nikkijane88

Well what a delightful weekend has just been. Myself and my OH stayed in ohakune for 2 days up on turoa... Perfect conditions Saturday, downside was it was so busy but what can you expect on a weekend? Sunday was cloudy and snowy, windier too... Still good conditions and far less crowded. How nice to be near slopes that you can have less chance of being closed for the fact they can't cope with the conditions! 😂😂
Hopefully get up again before the end of the season but if not... I can't wait for next winter now!!

Pom_Chch

Beautiful part of the country. My partner and I hiked Tongariro back in March, stayed in Ruapehu. A teeny tiny place with spectacular views of the mountains!

Conditions have been good down here this season too. Ah to live in a place where one can ski for the day in winter and go surfing in summer

nikkijane88

Looking forward to doing the crossing over summer. Technically I live further from the snow than I used to, but at least here seems to be able to work to the conditions which is a nice change. And it's only 2 hours away which still isn't really far.
Year round adventure options is just fantastic... Always something to do

barnsleymat

I'm heading upto Cardrona on Friday for the day, I've only had one snowboarding outing which was last year so I'm pretty new to it all. It's the best thing about living in Dunedin, you have the ski fields within a few hours drive.

nikkijane88

I spent most of it getting up on the board... Very much a beginner. Have an awesome time at cardrona! Have a few friends who have worked there over the years and loved it

Snap Shot

My husband was skiing at Ruapehu last week. He skis, I don't. I'd much rather be sitting in the warm drinking hot chocolate !

We stayed in Whakapapa village for three nights. We didn't have great weather, he skied on all but one of the days. That was the day the visibility was so bad they closed all the ski lifts/ski chairs.

It was a supreme irony that the weather was clearing just as we were leaving. My husband had been skiing all morning. He had to use the little, 'Roam' shuttle bus to get up the Bruce Road as they were only allowing 4x4 vehicles and vehicles with snow chains fitted to their tyres to the base area facilities. Previously, the road was clear and I could drive him there for the start of his skiing day.

However, as has been mentioned, the ski lifts would have been mad busy on a weekend with such clear, sunny weather after a fresh dumping of snow courtesy of mother nature.

It's only a couple of hours drive there, so I wouldn't rule out a day trip mid week before the end of the season.

nikkijane88

Only been up whakapapa once earlier in the year... Damp foggy day so didn't get any view, ha ha! Turoa is said to be the better place for learners if you wanted to try, I took a morning lesson to get to grips with the basics again before scarily trying the chairlift on the board.
Thankfully the roads were clear so didnt need to fit the chains, that's a new thing as used to just throwing winter tyres on before. It has made us rethink about swapping one car for a ute though.
OH is up at tukino this week for his work inter base champs.

Snap Shot

Good on ya !

I can ski, I learned 15 years ago during a winter holiday as my husband was keen on visiting Lake Louise in Canada. We were living in Britain at the time.

However, skiing is just not for me unfortunately. I just don't get it.

I just can't shake the feeling of, 'why am I doing this ?' as I get on the chair lift to the top of the ski lane yet again.

I fell over during a skiing lesson in France in 2005 and had to be stretchered off the mountain. That's when I decided to call it quits ! They thought I had ruptured my Anterior Cruciate Ligament - right knee. I had a leg brace on for the rest of the holiday. Thank God for travel insurance is all I can say ! Turns out I hadn't ruptured my ACL but I had bruised the bone and it would take ten months to heal properly.

I had skied there with my husband a couple of years earlier without incident. We've also been to Lake Tahoe in California and I remember having a good time, but it was always hard work rather than fun. My legs were exhausted at the end of the day. Also, putting uncomfortable ski boots on every day was just becoming to much to ask. To me, it was all a bit pointless. We also visited Austria for a winter holiday, he went skiing I went for a run around the village. I can get good views riding the cable cars above the mountain, I don't need to ski.

So it's a comparative luxury to be only 2 hours from the best skiing in the country.

Hope your OH's inter base champs go ok. It's forecast to chuck it down with rain most of tomorrow.

Damson

Really like the idea of beaches AND skiing albeit at different times of the year. We love going although we got so fed up with unreliable snow conditions and lift queues in the usual European countries that we have headed north to Finland and Norway which are both ace.
Shame skiing didn't work out for you snapshot but yes, it isn't everyone's cup of tea and there are few things worse than trying to ski in uncomfortable boots. It can be agony. Glad your knee injury wasn't worse case scenario.

BEVS

Shame about the knee Snapshot. My own left knee got totalled on a skip trip in Italy one year. A novice, out of control , snowboarder took me out with a mighty wham. Took so very long to settle & was never the same again really.

I have managed to ski subsequently however age has meant that the knee just doesn't really hold up anymore strength wise.

Mind you , this is the female that broke her ankle tripping over her own flipflop.

Our local ski field is Rainbow. It is abut 90 minutes away. There you can take up your BBQ and comfy chairs. Have a bit of a ski and then a picnic among the Kea alpine parrots.

One year we did this & then in the evening availed ourselves of the local holiday park open air spa under the stars.

Snap Shot

Damson and Bevs thanks for your sympathy.

Bevs sorry about the skiing accident and that your knee has never really been the same.

You post skiing bbq and / or picnic followed by star gazing sounds great.

It's my ambition to see Mt Ruapehu and Mt Tongariro on a clear night under the stars.

nikkijane88

Ouch! Some nasty accidents there!
I tried skiing a few times over the year, also speed skiing by accident! So now trying to get into snowboarding.
Clear mountain views at night are amazing... Not had any here but had some wonderful sights in Tanzania a few years ago.
Hope you get up and see them snapshot! Be a wonderful experience.
No skiing for the troops yesterday as they were stormbound and got stuck in the lodge all day. They hoped the road might clear as one of the guys couldn't leave with all the drifting. Now that's the winter roads I'm used to, ha ha ha

Debidoos

Went two weekends ago - it was great- planning to go again before the end of the season- love it there plus Ohakune is a fab place for mountain biking too

I've sent you a pm

Damson

I hadn't really thought much about skiing there which in retrospect is daft. Where are the best places to go? Are the ones mentioned above the best in NZ? We are intermediates (I'm too chicken to advance further). Would they be suitable for us?

Snap Shot

I saw a group of military vehicles on the road today as I was driving toward P.N. this morning (not tanks or rocket launchers) and I wondered if it was your husband and his buddies coming back from their jolly.

Um, I mean, military personnel returning from an important team building exercise.

Fantastic weather today, clear blue skies.

My husband visited Whakapapa village today on business. He must have felt like he was so close and yet so far ! He remarked that if he did not have a colleague with him, he would have taken his skis and done a bit of skiing in the afternoon before coming home.