From: cej@dstos3.dsto.gov.au
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Snow report: NZ Mt Hutt & Queenstown
Date: 20 Aug 92 23:58:11 GMT
Organization: Defence Science and Technology Organisation

I was @ Mt Hutt from 2/8/92 to 8/8 and @ Queenstown from 10/8 to 14/8.
In all resorts the snow conditions were excellent.(80-180 cm)
On groomed trails the cover was excellent top to bottom, with firm snow.
There was the occasional powder on top of it when snow fell late in the night.
On other trails there was generally light powder snow on a deep base (Sometimes
it was heavy soft snow). Heliskiing conditions were excellent when weather
permitted.
Weather was average at Mt Hutt (2 v. windy days, 2 foggy- snowing days,
1 day closed because of 200km winds and 2 absolutely fantastic blue sky
wonderful days). The day it was closed, 10 chairs were damaged (some partially
derailed),the resturaunt balcony collapsed, and a T-bar got an electrical
fault. The golden mile wasn't open much and was fairly bare because of winds.
Towers was open, steep as ever and was fantastic firm to powdery (it was
occasionally icy). The triple wasn't open too much because of weather, but
the runs were good if a little icy at times. The central area of the resort
maintained great conditions throughout. Particularly good were the upper
T-bar runs and down the line of the quad. The powder bowl next to the lower
T-bar had up to 2.5m of powder in it-great for zooming into it & up the other
side.
For the curious, I would say that while Mt Hutt isn't a huge resort, it is
excellent when all lifts are operating. This depends on weather: high winds
usually mean just the T-bars are running. Some runs are great, and you can go
all over the mountain without striking a ski run (if you don't know where
you are going!) There weren't too many bumps while I was there- mainly off
the upper T-bar and on the triple runs.

Queenstown: Here I spent 2 days at Coronet Peak, 1 day at the Remarkables and
1 day at Cardrona. Not enough you say? Right! BTW, weather was ok to good on
each day.
Coronet Peak has some _really_ fantastic terrain, with easy to very hard
challenges. The back bowls (double blacks) were closed both days due to
avalanche danger. Snow varied between soft powder to soft packed (off groomed
trails). Good runs included walkabout, ego alley, donkey seranade, pro-am
(soft powder on top of big bumps!), powder run and lunch rocks (skiing
"the keyhole" is a blast every time!).  The lift system at Coronet Peak left
a lot to be desired. The have a ~20yr old double & triple, which should both
be detachable quads! There were long delays on Monday because of this. The
other lifts are probably ok for where they are.
At the Remarkables, the lift system is excellent, and so was the conditions on
the day I was there. Go up the Sugar Bowl valley chair for racing each other
and not too hard skiing. The shadow basin chair takes you up a valley with
generally hard runs. Try Waterfall for some fun bumps and the Homeward runs for
some long powder runs. Alta chair is for access & for beginners. There
was some avalanche danger round the resort- one minor one swept onto a green
trail & partially buried someone.
The Remarkables had the most beautiful scenery, and I liked it the best. It
could possibly have a few more lifts, but that is about all I could think of
to improve it. BTW, not a huge # of intermediate runs here.
Cardrona had a charm all of it's own-well worth going to. It had a good # of
lifts, with well varied terrain. 40 of our tour group tried the "standard"
timed race course there, with me getting a bronze medal time of 19.33 secs!!
I really enjoyed this timed racing & want to try it some more!
What did I do on my day off in Queenstown? I went on the "Triple Challenge":
Jetboating, helicopter ride then white water rafting on the Shotover.
Do it if you get the chance- it is fantastic!!

While I was in NZ, a minor resort had a major avalanche, taking out most of
the central slopes. 1 person (the senior ski patroller) was caught & will
stay buried under 10m of snow until spring. 40 other people (all the rest
that were there that day) were still at lunch in the cafe. They
were all 10 minutes late for a 1pm lesson and most would have been in the way
of the avalanche! Makes you think, aye...


Its late, I've got to go, bye!

--
Chris Jones                                  E-mail: cej@dstos3.dsto.gov.au
CSS/CD/ERL                                    Phone: +61 8 259 6758
DSTO Salisbury, South Australia                 Fax: +61 8 259 6328

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are purely personal and do NOT represent
            the official view of DSTO.

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