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REGULARS
ED LETTER
OUR TEAM GEAR GUIDE
COVER IMAGE:
Jake Iscov at Sth Ramshead by Mark Watson inciteimages.com
ONE OF A KIND – unique ski/board experiences in Australia and New Zealand
THE LITTLE SKI FIELD THAT COULD – the return of Selwyn Snow Resort
IN THE CLUB – Australia’s ski club heritage and how to join HELI YEAH – upping the ante on heli skiing in New Zealand and South America
THE RISE OF VALENTINO GUSELI – from super grom to once in a generation talent
SMELLS LIKE SNOW SPIRIT – the coolest alpine distilleries
HOME NOT SO SWEET HOME – the ski town housing crisis down under
AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE – three antipodeans making serious snow tracks
GO WILD – on-snow adventures in the southern hemi, with a twist
THERE SHE BLOWS – the rise and fall of New Zealand’s Mt Ruapehu
CHEAP SKATE – make the most of your day pass this season
WHERE WEIRD THINGS HAPPEN – Kiwi club fields
FINDING YOUR SNOW PEEPS – the best ski/ board improvement courses in the south
We southerners punch way above our snow weight.
Our athletes dominate the international freeski and snowboard park and pipe, our home grown snow brands win global awards and our ski resorts offer a style of skiing you don’t find anywhere else in the world.
There’s nothing like skiing amongst snow gums in Australia, on active volcanoes with a view of Mordor in New Zealand, riding the Roca Jack slingshot ski lift in Portillo Chile or wrestling a nutcracker in the Kiwi clubfields.
The Southern Issue brings together Australia’s best travel journalists and snow photographers with over 85 pages dedicated to skiing and boarding in Australia and New Zealand with a touch of South America thrown in.
In this issue we chat with snowboard wonder Valentino Guseli, reveal the tears behind Selwyn’s rebirth, celebrate Australia’s ski club history, dive into the Kiwi clubbies, offer some tips to get bang for your lift pass buck, address the ski town housing crisis and so much more.
Enjoy the read, then go south and prosper!
Glenn is a former editor of Australian and New Zealand Skiing and sports journalist with Australian Associated Press. He went to as many Winter Olympics as Lydia Lassila, though obviously wasn’t quite as successful. His love of Mt Ruapehu is put to the test in The Southern Issue.
IG @cullen.glenn
Mark learned to ski on the slopes of Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, Scotland and Dubai, where he lived for four years. Former editor of Emirates Airline inflight magazines, his work regularly appears in the Sydney Morning-Herald and Sunday Telegraph. You’ll find Mark’s love of alpine distilleries, snow adventure and unique ski experiences within our pages.
IG @markdaffey
Flip is an adventure travel journalist and author of Ultimate Skiing and Snowboarding (out this August). Whether kite skiing Greenland, split boarding the Haute Route with her mountain guide hubbie or exploring her Australian home resorts, Flip lives for snow. She interviews Valentino Guseli for The Southern Issue.
IG @theadventuremamma
Kate is a multi-media sports and travel journalist based in Sydney. Many of her stories lean into her lifelong love for skiing and snow travel. She travels the world in search of powder snow but always finds a way back to the snow gum trees in the NSW Snowy Mountains. This issue she reveals the resilience of Selwyn Snow Resort and its people.
IG @kateallman_
PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Rachael Oakes-Ash
ART DIRECTOR: Christine Schiedel CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Alyson Lamb, Natalia Hawk, Angela Saurine, Alex Parsons
IF YOU CAN SKI DOWN A BLUE RUN, YOU CAN SKI DOWN TH E Tasman Glacier “
From skiing in Antarctica to private snowboarding on a high country sheep station. We’ve found the coolest ski and snowboard experiences south of the equator.BY MARK DAFFEY
Imagine carving ribbons down New Zealand’s longest ski run, on its largest glacier, beneath its highest mountain. That’s after a breathtaking helicopter flight over the Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park. And before stopping en route to explore blue ice caves and serac canyons. Then doing it all again! Sounds like an adventure for experts only, right? Wrong. If you can ski down a blue run, you can ski down the Tasman Glacier. A day package includes guided skiing down two runs up to 10 kilometres long, three helicopter flights and a picnic lunch. Not suitable for snowboarders. Skithetasman.co.nz
You’ll need a four wheel drive to access Ski Arpa, Chile’s only snowcat skiing or boarding in the Andes Mountains. Annual snowfalls here, in the shadow of South America’s highest mountain, Aconcagua, average five metres deep. Two Pisten Bully Snowcats, each carrying 12 riders, will ferry you up the slopes of the Arpa and Honda Valleys in just 20 minutes. At the top, there are no lifts, no groomed pistes, no restaurants and no accommodation. Just all-natural, thousand-metre descents across more than 4000 acres of freeriding bliss. skiarpa.com
Ski, snowboard, trek or kayak the Antarctic Peninsula this October with Australia’s favourite ski patroller, Bill Barker. Bills Trips has been offering polar cruises to the Frozen Continent since 2016. Itineraries are flexible and expert guides are trained to seek out the best snow conditions. How many runs you do depends on how fit you are as the only way up is on foot. Some groups like to cut laps all day, others prefer to split their time between the various activities on offer or relax on the ship. And backcountry experience isn’t required. If you can ski or board down an easy black run, you can do it here. Billstrips.com
Fancy a private backcountry mountain with all the luxe bells and whistles?
Soho Basin offers 177 hectares of skiable terrain from the crew behind the award winning Amisfield dining and winery. You and six or more friends will have a private cat for the day to ski and board as little or as much as you would like. You’ll dine in a private hut on Amisfield fare with matching wines before more skiing followed by après ski. You can even fly in and out by helicopter should your wallet desire. Season runs from July 24 to October 1 2023. Sohobasin.com
There’s not a single groomed trail and just one nutcracker-style rope tow that’s powered by an old farm tractor at The Invincible Snow Fields - located deep in the Southern Alps near Glenorchy, on a private high country sheep station accessed only via helicopter. It’s run like an old-fashioned club resort, targeting advanced skiers and boarders searching for backcountry chutes and gullies across 900 hectares. The only accommodation is a 10-person hut equipped with a wood fire, gas stove and solar power. Guests are limited to six at a time on four-day stays. Invinciblesnowfields.com
Experience Thredbo Sunrise Sessions where a snowcat will ferry you to Australia’s highest lifted point in time for sunrise ahead of an on-mountain champagne breakfast at Eagles Nest restaurant. You’ll then get first tracks down the Supertrail – Australia’s longest run – before the lifts have opened. Guests must be upper intermediate-level skiers or boarders. Sunrise Sessions run every Tuesday from July 25 to August 29. Thredbo.com.au
Mallin Alto in Argentina’s Patagonia region boasts 6000 thousand hectares of skiable terrain accessed by ATVs and snow mobiles for “cat skiing” with a difference. With features across ten valleys to suit every level of off-piste skier and boarder. Bed down in custom built glamping dome accommodation, wake early for a full day skiing and then hit the mountain top hot tub before an abundant dinner. Mallinalto.com SB
Sleep over at Mallin Alto in Argentina Sunrise at Thredbo New Zealand
Long-time local Darryl Tatom is behind Queenstown’s cult outdoor gear store, Small Planet Sports
He shares his story and advice for exploring Queenstown’s mountains.
“I used to come here as a young fellow, and you know when you’ve come to a good place…you can feel the vibrations. It smells good here. I like the smell of the mountains and the fresh air, and visually it’s a magnificent place to live with mountains all around.”
“Queenstown’s the perfect place to bring up kids, so we bought a bit of land and built a house. Then this became home, and that’s what kept me here.
Home means everything, the place, and the people. It’s as simple as going to the local café and knowing the people behind the counter. Queenstown has a great young community of motivated people from all over the world, and there’s a strong sense of
trust. Those things are important in life, they give a sense of well-being. Modern society can pile up on you, but here, you can stop and breathe and see what’s in front of you. Sometimes I just like to sit and look at the mountains, and it’s good.”
A keen skier for 45 years, Darryl shares his tips for skiing in Queenstown. “We do a lot of backcountry ski touring where you’re right out in nature, able to breathe deeply and absorb it all.”
“Ski touring comes in two categories. There’s early morning ski touring up Coronet Peak. You head up the mountain early, ski down, go off to work, and it sets you up for
the day. A lot of locals do that.
“Then there’s backcountry ski touring. One of my favourite spots is Mountainhut on Mount Larkins, a five-minute helicopter ride from Glenorchy. Another great one is the Invincible Snowfields down the Invincibles mountain range. It’s helicopter access from Glenorchy, you can stay up there in a hut, and there’s a rope tow.”
“You can go into the Remarkables backcountry with experienced guides, build a snow cave and stay the night. There’s also a row of five little backcountry mountain huts that go from Coronet Peak to Treble Cone and form the Mahu Whenua Traverse. Come and talk to us at Small Planet and we can help you make the arrangements.”
If you want to get out into the community
and meet like-minded outdoor enthusiasts, Darryl recommends doing a course on ski touring through Queenstown Mountain Guides. And he and his crew are always on hand to offer advice.
More than a gear store, Small Planet also operates as a drop-in hub for Queenstown’s outdoor community. Darryl says, “We’ve a little seating area, and there’s always a beer in the fridge”. Everyone is welcome and people come to swap info.
That openhearted ethos is quintessentially Darryl. “We focus on people, not money. That’s what I’ve found most important over the 40 years I’ve been adventuring outdoors, focus on the people, and everything else will happen if you’ve got a good heart.”
Australia’s ski club culture goes back to the origins of snow sports in the country, and then some, with the Kiandra Snow Shoe Club, founded in 1861, often recognised as the first “ski club” in the world.BY ANGELA SAURINE
Join a ski club and experience coveted ski-in ski-out real estate at a fraction of the nightly cost of resort hotels. Many offer room and board with lodge managers and cooks, others are self-catering with a shared kitchen, some allow non-members, some remain exclusive and some have a ballot system for booking.
But they all provide years of family memories and friends for life.
