me as we drove up to Mount Cheeseman ski area.
A Day Snowboarding Powder at Mount Cheeseman Ski Area
After a day of making the most with the ski conditions at Porters ski area we decided to go check out Mount Cheeseman Ski Area. There was a rumor that they were going to open the upper slopes. Our plan was to ride as much powder as we could before the place got tracked out.
Powder Day Riding Porters Ski area
It seemed the season was going to be a slow one as we waited for the snow to fall. After finishing the Two Thumbs Range ski traverse it was obvious we would need some powder to cover the ice. Finally the next storm arrived and we decided to head out to the Craigieburn Range and more specifically Porters ski area to see what all the talk was about.