http://www.hakatours.com/
Ever been to 6 different snow resorts in 7 days? Didn’t think so. I did in 2010 when I signed up for a “Snow Safari” with Haka Tours. The tour starts in Christchurch and heads straight to Mt Hutt, where I went snowboarding hungover due to a late night out in Christchurch and whilst I was trying to make up for the hours of sleep that I should have had, everyone else was keen to get started. Mt Hutt is the closest mountain to Christchurch and therefore was pretty packed but the lifts are quick and the runs are long so there was more than enough room to fit everyone on the mountain. Hanging out with some of the new faces I met on the bus was good as well as the guys that I booked with helped to get to know people which by days 2 and 3 was not a problem anymore as the group size of 10-16 was plenty to have fun but not too many that you forget names after a week of knowing people. A trip to the hot pools capped off a good night!
Day 2 took us to Ohau, which is a small club field between Christchurch and Wanaka. With only 1 chair to the top of the mountain and maybe 5 different runs off that chair, it is easy to conquer the whole mountain. We made it to the top of the mountain and the snow was bucketing down which made it hard to see but with that much powder it was almost impossible to hurt yourself (getting lost was another issue). Steve took us on some awesome runs and I would love to return to give it another day! Probably the coolest mountain staff I have ever met, they even let us ride down the mountain on the back of their ute! (Not sure how Haka Tours would have felt about that lol).
(Riding on the back of the ute)
Days 3 and 4 were spent in the beautiful town of Wanaka. Where these days were spent at Treble Cone (home of the 13km run) and Cadrona (which was playing home to the Burton Open and crazy boarders off 70 foot booters!) Definitely my two favourite resorts in NZ, covered with a fresh layer of snow and 2 beautiful days, we were spoilt for choices of what to do. In TC, Steve took us to the top and carved some freshies down to the shutes and cliff face that barely anyone made down without falling at least a few times. Afterwards, we hit up an awesome Mexican joint for some massive food and cheap margaritas.
(Top of TC)
Day 5 was our free day in Queenstown which gave us all a chance to go bungee jumping / heli-skiing / jet boating etc. Also gave others a time to relax and get ready for 2 more epic snow days!
Day 6 meant we were off to Coronet peaks, also nick-named Concrete peaks as it is generally icy compared to the other mountains (Nothing compared to the ice in Australian Resorts). This mountain is massive and generally quite busy due to it being the closest mountain to Queenstown. By this time of the tour, everyone was super close, snowboarding during the day and partying during the night, many good times were had by all. We had hit up Fergburger at least twice and were dreading the end of the tour. We hit up world bar for some tea pots and roamed the town for snow bunnies.
(Spike - Coronet Peaks Mascot)
Day 7 was off to the Remarkables and damn was it remarkable. This place was heaven for anyone who liked park riding. The green run had jumps on it, the blue runs had jumps on it, the black runs had a house to ride over and giant tabletops. This place is legit! The best part of all is that there is other people at your skill level on the tour and plenty of people to watch and take photos and movies for you and for you to repay the favour. After the remarks was a long trip back to Christchurch for a long flight back to reality. I would have loved to stay longer and can’t wait to hit it up again soon!
(Jumping off the shack)
Thanks again Haka Tours, Steve the tour guide and such a great group of people!
(Group Shot)
