So there I am shooting up the mountain in the dark with achy arms. One can not see this area of carnage until one is upon it. To add more adventure to your ride, the Kiwis have put in a midway station where skiers and boarders are jumping off the tow and more adventurously jumping on. The nutcracker only works as long as you are applying pressure to keep it closed, so you can imagine how tired and strained your arms and hands get just trying to survive the way up. Needless to say I watched a few others before I tried my hand at it and after two failed attempts, I was successfully screaming up the mountain into the dark of night. This must be done quickly or the rope will pull your fingers through crushing pulleys and possibly severe one or two fingers along the way. With the skills and timing of a professional boxer delivering a one two knock-out punch, you are expected to 1) grab the rope with one hand and 2) at the right time flip this nutcracker up and around the rope with the other. To make it more challenging, you must wear a harness with a metal hook attached called a nutcracker. That’s it.”Īt this point the tow rope is blasting skiers up the hill, but I sense something is different. Are you kidding me?! What about the slopes? Aren’t they going to light the slopes? Jason replies, “Oh no mate. Of course there is no supervision around its ride at your own risk and did I mention that it’s getting dark? The plywood box only takes us a short distance to where you have to hike another couple of hundred meters (with skis slung across shoulder) up steep, narrow and icy stairs to the ski area.Īlright so we are here, but where? Where are we?! Where is the ski slope and where are the lights? Jase says, “There it is mate.” pointing straight ahead to a 70's style rope-tow with 3,4 no more than 6 light bulbs strung overhead to guide your way up the mountain. We park in what I can only describe as a clearing in woods and post-hole through the meter deep snow to a plywood make-shift mechanical device that uses old skis as brakes. I’m not kidding you! This is what happened! We were 5 deep in Jason’s 4x4 flying over boulders, blasting thru raging rivers and loving it! That’s right.my short 5 day trip to New Zealand to ski was more than just a ski trip -it was an amazing adventure! This was just the beginning. Kiwi solution: Take a day off, jump in your 4x4 all terrain vehicle and drive up the bloody hill. Problem: ski area is 1000 meters out of reach in remote and steep terrain.Īmerican solution: Tax the populace, spend years studying and weighing options, years to construct bridges, roads, guard rails and 2000 pages of regulations. Take it away Kevin.īeing a ski instructor from the states, I’ve had my share of night skiing from California to Pennsylvania and a dozen states in between, but nothing could prepare me for a night on Broken River ski area in New Zealand. This is a special one-off blog from a visiting Aspen Ski Instructor, sampling the delights of night skiing in New Zealand.
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