Patrick
Well-known member
Can you send me the cliff notes? Limited wifi here.
Oz/NZ 2025
- Thread starter Sbooker
- Start date
Read the transcript James posted. I agree with the Aussies that it's accurate.
I agree; it takes almost as long to read that novella-length transcript as to watch the video. Still (and we've discussed this before), it's much more efficient to read the content of a documentary-style clip than to sit through it. We've used former admin's Grand Adventure travel series as Exhibit A -- they're really well done and he puts a ton of work into them but I'm not going to spend 45-60 minutes watching the whole thing. I prefer an article with photos and a short youtube clip.
In any case, the b-roll of the ski areas showed me that they're more expansive/interesting than I'd presumed. If only there weren't so many dealbreakers -- the high cost of lift tickets, national park fees, lodging, and flights, along with at least 1.5 days of travel time and the risk of underwhelming snow -- I'd consider going there.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Would it be a better decision to forgo the North Island of New Zealand and the Mount Ruapehu ski areas, since they shut down so often, and instead go to Melbourne (lots of reasonable direct flights from Queenstown to Melbourne) and ski the (somewhat?) nearby ski areas such as Mount Hotham and Mount Buller? Note: I have visited Sydney before for multiple days, but not Melbourne.
While conditions may be less desirable, those resorts are more likely to remain open and be impacted by fewer storms. Although I have read online that the mountains of NSW are better than those in Victoria, as they are higher in elevation.
Given all the hidden fees, high lodging costs, and large distances, I see no reason to commit the time & money to ski all of the Australian resorts.
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I stand by my original view that you need another reason to be in Australia July-Sept. in order to add on some skiing. I was really close (Canberra) in 1997 so I couldn't resist. If you are in tropical Australia as we were in 2019 and expect to be in 2028, there's still a considerable distance factor involved to get to any skiing. If you have to fly extra anyway, I'd go to Christchurch though sbooker keeps telling us that's more expensive. Perhaps not as part of a complex international itinerary.
With adequate snow coverage you could plan a flexible week on North Island (lots of interesting places), and go for the skiing when you see a calm weather forecast.
I'm surprised to see wipeout seasons with marginal coverage at Ruapehu. I would think average snowfall would be higher (brochure quotes say so) as they are not shadowed by mountains farther west (like nearly all on South Island) and latitude is still 39, a touch more than Melbourne.
With adequate snow coverage you could plan a flexible week on North Island (lots of interesting places), and go for the skiing when you see a calm weather forecast.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear...
A (return) visit to Queenstown would be a must-do:
But instead of flying to the North Island/Auckland, go to Australia instead:
It's really no extra effort. You are essentially in the neighborhood. Imagine Melbourne is more interesting than Auckland, but similar.
It appears that there are many down days at Mount Ruapehu, but more snow.
https://www.whakapapa.com/report or https://www.pureturoa.nz/snow-report
A (return) visit to Queenstown would be a must-do:
- The ski areas seem the most concentrated and interesting
- Treble Cone often gets
- Lots of activities for any down days - Shotover, Bungee, etc
- Never made it to Milford Sound, so that trip would be of interest
But instead of flying to the North Island/Auckland, go to Australia instead:
- Auckland - 2 hr flight
- Melbourne - 3.5 hr flight
It's really no extra effort. You are essentially in the neighborhood. Imagine Melbourne is more interesting than Auckland, but similar.
It appears that there are many down days at Mount Ruapehu, but more snow.
https://www.whakapapa.com/report or https://www.pureturoa.nz/snow-report
Probably, but not vs. North Island overall (Rotorua, Bay of Islands, etc.). And if the weather cooperates the Ruapehu ski areas are much larger scale than Victoria's.
Flying from North America to Christchurch or Queenstown, you are usually going through Auckland anyway.
But Patrick this year and Liz and I in 2012 flew via Brisbane. In our case that was because we were going to an eclipse and scuba liveaboard out of Cairns. But since our international flight was to Brisbane, we had to go back there at the end from NZ. We will likely have a similar scenario in 2028 when Darwin will be the gateway airport to the eclipse.
As noted above there are scenarios where cost/logistics of Auckland vs. Sydney or Melbourne are similar. So it would come down to what are your overall interests and/or where have you not been before.
Patrick
Well-known member
Definitely a different vibe in Melbourne. There is also the Great Ocean Drive (?) driving away from the mountains and along the southern coast west. Spent one day driving west instead of towards the mountain.
There are a bunch of things to see on the North Island, unfortunately I only saw Auckland and Rotorua (sp?).
There are not that many to ski. I skied all the resorts with 200m+ vertical drop in 2018. The total is 6
From Melbourne to Canberra (south to north): Buller, Hotham, Falls Creek. (large gap between Victoria and NSW areas) Thredbo, Perisher, Charlotte Pass. The 3 NSW areas can be easily skied from one location.
Air Canada doesn't fly direct to NZ, so flying with them had me connect in Brisbane on my way to Auckland in 2016. It was a connection in Sydney prior to a direct flight to Christchurch. Return journey was via Brisbane.
