With so much late season snowfall, we were able to operate well into October. The Rookie Academy joined us for the last day of the season and were guided by Geoff Small. They scored some awesome steep lines and great snow. Check out this great video they made to see how good conditions were right until our last day for the 2010 season. Watching this makes us wish it was still Winter!
The Rookie Academy
October 27th, 2010Tell us what you think!
October 21st, 2010Anyone who loves winter sports will be very aware that great snow conditions and lots of powder depend heavily on weather and the environment. We have to respect our environment in order to continue to enjoy ourselves in the great outdoors for years to come. It’s a balancing act and something we are very aware of here at Harris Mountains Heli-Ski.
We operate in a way which we believe to be as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. For example, we never leave anything behind, all rubbish is taken out of the field and we work hard to protect the beautiful mountain environment we love skiing in.
It’s certainly not something we take for granted and we’d love to hear your feedback on this topic! Tell us what you think about how we operate in the context of the environment and sustainability. Did we meet your expectations on this front?
You can post your comments, feedback and questions on this topic right here on our blog or on our heli ski Facebook page.
Let’s hope we may long continue to ride powder like this! Rider: Wolle Nyvelt Photo: Nick Hamilton, Transworld Snowboarding
2010 Photo Competition Winner
October 13th, 2010A few weeks back, as the winter season began to wind down (but the fresh snow kept coming), we launched a photo competition on our Facebook page and we were inundated with fantastic entries! It’s been awesome to see all the great photos you’ve taken throughout the season on your heli ski day with us, we miss all your smiling faces already. We let our Facebook fans decide which photo deserved to win and here it is. DRUM ROLL…
The winning photo, taken by Greg Doyle on a super sunny powder day in New Zealand’s Southern Alps backcountry and shows our guide Whitney putting in some fresh turns. Good work Greg, the shot is fantastic!
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all – it’s been an incredible season and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it, not to mention every powder turn, and we’re pretty sure you did too! Whether you are a regular heli skier / snowboarder or winter 2010 was your first time, we hope to see you all back next year for some more good times on snow. Don’t forget, you can still keep in touch and up to date with us on Facebook and Twitter during the off season. Keep posting and sharing your photos and videos, we love seeing them and getting amped on winter, even during summer. Thanks everyone and see you next year!
WINNING photo by Greg Doyle! Congratulations, you’ve won an HMH hoodie.
The runners up were…
Photo by Lyndell Keating, in 2nd place.
Photo by Josh Yoshee Ward, in 3rd place.
Facebook Photo Competition
September 21st, 2010As the 2010 winter season in New Zealand draws to a very snowy close (it’s not over yet, we’re still heliskiing!) we thought it might be fun to run a photo competition! We’d love you to share those unforgettable moments you captured on your camera heliskiing or heliboarding with us. All you have to do is post your best or favourite photo from your heli ski day during the 2010 winter season to the wall of our facebook page – and you’ll be in with a chance to win a Harris Mountains Heli-Ski hoodie.
The photo can be anything you like – action, scenery, people shots (max 3 photos per person to be submitted). And remember to add a caption! Here’s the fun part, YOU guys are the judges as the photo with the most LIKES will win! Entries accepted until 10 October. We can’t wait to see your shots, so go to our Facebook page and get posting!
Heliskiing in Spring
September 11th, 2010Spring is now in full swing here in New Zealand’s Southern Alps. With plenty of snow (1-3m base) in our backcountry terrain in Wanaka, Queenstown and Mount Cook, we are operating right through September and perhaps into the beginning of October, depending on snow conditions and client demand, so just let us know if you are keen to go! Conditions are currently great and everyone has been enjoying riding the silky smooth spring corn snow. No doubt we’ll have a few storms passing through bringing a top up of fresh snow over the next couple of weeks. If we get some freshies, we’ll be sure to let you know – just LIKE our facebook page and you’ll get our powder alerts in your news feed!
Want to see for yourself what the current backcountry conditions are like? Check out this vid we filmed on 8 September. It’s not deep powder, but it sure is super fun out there right now!
Some very happy heli clients!
August 29th, 2010We’ve seen a lot of smiling faces over the last few weeks and it’s not too surprising considering all the awesome powder we’ve had! With feedback like this coming in – “We went out with your crew last Thursday and it was the best day of riding I’ve ever had. We felt like we won the lottery, a bluebird day, tonnes of powder and an awesome guide.” – we know we must be doing something right!
