So here’s one from Colin that I never got around to posting. He’s been living in New Zealand product testing with the Burton crew and earlier in the season placed 2nd in the World Heli Challenge qualifier at Treble Cone in Wanaka New Zealand.
Colin Boyd from 6/30
New Zealand. What can I say, besides spinning yarns that stretch the imagination and the realm of possibility? NZ in its essence is a playground for big kids. Between both islands nearly every landscape known to man exists and its isolated location ensures pristine conditions as well as travellers fully committed to basking in its wonder. As the winter clouds move in, the mountains transform from sharp rugged hills to the enchanting snow encrusted Southern Alps.
From home base in Wanaka, there are three resorts within a 45 minute drive, Cardrona, Snow Park and Treble Cone. Over the dicey Crown Range in Queenstown lie The Remarkables and Coronet Peak. This goes without mentioning the Club Fields to the North and endless heli-accessible terrain between here and there.
An early dump of snow jump started the season like an eye dropper filled with liquid…caffeine. The Remarkables picked up most of the snow, so we bolted off on a pre-season recon mission in my new $900 race car! A short hike had us in the midst of the Remarks rocky terrain and into dozen pow turns before the menacing sun crust overran the bottom half of the mountain. We took a wee detour through the Southern Hemi’s only Burton Stash and even slid a few rails in the car park, stoked for the first session in early June!
Last week, the Wanaka season officially rang in with three opening days in a row. Treble Cone, one of NZ’s best freeriding resorts was stacked with about 30 cm (12 inches WOOOO!) of pow on top of one of the best early season base’s in years. The crew was riding deep and a handful of NZ’s top pros turned up for shakas and face shots. We ended up getting a few shots for The Hallway, a weekly update from the kiwi rider Bevan Hall. The Airbag (Airbag.co.nz), a massive inflatable blob on snow, made its debut on the kiwi snow scene, and everyone was out to test out their double backies… This resulted in just one heli-vac due to massive head trauma, but all in all, everyone enjoyed testing out the new feature for on snow training.
The following evening, we headed up to Snow Park’s VIP night where we obviously pretended to be Very Important People. Snow Park’s rail line was littered with about 25 features and they’re about a week away from a 22 ft pipe! Heaps of crew showed face and the chilli vodka shot/calamari combo had everyone in good form.
A quick trip across the valley the following morning rounded off the weekend with some more park riding and a gorgeous sunrise. Cardrona was riding well with a solid base and perfectly sculpted features in the park. In general conditions in NZ are fairly equivalent to New England, so all those days training on icy Rocking Chair kickers and rails aren’t without loss.
Sorry there aren’t any riding shots…I was too busy snowboarding!
