Tom Greenall reports on his first impressions of skiing at Mount Hutt:

Isolation - In a drive of 120km between Christchurch and mount Hutt, I passed, maybe 10 houses and 500 sheep and an ostrich or two, but apart from a very small place called Rakaia there is nothing.

Difficult Access – To get the final few kilometres to ski I had to drive up a twisty slippery ice-covered track. The day’s conditions required all non-4wd vehicles to use chains. Driving fast enough to keep up with the queue of cars in front required drifting round the corners, but this haste didn’t detour the guy behind me from trying to overtake, a foolish move that ended in his 4WD sliding into a ditch, narrowly missing a 400ft slide off the hill.

Small – The amount of skiing available was very small, more akin to Scotland on a bad day, just one short chair and one run, but there is a lot of potential when there is more snow…OK were not talking Three Valleys, but it has as much vertical area, even steeps, as say Flegere in Chamonix, or Les Arcs 2000 without 1600,1800.

Snow - today there wasn’t much snow, everything was white. But when your slopes are scree in summer you need more than a few inches of fresh to make them skiable! So I had to contend with one short quad chair, and a single overcrowded run.

Expensive, but friendly - $68 for a day pass despite only one lift running! (OK not much in pounds but when you are earning $NZ). But the genuine friendliness of the staff (with the exception of the Gestapo like ski patrol) makes up for it. They seem happy to be there and happy to help but without the Company plastic smile you may come across in North America. The location is also amazing, rivalling that of the Vancouver ski hills. You can see out over the Pacific Ocean, and a view along the coast of a 100 miles or so.

Will I go back? - Yes, when someone gets me a free pass and there is a lot more snow….oh and not on the weekend… Next it’s the club fields and nutcrackers!

Words and Pictures from Tom Greenall - Natives Resort Reporter

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