New Zealand 2003-2006
Shooting & Chuting the Alta Chutes, NZ – 09/13/06
*Last NZ TR of the 06′ trip to Middle Earth*
Date: September 12-13th, 2006
Location: Alta Chutes, Remarkables, New Zealand
(Click to see huge version)
Skiers: Skier666 and Woody (bestest of international ski buddies)
Synopsis: The drive was filled with tears as I drove to the Remarks as Captain Solo on the 12th. Not only did SQ99 and Slim leave that day, but it was spitting rain at the muddy car-park as the Thorlos entered the Tecnica shrine. Naturally, I head to the Alta Chutes and walk up the weather station to hit some of the center chutes that have been missing on this trip. The snow quality went from frozen granular mank to winterish blue-ice. It was one of those days where you could feel your ACL keeping your knee in place as you tried to control your speed.
Forward to the next day, Woody and I head for the weather station again to get some scenic shots as well as some totally rad action stills. The weather cleared and left a nice 5-10 cm of buffed goodness all over the chutes. Even better, when we arrived, not one person had hiked to the top, leaving it all in perfect condition. We took our time and explored some of the gnar area with a little side stepping to get into some of the nook and crannies of the area. The next day I would have to leave Woody, my bestest friend from Riverton, so to ski the chutes in such stellar conditions perfectly completed the trip!
Music: Amit – ‘Suicide Bomber’
Doom and Gloom…
Did I mention that it was flatlight, or is that a little too obvious?
I punched up to the weather station, only to see this. There is some major exposure down below, so losing equipment here or falling is not an option. The Paul Ahern cliff lies just below…
I ventured into one of the skier’s right chutes…nice and steep with some line options…
This will do…
The line…the center chute:
After a couple laps on Diagonlator, Pipeline etc, I decide to see how Telex is holding up. "Greatest shit snow on earth"…NZ’s new license plate slogan…
Ahhh, so the next day….looks a little different up there, as if it actually snowed:
Woody doing some forced hiking…
666 – "Ummm Woody, it looks pretty good up here." Woody replies in an out of breath tone "Shit mate, look up there, there ain’t even a bootpack."
These pesky clouds just would not leave us alone…not a bad view aye?
Weather Station Steeze…
The Gollum point…
"Should I make a turn and hike back up?" says 666…Woody in response "well, you could, but if something happens, you may die mate"…
Quite obvious of the location of my line…
Now for some gratuitous scenics….
Look at this guy…stoked for sure…
Wait a minute, is that…no…it can’t be…(Cue start of LOTR 4)
Gorgeous country aye?
Lets do some skiin’…666 off the top next to his friend Pesky Cloud…
ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
666 and Double Cone…didn’t make it up there this year. Always next year aye?
Unfortunately, he found a deeper spot…
Woody, waist deep…notice anything special in this pic?
…but then he finds a nice little spot to milk…
Too tracked up for me, so I let him go for it…
Woody entering the center chute that I skied the day before….
OMG! He’s kicking up snow!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh yeah! KILL IT!
The 666 line. I hate to say it, but it was pretty good.
Woody, lower down on his line….
Good thing he’s wearing Steep Tech…
A little uphill side-steppin’ and we’ve got some better snow…Kiwi approved:
Hidden Chute above…need some fresh to jump into this one:
Yank approved…
"Does this go mate?" …"Only if you want to go to the hospital mate"
666 decides to slay powder instead of death…
He was offered milk…
…but Woody drank it further down the run
…MILKED!!!!!
How about a run down Diagonlator? Surely, its been skied today….
Just a hunch, but I think we’re the first…
So the wind must have funneled some magic in here….
Really couldn’t ask for a better last run aye?
If only I was sipping some Peets on the way down…
Jesus, this run was good. Thank god for cameras!
Big ups for Woody to give the Yank the untracked…
Well, that’s it!
Thanks for playing…
Maybe next year I can finish them a little sooner….
Nah…
Ohau rad the corn at Ohau, NZ – 09/11/06
Date: September 11th, 2006
Location: Ohau, New Zealand (between Wanaka and Christchurch)
Skiers: 666, Mrs. 666., Slim, and Squirrel99.
Synopsis: Still on the spring skiing schedule, we decided to ride Ohau for an afternoon. Its also the furthest ski field in which you can do a day trip from Queenstown. Coming in at about 2.5 hours, a quick stop to Starbucks for an American sized brewed coffee is a must. After about 2 hours of electro and dubstep, we finally met Slim and SQ99 at the turn off to the ski field. We arrive at 12:30 pm to find around 10 other soldiers attacking the mountain.