EACH WEEK DURING WINTER, A NEW BUNCH OF KIDS TURNS UP AT PERISHER HUETTE, THE LODGE ROLAND EVERINGHAM MANAGES, AT PERISHER IN THE NSW SNOWY MOUNTAINS . Every week he sees them building a snow man and sliding down the hill beside the lodge on sleds. And it always makes him smile.
They are the same experiences the 64-year-old had there as a child, and the same experiences his three daughters had growing up.
Everingham’s parents fell in love with the snow when they spent their honeymoon at nearby resort Charlotte Pass in 1948. Soon after, his dad met Hungarian immigrant Charles Anton, who established the Australian Alpine Ski Club, which built several lodges, including Perisher Huette.
As a child, Everingham recalls long road trips from Sydney to Perisher, in which he and his sister would sleep on a mattress in the back of the family’s FJ Holden station wagon. He didn’t realise at the time how lucky he was to be part of a generation of children whose parents pioneered club lodges with special interest groups in the 1950s and ‘60s in a bid to make the sport of snow-skiing more affordable.
Our lodge was built in 1963 AND WE’RE NOW SEEING THE THIRD AND I THINK THE FOURTH GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES COMING DOWN,”
“Our lodge was built in 1963 and we’re now seeing the third and I think the fourth generations of families coming down,” Everingham says.
“The whole on-snow experience is pretty unique. People who are in clubs love the snow and they often arrange to come at the same time as other members they are friends with, so there’s a real sense of community and a sense of history.”
Growing up as a member of a ski lodge has had a fundamental impact on Everingham’s life. He and his wife lived in Breckenridge in Colorado for a couple of years and worked as volunteer guides on the mountain and on the World Cup circuit in Vail. Everingham also served as president of Perisher Huette for around a decade, before becoming manager.
“Being in the snow is just something that’s part of my heart and soul,” he says. “Every morning I see the sun rising over Mt Perisher, and it fills my heart with joy.”
Commonly, people become members of ski clubs because they know someone
who’s a member and stay there as their guest. There are over eighty ski clubs in Perisher alone and depending on the club’s rules, members either buy shares or pay a joining fee, as well as an annual fee. Accommodation for members is cheaper than guests, who can stay with their approval, and generally more affordable than commercial lodges.
“They all have different rules and procedures,” Everingham says. “Our membership is currently closed because we try to make sure that you can book in the week of your choosing, whereas some lodges have more members and that’s not always possible.”
Everingham estimates around a quarter of club lodges are catered; others require you to bring your own food and cook.
“For people who like cooking or have dietary requirements, a self-catering lodge is preferable,” he says. “At dinnertime there will be three or four groups in the kitchen cooking up a storm and laughing, enjoying the experience of cooking together.”
MELBOURNE-BASED RICHARD ROSS, FOUNDER OF ONLINE SNOW EQUIPMENT RETAILER AUSSIESKIER, HAS A SIMILAR AFFECTION FOR SKI CLUBS . His dad helped build Nomad Ski Club at Mt Buller with around a dozen of his mates in the summer of 1964-65. Ross was just a baby when he stayed there for the first time.
“We used to go down every school holiday and every second weekend,” he says. “The thing I remember most is the other kids and always having someone to play with and when we got a bit older someone to go outside and build a jump with. I remember one massive year when we dug all these tunnels and igloos outside the lodge. If it wasn’t for the lodge, I don’t think we would have skied anywhere near as much. It gave us some lifelong friends and led to a lifelong love of skiing.”
Ross ended up managing Spark Ski Club at Mt Buller for five seasons, and worked as a ski instructor for a decade, spending Australia’s summer working at Vail in Colorado and Deer Valley in Utah.
“The club I managed was built by a group of scouts, and the one across the road was lifesavers,” says Ross.
“There’s a Polish club and a Lithuanian one. APIRA Ski Club was started by the
Australian Postal Institute, R.A.N was started by members of the Royal Australian Navy. You generally don’t have to be one of those people anymore, but that’s the heritage.”
Sadly, Nomad was sold to developers when the original 50-year lease expired, and the cost became untenable.
“A lot of other lodges are feeling the same pressure,” Ross says.
If you’re interested in joining a ski club, Ross recommends looking at websites such as the Ski.com.au forum or the Mt Buller Ratepayers Association, or simply calling around lodges to ask.
“Quite a lot of them are actively seeking new members,” he says. “Some of them have an expensive buy-in and a low nightly fee, while others have a low buy-in and a high nightly fee. Some you’re buying an equity share, and some you’re paying an entry fee.
I think if you want to be more than a day tripper it’s the absolute number one way to be a regular skier in a cost-effective way. It’s a bit of a secret. A lot of people don’t know about these clubs. Their membership works in different ways but by and large they’re a very affordable way for families to get into skiing and ski more. Your alternative is to buy an apartment outright, and that’s unaffordable for many people.” SB
Richard Ross at Buller with his daughters
When it comes to skiing, there’s no piece of equipment more important than what you wear on your feet.
A PROPERLY FITTED BOOT WILL ENHANCE PERFORMANCE , increase comfort, and keep you warmer for longer. An off the shelf boot only goes so far.
Enter the world of custom boot fitting. This simple yet effective secret-ingredient is sure to change your skiing, in a good way.
1Improved Performance: With a custom fit you’ll experience enhanced control, improved balance and a greater connection to your skis or snowboard. Every turn becomes more precise, every movement more fluid.
2Increased Comfort: You’ll be riding first to last chair with ease. For those with niggling injuries, suffer no more. A professionally custom-fit boot with a skipodiatrist can help ease that pain.
3Extra warmth: You don’t need to accept that cold toes are just a part of the sport. Investing in a custom
boot and liner will keep you warmer thanks to better foam and improved blood circulation.
But when it comes to custom boot fitters, not all are created equal. At the forefront of the industry, you’ll find Ortho Ski. Based in Melbourne and on-mountain at Mt Buller, the team will be the secret sauce to your secret ingredient.
Made up of skilled professionals including ski podiatrists, the crew assesses your unique biomechanics, foot shape and specific requirements to ensure a fit that is made for you, and only you. Plus, with the largest collection of custom boot liners in Australia, you’re guaranteed the perfect fit.
Every client is reviewed by a ski podiatrist which means the assessment and ski orthotics can be claimed on private health cover. It’s a win for your feet and your wallet.
The little ski field that could. Burned to the ground in 2020, hit with Covid lockdowns in 2021, rebuild delayed at the eleventh hour in 2022 - Selwyn Snow Resort and the local community reveal the tolls taken and the rebirth ahead.
BY KATE ALLMAN
SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN SELWYN SNOW RESORT, JANUARY 4, 2020 . Day felt like midnight. The usually blinding summer sun, still more than three hours from setting, blacked out completely. In its place roared apocalyptic scenes of falling ash, billowing smoke, and red flames licking the dark.
“By four o’clock it was pitch black, we couldn’t see a thing. Me, the kids, a neighbour, and my in-laws all bunkered down in the house and just watched, there wasn’t a whole lot we could do,” recalls Ineke Stephens, who owns a cattle property with her husband and runs boutique holiday accommodation in nearby Adaminaby called Fontenoy Farm Cottages.
“I didn’t see my husband for about 10 hours, he was out riding a motorbike on the property, putting in containment lines. He was moving stock as he went through –
which was lucky, because if he didn’t, they would all be gone.”
Fortunately, the Stephens family, their house and most other residential buildings in this northern region of the New South Wales Snowy Mountains survived the chaos of the Black Summer bushfires in January 2020. Their beloved ski hill was not so lucky.
A Facebook post titled “Selwyn Snow Resort Update – Monday 6th January 2020” contained just four images that have been etched into the minds of the mourning community since. Four visions of blackened and charred building rubble.
“It was total annihilation up there. There was no way of saving it,” says Stephens.
Skiing has been part of the fabric of the Selwyn region for more than 100 years. Indeed, the world’s first ski club – the Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club – was established just a stone’s throw away in Kiandra in 1861. More reliable snow in Selwyn saw the Kiandra facilities transfer over when Selwyn opened in 1966.
It’s a relatively low ski resort (1,614 metres peak elevation), with short runs (800m is the
“
longest) and the smallest skiable area (45 hectares) in New South Wales. But loyal fans don’t see any of that as criticism. They say Selwyn’s boutique offering caters better than any other to beginners, families and casual skiers who don’t want to suffer crowds and lines of nearby Perisher or Thredbo. Selwyn also welcomes snow play, with the biggest toboggan park in Australia.
“When my youngest was just a baby, we took him up and left him at the top of the run while we taught the other two to ski by dragging them up the hills. I don’t think there is anywhere else you could’ve done that,” says Stephens, whose three children visited on regular school trips when attending Adaminaby Public School.
After the bushfires, Selwyn’s ownership the Blyton Group promised to rebuild. But it would take time – two years was the initial estimate. Building in an alpine area is tricky enough to
Below: The new build in progress in 2022. Right: Selwyn Snow Resort ski instructor.
manage around snowfall and rain. But factor in a global pandemic and the project stalled on multiple occasions when workers from Canberra were locked down in 2020.
Finally in 2022, when the resort looked to be moments away from opening, there was yet another heartbreaking setback. Significant early-season snow prevented building works being completed and Selwyn would need to delay reopening for another year. The decision was announced on June 10 a day before the resort’s original forecast opening date.
“We often joke it could be a TV sitcom –‘Selwyn Stories’ – you can’t make this stuff up,” says Lucy Blyton-Gray, General Manager of the resort.
She laughs now, probably to hold back tears. There’s already been plenty of them after Blyton-Gray, who previously managed hotels in her family’s other ski resort property Charlotte’s Pass, had to refund all Selwyn bookings and tickets for 2022.
“It was not a decision we took lightly, there was still important work to do that could not be safely completed with all that snow. Power and snowmaking and excavating, we couldn’t put workers at risk,” she says.
Local businesses have inevitably suffered as they waited for three years for lifts to start spinning again.
“We opened our doors in November 2021 and were gearing up for a massive winter after Selwyn’s rebuild,” says Sarah Hyams, owner of Small Fry Takeaway in Adaminaby.