Initially debating as a fallback option, if things didn't brighten up in NZ, of simply dropping the final portion of my trip and stay in Australia.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Did you like skiing in the North Island of NZ or Australia (Victoria/NSW) better? Waiting around for clear days for Ruapehu volcano, NZ, or a combo of Buller, Hotham, Peisher, and Thredbo?
Patrick
Well-known member
I haven’t checked since I left NZ 2.5 weeks ago, but snow conditions at the time were definitely better in Australia than NZ’s North Island.
Combo: harder to do a Hotham/Buller combo. Thredbo/Perisher are basically next door from each other.
Patrick did not visit North Island at all this year. In 2016:
It would have been nice to get a few days on skis down south given it has been a decent season for the Oz mountains but I’ve had to stay close to home as I’m assisting my dad to get to medical appointments temporarily. That winds up very soon.
I took my lad and his girlfriend to do the last bush walk of the season. It’s gets too hot to do any walks with any significant elevation gain for the next 6 or 7 months.
We stayed at Warwick overnight and got a relatively early start at ‘The Steamers’ trail. It was only about 1700 feet of gain but some was very steep and there was a lot of bush bashing on a sometimes non existent trail. The dramatic view from the top made the two hour one way hike worth it.
^^ The obligatory cup of tea and cake at the top.
^^ Some interesting rock formations.
It is dry season but my lad enjoyed the half dozen simple water crossings to get to the trail head.
Spring time wild flowers are always nice.
I took my lad and his girlfriend to do the last bush walk of the season. It’s gets too hot to do any walks with any significant elevation gain for the next 6 or 7 months.
We stayed at Warwick overnight and got a relatively early start at ‘The Steamers’ trail. It was only about 1700 feet of gain but some was very steep and there was a lot of bush bashing on a sometimes non existent trail. The dramatic view from the top made the two hour one way hike worth it.
^^ The obligatory cup of tea and cake at the top.
^^ Some interesting rock formations.
It is dry season but my lad enjoyed the half dozen simple water crossings to get to the trail head.
Spring time wild flowers are always nice.
ChrisC
Well-known member
This New Zealand (August 22 - September 3) ski trip by Peak Rankings is the exact scenario I am trying to avoid when/if I go there:
In theory, it should have worked:
Don't get me wrong, New Zealand is a beautiful country and always a great experience.
However, when you are skiing almost less than on an Alaskan Heli Trip (around 50%), and when you do, the skiing is sub-par to horrendous, it just goes back to: don't commit until there is a good snow base, build flexibility into travel to accomodate for storms/winds, and if you try to ski a volcano - give yourself a week (assume a Mt. Bachelor-like mid-winter ration that lifts will run maybe 1/3 of the time.)
On a positive note, South America was likely much worse this winter.
On a humorous note, almost, Australia had a stellar year with some areas calling it one for the record books/memory logs!
In short, the Southern Hemisphere almost chooses when you can ski.
I posted a screen capture since I cannot embed a link. Their only revenue source is YouTube, so it's understandable.
In theory, it should have worked:
- Queenstown start - ski all four areas there
- Methven mid-way - ski Mt Hutt and Ski Field
- North Island resorts - big volcano
Don't get me wrong, New Zealand is a beautiful country and always a great experience.
However, when you are skiing almost less than on an Alaskan Heli Trip (around 50%), and when you do, the skiing is sub-par to horrendous, it just goes back to: don't commit until there is a good snow base, build flexibility into travel to accomodate for storms/winds, and if you try to ski a volcano - give yourself a week (assume a Mt. Bachelor-like mid-winter ration that lifts will run maybe 1/3 of the time.)
On a positive note, South America was likely much worse this winter.
On a humorous note, almost, Australia had a stellar year with some areas calling it one for the record books/memory logs!
In short, the Southern Hemisphere almost chooses when you can ski.
I posted a screen capture since I cannot embed a link. Their only revenue source is YouTube, so it's understandable.
Not as good as either of the seasons Patrick was there in 2018 and 2022. By Spencer Creek base depths 2025 was barely above average until a big bump in late August and September.
I didn't watch Peak Rankings but that NZ trip, like Patrick's 2016, sounds worse for conditions than any of mine. Only one of my four was at the standards we expect on an average western or flexible Alps trip. The other three called for flexibility to do non-ski activities on bad weather days. They often had low tide conditions but at least had some highlights. Patrick's trip this year had its moments. He was able to ski steep terrain at Mt. Hutt that was off limits the two times I was there.
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ChrisC
Well-known member
What is it? I really would not touch anything in Australia. It's a bit like our Arizona and its critters.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Even if they knew it was low tide, the itinerary's uncontrollable timing was unfortunately not good.
- Coronet has been except icy groomers. Surprisingly, The Remarakbles looked super rocky as well, and their group practically cliffed out in chutes. (Remarkables did not even make it to 120" for the year (279cm).
- Cardrona looked OK/decent but super crowded, and nothing off-trail.
- Treble Cone - Upper mountain covered, but old, cruddy snow.
- Mt. Hutt - Day 1, a few good hours until the horrendous winds really started howling, and shut things down. Day 2 - everything closed.
- North Island - Day 1 was rainy and foggy at Whakapapa. Days 2 and 3 - Everything closed due to storm/wind—no Turoa.
Overall, things got better in NZ after this due to the storm that upended things.
A quokka.