08/11: Riding an active volcano - Mt. Ruapehu
While we were doing the river rafting I was chatting it up with P-nut and getting his perspective on what of the local activities were the goods when he mentioned fresh snow and the fact that one of the local hills was still open. Now he really had my attention. Apparently the off and on rain that we were experiencing was coming from a late season Antarctic storm that had moved its way up to NZ and was dropping fresh snow on the highest peaks. So mom and i decided to prioritize snowsliding as the next activity on the list.
We woke up early the next morning at sunrise and hit the road south for Mt. Ruapehu. We passed Lake Taupo which offered us our first look at the north face of Mt. Ruapehu over the great expanse of the lake, reminding me of Lake Tahoe at home and invigorating the feeling i had on the inside that today i would make turns.
We continued south around the lake and climbed up the base of the mountain into the Tongariro Nat'l Park and towards the West face of Ruapehu. The views of the mountain were insane, mom and i kept stopping and it seemed the approach would be half the fun. The sky was clearing beautifully of the last few wisps of cloud, but the air was crisp and cold. We continued around to the south side of the mountain and into the town of Turoa. We pulled into the parking lot of the local ski/snowboard rental shop and strode in to find out if their deals would be as good as the ones being offered up on the mountain.
The staff there was off the charts helpful, just so stoked to get everyone up on the hill and having fun, so there was no question that we were going to spend our money with them. They had everything we needed, skis and boots for mom, a board and boots for me, even goggles and gloves, and mom needed a hat for her ears even though they promised her she wasn't going to need it. And they were right. As chilly as it was down at the base of the mountain, once we climbed to the bottom of the ski station the spring sun was warming and we could feel that it was going to be warm.
Mom could feel my excitement so she cut me loose. We agreed to meet at the bottom of the upper lift at 1pm, which gave me 2 hours to find the goods. And finds the goods i did. I weaseled my way into the commotion around the lower lift line as a single and got right on the lift with some young kids who knew the mountain pretty well, so i interigated them on the way up on where the good stuff was hidden. They sent me straight to the cornice lines to the west of the chair, and as it turns out, they were dead on.
I spent the next 2 hours crushing these cornice lines, just doing laps, picking a new place to drop off the cornice line into the fresh and thick spring pow below. It was so fun. It never fails to amaze me how good it feels to make turns on a snowboard when it has been 6 months off. It is like it is a totally new toy, like you know what it's supposed to feel like, but it's still brand new again. I think i got in about 8 runs in the 2 hours before i met mom. We took a lift up together and did one run all the way to the bottom to grab some lunch.
We caught the bus out to the parking lot and pulled the van up to the edge of the lot to have an unimpeded view of the valley below. We made some sandwiches and reheated some left over pasta from last night. After eating too much and lounging in the sun at the van we both decided that we had gotten the best of it and that with just 2 hours of slope time left, we would be best off beating the traffic down the mountain, returning our gear and moving on.
The team down at the rental station tipped us off that we had just had "the best day of skiing in the world". Since Turoa was the last ski station left open in the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere ski stations had not received any new snow yet and were only riding on left over glacier skiing from last year, we had just had the best day of skiing of anywhere in the world on that day. That was an nice thought to drive away with wearing a big smile.
We woke up early the next morning at sunrise and hit the road south for Mt. Ruapehu. We passed Lake Taupo which offered us our first look at the north face of Mt. Ruapehu over the great expanse of the lake, reminding me of Lake Tahoe at home and invigorating the feeling i had on the inside that today i would make turns.
We continued south around the lake and climbed up the base of the mountain into the Tongariro Nat'l Park and towards the West face of Ruapehu. The views of the mountain were insane, mom and i kept stopping and it seemed the approach would be half the fun. The sky was clearing beautifully of the last few wisps of cloud, but the air was crisp and cold. We continued around to the south side of the mountain and into the town of Turoa. We pulled into the parking lot of the local ski/snowboard rental shop and strode in to find out if their deals would be as good as the ones being offered up on the mountain.
The staff there was off the charts helpful, just so stoked to get everyone up on the hill and having fun, so there was no question that we were going to spend our money with them. They had everything we needed, skis and boots for mom, a board and boots for me, even goggles and gloves, and mom needed a hat for her ears even though they promised her she wasn't going to need it. And they were right. As chilly as it was down at the base of the mountain, once we climbed to the bottom of the ski station the spring sun was warming and we could feel that it was going to be warm.
Mom could feel my excitement so she cut me loose. We agreed to meet at the bottom of the upper lift at 1pm, which gave me 2 hours to find the goods. And finds the goods i did. I weaseled my way into the commotion around the lower lift line as a single and got right on the lift with some young kids who knew the mountain pretty well, so i interigated them on the way up on where the good stuff was hidden. They sent me straight to the cornice lines to the west of the chair, and as it turns out, they were dead on.
I spent the next 2 hours crushing these cornice lines, just doing laps, picking a new place to drop off the cornice line into the fresh and thick spring pow below. It was so fun. It never fails to amaze me how good it feels to make turns on a snowboard when it has been 6 months off. It is like it is a totally new toy, like you know what it's supposed to feel like, but it's still brand new again. I think i got in about 8 runs in the 2 hours before i met mom. We took a lift up together and did one run all the way to the bottom to grab some lunch.
We caught the bus out to the parking lot and pulled the van up to the edge of the lot to have an unimpeded view of the valley below. We made some sandwiches and reheated some left over pasta from last night. After eating too much and lounging in the sun at the van we both decided that we had gotten the best of it and that with just 2 hours of slope time left, we would be best off beating the traffic down the mountain, returning our gear and moving on.
The team down at the rental station tipped us off that we had just had "the best day of skiing in the world". Since Turoa was the last ski station left open in the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere ski stations had not received any new snow yet and were only riding on left over glacier skiing from last year, we had just had the best day of skiing of anywhere in the world on that day. That was an nice thought to drive away with wearing a big smile.