If there is a place that is the exact opposite of Aspen, this is it. Lift runs on diesel, a base building the size of a tiny flat in NYC, the bathrooms are dead-locked at 4:00pm on the nose, but they do take Visa! Remember, this is not a clubfield, you actually ride a chairlift. However, as you will see, the views are absolutely stunning, and the potential of this place is off the charts. And one more thing, be prepared to walk.
To sum it all up, we took a few long hikes and skied a couple of the sweetest, greatest, and most fun corn runs of our lives.
Music: Calibre – ‘Mr. Right On’
You can see the access road on the right…
Lake Ohau and gnartains come into view, but so does Slim’s rental wagon…
Always a good sign on the way to go skiing…
Slim was laying burnouts on the "just-wide-enough" road…
Ah, Ohau’s "chairlift" comes in to view…
Slim on thee stated lift mechanism…SQ99 was in the shitter and told us to "TAKE A LAP!!!""
But he missed out on this well manicured groomer…
Once off the lift, you can boot up to the ridge and then traverse to the gems of this place…
SQ99 in the lead on all the hikes…
And here’s what lies right behind the ridge…Trackhead’s up there somewhere…
You even get a nice view of Mt. Cook…Iskibc nearing the summit…
Slim pondering whether he should propose to SQ99…
And here’s a nice little untracked and gorgeous shot of SQ99..
And another but during a solar flare….
Cue Marv Albert….
666 and SQ99 hiking the endless ridge…
As you reach the summit, another bowl behind awaits you. We didn’t have the time to get back there, but if we did, we may have. 
The "Silver Chesak" line is in there somewhere…
You can ski right back down to the access road…
While up there, I ran into old JC, the carpenter…
Mrs. 666 slays some shiny corn. I mean, c’mon, doesn’t that look good?
It was PERFECT! Not sticky, carveable bliss!
666 tries for a photogenic shot, but SQ99′s camera skills are too advanced..
Slim rails in for a face-shot….
CAN YOU SEE THE TRENCHES THAT HE LEFT BEHIND? God it was good.
SQ99 making good use of his new HH coat…
Slim – having fun…
Slim in a solitary moment on the traverse…
SQ99 acting as if he’s at NASTAR…
The Mars Rover landed here a couple years back…
Up for another mate?
This view is just dumb….
666 gets into the action, and MAKES A TURN!!!!
And then another…god damn that snow was good!
I FOUND THE MOTHER F-IN RING!!!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile SQ99 goes "1st person" on us…
…so he can descend down this BAD ASS CHUTE!!!
…which rolled into some of the best turns of my life!
Yeah Squirrel!
Completely untracked you bastard!
Ok, so these pics of Slim should piss you off while at work today…
If there was a heaven…
…it may have been at Ohau on this day!
And then the Mrs. gets into the game…
…yeah, I am still standing on that rock,
And yeah, that means I’m going last…
666 makes a slow turn…
Mrs. 666 on the lower section…
Slim makes the most out of the sunny side…
And does the same in the shade…
OMG! Its Slim Shady! Get it?
And SQ99 gets a pic of these guys pointing at our tracks…Ahhhh, the rewards for a few uphill steps.
On the last run, we ran across some scree to hit some epic concrete chunks!
Yeah, it was Slim’s idea. He was convinced it was going to be soft. It was agreed that it would go down as one of the worst runs of our lives. I guess it pays to play in the sun in the spring, aye?
We wer the last two cars to leave…place was locked up and shut.
They even let you drive through rivers on the access road…Thanks OHAU!
Mt. Larkins, New Zealand.. via helicopter – 09/10/06
Date: September, 10th, 2006
Location: Mt. Larkins, South Island, New Zealand. Elevation at approx. 2300 m or 7500 ft in Yank terms.
Skiers: 666, Mrs. 666., NZPhotoslave, Woody….and a guide.
Synopsis: After skiing rained out snow for the first half of the trip, albeit in nice weather and good times, we need to get Mrs. 666 up in the heli. Any why not, for the past three years, we’ve been hosed by the weather gods to get her up there. Today was the day. Slim and SQ99 left to meet up with the gorgeous Lane Meyer. It was a tough decision because we had to pray for perfect weather in order for it to happen. If not, we miss out skiing with an internet legend.
And wouldn’t you know it, it actually snowed the night before, no wind, blue skies, and about 0 degrees Celsius. And better yet, we were flying with Alpine Heli Guides, who have permits on some of the highest terrain, which meant we’d actually ski on some wintery snow.
