Welcome to the 2011 winter season…. and so far, we’re calling it the season of powder! Mother nature held off and held off, but last week she dumped like no other season we can remember. Conditions went from zero to all time in a matter of a few days, with 2m+ of fresh snow falling throughout our extensive terrain.
Since our heli ski season opened last week, we’ve had a succession of incredible bluebird powder days with clients making repeat bookings and coming back for more! With such epiiic coverage our guides and clients have been able to ski to the valley floor. Two of our guides, Roachy and Russell skied to the valley floor from the Motatapu Ridge near Wanaka, for the first time in over 30 years!
If you are thinking of heli skiing or snowboarding with us this season, don’t miss out – the time is now! E-mail us or call our team on +64 (0)3 442 6722. Check out our range of heli ski package options in our 3 locations – Queenstown, Wanaka and Mount Cook – on our Packages & Prices page. For daily updates, snow reports and powder alerts, check out our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter!
For a taste of the action, check out this video shot on 16th July in the North Harris Mountains. The video opens with the journey over the Crown Range from Queenstown to Wanaka, completely covered in snow!
Travelling over the Crown Range between Queenstown and Wanaka for a day of epic heli skiing, look at all that snow!
Untouched deep powder, just the way we like it!
One of our awesome guides, Chris Cochrane – this guy will lead you to the best terrain and snow!
Anyone 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
Despite all the crisp clear sunny days we’ve had recently, there’s plenty of powder stashes in the backcountry. We’ve been lapping it up for the last two weeks since heli ski season started. Check out this helmet cam vid shot on 4 July 2010. Looking forward to some fresh snow coming our way next week! Stay up to date with POWDER ALERTS on the Harris Mountains Heli-Ski Facebook page.
The snow gods and mother nature have been good to us so far this year, kicking off the 2010 winter season in New Zealand with a huge dump of snow right down to town level in both Wanaka and Queenstown.
We woke up this morning to see huge snowflakes fluttering down all around, leaving town and the surrounding mountains under a perfect blanket of white. Just what we like to see! The storm has blown through, the clouds have lifted and it’s a sparkly winter wonderland out there… not to mention an epic powder day for those hitting the resorts!
Here’s a few photos of what was revealed once the clouds parted in Queenstown.
Deer Park Heights and Kelvin Heights covered in snow right down to lake level.
Looking across Lake Wakatipu towards the Golf Course.
The stunning Remarkables, loaded with POWDER!!!
Our helis looking perfectly happy sitting in the snow at Queenstown Airport!
Heli skiing anyone?!
We had our first heli ski day of the season last week and the guides reported exceptionally deep snow bases and excellent coverage, with more snow than usual for this time of year. There’s a good 1m+ in the backcountry – which will now be much deeper since this morning’s storm – and everything is covered up. Our heli ski season opens on 1st July and we can’t wait to get into action! Powder, here we come! If you want to get some turns in with us this season, check out our Packages & Prices page for full details and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have.