“That never happened. It was so disappointing – the last-minute announcement. We had kicked off our advertising and were giving people jobs and then had to turn around and say, actually, we can’t open.”
Hyams admits businesses like hers were saved by a fortunately timed influx of some 2,000 workers to the area for the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project. But there has been no silver lining for Stuart Guy, owner of ski hire shop Go Play Outside in Talbingo, about an hour’s drive north of Selwyn. Guy relies almost entirely on skiers and snowboarders travelling to Selwyn to purchase skiwear and hire equipment and snow chains.
“I went from six staff, busy every day in winter and turning over high revenue to absolutely zero,” he says. “It was sad, I couldn’t re-employ those staff. I just locked
Above: Selwyn Snow Resort under snow in 2022
the door and didn’t open for three years.”
Guy, like many locals, is wary of getting his hopes up for Selwyn’s forecast winter opening date of 10 June 2023. Nevertheless, he has stoically prepared his shop with a new-season range of skis, snowboards and accessories. Historically he wouldn’t expect rental bookings to start coming through until May, but already in late April he’s had a surge of enquiries.
Joseph Griffiths is the Chief Executive Officer of Urban Stays, which in December 2020 took over Providence Park, a tourist park 40 minutes from the ski fields and the closest accommodation to Selwyn. His company used the ski resort closure period as an opportunity to completely refurbish the park. For the first time in 2023, the modernised lodge onsite will offer a full breakfast each morning and a three-course dinner every night except Sunday during snow season. Guests can even order pizzas via an app between 6-9pm and collect it from the main lodge.
“It’s the only quality leisure park on this side of the mountain, and we’re investing a lot into it – upgrading all the room and completely refitting the cabins,” Griffiths says.
But by far the most exciting refurbishment is
the ski resort itself. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Selwyn is preparing to emerge from three years of darkness with sparkling new upgrades – under a landmark 40-year lease the Blyton Group signed in 2021 with the New South Wales government.
The headline improvement is Selwyn’s acquisition of new state-of-the-art TT10 snow machines, the first to operate in any resort in the Southern Hemisphere, which can make snow at temperatures more than two degrees warmer than the old system. There are new, faster chairlifts with upgraded lift towers, a sparkling new Selwyn Centre housing all guest facilities and services plus new food and drink offerings.
And the famous toboggan park? It has grown into a multi-purpose snow playground with a 150-metre tubing carousel, skating rink with bumper cars, kids snowmobiles and even an enchanted village.
“The total cost of the rebuild is in the vicinity of $30 million dollars. Everything is brand new, we’ve got state of the art snowmaking equipment, we’ve got terrain for everyone,” Blyton-Gray says.
“We’re very excited to open, but we’re also exhausted. We just can’t wait to get all the people there and see our hard work pay off.” SB
AWARDED BEST SKI HOTEL IN NEW ZEALAND MULTIPLE YEARS RUNNING MEANS THE REES HOTEL QUEENSTOWN GIVES SKIERS AND BOARDERS’ NEEDS TOP PRIORITY.
SET ON THE SHORES OF LAKE WHAKATIPU with spectacular views to The Remarkables mountain range, this sophisticated and independent five-star property offers a choice of contemporary apartments or hotel rooms, all with balconies.
Feeling uber fancy? Bed down in one of the hotel’s five private lake-front 3-bedroom residences with a hot tub, outdoor terraces and cosy fireplace and a ‘personal travel curator’ for individual service.
Snow addicts will love The Rees ski concierge, the free parking, private transfers in luxury vehicles to any of the four ski resorts. Considering heli skiing? The Rees ski concierge will sort it for you.
When it’s time to après ski, do it in style in the Bordeau Lounge with a wine tasting from the respected collection of both Bordeaux and local Central Otago wines in front of an open fire, those breathtaking mountain views and a curated library of rare books and local art.
Then fuel your ski legs and dine on exquisite fine fare, from highly awarded chef Corey Hume, in the True South Dining Room. Expect locally sourced produce tended with care and accompanied with an internationally acclaimed wine list.
All this an easy lakeside walk, bike or complimentary shuttle from the vibrant resort town of Queenstown, loved by skiers and snowboarders for decades.
There’s heli-skiing and then there’s luxe heli-skiing. The ultimate in opulent indulgence, carve your way through untouched powder by day, and revel in the lap of luxury by night. Veuve and caviar optional extras.
BY ALYSON LAMB
Private chalet. Check. Gourmet cuisine. Check. Accessible only by helicopter. Check. At Minaret Station Alpine Lodge, find yourself on 50,000 acres up the head of a glacial valley near Wanaka, New Zealand. Southern Lakes Heli will graciously pick you up directly from your private chalet, making Minaret Station one of the most secluded and private luxury heli-experiences in the world. From NZ$12950 for a private charter. with professional guide and 1 to 4 guests, lunch at Minaret Station, all safety equipment. Stay at Minaret Station from NZ$3250 per chalet (two people) including all meals and most beverages.
Described as “high country hospitality”, Lake Heron Station offers two secluded cottages with the Lake Heron helipad at your doorstep. You’ll be given the red carpet treatment, starting your day up in the clouds with Methven Heli,
where you’ll explore epic untouched terrain across three mountain ranges of New Zealand’s South Island. When you’re not skiing, sit back and enjoy 19,600 hectares of farmland views for a spectacularly remote and exclusive holiday-affair. From NZ$340 per person per night, private charter heli skiing from NZ$11,300 for 1 to 4 guests including lead guide, lunch and safety equipment.
Venture to South America and experience uncharted splendour at Puma Lodge with Powder South Heli Guides. Indulge in Aprés-ski luxury at its finest whilst exploring hundreds of hectares of premium terrain in the stunning Andean Peaks. Spend your days floating through pristine powder before resting your weary legs back at the exquisite lodge where you’ll embrace some relaxation and rejuvenation before doing it all again the next day. From USD$8500 per person for three days heli ski and accommodation.SB
This season Australian snowboarder Valentino Guseli transitioned from child prodigy to generational talent, making and breaking records in Halfpipe, Big Air and Slopestyle on the FIS World Cup circuit.BY FLIP BYRNES
VALENTINO GUSELI IS CALLING OUT
THE CAR WINDOW AT A PETROL STATION , “Can you get me something? Just something healthy! Anything, maybe a banana?!”
In a game of “Celebrities Are Just Like Us,” Valentino is with his family in the car and is starving. They’re travelling to the mountains from his hometown of Dalmeny on NSW’s south coast, population 2500. Snowboard Champion, one.
Much to the relief of journalists (and competitors) everywhere, the northern season is over and the snowboarder who’s redefining the concept of champion is momentarily trapped in a car eating fruit. There’s finally the chance an interview with the just turned eighteen year old will remain current for more than a week or two, after a few months where this phenomenal athlete, considered a generational talent, set not one, or three but six snow industry records.
Tyring to list them blends into a spread sheet blur of overall champion this, podium finishes that and seven medals. His management even resorted to a pictogram to explain his accomplishments. The top fact is he’s the first rider in FIS Snowboard World Cup history to finish on the overall podium in Halfpipe, Big Air and Slopestyle in the same season. Currently, no other rider is capable of performing in more than one event at an elite level.
As happy as I am WITH WHAT I’VE WON, THERE’S STILL A HIGHER LEVEL OF OPERATING THAT I’M AIMING FOR.
Our last interview with Guseli was mid competition season. He was fresh from being the first Australian to win a Big Air Crystal Globe and winning an Aspen X Games bronze in the halfpipe. At that point he was thrilled to show his multi discipline muscles, deliberately cultivated after, “some wise people told us early on it’s all snowboarding and that it’s very important to be able to do all of it”. But he was only getting started.
Three days post interview he completed an extraordinary double at Mammoth Mountain in California, winning silver in both the halfpipe and slopestyle FIS World Cup competitions. And slid into history by adding a Slopestyle podium to his now triple stringed bow - just before this interview went to bed he won three awards at the Snow Australia Awards including the Male Athlete of the Year.
Guseli learned early what it’s like to be hot… then not. In his World Cup debut as a 15-year-old at the LAAX Open in Switzerland he not only made the finals (with the top qualifying score) but broke Shaun White’s record for the highest air out of the pipe – an arrival-announcing 7.3 metres.
Then followed a season plagued with a broken arm and learning to compete at the open level. He felt he let people down in his debut season saying, “I didn’t get any other decent results that year.”
In reality, he actually made almost every final that year. But Guseli’s always had a fierce desire to win. After this breakout season, what would he say to his 9-year-old self who would “cry and cry” when he lost, who took it personally because he only knew winning?
“I’d say, ‘Keep pushing’. Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m still not really where I want to be. As happy as I am with what I’ve won, there’s still a higher level of operating that I’m aiming for. So, I’m just going to keep doing that.”
Doing that has earned him the respect of his peers. Bronze halfpipe medallist at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, Jan Scherrer, says of Guseli “You are never safe against him, because he will go bigger than everyone and boost even harder out of the halfpipe.”
Scherrer has had every reason not to feel safe, especially when Guseli’s moment to ‘keep pushing’ this season came at the halfpipe World Championships in Georgia.
Guseli was the first to land a cabtriple-1440 (four rotations with three flips, taking off switch) in halfpipe competition, during what he describes as “the best run of my life.” Yet he came in 0.5 points behind friend Cheung Lee after a lengthy judging deliberation, and both pushed Scherrer (who described that final run phase as ‘nerve wracking’) from first place to bronze position.
“I was disappointed,” Guseli says. “But I just look back on the personal stuff I had to push through and can be proud of what I did, without worrying about the results anymore.”
That personal stuff he references isn’t his ‘Celebrity Crush’ on Eileen Gu who he admires as, “she competes in Halfpipe, Big Air and Slopestyle and wins them all. She was kind of the first one to show that it’s possible to just be the best at everything.”
Rather, he bruised both ankles pre qualifications and could barely crawl let alone stand. Consulting event nutritionists, physios and doctors he did everything possible to compete, from mental visualisation of recovery to diligent icing, elevating and compressing.