Today’s call was Mt. Larkins. Plan was to descend down a few southern facing aspects, and then lap the perfect corn on the northern side. It wasn’t bottomless by any means, but it was the type of consistency to let em’ rip.
The snow conditions was a little new snow over bulletproof. Because of the extremely low avalanche hazard, we were granted almost unlimited opportunity to go wherever within a given time frame.
Music: Dstar – ‘Winter in America’
The Command Center – 3 machines with internet, however, the espresso machine is in the kitchen…
Plan – Drive to Glenorchy, jump on heli…..save a few US $$$
The night before – Woody gets older with a twin-tipped cake! He’s obviously stoked for sure…
On our way to Glenorchy from Queenstown, 666 behind the wheel…
After heli, why not some tanden-skydive-bungy? Hell, it is New Zealand…
"Mate, you sure you want to heli in a hoodie?"
Mrs. 666 – Nervously stoked for her first time…..
Ohhhhh, Ahhhhh, Lake Wakatipu….hobbit swimming playground:
Leroy Jenkins – "Let’s do this!!!!!!!"
And to the north, plenty of future LZ’s. Next time, private charter 4 shizzle!
And to the West…..well, a sick mountain. Too bad it was BULLET underneath…
Talk about a stunning view! ….I mean the guy in the mint colored jacket of course…
Woody looks satisfied on the first turn…
666 likes wintery snow…
Woody slices and dices….
Mrs. 666 gets some well deserved untracked…
Woody setting up for A MAJOR RIGHT TURN!!!!
666 below the summit…
NZPhotoslave taking comments on the internet WAY too seriously…
Mrs. 666 gets one of the shots of the day…
Just a cool photo…
Woody finds an untracked face towards the bottom…
666 flex-tests the new Gotamas….
Our pilot…Thank yewwwwwwwwww!
A half-second later, Woody was decapitated…
Mrs. 666 gets yet another fresh face…
Woody on a steeper aspect….
666 fully stoked!!!!!
Woody finds a left-handed bank….
…and schralps it mate!
Woody on a lower pitch finds some fresh…
…no too shabby for a Kiwi:
Now onto the southern aspects, Woody makes a scenic left-turn…
Woody hits the natural left-hander….
NZPhotoslave comes in from above…
The Kr3W…
666 finds a cornice…Mt. Earnslaw in the background:
Woody lining up a fast run….
Woody down lower…just perfect corn bliss!
Mrs. 666 having a good time…
NZPhotoslave and Mrs. 666 enjoying the day…
Kingswoods aye? WTF are those?
Mrs. 666 finds a gulley…
…and kills a left-hander….
…inorder to traverse into an untouched corn field…
NZPhotoslave creating an "living postcard"…
…and into a small chute…
666 LOVES NZ!!!!! Can you see why?
A little lunch, and then we ride the face on the left down to the valley…
666 on the last run…
Glenorchy statue…
Kiwi Kat that almost skinned Woody alive!
A little post Heli-skiing treat at the Glenorchy Cafe…
Zen Vision…
Mrs. 666 gets hella’ crazy with the rental…
El Fin…
VIDS:
Woody, Mrs. 666, and 666 ski some Sept. Pow – Quicktime – 14.1 MB
http://www.vidbusters.com/~casey/Heli_1.mov
666 on the north facing corn – Quicktime – 7.25 MB
http://www.vidbusters.com/~casey/Heli_2.mov
Woody in a fast turn to air in the pow – Quicktime – 466 KB
http://www.vidbusters.com/~casey/Heli_3.mov
NZphotoslave – on some lower and northern tussoc lines – WMV – 4.49 MB
http://www.vidbusters.com/~casey/Tussoc.wmv
Steam, Extreme & Queens of Queenstown – 09/09/06
Date: September 8th-9th, 2006
Location(s): Lake Wakatipu, Icebar – Queenstown, and the Alta Chutes at the Remarks.
Skiers: Husband and wife team from hell.
Synopsis: After a late night, waking up to a soggy weather day, and a late mid-week bruch with Slim and SQ99 (who left to hang with Lane Meyer), we decided to go the "Yank Tourist" route and hitch a ride on the Earnslaw across the lake. After a romantic dinner, we also hit up the bar made out of ice called, yep, the Ice Bar. If that wasn’t the HIGHLIGHT of the trip, the next day we hit .9 cm new in the Alta Chutes…life could not be better. 
