Darkest Before The Dawn

The view from Bremner Bay in Wanaka this morning

It’s dark out there. Very windy, very ominous, and very dark. Visibility up in the mountains is quite poor, there was icing on the lifts this morning and the wind is howling. Here in town it’s warm as I roam around on a day off, and one would think that looking upwards and seeing the storm slamming the mountains of the Mount Aspiring National Park while it’s so warm would not be a good thing - at home in Vermont that certainly would be the case. Here, like so many other details of the weather, precisely the opposite is true. With the tree line at an elevation barely above town and the skiable terrain all on the top half of the mountains, warm weather in town doesn’t necessarily mean the dreaded “r” word up on the hill – quite the opposite. It can be downright tropical at the lakeside while the driest, fluffiest, dreamiest snow this side of Hokkaido falls on our resorts. Of course, that hasn't happened in a while.

The resorts here in Wanaka have done a good job keeping conditions reasonably good for our guests, particularly so at Cardrona where I work, but we’ve all waited for the current storm with more than a bit of anxiety. So, as I look up the hill and understand that today may be only for the most intrepid skiers and riders, I have been a bit giddy with anticipation for the snow that is falling. Cardies' operations crew may have been doing an amazing job, but I’d love for them to get a break while I rip around and enjoy some fresh powder in the off-piste terrain that has been unskiable for a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed, tomorrow will be the day. It’s always darkest before the dawn, as the expression goes, and maybe it’s always ominous before the pow. My fat skis await me in the locker room and I expect to let them loose in the morning. Gratefully.