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Kiwi Snow Reports, New ZealandJune 23, 2000 - Free and IndependentKia Ora Pennies from heaven, white gold, half a million visitors, thousands of jobs, lifeline for businesses, sixty million dollars pumped in to the economy ....... the media reaches a salivated slather as the snow areas around New Zealand open with an abundance of snow. Plllllleeeeeeaaseeee. Give it a rest! How does it make YOU feel, quoted as a statistic? How does it make YOU feel to be held responsible for sustaining all those businesses and jobs? Long lost out of site is the true essence of why we all do this thing in the snow. Long lost out of site is the exhilaration of travelling up a chairlift. Think I'm joking? How often have you wondered what the real people are up to as you sit down and relax on your way back up for another run? How often have felt guilty as you wonder in amazement at this truly amazing method of relaxing in time, anticipating the wind whistling past your ears and the white fluff flying up around your face? It's time for some civil disobedience. Tell the boss to shove it. A broad sweep of the arm across the desk gets rid of those piles of paper. A tanker of cement will get rid of those weeds in the garden. Pile the family and friends in to the car, plane or helicopter and get yourself to the nearest snow. Forget the excuses. Forget the furore. Just go for the pure pleasure and live life before the raucous cacophony of drivel from the media drowns you in practicalities and we all forget what it is like to live ....... for fun. Evan " just for fun thanks " Bloomfield Click here to go back to our snow reports home page. >== This Issue ** Cumulative Snow Fall |
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These snow measurements are a loose collection of information from radio, paper and the ski areas themselves. Extend this with some "field work", sadly not as much as I should, mix in the odd phone call to Mary at the Waiorau Snow Farm or Ange at Coronet Peak and shake it all about. The two columns try and relate to the base buildings and the top of the top lifts at about 6am. Measuring snow depth is as they say is an art so you need to read between the lines. I am sure there is an "official" way of measuring snow fall. Any meteorologists out there keen to volunteer an answer? Don't forget that snow compacts a lot so what you hear and what you see may be two different things :-)
>== Snow Area Report as of 23 June Some serious displays of water this week as the Wakatipu Basin, and beyond I am sure, got doused. Warmer north westerlies drove the freezing level back up with the lower slope getting a bit of slush to make a nice solid base. Lots of snow around and ironically most of the local snow areas could have opened earlier but they weren't really ready - staff training and general winter season start ups being scheduled a little "late". Local weather call is stay at home and watch Jonah run through the Scots on Saturday then check out the snow fields Sunday.
Coronet Peak - opened 4 June The snow cover is excellent with some great off trail snow for this time of year. Rain and warmer weather has exposed a few tussocks but she is still looking pretty damned white. Greengates Triple is now open but the Rocky Gully T-Bar is waiting. The half pipe and terrain park are expected to open in the next week or so. Cardrona - opening Friday 23 June Best snow for opening in 10 years but unfortunately the weather didn't really co-operate! All facilities operational. Snow base of 110cm at the top and 40cm, at the bottom. I flew over it the other day and it looks pretty wicked! 2 new magic carpets, 100 more carparks close to the base building and
pizzas and cannelloni over at the Captains Pizzeria. International and
Johhny half pipes are cut and looking sweet ready for radical boarders
to fling themselves into the ozone.
Waiorau Snow Farm - opening officially soon but the truth is if
you wonder up and say gidday they are bound to have a broad smile and
some skinny skis available for hire. Lots of trails have been cut. >== Search dog owners get training Cardrona has been base for 8 dogs of the NZ Alpine search dogs for the past week. They have been training the owners in a variety of snow based scenarios. Apparently the dogs already know what to do, it's us the humans who muck it up! Hopefully none of you will get in to the situation where you need them but be reassured they can find you in less than 15 minutes should you need it. |
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Here's Nanoonk showing his handler Brian Heward where to dig in a night time exercise. There is actually a person buried under that snow! |
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>== Winter Snow Events and the Wanaka Sleddog Festival Want to know wot's going on when you plan to visit? We have two winter events calendars online. First off we have just about every snow event for the year 2000 snow season in the Queenstown and Wanaka area. Well almost every event. Craig from Dunedin fills us in on one we missed. By the way, there's another event you haven't got on your calendar. It's the annual Wanaka Sleddog Festival and Waiorau-50, run by the Southern Regions Sled Dog Club. The sleddog festival is a series of race heats held at the end of August / beginning of September each year at the Waiorau Snow Farm. The Week of racing culminates with the Waiorau-50, an overnight, 3-stage, 50km sled-dog race on trails recently used for the Merino Muster XC race. This year, the Waiorau-50 is on the 2nd September 2000. For more details,
see; Anyway, Thanks for the snow-cams. It's nice to actually see the snow when it arrives. Even from toasty Dunners. Craig "work is for people who don't have a sled-dog" Muir. Secondly is the outrageous Winter Festival from July 15 - 23. It's come a long way from 1975 when a few locals sat around Eichardts pub and dreamt up a series of madcap snow events. Heck. This year half of Hollywood from the Lord of the Rings cast are coming to the ball. Now the winter ball, that 's a whole different story ...... fair bit of scandal as well but nevertheless a great excuse to get out your glad rags and party in to the wee small hours. In fact you may as well stay up all night and be first on the lifts :-) |
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>== Trans Tasman Air Travel Well if you are thinking of some trans Tasman air travel to jet you straight in to Queenstown then the airlines are on your side. QANTAS is probably feeling a little churlish as it cancelled it's June direct flights in to Queenstown days before our big dump and Air New Zealand's first flight from Melbourne was diverted to Christchurch due to engineering problems but apart from that thunderbiords are go! Ansett Australia has announced a code share with it's new owner Air New Zealand (funny that) so if you have any Ansett air points you are in luck. Recent announcements by Ansett OZ however suggest that you shouldn't expect to use you points in the weekend, during school holidays or during busy times. Hmmmmmm. And if Wanaka is your flavour then Origin Pacific are taking a serious look at offering scheduled flights to Wanaka but I wouldn't hold your breath for this winter. >== The Bar is Open Remember that cold snap that swept through the South Island on 12 June? Well 100 odd people who were trapped on Mt Hutt for the night have a special stormy night to remember! Mount Hutt Ski Area manager Simon Cawley said strong winds and snow on Monday created white-out conditions on the mountain when the access road became impassable. The last time people had been trapped overnight by weather at Mount Hutt was in 1992. Most of those stranded were staff, including a group of trainee ski instructors. Mr Cawley said people bedded down in the cafeteria, and the medical centre in the administration block. They were treated to free meals and an open bar. Wow, that's not such a bad deal! Pick me. The new extensions to the base building by all accounts are just fab - heaps of space and some great vistas of the Canterbury plains. |
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>== In the Last Issue >== Do you like our SnowReports? To subscribe to our Kiwi Snow Reports click here. Our subscriber list is NOT made available to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber and respect your privacy. Click here to recommend this page to a friend. Click here to go back to our snow report home page. >================ Contact Details Evan Bloomfield |
