CARDRONA UPDATE Thursday 31st
August
It's been pretty
much an enthusiasts' week with overcast skies since
Monday. However the outlook for the week ahead is
for skies clearing and a fine weekend.
Sunday the sun
was out and a North American photoshoot for 'Nylon'
magazine was underway. Pretty glam and lots of cool
clothes. Yes we felt sorry for the models - it wasn't
that warm!
Snow conditions:
Cold temperatures
and dustings of new snow for the last 3 nights gives
Cardrona dry natural snow over the entire mountain.
Packed powder on the main runs which are being groomed
every night. Very light spring snow on sunny faces.
Off piste is about 4cm of dust on a mixed base of
tracked snow, great skiing & boarding. Current snow
base is between 60-120cm with 100% of trails and 99%
of off-piste open. Best snow is everywhere. All lifts
and facilities are operating.
All four pipes
are shaped up and maintained daily. The Monster really
is living up to it's name. With camps finishing up
all 4 pipes are open on rotation for the public. A
quarter pipe has been shaped up for the last couple
of weeks at the bottom of the Johnny. The Wonderpark
2000 is 'flying' really well although if you come
up on a foggy day you must expect the park to be closed
for safety reasons.
The 3 original
HUGE hits and two smaller jumps plus the funbox and
2 rail slides make an excellent run to play on. You
can amuse both yourself and the people on the chair
above. Looking ahead the main focus of attention is
the Sacred Hill Opera in the courtyard this Saturday
and the New Zealand University winter games right
through the weekend.
[Report courtesy
of Nigel Kerr]
