"ABS" - Another Bloody Sunset

Here's the view from Ardmore Street, the main drag in Wanaka, looking out across Lake Wanaka as the sun set over the Mount Aspiring National Park yesterday.

Kansas

We received several inches of snow this past week. Finally. What a difference a few inches makes! The photo of fresh tracks coming down from the hikable summit of Treble Cone towards the top of the Saddle Quad is from this past Thursday. It's a little funny here: the moment there's even the slightest fresh powder to be had, people will strap on their ridiculously fat, long powder skis and hike the summit to get fresh tracks. Needless to say, I'm waiting for the real thing but I'm glad to have the additional cover in the meantime.

I skied into the Motatapu Chutes today with a group of locals I teach every Saturday, all good skiers. It was the first time I'd skied these chutes, the first time I'd even seen them up close, and definitely the most imposing terrain I'd ever skied while teaching. I could have done without the insane traverse to get out high enough to avoid the 40 minute hike out of the bottom of the runs, but it was worth it. There's a very big storm on the way and so I hope to free ski the chutes soon - I'll make sure to post some photos. We're definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Couldn't Stand the Weather

The photo above is taken from Upper High Street looking down at the entrance to a trail called Superpipe in the Saddle Basin. Before seeing and skiing Superpipe, I was a bit skeptical about the idea of a natural half pipe. What I certainly didn't expect was a seriously steep couloir (note the drop off above) with views clear across the Saddle Basin (note the tracks on the ridge in the far background) and walls that get to be near 15 feet high. It may not exactly be the Sobe Superpipe at Okemo, but who cares? Seriously!

All is well here in Wanaka, though we've been without any additional snow since my last post. In fact, we went from Saturday July 7th until yesterday without any change in weather. Yep, no change at all. No clouds, no wind, nothing. The temperatures may have changed a few degrees in one direction or another and the inversion causing clouds to cover Lake Wanaka below the level of the Treble Cone base area may have cleared on some afternoons, but the mountain remained eerily cloudless and the same. Day after day, after day, for two weeks. Finally, yesterday the wind picked up, the temps fell and, miracle of miracles, we got some cloud cover and some flat light in the afternoon. I never thought I'd be grateful for flat light. I even put on goggles.

We are now in serious need of snow. The cold weather has kept the bumps in the Saddle Basin quite soft, but there is plenty of gravel working its way onto the groomed runs and the drop-ins on the front side are all quite dicey. In another week, the Austrian and Norwegian World Cup teams will be here in force: men, women, speed and technical event skiers, support staff, manufacturers, and all. There are even rumors of a special appearance from a certain racer from New Hampshire. A little snow for the best skiers on the planet would be a great way to welcome them to Treble Cone and keep the rest of us busy. In the meantime it could be worse: I could be in an office and we can't have that now, can we.

Finally, a Day in the Saddle

After weeks of waiting, we finally received some powder and some sunshine on consecutive days. On Saturday, July 7th we skied under clear blue skies in over a foot of light, dry snow and finally were able to sample the incredible terrain of the Saddle Basin, pictured here. It was without question among the most fun days of skiing I've ever had while in uniform. Yes, this is my job.

Devil in the Details

We've just finished our first week of business at Treble Cone. It was a lot of fun and not particularly busy, so a good way to ease into a new job in a new place. We've had a mix of weather, to put it charitably, so with the NZ school vacations over the next two weeks we're in serious need of some snow. Having said that, I thought I'd turn my attention to some of the micro level things that make life here in New Zealand so different from home in the US.

First and most obvious is driving on the left side of the road, which is easy enough to get used to. It's the fact that the blinkers are on the right side of the steering wheel and the wipers are on the left that's tough. I can easily identify foreigners newly arrived in Wanaka when they turn a corner in their cars with the wipers on and the sun shining. One odd difference one wouldn't expect is that in order to turn on a light switch here you pull it down and then flip it back up to turn it off, which makes for good fun at the Southern Hemisphere's expense. Another is that the cold water taps are on the left and the hot on the right. Couple that last one with the fact that our hot water is incredibly hot and our cold water is oh-so-cold, and it can be quite a rude awakening, literally.

Then there is the Kiwi accent and use of language, which involves the flip-flopping of vowels, among other things. Their pronunciations "six" always bring a grin to my face. Kiwi's comfort with risque conversation topics in what Americans consider polite circumstances is pretty funny, and the language is always, err, colorful. I guess when an entire nation is comfortable, easy-going, self-assured and unpretentious, a little foul language is not a big deal. Add to that a typically healthy dose of fart humor, and it's pretty hilarious.

In all seriousness, the Kiwis are very quietly proud of their country, its natural wonders and its place in the world. There's really no jingoistic, in-your-face patriotism, as is found in the U.S. and Australia; just a calm, quiet appreciation for New Zealand's many blessings. That notwithstanding, my housemates and I very much are looking forward to hosting a loud, celebratory and unabashedly jingoistic July 4th BBQ in a couple of days. We've even acquired a whiffle ball to make it official. Happy Independence Day everyone!

Incredible Views

I couldn't resist posting another photo from this morning, looking accross the lake towards Treble Cone.

Back At It

Greetings from Wanaka, New Zealand. I've been here a little more than a week and we've just had a decent size snow storm. It dropped several inches of snow here in town, which is pretty rare, especially considering that they don' have snow removal equipment for the roads. The photo on the left is a view of Treble Cone from the shore of Lake Wanaka, not far from my house this morning. Look closely on the center-right of the photo and you'll see the switchbacks which constitute the only real green run, so as you can see the terrain is pretty impressive. From a teaching perspective having so much difficult terrain presents some good tactical challenges, particularly coming from Okemo where, to be honest, we don't have a lot of challenging terrain. We'll be training on the hill on Monday, June 25th and the resort opens the next day, so the new snow has really gotten all of us excited. Up close TC is even more impressive and I'll look forward to posting more photos once on skis. For the record, the most difficult thing I've had to contend with since arriving in NZ has been selecting which photos to send to friends and family. It really is every bit as beautiful as you can imagine it to be.