Shelly Gotlieb goes Heliboarding!

August 22nd, 2010

The team here at Harris Mountains Heli-Ski would like to send out a huge congratulations to Shelly Gotlieb, New Zealand’s top female snowboarder, who took 2nd place last week in the Slopestyle finals of the 2010 Burton NZ Open at Cardrona Alpine Resort. Go girl! Each winter season Shelly steps up and pushes herself and the sport, a real inspiration for all girls who love to ride.

To see all the action from the Burton NZ Open Slopestyle finals, check out this report from Robett Hollis and the team at NZsnowboard.com – and look out for the interview with Shelly G.

Last winter season SnowSports NZ awarded Shelly ‘New Zealand Snowboarder of the Year 08/09′ – an outstanding achievement which prompted us to reward Shelly with a day of heliboarding with us during the 2009 winter season. Here’s a few snaps from that day… which just so happened to be an epic day of blue skies, deep powder and high fives!

Photos: Sarah Mulholland

A perfect bluebird day and a sweet view to start the day from Aspiring Airstrip in the Matukituki valley, Wanaka.

The day’s crew led by guide Jef Desbecker… first drop, amped and ready for action! And yep, that’s Mount Aspiring in the background.

Shelly sends it!

Flying up for more, lap after lap of powder goodness… checking out our lines on the way.

Touching down in a snowy valley for lunch… yeah!

Shelly was buzzing all day, super stoked! Life doesn’t get better!

Fresh lines in the North Buchanans range all day long.

A little stop to take in that epic view of the Southern Alps!

Shelly and Jef… and some well earned beers at the end of the day.

Ladies, don’t miss out on our awesome event next week – the Harris Mountains Heli-Ski Girls Day Out taking place on Wednesday 25 August. Whether you are a hardcore chick who rips, or an intermediate / first time heli skier or snowboarder – this event is the perfect opportunity to come together for a heli day with like-minded ladies. You’ll be skiing / riding powder in specific small groups with girls of a similar ability, led by our team of all women guides – Anna, Karen and Katie. For more details, scroll down to our special Blog post. It’s only a few days away and places are limited so give our friendly team a call on 03 442 6722 if you would like to book.

Freshies for breakfast!

July 27th, 2010

The New Zealand heli ski season is now well under way and winter is really starting to deliver. We’ve had 40cm+ fresh snowfall in our terrain over the last week and conditions are currently great… and there’s more snow on the radar. The powder drought is over! With July coming to an end, we’re excited to see what August – usually our big powder month – will bring. Fingers crossed, the snow gods will deliver the goods!

We’ve had lots of perfect bluebird powder days over the last week, with our guides hunting down the best snow and best lines to ride. Take a peek at our most recent video, filmed on 25 July 2010, in the stunning Mount Aspiring National Park.

Powder day!

July 22nd, 2010

There’s nothing better than waking up bright and early on a powder day… especially when you are heading out to ski with helicopters. Yesterday was one of those days. With our eyes on the weather every second, finally the much anticipated storm arrived and delivered the goods. 30cm+ of fresh snow waiting for us in the backcountry on 21 July! It was on! Check out this vid of the epic powder day we got yesterday, we had sooo much fun out there.

For regular updates, snow reports, powder alerts, videos and more check out the Harris Mountains Heli-Ski Facebook page – packed with daily info to get you stoked and keep you up to date throughout the winter season! Don’t forget, we love to see YOUR photos and videos too, so if you have been out heliskiing or heliboarding with us, get posting. If Twitter is your thing, we’re on there too… so what are you waiting for? Follow Harris Mountains Heli-Ski on Twitter!