At the top of his final run, “I just kept telling myself, “You will land this run, you will land this run, you will land this run,” he explains. And he did.
Guseli’s long time big air and slopestyle coach, Mikey Williams has been coaching Valentino since he was eight years old.
“For Valentino the goal is to always
Valentino celebrates silver at the FIS World Championships in Bakuriani. FIS World Championships 2023.
The goal IS TO ALWAYS ACHIEVE HIS PERSONAL BEST PERFORMANCE, BOTH PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY.
achieve his personal best performance, both physically and mentally. To control the controlables and focus purely on individual success. There are certain things you simply cannot control. The weather, the judges, other athletes performance for example.
“He is simply a grand master when it comes to the mindfulness behind the sport” says Williams of Guseli’s gift.
“Of course at times he may have self-doubt and anxieties surrounding his sport however he has an unbelievable ability to re-center extremely quickly and trust his training, preparation and most importantly himself.”
Guseli’s dad Ric says overcoming challenges to drop that run is signature Valentino. “I think Val manifests what happens in his life really well. He believes in what he’s doing, and does a very good job of following through to get the results he wants. He’s a perfectionist in every way.”
This was the first season Ric didn’t accompany his son on tour. “He knows everyone now. And he came through with flying colours, the results that he got show he was ready to take full control of what he’s doing.”
Ric also gave his son a gift early. Humility. “Imagine, it’s very easy for a young boy to really get a big head about what they’re doing when they win a lot”, he says of a preteen Valentino.
“We saw 15-year-old kids who were not humble at all. And what you learn when you’re young stays with you for the rest of your life.”
So Val could wear the medal for a night. “And the next morning, he knew he had to forget about it. That was yesterday.”
Australian film maker Nik Kavo who’s filmed him both as a Perisher youngster and in Europe confirms, “There’s no ego with Valentino. He’s one of the most focused athletes I’ve seen, yet he still manages to be
one of the most down to earth and friendly kids you’ll ever meet.”
The parents of six year old Cash Rowley couldn’t agree more, nor be more thrilled that the superstar took some park laps in LAAX with Cash. They first met in the athlete lounge at the Aspen X Games and stayed in touch on Instagram afterwards.
A chance meet up in Switzerland saw Guseli take some time out to hang in the park with one super stoked little girl.
“Being humble enough to take some time away from riding like the awesome athlete he is and give back to the youth is really unique,” says Nick Rowley. “I send Val updates when Cashy stomps something new and he always responds with stoke.”
Apart from Valentino’s quest to, “win as many Olympic gold medals I can fit in the next 20 years,” this giving back is something he’s doing quietly and consistently.
“My main purpose of my entire life is to try and show snowboarding to as many people as possible and try and grow the sport,” he says. One tiny Cash at a time. SB
There’s no ego WITH VALENTINO. HE’S ONE OF THE MOST FOCUSED ATHLETES I’VE SEEN
CARDRONA IS KNOWN FOR BEING ONE OF NEW ZEALAND’S MOST LOVED MOUNTAINS and adding to its rep for the best terrain parks, chalky groomers and powder bowls is how they’re zoning in on sustainability efforts.
Doubling down on the resort’s care for people and the planet, Cardrona’s eco-conscious acts are evident across all operations of their business. 5WAYS
1
The resort has eliminated packaging destined for landfill, so there’s no single-use coffee cups and crockery. This saves over 80,000 cups hitting landfill each and every year.
2Recycling stations across the resort make it easy for visitors to play their own part in the battle against waste with options for recyclables, food waste and compostable packaging all close at hand.
3Transportation emissions are also on the agenda, with free shuttle buses from the bottom of the mountain road to cut down on cars.
4In an effort to further reduce carbon emissions, the team has rewarded carpooling with vouchers for food and drinks. It’s a win-win for snow-loving visitors and the planet.
5In an innovative move, Cardrona has also teamed up with Wanaka Wastebusters for the “Re-ActionUniform Repurpose Project”. The initiative breathes life back into worn uniforms. Taking style and sustainability to the slopes.
The planet-friendly moves don’t stop there. Managing capacity on the mountain by limiting certain passes not only means skiers and boarders play with more space, but fewer people hitting the slopes means the mountain can retain its natural beauty for longer for better environmental outcomes.
It’s safe to say Cardrona is a southern trailblazer in sustainable skiing. So, as you hit their slopes this season, know that you’re playing a part towards a greener future. SB
“This image of Ben Armstrong is from the first ski descent of the Incision Couloir on Federation Peak in Tasmania; arguably the most remote and impressive ski line in Australia. Accessing the line via the blade-like Southern Traverse was half the fun with technical pitches of rock, ice and snow above tremendous exposure.
We abseiled Geeves Gully under showers of ice before ascending Chockstone Gully in two pitches. The final traverse to the notch above the couloir was across a hanging snowfield below the summit buttress, absolutely festooned with rime ice.”
SHAUN MITTWOLLEN, PHOTOGRAPHER @SHAUNMITTWOLLEN
Last season Louie Evens, a Sunshine Coast local who has been doing seasons in Jindabyne for years, was struggling to find a bed. Despite having a job locked down and plenty of local connections, he only found a home after the season had started.
LLOUIE WAS LIVING IN A ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT OUT OF TOWN BUT THE RENT WAS TOO MUCH FOR HIM TO AFFORD ON HIS OWN. Wanting one housemate, he ended up inviting two other people into the single room after hearing about their living situation.
“They were sleeping in their van together and the cold nights were taking their toll on their well being.”
But this year, Louie said he’ll only make a few tourist trips down to the snow and focus his time and money on international winters instead.
“The struggle and time it took to find a suitable place last season really downgraded the enjoyment out of my usual winter experience,” he said.
Down in Victoria, the sentiment is the same. Francesca (name has been changed for privacy reasons) has been doing annual winter seasons in Hotham since 2017 and says the housing crisis is worse than ever.
“I have friends who have quit seasons because of this issue…there is nowhere they can afford to rent so they just stopped coming up.”
She said that the housing crisis was causing a staff shortage at ski resorts, which put more pressure on the staff already there.
“Kitchens are unable to keep up with demand, bar staff are slammed day and night, rentals are pulling 12 hour shifts with no breaks just to try and get everyone through the doors.”
“No one wants to return because they are being worked to the bone and not making any money.”
ALONE,
2022 saw ski town restaurants and cafes struggle with staffing issues, often leading to restricted menus and limited open days, directly impacting customer experience in the ski fields.
Now 2023 is proving more challenging than ever. With a higher cost of living, increasing inflation, rising interest rates and international staff returning to the ski fields, the problem is further exacerbated for the coming ski season.
While most capital cities are seeing house prices drop after the Covid real estate frenzy that sent prices sky high, they’re still rising in regional areas where Australia’s ski resorts reside. The median house price in the Snowy Monaro Region went up 4.5% in the last quarter alone, and 78.5% in the past five years.
Ski towns have long been an attractive place for an investment property, especially since Air BnB showed up and many landlords traded in long term rental for high priced short term rental for more dollars in their back pocket. The result of the influx of tree changers and the advent of Air BnB is seriously reduced rental inventory and fewer affordable places for resort workers to live.
The same is happening over in New Zealand, the Queenstown Lakes District (which includes the ski resort towns of Wanaka and Queenstown) still has the highest house prices in the country with an average of $1,661,930. Yet census data showed 27% of the homes were unoccupied. They sit empty as holiday homes or short stay accommodationneither of which help locals or staff have a roof over their heads.
Even if workers do manage to lock down a place, the rental prices are well over the considered affordable 20-30% of their wages. The average weekly rent in the Queenstown area is $527 while $400-$700
is common in Australian resort towns. A four bedroom house located 18km outside of Jindabyne demanded $4,000 per week to rent for the winter - that’s $1,000 per room.
Many ski resort jobs are in the hospitality sector, some of the lowest paid jobs in the country. Housekeepers, restaurant hosts, waiters, dishwashers and cooks all fall into Indeed’s 2023 list of the 20 lowest paid jobs in Australia. With inflation hitting 7.8% in 2022 and wages increasing only 3.3%, many are giving up on a snow season entirely.
Laura Stamp is the co-owner of the popular Birchwood cafe in Jindabyne. The housing crisis has had a major impact on their business, losing good employees.
“We’ve recently lost five skilled long-term, year-round employees due to not being able to secure rentals within the area after their leases expired. Another one of our staff is about to leave town, her landlord has just put their rent up by 55% which is now nearly 100% of her weekly wage.”
Stamp said that they’ve had to buy or lease properties just to house their staff so they can run their business. They’ve also filled the spare room in their own house.
So, just what are ski resorts, the major employees of alpine regions, doing about the situation?
There’s some good news in the pipeline for Hotham and Dinner Plain staff. The Grollo family, Melbourne based property developers and the owners of Mt Buller, acquired Hotham airport from Vail Resorts this year.
Grollo Group and Altiset Rural Town property manager Martin Ansell said that plan is to build a village style accommodation that will suit the needs of ski field workers. Design and development planning alone would take up to two years and cost about $1 million but has the
Invested $18.5m into The Hub, a 43 unit (150 bed) affordable housing project, increasing affordable housing inventory by 20%. They can now house 50% of their new hires.
Aspen Snowmass is also rewarding the community for housing resort staff with the revamped Tenants for Turns program. Give a worker a spare bedroom or unit and you could receive a ski season pass, lift ticket vouchers, or a $1,200 gift certificate.
Vail’s InDeed Program aims to incentivise homeowners and buyers to deed restrict their property to maintain homes for residents within the community. The progam pays 1520% of a property’s value to offer it to full time residents of the area and keep it out of the second-home market.
Town council declared a state of emergency due to its housing crisis, which allowed it to purchase large properties to convert to staff dorms, and allowed RV and tent camping on private property in the town.
Breck is buying up houses, putting deed restrictions on them and then flipping them - at a loss - just so that workers can move in.
They’ve taken out a loan of almost $40 million to create 332 units for a workforce housing complex near the resort, scheduled to be completed later this year.
potential to provide hundreds of beds for staff.
