Ok guys, some of you may remember my thread on my NZ board trip Iposteda fair while ao. Well the time has come ad it's wheels up Wednesday morning, up and over the ditch and then drive to Qtown. Basically sorted out what we want to do as far as mountains etc, we have a day spare next Tuesday which by the report I have been looking at, should be perfect for a heli trip, sunny and light winds.

I have some questions for anyone who has done it before, who did you go with in the Qtown area? How many runs would be a good number? Im an intermediate I guess an the mate I'm with is fine linking his turns and doing little jumps on the blue runs. I'm not after super steeps or chutes, I just want some big open bowls with natural hits and powder to hack into!

Im starting to freak out I'm that excited ha ha ha! We have a budget for it of about $800 or so NZD. Any advice appreciated, thanks guys!

I've just come back from 2 weeks in NZ and did a day of heli whilst over there - did the 7 run day with the Harris Mountain guys out of Wanaka, which cost about $800 Aus. Went with them as I'd heard from others they are one of the best operators and have access to the best terrain.

As long as one can comfortably control their board in fresh snow its all good - from what you've said on your ability level you'll be more than fine. When you register you fill in a form anyway where you rate your riding ability and this is used to select the appropriate terrain and to ensure groups at the same level ride together.

The operators take your safety very seriously and unless you're actually a pro they won't take you down any really gnarly chutes etc. We were in the advanced group and were typically confined to moderate to steepish open bowls depite the avi risk being low at the time. Would have actually have liked to ride some more tech terrain but no compalints here - was an awesome day with 10-30 cm of fresh.

Most operators have do a package of a certain number of runs and you have the option of buying extra runs on top of that - this usually costs about $100 per extra run. We just did the 7 run package and we were happy with that - the runs were long and each about 800m vertical.

Hope this helps & have a great trip!

my friends went with Harris too and liked it

we went with helipark a month ago today! I think its the cheapest you'll find http://www.helipark.co.nz.
We got a nights accommo, fancy dinner & breakfast and a packed lunch and 4 runs...all for just under $600AUD
$325NZ is your access pass & each run is $75NZ after that.

check my video I posted in the short film comp for a bit of footage. It was so much fun. Only catch is its not close to queenstown...took us about 5 1/2hrs to drive up from Qtown but if you're into it, a good idea would be to get up early...drive to wanaka & ride either cardrona, treble cone or snow park for the morning & then drive the rest of the way after lunch. (I recommend snow park cos its the cheapest & so much frigging fun - even if you've never ridden much park before. They've had a ridiculously good season as far as weather goes, too & are unlikely to be closed) That way you don't lose a day of riding.

just an option. feel free to ask any questions!

Also rate helipark - I rode their in 2007 which was the last year of their cat operation. The terrain was awesome & you were certainly allowed to play in the gnarly stuff. So much so that is was almost my undoing - was the first drop a very loaded bowl into a tightish chute and the next guy that went triggered a decent sized slide that cleaned up both him and the guide. Likely only minor injuries....

Another Harris suggestion.

Went out with them last season, was a great day.

Harris and Southern Lakes.

Did the 4 run day with Harris, and enjoyed it enough that I spent an evening walking around Queenstown debating whether to do another day. So I put my name on the reservation list for the 8? run day with Southern Lakes, went out for dinner, and then told them to go forward with it.

No gnarly terrain, but riding in a helicopter is a thrill, and the views are to die for. One of my more memorable riding experiences (2003), it's one of those must-dos for riders, in my opinion, although something I can justify every 5 years or so. I also went for a day at Whistler back in 2008 for my birthday, and that was even awesomer.