Best option for skiing in Canty
If the struggle of getting out of bed in darkness wasn’t enough of a reminder, winter is setting in. It was 2 degrees Celsius in Christchurch yesterday – a warm enough dressing gown does not exist.
We are now less than a month from the official start of the chilly season, June 21, which for many Kiwis means one thing – time to hit the slopes.
And the white stuff has begun to fall. Snow fell to 200 metres in South Otago yesterday. Up Mt Hutt, Canterbury’s closest major ski field, 20 centimetres fell on Wednesday. It plans to open on June 8.
Last season my partner Josie and I spent two days skiing up Mt Hutt, voted New Zealand’s best ski resort three years running. Rather than driving from Christchurch each day we booked a few nights stay in Methven, about an hour inland from Christchurch.
The small town turns into a snow sports paradise in winter. There are quality ski shops with competitive gear rental prices, accommodation to suit all budgets and pubs aplenty. We stayed at Ski Time Lodge, on Racecourse Ave. The room cost about $150 a night and reminded us of a small-scale European lodge, with cosy rooms, leather sofas in front of an open fire, and hearty dinners for knackered snow shredders.
After breakfast we drove the half hour to Mt Hutt. Ski-pass queues moved quickly and we were soon sitting expectantly on the chair lift. The first run was a bit sketchy but once we found our feet the slopes felt like home again and we had four or five runs under our belt before lunch.
By day two we were cruising, confident even in unideal visibility that we knew the runs. Halfway through a pre-lunch run I lost track of Josie.
She crashed on some ice and like a trooper, she boarded to the bottom, unaware until weeks later she had broken four ribs. Thankfully the bar up the mountain served mulled wine.
We thrashed the piste, battered and bruised, safe in the thought our drive off the mountain was only half an hour to Methven, rather than slogging it back to Christchurch in traffic stacked with roof racks and weary drivers.