“All resorts need to get better accommodation for their staff and need to lift the standard of worker accommodation in order to attract key workers,” said Grollo Group chief executive, Lorenz Grollo.
Meanwhile, Buller Ski Lifts has leased houses in Merrijig and Sawmill Settlement, and invested in a Mansfield property. CEO of the Mt Buller and Mt Stirling Resort Management Board, Mark Bennetts, said that currently over 1000 of the 8400 on mountain beds were used for staff accommodation.
Brand and Marketing Director for Thredbo, Richie Carroll, said that they are aware of the Australian-wide housing issues and staff struggling with high rents.
“We’ve made the conscious decision to not increase the cost of staff housing this season,” said Carroll.
“In a big win for the resort this year we’ve acquired a new property in Thredbo, previously the Alpenhorn Lodge. This will provide 64 beds for resort staff.”
Kiwi resorts Cardrona and Treble Cone
“
have come to the conclusion that they need to solve their staff housing issues themselves. Laura Hedley, General Manager of Cardrona and Treble Cone Experiences, revealed they’re taken a multi-year lease out on the old base backpackers building in Wanaka, which will provide up to 120 beds for staff.
“It’s currently going through a bit of a renovation and tidy up to make this an amazing space for our staff, which includes multiple lounges, chill out zones and a larger and better kitchen facility than was there before. We are working on the final touches at the moment and it will be ready for staff to move in from the 1st June,” said Hedley.
NZSki, who own Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Mt Hutt, currently also own seven houses for staff and in a bid to address the housing crisis recently bought Sir Cedrics Tahuna Pod Hostel, on Henry Street in Queenstown, to sleep up to 80 more.
Change is a foot and one can only hope that progress is made quickly rather than at a traditional government snail pace.
It’s up to the snow community to lead the charge. SB
A film director who has been creating captivating snow films for over a decade, her work has been featured at film festivals globally, including Banff Mountain Film Festival and Telluride Mountainfilm. Cassie also worked with big names of the industry including Burton and Red Bull. Her latest creation, Precious Leader Woman, tells the story of indigenous Olympic Snowboarder Spencer O’Brien, and has been praised with a number of awards to add to her growing collection. Listen to our podcast with Cassie.
Founder of Faction Skis and now The Woods Agency Tony’s journey began as a ski instructor in Verbier, before he went on to create one of the most innovative ski brands in the world. Faction Skis. The famous ski brand has won numerous awards and is the go-to choice for pro skiers. Most notably, Candide Thovex, who rode the brand for a decade. If that’s not enough, Tony’s gone on to help Eric Pollard set-up Season Eqpt, design Candide Thovex’s new apparel and ski line launching this winter and launch The Woods Agency, a creative answer to connect brands with the snow community in a meaningful way.
Charles Beckinsale, terrain park builder and founder of the Stomping Grounds Project. Charles has built some of the most impressive terrain parks around the world as the builder for Red Bull and Monster performance camps and builder for the FIS Big Air and Slopestyle World Cups in Canada. He’s known for his Stomping Grounds sessions that pretty much host every Slopestyle and Big Air national team in the world on the glacier in SaasFee Switzerland. As Red Bull says “if Charles builds it, the riders will come.”
ADISTILLING REVOLUTION IS TAKING PLACE on the slopes of Australia and New Zealand and we’re so here for it. Try these alpine distilleries on for size on your next snow sojourn.
Travel back in time to 2011 and the idea of producing a single malt whisky that would stand tall on the international stage was still a pipedream for Kiwi gal, Desiree Reid. But after picking the brains of distilling masters in Scotland and the United States, the first Cardrona Distillery spirits began to flow in 2015. Whisky, vodka, gin and a selection of liqueurs using a secret family recipe are now distilled and aged onsite in Cardrona, midway between Queenstown and Wanaka.
Try: Growing Wings Solera
2. WILDBRUMBY
Down the road from Thredbo. Up the road from Jindabyne. Close to Perisher’s Bullocks Flat Skitube Terminal, at the foot of Mt Kosciuszko. This is where you’ll find Australia’s highest distillery. For 20 years, Wildbrumby has been producing award-winning schnapps, gin, vodka and gluhwein using organic, seasonal fruit and botanicals. Enjoy café meals, live music on weekends or stroll through the entrepreneurial ski instructor-turned-artist’s vast sculpture garden.
Try: Peach Nectar Schnapps.
1. CARDONA
Sustainability underpins every drop of handmade vodka, gin and whisky at this off-grid family distillery just outside Mansfield – the gateway to Mt Buller. Made with organic ingredients and gravity-fed spring water that requires no pumping or electricity and a wood-fired boiler for heating stills fuelled by fallen timber. Credits are applied for bottles that are returned for reuse and Swiftcrest use recycled cardboard and solar-powered printing for packaging and labelling. Spent grain then feeds livestock at the Mansfield Zoo. Oh, and did we mention how good these spirits taste?
Try: Dutch Apple Pie Moonshine
Art meets science at the Reed & Co distillery in Bright, at the foot of the Victorian Alps, where two ex-chefs started experimenting with distillation techniques to manipulate flavours in their dishes using local botanicals. Inspired by their natural surroundings and the flavoursome ingredients it provided, the same botanicals they were using on the plate in their hatted restaurant, Tani Eat & Drink (since closed), were then used to invent one of the first native bush gins in Australia.
Try: Chilli Koji Liqueur
Nine years ago, three men bonded over a shared love of gin to create artisanal, small batch spirits – including the world’s first black gin – that are now distributed to 40 countries worldwide. Passion and ambition drive the Scapegrace distillery owners , who credit their Central Otago location, halfway between the South Pole and the Equator, as the optimum environment for ageing soon-to-be-released single malt whiskies. Later this year, a $25 million distillery, bar and restaurant complex is set to open on the shores of Lake Dunstan, 45 minutes from Queenstown, New Zealand.
Try: London Dry Gin SB
4. REED & CO
BY MARK DAFFEY
Five off-kilter experiences in Australia and New Zealand this winter.
Looking for something different this winter? Then pack away the skis and snowboards for some adrenalin-fuelled snowbiking – a cross between riding dirt bikes and snowmobiles. You’ll need prior experience of riding a motorcycle as you tackle challenging backcountry terrain with Kingston-based Snowmoto. Choose from half-day sessions to overnight alpine adventures staying in backcountry huts in the Central Otago mountains in New Zealand. By the end of a day’s ride you’ll be exhausted from carving up powdery bowls and leaving ice tornadoes billowing behind you. From NZ$750 per person
You’ll find plenty of opportunities to stop for photos during one of Queenstown Snowmobiles’ tours across the Southern Alps. Snowmobile tours are packed with amazing views and adrenaline fun. Each tour lasts roughly 2.5 hours, including scenic return helicopter flights over The Remarkables and Hector mountain ranges from Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopter’s base in Queenstown. Warm clothing and safety gear are provided for your exclusive access journey across the Garvie Plateau.
As many as six guests can depart three times daily, seven days a week between June and October. Adults NZD$1105 children NZD$775.
Get a taste of what it must be like to tackle Alaska’s Iditarod Trail through Australian Sled Dog Tours at Mt Buller. Relax as a passenger or drive your own sled as a team of exuberant Siberian huskies haul you and your mates through picturesque scenery on tours lasting up to three hours. You can even mush as far as Howqua Gap. For those who only want to interact with the dogs and not go on a tour, meet and greet sessions can also be arranged. Tours run on a daily basis throughout the winter season. From $20 for a meet and greet and from $150 for a half hour experience including 15 minute sample ride.
Ditch the lodge this winter and try snow glamping instead. Alpine Nature Experience’s overnight igloo adventure starts with a 30-minute guided snowshoe hike through silvery snow gums on Mt Hotham. Arrive at an off-grid eco-village dotted with snowdomes and dinky-di igloos made from 100% snow. These will be your cosy accommodation pods for the night, fitted with soft mattresses and faux-fur blankets. Warm up with a glass of homemade mulled wine before learning the secrets to making a mouth-watering French fondue as part of your three-course dinner, then bed down for the night. Come sunrise you’ll have a hearty breakfast with steaming hot coffees ahead of a scenic snow mobile ride back to the village. Tours run Wednesday to Sunday from AUD$289 per person.
Gain a bird’s eye view of Mt Kosciuszko and Mt Townsend as you soar above the Kosciuszko National Park in a helicopter, enroute to a remote alpine cabin that’s fit for two. Keep an eye out for wombats and wallabies as you tuck into a gourmet picnic hamper accompanied by sparkling wines, reminding yourself that jackpot experiences such as these aren’t purely restricted to lovelorn reality TV contestants. Snowy Mountains Helicopters’ romantic Wilderness Picnic itineraries depart from Jindabyne and return via the Snowy River and Lake Jindabyne. Tours last 2.5 hours and cost $685 per person.
Thredbo’s Kareela Snowcat Dinners have become legendary. Guests meet at the base of the Kosciuszko Chairlift and travel in style inside a chauffeur-driven snowcat as it ploughs uphill to the famous Kareela Hutte. Then enjoy a four-course, European-influenced starlight dinner and wine experience overlooking the twinkling lights of Thredbo Village. Word of warning, book ahead, these have become the hottest reservations in town. On select Wednesday evenings, two sittings. From $299 per person. SB
Want some inspiring Australasian peeps to follow on the gram? Try these on for size.
@australian_backcountry
Jake Sims is stoke incarnate. He takes his board, and you, along for the backcountry ride in Australia’s best terrain every season.
@keepitcoolaus
Skiers, boarders, bikers and hikers who care about the Snowy Mountains and restore and regenerate the land with tree planting programs.
@kirli.saunders
Multi-award winning writer, artist, speaker, and lover of nature. Kirli will open your mind to First Nations experience.
@curvatours
Georgia is the boss, a plus size outdoor enthusiast who hikes, bikes, skis and then some. Because one size does not fit all.
@ahuapsychology
Kiwi psychologist Taylor Rapley serves up tools for mental health and performance on the slopes.
@backcountrywomenau
Supporting women in the Australian backcountry, because we should.
