Ohau
In the Canterbury region, about halfway between the Southern Lakes and Christchurch, a small road branches off from the main road towards the mountains. As soon as you turn onto this road, you drive past the obligatory flocks of sheep and, looking out of the windshield, you can already see your destination, the Ohau Skifield. Ohau Lodge, which is part of the ski resort, is picturesquely situated right at the foot of the mountain by the lake of the same name. The lodge offers a range of accommodation options, from camper pitches to luxurious rooms with views of the lake and the mountain ranges beyond. If you are visiting Ohau and still have a little bit of your budget left, it is advisable to spend at least one night at the lodge (this may sound like surreptitious advertising, but it is definitely not. The following description is a clear recommendation!
The operators Mike and Louise are excellent hosts and the lodge is more than just accommodation. After a day of skiing, both guests and the staff at Skifields can be found enjoying an after-work beer in the hotel bar or on the terrace overlooking Lake Ohau. If you want to relax, there are two whirlpools for guests in a separate area of the terrace, where the beer tastes even better in the warm bubbling water with a view of the lake. Once you're ready to leave the hot tub again, the lodge's excellent cuisine invites you to dinner. A nightcap tastes just as good in the hotel bar or in the lodge's cozy lounge. And if you still haven't had enough, you can simply pack your things, go down to the lake, make a campfire on the shore with driftwood and head off into the night
Celebrate. You don't need to worry about whether this is forbidden or undesirable. The most you can expect from the owner Mike is a question as to why you didn't invite him to join the party. In addition to all the amenities that the lodge offers, Ohau is all about having fun in the snow. The ski field road directly from the lodge to the ski resort offers one of the most beautiful views in New Zealand. Once in the ski resort, the choice is easy: there is only one chairlift. This leads almost to the ridge of a large terrain chamber. If you hike the bootpack created by the ski patrol to the ridge, there are plenty of options for freeriders. From leisurely open descents to narrow, steep gullies: you can reach everything via relatively short hikes along the ridge. If you want to hike a little further, you can follow the flat, hilly part of the ridge to the south-west to get to "Hammies Run". This unpatrolled variation leads over two terrain steps back to the road to the ski resort. This can be reached again via a short footpath along the road. In spring or in winters with little snow, the last part of the run should be explored from the road. There is often very little snow or slush here and you should therefore be prepared for difficult conditions or a slightly longer walk. The ski resort's café and especially its carrot and nut cake should not go unmentioned here... It tastes particularly good on the terrace in front of the café and you can plan your next run or the party in the evening while listening to good music (the owner's son is always happy to hear praise!).
Temple Basin
Located in the middle of the picturesque Arthurs Pass National Park, Temple Basin, or TB as the area is also known in New Zealand, is a classic club field. These ski resorts are not run by a company but by a non-profit club. The founders were mostly true pioneers who opened up the mountains to skiers in the 1920s and 1930s (in the case of Temple Basin in 1929) with the simplest of means. The members of the clubs still put in days of work for maintenance and
in return, they receive discounted day tickets and overnight stays in the mostly affiliated clubhouses. Some of the infrastructure has remained largely the same since the early days. Then as now, skiers were transported by the infamous rope tows (or nutcracker lifts). These essentially consist of a motor (often an old tractor motor) and a rope into which the skiers are hooked by means of a harness. This sounds quite simple, but it has its pitfalls, especially for snowboarders. A kind of metal clamp (which resembles a nutcracker - hence the name "nutkcacker" - and hence the nickname for this type of lift) is attached to the straps available for hire in the clubs, which are thrown around the moving rope and the rope is then clamped in, pulling you upwards with it. To get off, you loosen the grip and the clamp falls off the rope and you are free. However, the way up is not child's play, as there are always rollers guiding the rope. Under no circumstances should you get your hands between them and the rope. There are no mudguards or similar. Protective covers for gloves should also be used. Otherwise your high-tech functional gloves are unlikely to survive a morning on the Nutcracker lift! But don't let this put you off: a freeride trip to NZ is not complete without riding a nutcracker. And don't worry if it doesn't work out straight away, you're not alone: the Kiwis will be happy to tell you about the first pathetic attempts of various European freeride pros on the rope tows in the Club Fields! Maybe the following video will give you an idea of what to expect. Temple Basin is one of New Zealand's Club Fields that has become world famous. There's a simple reason for this: the grounds are great! But before you can enjoy it, you have to visit the
Access the ski resort itself. This is located 400 meters above the parking lot and can only be reached via a narrow path. However, you can (and should) send your luggage and skis up on the equipment cable car. The equipment cable car is located a few hundred meters after the parking lot on the right-hand side coming from Christchurch (in this video you can see the path and parts of the clubhouse). There are three rope tows in the ski area itself. However, these are not all connected by slopes, but require a hike or two to get from one lift to the next. It would also be wrong to speak of "slopes" in TB. There is no piste grooming equipment and that is a good thing - TB is a freerider's paradise! The patrolled area has everything a freerider's heart desires. In addition to leisurely runs around the lifts, there are a variety of gullies and features, including massive cliff doubles. But as is so often the case, a picture is worth a thousand words. Just take a look at the "slope map" of Temple Basin and choose your lines.
Perhaps also, but certainly not only, because of this great terrain, freeride pros have already made statements such as "If I had to stay in one mountain to snowboard for the rest of my life it would be Temple Basin" (Brad Steward - Transworld Snowboarding 1996). Current Kiwi pros such as FWT rider Neil Williman also state that Temple Basin is their favorite spot in New Zealand. We can also recommend a stay at the clubhouse in TB. The atmosphere and the food are good, the fridge is stocked with craft beers and the ski instructors and patrollers are sure to tell you a few out-of-bounds variations that you can explore on touring skis over dinner. And if you're looking for a change after the freeride days in Temple Basin, you can follow the road over Arthurs Pass further west and reach the sea with some good surf spots in less than two hours!