Music: Scissor Sisters – ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancing’
First, let’s take a ride on the historic, coal-infused, steam ship…
Mrs. 666 approved once we hit hyperspeed…
Its a big lake, kinda reminds of a lake I visit at home….
"Lets swim to shore….wait….oh its winter"
Best Lamb stew in the country…Mmmmmm Tasty!
Watch out though, its a little toxic…
Good thing for sea sickness, or I would have missed one of the best restaurants in town. Yes, that’s it, behind the door on the left. Marketing has not made it to NZ as of 2006….
One too many Moscow Mules, and you start acting wierd around Kiwi bird statues…
Oooooooh, Ahhhhhhh, nice night at the Queenstown harbor. Looks like we’ll be skiin’ tomorrow!
After the Ice Bar of course…Pretty sick!
Does it look cool? Yeah. But is it worth it? What do you think? Mrs. 666 feeling LAME.
Well, until two dudes showed up in their butt-huggers. Did I mention it was Gay Ski Week?
OMG, sickest photo ever, I don’t care, I’m claiming it…
Pictures sometimes make the snow look better, when in actuality, its shit…
The Mrs. ignores the sign of despair as we start the massively deep bootpack…
That’s right bitches, .9 cm of fresh and its ALL OURS!!!!!
Mrs. 666 wished she demoed some fatties of at least 140mm underfoot…
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
She milked the deeper area on the skier’s right for a couple runs…
666 goes for some sloppy seconds…
Not bad for having it all to ourselves for a whole afternoon…
Too much Treble, not enough Cone, NZ – 09/07/06
Treble Cone day of September 7th, 2006 – Need more BASS!
Music:Meat Beat Manifesto – Mindstream (Aphex Twin Remix)
The drive from Wanaka…Peter Jackson can be found hiking around those hills:
Lower face of TC…looks good eh? ….
Looks like patrol was right on the money with the conditions….
Doesn’t look like bullet….oh, but it is mate! View from new Saddle Basin lift:
Nice tables…how come nobody is near them….?
Hey, those people look sort of familiar…Mrs.666 was SOOOOOOOO THRILLED on the conditions, she wished she brought her sleeping bag to hit it up fresh in the morning…
Squirrel99 hiking to the 1.79 cm of fresh. Don’t worry, he’s got his powder-straps…
Woody looking comfortable following my bootpack…
666 wearing his wife’s jacket…
Squirrel’s turn to slay the STEEP ‘N’ DEEP!
And SQ99 said he didn’t get any POWDER!!!!!!!
"C’MON DARON RAHLVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
We then hike up to the summit to show SQ99 and Mrs. 666 the ugly views…
Here one ultra lame view of some super gnar….
Boring. Yep, another "stupid mountains behind TC" shot…I think I see Smally skinning in the background.
666 lines up a massive cliff huck into a lake. The next pic was better but photographer did not want to me to post it on the internet…BOOO!
So at this point we lapped up some of the BOTTOMLESS on the upper mountain…SQ99 skis some winter snow? SHOCKER!
SQ99 chases Gollum down towards Wanaka…
Looks fun to me…
Woody dropping in from heaven…
The NZSKI.COM posterboy carves it up…
SQ99 and Slim (who somehow was missing in every photo-op) ski beneath A CHAIR LIFT!!! OMG LOL!
Mrs. 666 links up a photogenic turn…
Finds a slushy face on the lower sections…
Mrs. 666 skis a spine in a gorgeous camo-shot…
SQ99 after two long blacks and half a Speights…
I don’t know this guy, but he looks tough in that pink hat.
New Zealand wildlife…mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pies!
Shapeshifter show back at Subculture in Queenstown…
SQ99 was moshing in here…it kinda started pissing people off.
Chuting Corn at Cardrona, NZ – 9/06/06
Date: September 6th, 2006 (better late than never)
Location: Cardrona, New Zealand (between Queenstown & Wanaka)
(Click to enlarge)
Skiers: 666, Mrs. 666., Slim, and Squirrel99.
Synopsis: On the spring skiing schedule, we decided to show Mrs.666 and Squirrel a new spot. Granted Cardrona is not known as the steepest ski field of all of New Zealand, but it does give some varied terrain (Arcadia chutes), open-wide groomers, and some serious half-pipes. Also, there is lots of day touring options off the backside of far looker’s right of the mountain.
Music: Klute – I Minder
….got lots of pics on three different cameras…
Looking across the valley to Snow Park…
SQ99 and Mrs. 666 "Uh, where do we go?"