@thealpineadvocate Satire for Aussie skiers and snowboarders who don’t take themselves seriously.
JakobPicture yourself racing across 450 hectares of progressionperfect terrain. The 90 open and uncrowded runs across Falls Creek Alpine Resort will have you perfecting your turns whether you’re a beginner or a pro. A welcome treat in today’s overcrowded ski world.
When the time calls for a mix-up, access the worldclass 60km network of crosscountry skiing trails that export you to breathtaking views of Rocky Valley Lake.
When the skis are off, you’ll be exploring Falls Creek’s magical ski-in-ski-out village that serves up some of the best on-mountain cuisine you’ll find in Australia.
From Bob Sugar’s tantalising Asian treats (their Krispy Kolli is a must try), to Astra Bar and Summit Ridge’s contemporary dining. Choose to chow down on Cloud 9’s authentic wood-fired pizzas that rival Melbourne’s
If you’re looking for a snow experience like no other, it’s hard to beat Australia’s
favourite foodie mountain, Falls Creek Alpine Resort. Offering an action-
packed winter experience with a gourmet twist, your next snow trip could look like a blockbuster adventure with a star-studded dining line-up.
Lygon Street or Dicky Knees Bavarian Mountain Food which will have your tastebuds yodelling.
But let’s not forget, it’s not all about skiing and eating
(even though they are high on everybody’s priority list). The jam-packed winter calendar has something for everyone from the Opening Weekend festival to internationally renowned Cross-Country Ski Marathon, The Kangaroo Hoppet.
For families, meet Pete the Dragon or toast marshmallows at Twilight Tuesdays. Ride a toboggan at Windy Corner or hit the slopes after the sun goes down and experience the thrill of night skiing down Wombats Ramble.
For the adults, don’t miss the always important apresski fun with live music at the Frying Pan and DJs spinning tunes at 1550. Signing the season off, join in the fun at the always rowdy annual Oktoberfest celebrations.
So are you ready to eat, ski and love every moment at Falls Creek? SB
New Zealand’s active volcano, Mt Ruapehu, is home to two ski fields in both financial and climate jeopardy.
Glenn Cullen reports on the state of current play.
IfI HAD TO LIST MY RELATIONSHIP STATUS WITH MT RUAPEHU ON FACEBOOK it would almost certainly be: “it’s complicated”.
Despite its location smack bang between New Zealand's two major population centres of Auckland and Wellington, the heaving volcano has usually played second snow fiddle to its cousins across the Cook Strait. Rising from the Central Plateau like a battered Ikea tabletop, it is flanked by Tongariro and Ngauruhoe but still seems lonely in comparison to the 500km spine that is the Southern Alps.
Yet its charms are many. A magnet for all kinds of weather, its good years still invariably deliver enough snow to make it the best place to ski or snowboard on the planet from mid-September to October. While other mountains on our half of the globe are calling last rites on their season, Ruapehu is often just coming into its own. Sure, real powder days may be rarer than glowing social media comments about Whistler gondola line-ups, but when the base is big here, so are the opportunities.
My fondest recollections of the mercurial North Island ski area stem back to seasons in the early noughties with sunny September days and three metres of snow on the ground. One day I'd be hitting the Turoa side and the south-eastern faces running under the Mangaehuehu Glacier, punching out short turns on its 35-degree slopes. The next it would be off to Whakapapa, eyeing off cliffs and chutes of the Pinnacles but never usually being brave enough.
The best afternoons would invariably end up on the Far West T-bar, taking a methodical 40 minute hike up to the ridge line; the big reveal being the apple-green waters of Crater Lake. The pinball ride back down delivered more than one kilometre of vertical and would always make the first Monteith's taste that much sweeter.
As far as Ruapehu was concerned, it would be a while between drinks for me after that. A couple of hours on the hill in between mountain biking (another strength of the region) about a decade later was all the time I'd spent at the mighty massif until last year.
In terms of comebacks, this wasn't exactly Brendan Fraser in The Whale. If I'm being honest, it wasn't even Ben Stiller in Zoolander II. As the weather gods offered cheeky top-ups down south, every storm
that arrived north seemed to be wet and warm. If Huey did deliver anything of note it would be quickly retracted.
I did punch out a few lazy turns off the Whakapapa Sky Waka Gondola on what turned out to be a glorious winter's day, but the truth was, this was the toughest of seasons where off-mountain pursuits ruled the way.
I supped on surprisingly satisfying carrot margaritas at Kings pub in Ohakune, rode a bike for two days on a stunning cut trail through some of the country’s oldest forests and momentarily recaptured my youth at the Powderhorn Chateau (where Peter Jackson and the crew from Lord of the Rings stayed, no less). But in ski land, it does come down to the skiing and tough seasons have their consequences.
Shortly after I left a third of staff at the mountain were sent packing. Bad enough, but really just the start. Off the back of a few COVID-19 ravaged seasons, the volcano which famously blew its lid in 1995, 1996 and 2007 was about to spill its guts financially.
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the not-forprofit organisation which manages the Whakapapa and Turoa Ski areas, appointed voluntary administrators by October with debts of tens of millions of dollars. Then the iconic Tongariro Chateau - the glorious, almost century-old art deco hotel that sits at the base of the mountain, also shuttered its doors.
The pain felt in the community and economic flow-on effects have been palpable and while the mountain is scheduled to be open for business in 2023, the full details of just what that entails remains to be seen.
Just as we went to press local Kiwi media reported that the government was set to accept bids for Turoa and Whakapapa to be run by two different companies. Pure Turoa is in the box seat for that side of the
hill while a private equity firm with links to former Ruapehu boss Dave Mazey is set to take over Whakapapa.
Out in the cold is a group calling itself The Ruapehu Skifields Stakeholders Association. Keen to continue seeing the resort run as a not-for-profit enterprise, the body had heavy hitter Peter Hillary, son of the legendary Sir Edmund as patron.
But their vision of crowdfunding apparently didn't appeal to the bean counters, who were undoubtedly wary after the previous similarly modelled stewardship managed to rack up huge debts.
The massive plus is that it seems very likely that both sides of the mountain will be operating in some capacity this season. However, plenty of detail remains. Creditors have to sign off on the deal and then there’s a raft of negotiations with the Department of Conservation, iwi (Maori tribes) and other stakeholders yet to take place. With a good blanket of snow already in the area and winter just around the corner, it’s unclear how new operators would be in a position to take over so quickly.
Then there's the curly question of what happens to the 14,000 Mt Ruapehu lifetime passholders who helped finance the mountain under the previous ownership. They may be about to discover that lifetimes don't in fact last all that long.
Ultimately Mt Ruapehu and its surrounds will never be Queenstown - but nor should it aim to be. It’s a fantastic, frustrating, complex and charismatic mountain that, on its day, can offer the best in-bound riding of any individual mountain in New Zealand. You’re entitled to see where the pennies and snow land this year, just be sure to keep the relationship with Mt Ruapehu open - there’s a whole mountain community relying on you. SB
Views for days.
Every snow region has a heritage resort. The kind that’s filled with local history and lined with legends, that put the region on the snow map and became the pinnacle for skiers and snowboarders. Welcome to Thredbo, where you never forget your first time.
MMINE WAS BACK IN THE ANNUAL SNOW
BALL DAYS WHEN KERRY ANNE
KENNERLEY and Sydney’s hoi polloi descended upon this alpine town every long weekend to toast the beginning of the ski season, sip on Westcoast Coolers and dance in the Keller till dawn. When a school friend’s boyfriend took me and my never-seen-snow legs to the top of Merritt’s, pointed to the slope and said “get down.” Clearly not a student of the school of compassion. But get down I did, because there was no other way.
The hoi polloi has given way now to a vibrant blend of old and new school, some rocking music producers and a ton of Australia’s best Olympic and FIS World Cup athlete
ambassadors (helloooo Valentino Guseli, Josie Baff, Tess Coady). Westcoast coolers have been knocked out in favour of Mumm Champagne and the Keller’s still there heaving with the glimmer of newfound romance, if only for a night.
Thredbo is having a renaissance, though the devout would say it never lost its crown. The only resort in Australia to have a gondola (launched in 2020) and to actively be limiting daily passes to ensure fewer lift lines, Thredbo has been investing big in more than just the lift structure and it’s officially come of age.
$2 million has been pumped into refurbing the Thredbo Alpine Hotel with nods to the resort’s Austrian founders Tony Sponar and Charles Anton, with chalet style soft furnishings you’d find in Tyrolean villages, dotted with Aussie artwork from the likes of Zoe Young and Brad Spalding.
The lift company has snapped up all but one of the 10 ski in ski out restaurants on the 550 hectare mountain and created a plethora of global inspired experiences you’re more likely to find in the European Alps or North American Rockies than snow gum lined Aussie mountains.
Think Merritts Mountain Haus Bavarian feasts after dark at the top of the gondola, snow cat rides to Kareela Hutte for four course dining or the Kareela Hutte Supper Club for Mumm champagne, fireworks and flare run. All you need is some Moonboots, stretch pants and schnapps and you’d be forgiven for thinking you were living the Euro après life.
Let’s not stop there, either. Thredbo are owning some super cool mountain adventure experiences in the country right now, with good reason. Fancy a sunrise snow experience? Hit up the Sunrise Sessions by Defender for early morning breakfast and first tracks on Australia’s longest ski run, the Supertrail.
For me, it is the fresh,
EARLY MORNING, UNCROWDED GROOMERS UNDER CRUISER CHAIRLIFT, AND THE SPEEDY T-BAR LAP SERVICING ONE OF THE WORLD’S FUNNEST MINI PARKS OVER BY MERRITTS.”
TESS COADY, WINTER OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALIST,
SNOWBOARD SLOPESTYLE
Many have heard of Dead Horse Gap but not everyone knows where this classic Thredbo side country run is, or how to get to it. Join the resort’s official and new Dead Horse Gap Tour and be guided through the snow guns until you pop out down the road from the resort where a Defender will be waiting to drive you back.
