Whilst visiting other club fields I was warned that getting to Mt. Olympus was a challenge, a Kiwi understatement. When you head to Mt. Olympus you enter the world of Lord of the Rings. About 20 minutes out of Christchurch you leave the west coast road, for the next 50 km or so miles its straight and flat, then the fun begins, about 30 km of twist and turns into the hills.

Then it starts to get serious, not long after turning of the Lake Coleridge road you hit gravel, after 20 km you pass Ryton sheep station, the track narrows and heads steeply up hill. It’s still another 15km to the field, the last 2km on ice and snow, the road now so arrow the car barely fits and no barrier of course.

The field itself is a snowfilled bowl at the head of a valley. The access tow starts right at the carpark, This brings you to the lodge, main and beginners tow. At the top of main tow you have a short top tow, giving access to some long sweeping runs and the opportunity to traverse out to some impressively steep faces. In the middle of the field there are cliffs and bluffs, some a little too large to huck off.

I arrived finding only a bulldozer and a ski patroller’s pickup truck in the carpark. But on arriving at the lodge I was welcomed by the thirty or so week long guests (you can stay at the lodge to avoid driving back down the road). The snow was wind deposited snow or hardpack, as the previous few days had been powder no one else wanted to play. So I got the place to myself…rather entertaining…but a bit hard at times with no tracks to follow and rapidly failing light.

This may not be the biggest ski area I’ve visited, its not the smallest either. But is probably one of the friendliest. You will always receive a warm welcome at this area, tea and coffee are of course in a free and endless supply. With a dump of powder this place would truly become the gods…..Plenty of scope for fun and no crowds guaranteed by the road!

Words and Pictures from Tom Greenall - Natives Resort Reporter

More First Impressions...

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