TR: Sheepless is New Zealand - 08/27/07

[skier666]

Date of Memories:

August 26-27th, 2007

Kiwi Location of Schralpness:

Remarkables, a ski field with hike-to happiness!

Brainscanned Participants:

666, Woody, NZphotoslave, & Tuk.

Historical Weather Report:

Flat light, crap-ass day on the 26th, to a springlike delight on the 27th.

Analytical Analysis of Activities:

The trip was coming to an end and we were bound to have at least one ubercrap day right? Well, that was the 26th. One hike into the chutes, back in the car, and straight to the Dux Lux for pizza & beer. The point and shoot almost took a 70 footer if it wasn't for Woody's suberb ninja-like, pole tip to camera strap steeze.

On the following day, the conditions didn't look too promising. The clouds covered the Remarks as I waited for my servant to produce my daily long black. However, the day ended up in a hoodie wearing, spring to winter condition, mashup fest of fun.

Music:

Concord Dawn - "Man for all Seasons" (NZ dnb)



Everyday wakeup call included this machine....



Woody needs another for the road...a 12 shot flat white cocktail



Being all coffee-buzzed, he jumped into a white-chocolate-mocha....



666 eyes an obstacle for the cameraman to miss....



Tuk shows us controlled steep skiing technique...



From that performance, I decided to traverse into a billygoat course...



You've got to make the most out of your run right?



Visual contact of billygoating ahead...



No cellphone zone....



Tuk finds an isolated bank of schralpness...



Goatin' without Gotamas...



And a wind-packed carve out to pizza & beer.....



Ok, well maybe we hit up some coffee first...



Then, we made it to the Dux Lux...straight up chillin'



A little later...some sushi



And then for some Latin Mules, hell why not?



THE 27th of AUGUST, 2007:

"Hurry, get in the car....we're going to get jumped"



Photoslave makes a cliche business call...



First run, a sunny patch of freshness needed to be killed....



...and NZphotographerdude made an open bowl carve...



Turkey is ready!



As we traversed over to Nobis, we found perfect, smooth, spring snow...



....it was then I realized that I brought the right skis for the day



Yep, the Moment Melee...



Ski patrol told us we were only allowed two runs to limit an overnight "trench freeze"



If the snow looks fun....to be honest, it was.



666 on the fun snow....having fun.



OMG, Kingswood Mid-Fat Karve!



666 finds a jump...



Yep, he's smiling....



Good time for a walk...



NZphotoslave hucks 'n' tucks...



Now up above Diagonalator, old mate gets a technical itch.



I wish I could say that he bonked his head on that overhang, but he didn't.



A sweet setup...

[skier666]

...to an epic SLASHER film



Buffed-out groomedness....



120mm's carve just fine...



Old mate, can't let a untouched visual be raped by anyone but himself on his local hill...



...yes, he actually hiked uphill for this...



Did I forget to mention the snow on the lower mountain?



A Kiwi front door quiver....



...and this is quiver's view...not too bad.



On our way to Wanaka, I had to check out a mate's property that just became available for rent...



Just some friendly spam for a friendly Kiwi family, perfect for a huge family or a group of families that are tired of hotels and want to relax...



Let just say this place is awesome. Situated between Arrowtown and Queenstown, on a hill, with views of Coronet, back of Cardrona, the Remarkables, and the Crown Range...check out their website at http://www.taramea-house.com



After that, we hit a Kiwi traffic jam on the way to Wanaka...



...to visit "air to cat-track" Hamish Acland. Patella gone, ACL gone, MCL gone, lower arm gone...but NOT HIS SMILE!!!!!!!!!!!!



Woody likes Wanaka Kabobs...



Well, time to leave New Zealand....



But not before some sick glacier shots....



The place even brings stoke as you leave....



...and straight to Tahoe for the second surgery on Mrs. 666's ankle. The 4 hour surgery was a success. Another plate, some bigger screws, some bone putty, and re-alignment of cartilage, she'll be walking in er.....3-4 months.





Props goes to Nzphotoslave for the hospitality and dnb. His Mrs. for all the good feeds and pink bedding. Woody for taking me skiing in the chutes. Tuk for mounting up the Melees in about 3 minutes. Casey from Moment. NZSKI.com. And of course, my lovely wife for agreeing to this trip.

**************************************************

Until next time NZ!

[Superstar Punani]

Now listen up ya bloody Seppo....yah stahting to bloody piss me off with ya bloody N-Zed T-Ahhhs. Bloody Bahstud!!!!