Speaking of backcountry, the crew at Thredbo take it seriously and offer introduction to backcountry half day experiences alongside full day guided backcountry tours for the more experienced. With the increase in earning your turns, the resort has also released a Backcountry Access Pass for one return trip on the Kosciuszko Chairlift.
But wait, there’s more. Thredbo’s favourite annual events are all still on the calendar – uni week, Masters week, Rossignol women’s days, lawyers weekend and the like. But now you can add the Thredbo Triple Crown with a $60k prize pool across three different freestyle events (big air, slopestyle, rails) alongside Battle on the Bluff for a freeride style event and Bush Doof with Tess Coady and a handful of the world’s best snowboarders taking over the resort for two days.
It’s no wonder Thredbo has won Australia’s Best Ski Resort in the World Ski Awards for six years running. They’ve also strategically aligned with the world’s best in terrain, events and après, Aspen Snowmass and they’ve joined the IKON Pass alongside the likes of Jackson Hole and Revelstoke.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve driven up the Alpine Way into the arms of Thredbo, how many après tales created that can never be told, how many legends I’ve met on the chair and in the lounge and how many times my thighs have burned from first chair to last.
Let’s just add another season to the list in 2023. SB
I first heard about New Zealand’s club fields after too many late night martinis in a bar in the country’s carrot capital (and gateway town to Turoa ski field) of Ohakune.
BY RACHAEL OAKES-ASHON THE SOUTH ISLAND was waxing lyrical about nutcracker rope tows and tractors with bricks for wheels that sat stationary while pulling a cable up an ungroomed slope. I began to wonder if we had imbibed absinthe instead of vodka.
Either way come dawn I had pledged to accompany said member on my first club fields trip later that season. What followed was my virgin foray into the magic of communal skiing, chores boards, bunk beds, dress up boxes and steep and deep terrain usually found with only a helicopter.
New Zealand’s club fields are unique, offering basic on snow accommodation (bring your own linen) and a pitch in attitude where everyone gets a turn at washing up. There’s no lift queues, plenty of fresh tracks once you conquer the nutcracker (see below), lift tickets half the price of their commercial rivals and even a funicular at Broken River.
They’re also intrepid and either accessed by hair raising drives through steep fields of scree (hello Mt Olympus) or a 45 minute trek up a mountain to get to a base lodge (I’m looking at you Temple Basin). Trust us, they’re worth it, for the tales to be told for decades alone.
Let’s just say I got out of my chores on one trip to Craigieburn by offering two Bledisloe Cup tickets to whomever was willing to do them. I’ve never had so many men rummage across tables at dinner to offer their services first.
Then there was the time we went curling at Mt Olympus on a mid-mountain frozen pond after dark when locals poured kerosene onto the ice, lit it and voila, extreme curling. The makeshift ice bar was manned by a ski patroller in a kilt and a
wig and we returned to base skiing by head lamp. As you do.
Or that one time we took Kiwi freeskier, Sam Smoothy, to Temple Basin (in the rain) and met the New Zealand Air Force there in training for Antarctica. We put them to work building a kicker, filled a drum with cardboard and set it alight and then sent Sam over the kicker and fire drum after dark. The photos made the cover of the magazine we were there for.
Things happen at Kiwi club fields that just wouldn’t happen anywhere else.
Here’s three of our favourites.
I’VE HIT UP CRAIGIEBURN NOT FAR FROM CHRISTCHURCH in both powder snow and in blue ice, you could say it has it all. I’ve been snowed in at the mid mountain day lodge waiting out avalanche relief, danced on tables in the club bar, skied the finger chutes and met three generations of the one family skiing on the same day.
This is where I first conquered the nutcracker, on three different rope tows that get you to the top. The last one was the hardest and I fell, a lot. When I finally made it to the top without falling or letting go, I was given a standing ovation by the crew enjoying sunshine and local venison BBQ on the mid-mountain deck. I wonder if Craigieburn devotee, the legendary Glen Plake, was given the same.
HOW MUCH
Adult lift tickets from NZD$50 for adult member/NZD $90 fornon member, dinner bed and breakfast from $70 for adult member/NZD $140 non Membershipmember.costs from $150 perannum.
You have to be fit to ski here, especially to hike to the best stuff, if you’re a boarder you have to be brave to get on the nutcracker which is not kind to snowboarders. Either way you better be an advanced level.
Expect over 500 metres of vertical and 400 hectares of skiable terrain and then some as the field connects with neighbouring Broken River club field, if you’re prepared to hike a little.
YOU MAY WANT TO SWAP PLACES WITH YOUR BAGS AND SKIS IN THE GOODS LIFT halfway up the 45 minute hike to the Temple Basin base lodge when it would appear your backpack got the better half of the deal. The one time we did it, it was raining, so extra kudos points to us.
The crew from Canterbury Uni had set up digs (Temple Basin
Believe everything you hear, these are terrifying, to start. They’ll bruise your ego and humiliate the most experienced skier or boarder. You “wear” a leather belt with a nutcracker style tool attached to a rope attached to the belt. Approach a moving cable that’s connected by pulleys and grab the cable with your gloved hand while throwing the nutcracker over it to clamp down and be dragged up. Trust us it gets better the more you get you used to it. Our tip? Wear hardy gloves from a hardware store and tie your hair back.
Can’t decide which resort? For NZD$900 you can spend up to 30 days skiing 13 club style fields and their friends on the South Island; Porters, Cheeseman, Broken River, Craigieburn*, Temple Basin, Mt Olympus, Rainbow, Hanmer Springs, Mt Lyford, Fox Peak, Mt Dobson, Awakino, and Tukino. Chillout.co.nz
is their Snowsports Club) so there was plenty of antics to be had in the mess hall once we unpacked in our bunk rooms and waited for the rain to turn to snow.
When it snows here, it snows a lot so you’ll want your hiking thighs with you to get to the dreamy terrain accessed first via three nutcracker rope tows.
You’ll find Temple Basin two hours from Christchurch just past Arthur’s Pass Village.
Get a taster of the Craigieburn Range with a four night, five day ski tour taking in the Craigieburn Haute Route. The tour starts at Craigieburn ski area and travels via some legendary basins to Mt Olympus. You’ll hit up the famed Allan’s Basin, Yukon bowl, Mt Wall, Tarn Basin, Waterfall basin, and some secret stashes and stay at Broken River, Cheeseman and Mt Olympus. NZD$2545 per person including guiding and accommodation.
www.chillout.co.nz
THIS CLUB FIELD HAS OFFICIAL CULT STATUS . If you must do just one field, then make it Mt Olympus. Though be warned, if you don’t like heights then get someone else to drive the access road and hold on tight with your eyes closed.
The “playground of the gods” is home to a high altitude hot tub that becomes human soup come après time. It’s also home to open bowl skiing plus chutes and tons of ski touring options.
Olympus is handy to both Methven (90 minutes away) and Christchurch
(2 hours away) and offers shared accommodation in the Top Hut with in house chef, bar, hot showers and the hot tub. There’s also self contained accommodation at the bottom hut. .
Mt Olympus has been run by the Windwhistle Winter Sports Club since 1932. If you want to stay you’ll need to book in for a ski week, mini break mid-week, a ski weekend or a single overnight.
Ski weeks here go by the names of Frothers Week, Senior MOFO, Final Frontier and the like. SB
“
It’s also home TO OPEN BOWL SKIING PLUS CHUTES AND TONS OF SKI TOURING
There’s not much that can stand between a mountain lover and their skiing or snowboarding habitexcept for ever-increasing lift pass prices.
THE TRICK, OF COURSE, IS TO BUY MULTI-RESORT SEASON PASSES WELL AHEAD OF TIME TO GET the best earlybird deals and access to multiple mountains at home and around the world. Buy at the right time and the cost of the pass will equal a week of lift passes and the rest of your ski loving days around the globe are “on the house.”
Good news is you can still get an Epic
Australia Pass for $1099 if you buy before May 31 and get unlimited access to Falls Creek, Hotham and Perisher, plus a heap of resorts across Europe, the US, Canada and Japan.
In the meantime, we’ve sourced the best day pass options for you. Ski or board midweek or in off peak season and you’ll save even more.
CHECK OUT
Ready to get skiing in the Southern Hemisphere - and keep hunting for deals?
Check out the MissSnowItAll AU and NZ Deals & Chatter Facebook groups.
JUST WANT ONE CHEAP AND CHEERFUL DAY ON A MOUNTAIN? MT BAW BAW IS THE ANSWER. At just $55 for an adult lift ticket between Monday and Friday, out of school holidays, it’s a steal for access to their t-bars, pomas and magic carpets.
There’s also Selwyn Snow Resort, freshly re-opened after the 2020 fires that devastated the lift infrastructure. At $79 per adult for a lift ticket, they do admit to being best for first-timers or kids - but it’s still one of the only places in Australia to buy a day pass and still get change from $100.
Your third option is Tasmania’s Ben Lomond Alpine Resort at $95 for an adult day pass. While you’re there, you can check out Tassie’s club field, Mount Mawson, which gives you access to two rope tows for just $45 per day.
From there, starting lift ticket prices kick off at Mt Buller for $115, all the way up to the top of the range, $209 peak season on a peak day at Thredbo. If you have either of them on your list - or Perisher, Falls Creek, Charlotte’s Pass and Mt Hotham - take a careful look at their online calendar before buying, as prices can fluctuate wildly based on weekends and school holidays.
DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU’RE PLANNING TO SKI THIS SEASON , and for the Northern Hemisphere season, these can be a no-brainer for those looking to save big. The Epic Australia Pass is a given but did you know about these other two? The Mountain Collective is
The trick is to purchase multi-day deals, all resorts offer them with savings of up to 35% widely available. A seven day multi pass early season in Thredbo reduces the cost to $110 per day.
Charlotte Pass is back again for another season with their 2 Buck Tuesday and $75 Thursday. On Tuesdays, get a lift pass, return oversnow transport AND lunch for just $2, as long as you’re travelling with another person paying the full $109. And on Thursdays, you can get the same deal for just $75 per person - your lunch even includes a house beverage.
just AU$862 for access to Coronet Peak, the Remarkables and Mt Buller, along with destinations in the USA, Canada, Japan, France and Chilealthough the two days at each may best suit those doing Southern Hemisphere weekenders.
