Real New Zealand - Club Fields - 04, 05, 06

**Feral** · 01-23-2008, 03:16 AM

Hi Everyone - Thought I would just give you a taste of my last few years skiing in New Zealand.

I you are coming to New Zealand for decent skiing then there are only two options
- heli skiing
- club fields

Many people come to New Zealand and end up spending weeks on crowded commercial resorts. The real NZ however can be found in the Canterbury Club Fields.

These clubs fields are the perfect place to have the time of your life. You will meet great people and have great skiing also. Skiers stay on the field in small communal huts of about 50. Usually those 50 people will be the only people skiing the mountain! After a storm, quite often there is no access to the field so it is just the people in the hut skiing the field.

These fields not only have a great feeling to them but also have some of the most extreme terrain in New Zealand. Craigieburn is 45% advanced

and 55% intermediate. Most fields have about 400-500m vertical accessed by a couple of high speed rope tows.

In February last year I skied in Utah overseas for the first time. It was amazing and had some awesome snow but by the end of the day it was mostly tracked out. Although we obviously don't get Wasatch quantity or quality of snow BUT at the club fields it takes at least 5 days for the mountain to become tracked out!

The club fields in Canterbury:
- Mt Olympus (best in my opinion)

- Craigieburn Valley (most extreme field in NZ)

- Broken River
- Temple Basin
- Mt Cheeseman
- There are a few other club fields scattered around the place but these are the primary ones.

Most club Fields run on nutcrackers - a belt with a clamp which you attach to the rope. Nutcrackers can be quite hard work if new to them but shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
The club fields are best between early August and mid September as there is very little grooming and no snow making

If you are coming here for a season then you will get awsome value out of a Chill Pass - $300 US for unlimited access to 10 mountains.

I encourage anyone coming to New Zealand for skiing to try a ski week at a club field as you will find places with a real heart and soul to them.

There are plenty of photos from the last few years and here is a rich selection.

**p@wder** · 01-23-2008, 03:54 AM

dude, those are some tiny pictures. Wheres the HD?

**jonski** · 01-23-2008, 04:49 AM

^^even 'full size' these aren't much bigger...

PS try using search - there are already a whole heap of NZ TRs. including both heli and club. Just ask 666...

**downarmy** · 01-23-2008, 11:42 AM

i support this thread but next time keep ur mouth shut!

Those mountains are awsome and trow in TC in there too.

**skier666** · 01-23-2008, 11:58 AM

This may be the first NZ spam we've seen here...

**Feral** · 01-23-2008, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by skier666

This may be the first NZ spam we've seen here...

Believe me this is not spam......

There are just pleanty of posts on these forums sounding disappointed at their experiences with NZ commercial fields. People don't know what they are missing.

Just trying to show people the light.........

**skier666** · 01-23-2008, 12:37 PM

WTF is a clubfield?

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=58223

**Squirrel99** · 01-23-2008, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by Feral

Believe me this is not spam......

There are just pleanty of posts on these forums sounding disappointed at their experiences with NZ commercial fields. People don't know what they are missing.

Just trying to show people the light.........

666 was a terrible tour guide. We never saw or skied any gnar - Slim and I couldn't wait to leave

I think he just really liked the Flat Whites. Oh and the pies.