We received some fantastic feedback from David, a client from Australia, who flew with us recently and thought we would share his great photos and comments with you right here on our blog. Thanks David!
Loving every minute of it! (David pictured in the middle)
Super sweet fresh lines!
Big smiles all round and powder friends for life!
Here’s what David had to say about his heli experience with us:
“Thanks very much for a great day I’ll never forget. What an experience! It was a real adventure. I felt like I was in good hands and was confident making the plunge.”
“Service – Impeccable. Safety – Careful, thorough, expert and reassuring. Fun – You bet. Patience – Appreciated and given freely. Lunch – Fantastic and desperately needed. Extra Run – The best one of the day. Excitement – Couldn’t sleep for 24 hours afterwards… too pumped.”
What can we say?! A day of heliskiing or heliboarding with us is definitely one you won’t forget in a hurry! We love hearing all your feedback and memories of your day, so keep it coming. You can keep in touch with Harris Mountains Heli-Ski at our Facebook page and post plenty of feedback and photos up there too!
Check out our latest videos!
August 29th, 2010Here are our latest heli ski videos from last week. Lots of powder, lots of sunshine and lots of very happy people!
Filmed on our GoPro HD on 24 August.
Another mind blowing day on 25 August.
Don’t forget to LIKE our Facebook page – you’ll find daily updates, powder alerts, snow reports, videos, photos and lots more on there. Plus you can post YOUR photos, videos, comments and feedback on there too!
More powder vids to get you fizzzing!
August 18th, 2010The last couple of weeks have seen some truly epic conditions here in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, especially in the Mount Cook region where a single storm delivered 1m of snow! Check out our latest videos from last week.
Another day of bluebird powder goodness in Wanaka, heliskiing and heliboarding in the Motatapu Range.
This one is our favourite so far! While out heliskiing in the Ben Ohau Range, Mount Cook on 11 August we ran into some very special friends – a group of wild Tahr mountain goats, who looked like they could benefit from having a snowboard strapped to their feet to get through all that fresh powder!
Stay tuned for more… coming very soon!
Girls Day Out – 25 August 2010!
August 16th, 2010Brand new for the 2010 Winter season, we are bringing all you ladies out there a very special day out with us! Drum roll….. announcing, the Harris Mountains Heli Ski Girls Day Out!
Join our team of all women guides: Anna, Karen and Katie, for a day to remember. You’ll be out lapping fresh powder lines in some of New Zealand’s best heli skiing terrain. Your mode of mountain transport, whether it be ski, snowboard or telemark, is up to you and we’ll organise the rest! And remember, if you can ski, you can heli ski. We’ll take to our best terrain, suited especially to your ability level.
The day includes: 4 run heliski day, sumptuous lunch, Moet champagne, return transfers to heli-staging areas, avalanche transceivers, $50 Le Spa voucher, Goodie Bag and we’ll donate $30 to Breast Cancer.
When: Wednesday 25th August 2010 Price: $825 per person. Don’t miss out – limited places available, so call 03 442 6722 to book now.
Powder month!
August 10th, 2010It’s mid-winter in New Zealand and after a dry spell during July, it’s starting to really dump. The snow gods are smiling on us again and August is living up to it’s reputation of being the powder month! The Southern Alps got hit hard by last weekend’s storm and our terrain received 40cm+ of fresh snow. Following that we’ve had perfect bluebird days with hardly a breath of wind. Winter weather is hard to predict, but August is definitely off to a great start!
August is also the month when Queenstown and Wanaka really start buzzing. With the 2010 Burton Open kicking off at Cardrona Alpine Resort today, Wanaka is definitely the place to be if you want to check out all the action, mix with the pros and party it up. And don’t forget to give us a call, if you want a powder hit. It’s epic out there right now!
We’ll be back soon with a video update of the conditions since the huge snowfall over the weekend, but for now sit back and enjoy this footage from our day heli skiing and snowboarding in the North Buchanans range on 4 August.
Check out the Harris Mountains Heli Ski Vimeo Channel or YouTube Channel for regular vids. Subscribe, add us as a friend and we’ll make sure we bring you plenty of powder stoke all winter long. If you’ve been out with us, we love to see your photos and videos too, so feel free to post them up on our Facebook page – where you’ll also find daily updates, snow reports and lots more!