The Ikon Pass. Not cheap, at US$1259, but you get seven days each at Mt Buller and Thredbo, along with seven days combined across Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Mt Hutt, and a lot of days to ski at a total of 45 worldwide destinations.
NEW ZEALAND HAS A THRIVING CLUB FIELD SCENE, with a long history of offering more affordable skiing to those that want to visit, lap up the culture and attempt a nutcracker rope tow (if you know, you know).
The cheapest comes in at around NZ$75 at Hanmer Springs Ski Area, with access to the longest Poma lift in the Southern Hemisphere. Others hover slightly above that, with Mt Olympus ($85), Temple Basin ($85) and Craigieburn ($99) all coming highly recommended. Though if you’re a member (join for around $150) lift tickets then drop down to half the price at most club fields.
On the commercial field side, Mt Lyford is the best bargain you’ll find, sliding in at $95. This moves up to the best-known commercial fields of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Mt Hutt, all coming in at $159, dropping down to as little as $109 with a multi-day pass. Treble Cone and Cardrona top the list at $160 per day, again dropping down to from $112 per day for a multi-day pass.
Many of the resorts run by our Kiwi whānau also offer half-day lift passesa good option to save a bit more cash should you find it hard to motivate yourself after lunch time anyway.
Check out the Chill Pass, which gets you access at up to 13 club fields across the South & North Island. A 30day pass will set you back $900 per adult - about $30 per day if you ski all 30 days. Or pick up a 5 or 7-day pass if you don’t quite have as much time, about $37 per day and $35 per day respectively. SB
“There’s something magical about a sunrise on top of the mountain. For me, I think it’s the anticipation as the hues change by the second before the golden ball cracks the horizon. The snow crystals shimmering like diamonds and beautiful silhouettes of early morning workers heading out as the snow guns are firing. That’s exactly what I’ve captured in this image at Hotham in early September last season and it’s a sight I’ll never tire of seeing.”
Dylan Robinson, Photographer dylanrobinson.au
From women-only to backcountry, and everything in between, there’s an improvement program out there for everyone.
BY ALYSON LAMBWhether you’re a seasoned rider or complete newbie, the mountain will be your playground at Queenstown’s Winter Pride. The multi-day festival will have you hitting the slopes and improving your skills, all whilst letting your rainbow flag fly. August 25 – September 2
Or, for those looking to improve their partying skills, Thredbo’s Rainbow Mountain is where you want to be. The three-day inclusive festival is jam packed with on and off snow events, parties and a champagne lunch for ultimate winter wonderland vibes. August 10 - 12
You’ll find female-only improvement clinics at almost every resort across Australia and New Zealand, but we’ve dialled down on some of the stand-outs.
It’s hard to beat Falls Creek’s renowned Mim’s Women’s Program. Learn to master the mountain with a dash of socialising, Mim’s Program will supercharge your skills and overcome fears in a fun and supportive environment. Three day and five day camp options in July and August and September.
Over at Thredbo, you can sign up to the We Rise: Rossignol Women’s Camp where you’ll spend three days shredding the slopes with world-class coaches and other bad-ass ladies. July 27 – 29.
Improve your skills amongst legends of the industry for an on-snow experience like no other. The annual Superstar Ski Camp takes place at Ski Portillo in Chile. Open to just 30 riders, the experience is hosted by some impressive legends of the industry including Chris Davenport, Cody Townsend and Wendy Fisher. Just to name a few. With daily personalised instruction, video analysis, and nightly presentations with the athletes, this is the improvement program of all improvement programs.
Across the ditch, accelerate your freeride technique and sign up for a three-day Women’s Performance Camp, hosted by both Coronet Peak and The Remarkables. Gain extra confidence on any type of terrain with skills sessions focusing on park, carving, bumps and powder. Camps run throughout the season.
For those who only have eyes for the backcountry, the Ladies BC Intro Clinic and Thredbo Women’s Introduction to Backcountry Tour, both in the NSW Alps, are a must try. Led by expert guides, you’ll learn the skills and knowledge to safely navigate untouched terrain and access some of the most breathtaking runs in Australia.
For our adventurous adaptive snow lovers, look no further than the Disabled Winter Sports Australia (DWA) programs. Take your pick from introductory, recreation and experiential programs, all offered at each Australian Ski Resort. Whether it’s your first time hitting the slopes or a seasoned pro, DWA’s programs will make sure you improve your skills and have a memorable time up in the fresh air of the mountains.
There’s no shortage of improvement clinics for the mini shredder in your life.
Develop skills and maximise ride time at Cardrona’s Multi Day Programs, Thredbo’s Adventure Camps and Buller’s Snow Squad. Kids will learn everything they need to know to master the hill, guided by expert instructors. Packed full of fun, these multiday programs will fast-track your groms onsnow skills.
For the budding freestyle athlete, NSW has even more on offer. New to 2023, sign the kids up to Project Shred: Powered by the Chumpy Pullin Foundation. Designed
to pave the way in developing the next generation of superstar shredders, learn tricks and tips from the best skiers and boarders in Aus, followed by a workshop from top tier athletes about the ins and outs of becoming a pro.
Staying in NSW, let’s not forget about our next generation backcountry explorers. The Junior Alpinist Workshop is designed to build skills, awareness and safety tips out in the backcountry, with intermediate to advanced riders in mind. By the end of the workshop, your mini-me will be primed and ready to explore beyond the resort boundaries with you.
Feeling like your skills have plateaued? If you’re an intermediate to advanced rider then these all-mountain camps will take your off-piste and freeride technique to a whole new level.
It’s safe to say that New Zealand terrain can be described as a freeride haven, so it makes sense to improve your off-piste skills across the ditch. The Performance Camps and Rookie Ski Camps focus on elevating your technique on varied terrain. Both
camps feature hand-picked coaches ready to offer invaluable technical feedback and coaching.
The Austrian crew at Sofa Ski Camps are back this season, this time based at Porters Alpine Resort. Trust us, your ski skills will go up a level and then some in the hands of some of the world’s best instructors.
Australia’s answer is Thredbo’s AllMountain Camp. With a maximum of six riders per group, the guided four-day camp will arm you with the on and offpiste knowledge and skills to take on any
From newbies who want to take their riding out of bounds to experts that want to level up their backcountry skills, NSW has two stellar programs catered just for you.
For the novice, Thredbo’s Introduction to Backcountry has your name all over it. Led by expert guides, you’ll learn everything from avalanche safety to touring basics while experiencing the raw beauty and untamed wilderness of the backcountry..
Already a keen out-ofbounder? Take your skills up a notch with Snowy Mountain Backcountry’s Introduction to Ski Mountaineering Intro Course. Designed for confident backcountry riders, this program covers steep skiing and boarding techniques, ice axe and crampon use, plus more.
Thinking about taking on the Thredbo Masters? Up the ante with the Thredbo Masters Race Camp. Aimed at advanced adult riders aged 30 years or older, the three-day camp will see you heading out with top race trainers for an intensive gates session where they will share tips and knowledge to have you carve up the course with confidence. SB
We’ve lined up the top Aussie and New Zealand snow-gear innovators to give you our favourite midlayer and outerwear picks for the ‘23 season.
Specialising in the perfect blend of technical and sustainable gear, Lé Bent are home grown heroes cementing their place in the global snow industry thanks to their signature eco-blends. For 2023, it’s hard to look past the Women’s Genepi Wool Insulated Jacket. Featuring a planet-friendly insulation blend of recycled polyester and wool, the hooded puffer also features Lé Bent’s FlowState™ sleeve system. A flexible panel of 4-way stretch Merino blend, strategically mapped under the arms and around the shoulder blades for unrestricted movement and enhanced breathability. It’s a mid layer that will take you from the city to the mountains without batting an eye.
RRP AUD$399.99
Another Aussie brand waving the flag for sustainability, the Torquaybased XTM Performance has been in the business for over 20 years (which includes dressing Olympians for 15 of them), and it shows in their top-line Lithium IV Men’s Bib Pant.
Made to withstand the harshest conditions, the 20K waterproof shell’s ecocredentials include recycled polyester, PFC-free DWR coating and is happily certified Carbon Neutral. It boasts RECCO for those adventurous types riding beyond resort boundaries along with fully seamed seals, YKK front zip and extended vents to dump extra heat.
RRP AUD$449.99
Tired of ill-fitting ski and snowboard pants, Nobody’s Princess was created to give women of all shapes and sizes a chance to be comfy in the snow.
For this year, choose between the Zali or Mila depending on your body shape. If you describe yourself as a pear or hourglass figure, the Zali is for you. Apple gals, the Mila will be your new best friend. Even better, each pant comes in regular, short or tall versions so no matter what your leg length, these trusty pants are sure to fit.
When it comes to tech, both pants feature zoned insulation for added warmth, along with 15K waterproofing, 4-way stretch and a mid-high waist to keep that pesky snow out.
AUD$299
Designed by women for women, the family owned and operated ROJO specialises in custom, handcrafted prints with a focus on flattering fits for the female riders in our lives. This year, the team has developed their “Tread Lightly” collection.
Part of this range, the Zoe Jacket exudes everything ROJO stands for while upping the ante in all things sustainability. From the Sorona (plant-based) polyester blend outer and 100% GRS recycled body insulation to the 100% recycled polyester satin lining and 100% recycled embossed lining.
Throw-in 15K waterproofing, a long-fit and woven retro badging as a nod to their ‘87 roots, the Zoe Jacket hits the mark in all the right places.
AUD$349.99
Over the ditch, icebreaker are the go-to team for anything Merino. So, it makes sense they’ve created an all new innovative Merino Technology that can take the wool fibre from baselayer to outerlayer.
The Men’s Shell+ Merino Snow Jacket combines nature’s most high-tech accolades into an outerwear jacket like no other. Shell+ technology is an all new application that involves tightly weaving natural fibres to create a water-resistant barrier. Couple that with a PFC-free water repellent finish and you’re set-up to battle the wind and light rain without a whisper of polyester in sight.
AUD$899.99