[Arty50]

These TRs were stellar. So stellar in fact that I think you owe yourself a treat. Perhaps the new Norrona Lofoten would be appropriate...in Rasberry of course...

[PulverSchwein]

thanks for mainlining us a solid stream of NZ stoke 666. A wicked trip it was I think.

[Hicks]

A Kiwi front door quiver....

YOU are one piece of a filthy gear whore...

But not before some sick glacier shots....



The place even brings stoke as you leave....

KILLER shots.

Thanks for sharing the stoke, I HATE YOU so much more now....

Edit: again best wishes to the Mrs. for a speedy recovery, surely she'll kill it this season.

[Shorey]

What, is that it? The quality NZ schtoke is finished for the year?

Damn.

[Hayduke]

Your Mrs has lovely toes.

[lemon boy]

okay, that was acceptably good. Now, where's all the fucking Marte TRs?

[patrickski]

considering i just read that thread and am buying my jackson pass- im psyched to say the least. however, the $1,625 pass price isn't going to allow me a quiver quite as ill as the one in the TR...

[Particle]

Thanks dude. You've made ski/snowboard a fun place to hang out again lately.

Fantastic pics. And BTW, you're going somewhere in the marketing world...Moment loves you right now.

[Mach Looney]

Showing off the bases to the camera. Whore.

[skier666]

okay, that was acceptably good. Now, where's all the fucking Marte TRs?

That's a really good question. I know a couple people <cough> seanyob that had a couple days on Marte....and all my harassing for pics has led to zero love. So sad.

[Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo]

Nice TR, that Tolkien guy was on to something when he created Middle Earth

[TyWebb]

This has been one boss set of TR's...well done. Would you recommend skiing anywhere besides Remarkables International Snowfield Valley Resport?

[Barnballs]

strong!..

[The Dad]

Sorry that that's the last of these.

Continued good luck to Mrs6 on the recovery.

[SheSkisTrees]

What a bummer that this is the end of your Kiwi TRs. I've enjoyed them all!

Best of luck to Mrs. 666 in her recovery. She's almost there!

[seanyob]

That's a really good question. I know a couple people <cough> seanyob that had a couple days on Marte....and all my harassing for pics has led to zero love. So sad.

Shhhhhhhh....don't say my name. They will find me!!!

[klar]

filthy sluts. filthy.

[skier666]

This has been one boss set of TR's...well done. Would you recommend skiing anywhere besides Remarkables International Snowfield Valley Resport?

Yep totally. Queenstown and Wanaka have the best skiing to apres skiing ratio without long travel times. If in Queenstown, and if you like skiing steeps, there is no question that the Alta Chutes at the Remarks have the best snow, gnarl, and views. There's some touring options there as well including punching up Double Cone if you feel up for it.

Coronet is good to get warmed up, for night skiing, or just to make turns. The terrain actually isn't that bad, and actually quite fun with all the open bowl/rollers, but the low elevation is the biggest issue. It can be ice rink, or it can be top to bottom corn bliss.

Cardrona on the way to Wanaka has decent terrain with not a whole lot of vertical, but has some decent touring options off the far chair.

Treble Cone has insane views of Lake Wanaka, Kias, and big vertical. Fast lifts and terrain to get your extreme on, its a place to not miss on a clear day. The lower mountain can turn into a ribbon of death, but then again, you always need to work on edging right?

On the way to Mt. Cook, just outside of Omarama, you'll pass Ohau. Basically, one lift and hike to terrain/touring from lookers left to right, it has all the steeps one would want. The biggest issue is the sharp rock, so its best to hit it on a good season.

Going farther north, I've been skunked on many attempts to ski any other clubfields but Mt. Olympus. All clubfields are pretty similar with most using nutcrackers for uphill transport. Once you've used them, you are a true kiwi skier. Craigeburn, Broken River, and Temple Basin have the steeps.

Remember, you also have tons of heli operations. So if you save the cash, a day of heli runs around $800 kiwi....give or take. All the ski resorts are on the outskirts of the Southern Alps due to inaccessibilty and lack of roads. The heli-ops can take you up high and deep into the range, and thus get you better snow when the resorts are sucking ass.

[stupendous man]

Hey were those Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers from the air?

[Long duc dong]

Nice TR. What are those pink skis?

[skier666]

^^^^^^

Moment M1 protos - although there is now a new graphic.

[DrRy]

You certainly did not disappoint on that trip. Nice work.