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Our trip to New Zealand was sponsored by the Pentagon Ski Club, and was meant to provide us with a week of skiing in the Queenstown area. However, even before the trip began, many of those on the trip indicated that they weren't planning to do much, if any, skiing. Instead, they were planning to spend their time sightseeing. As it turned out, this was probably a good plan. New Zealand was having an unusually mild winter, with very little snow, even in the mountains. The ski areas that didn't have snow making capabilities had almost snow on their runs, while those with the ability to make snow were struggling with the warm daytime temperatures, which were making the runs very icy.
On our first day in Queenstown, we went up to the Skyline complex on the mountain above Queenstown, which provided tremendous views of the area around the city. Here is a picture of the Coronet Peak ski area:
As you can see, the only snow is on the ski runs on the top of the mountain. I don't know what this view would be like in a normal winter would look like, but I suspect that it would include a great deal more white.
Because the skiing conditions sounded so poor, there was much discussion about the merits of doing any skiing, but Mrs. Qgeek and I decided that we had to ski at least one day, if only to be able to say that we had skied in NZ in August. Consequently, Thursday morning found us up early, putting on our layers of skiwear. We caught the ski shuttle up to the mountain, purchased our lift tickets and set off to explore the mountain. The clouds were low that morning, cloaking the top third of the mountain in a dense fog that made skiing more difficult. However, the lower slopes were clear, and I was able to take this picture of the valley, looking back towards Queenstown:
As we skied, the temperature climbed steadily, and the snow became heavier and the skiing more difficult. Just before lunch, we stopped and had this picture taken of Mrs. Qgeek and me:
Shortly after lunch, it began to rain, and after only a couple more runs, I was completely soaked. As I rode the chair lift up the last time, I realized that I wasn't having fun. I returned to the lodge at the base of the resort, and called it a day. Mrs. Qgeek made one more run, and then we caught the shuttle back to town. Overall, I'd have to say that the conditions were comparable to those I've experienced at the ski areas in Virginia. If I had gone on this trip primarily for the skiing, I would have been very disappointed. However, there were so many other things to see and do that the poor skiing really didn't upset me terribly.
On our first day in Queenstown, we went up to the Skyline complex on the mountain above Queenstown, which provided tremendous views of the area around the city. Here is a picture of the Coronet Peak ski area:
 |
As you can see, the only snow is on the ski runs on the top of the mountain. I don't know what this view would be like in a normal winter would look like, but I suspect that it would include a great deal more white.
Because the skiing conditions sounded so poor, there was much discussion about the merits of doing any skiing, but Mrs. Qgeek and I decided that we had to ski at least one day, if only to be able to say that we had skied in NZ in August. Consequently, Thursday morning found us up early, putting on our layers of skiwear. We caught the ski shuttle up to the mountain, purchased our lift tickets and set off to explore the mountain. The clouds were low that morning, cloaking the top third of the mountain in a dense fog that made skiing more difficult. However, the lower slopes were clear, and I was able to take this picture of the valley, looking back towards Queenstown:
 |
As we skied, the temperature climbed steadily, and the snow became heavier and the skiing more difficult. Just before lunch, we stopped and had this picture taken of Mrs. Qgeek and me:
 |
Shortly after lunch, it began to rain, and after only a couple more runs, I was completely soaked. As I rode the chair lift up the last time, I realized that I wasn't having fun. I returned to the lodge at the base of the resort, and called it a day. Mrs. Qgeek made one more run, and then we caught the shuttle back to town. Overall, I'd have to say that the conditions were comparable to those I've experienced at the ski areas in Virginia. If I had gone on this trip primarily for the skiing, I would have been very disappointed. However, there were so many other things to see and do that the poor skiing really didn't upset me terribly.
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Date: 2005-08-23 10:25 am (UTC)