Runs off of Captain’s chair…
SQ99 takes a lap off the Secret Chutes…
SQ99 "tours" his way to the Arcadia Chutes…in a freak snowstorm
Yep, nice and smooth…
We lapped this all day, and had it all to ourselves…
But SQ99 didn’t mind at all…
Slim gets into the action…leaping over the tussoc
SQ99 finds a steep ridge…
And pulls a Scott Schmidt…
666 finds some fun too…
SQ99 finds some open space…
666 finds a post air carve…
Slim pulls the first "scenic carve"
Mrs. 666 has more fun when the sun comes out…
And again in the Arcadia Chutes…
Another lap in the Secret Chutes off of Captains…SQ99 finds a line
…on his way to get a Moro
Mrs. 666 off the ridgeline…
Slim shaves down the tussoc grass…
"Welcome to Middle Earth!"
666 base lodge carve…
…the sequel
Slim slices another piece of pie…
…and 666 can smell the apples…
Slim and a view of the whole Arcadia Chutes…
666 finds a little nugget of corn heaven…
…the landing doesn’t look too soft does it? I think you know the answer.
The Mrs. 666 heads to Nebraska…
And shows us some of the views from the top looking toward the south…
OMG! Are they holding hands? They must have had a good day.
And naturally, a visit to Cardrona isn’t complete without a stop the the historic Cardrona hotel for some hot drinks…
Good vibe here…
Mmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm FOOD!!!!
But SQ99 and Slim got beat up by the local gang…
Big Thanks to Cardrona resort for the great day!!!
Rain Raises the Bar – Remarks, NZ – 09/05/06
Date: September 5th, 2006
Location: Remarkables ski field, beautiful country of New Zealand.
Skiers: NZPhotoslave, Woody, 666, SQ99, Slim, and the rain gods.
Synopsis: After skiing BLUETOOTH the day before, and jonesing to ride on our first full day in NZ, we were praying that the wet weather softened things up a bit. Especially on a flat-white day, where we were only going to ski the Alta Chutes for visibility, our prayers were answered.
Yes, it was raining. Well, it was those days where back at home, you would have a U-turn in the parking lot. Quotes such as "I’ve been drier while water skiing" floated in the midst along swearing Kia. Bottom line, the snow was fast and smooth, so we stuck around for a few hikes.
Music: Concord Dawn – Blow
Downtown Queenstown, and the infamous Remarkable Range in the background. The Alta Chutes are right behind that face.
Kiwi hikers smoke cigs….that’s just the way it is here. SQ99 looking utterly depressed on the right. He was like that the whole trip.
Woody top of the chutes, looking for his scuba gear…
All of us hit up Pipeline, Slim does a Leory Jenkins…
SQ99 airs out of pipeline…
Up above some exposure of Diagonlator, Squirrel takes some spy video of the guy in the menthol gore-tex:
Slim carves up a pre-thanksgiving turn…
666 in anti-dry-dock steeze…
666 on "TeH BanK"
SQ99 seeing a slight rain/snow mix…
…and then finds a soft pocket of fresh, er, softness:
666 with a "protractor moment"…
SQ99 and 666 punch up to Telex….
For Rodent’s first time, he gets first tracks…
SQ99 eyes his line while he put his gloves on the spin cycle…
Like a mouse on cheese….
He decides to hit up the skier’s right face…
And squeezes through without a base-grind…
Now he’s home free in some of the stickiest snow of his LIFE!
View to Coronet, where the day looks pretty nice? WTF?
The Remarks – cotton candy steeze…
Yes Mom, I will eat my vegetables…
Still on the phone, SQ99 orders one of these. Well, he did build up a thirst from all that slush-hiking:
Meanwhile, Mrs.666 and I sample around 100 different wines…
A Kiwi hallway…I think someone skis at this place:
And you can’t beat a homemade Kiwi dinner….Yum Yum!
Next day – Cardrona.
The 06′ trip to Middle Earth BEGINS! – 09/04/06
Date(s): Depart SFO on Sept. 1st, arrive in NZ on Sept. 3rd. Ride the 3rd, and 4th.
Location(s): SFO, Auckland International, Remarkables, and Coronet Peak.
Skiers: 666, Mrs. 666., NZPhotoslave, Woody, Slim, and Squirrel99
Music: Calibre – ‘Deranged’
Squirrel’s first trip to New Zealand, and he’re is a photo essay of what went down the first two days. Everyone else in attendance are either seasoned veterans or are well….Kiwi.
The Mrs. and I decide to mellow out before the long flight in the Red Carpet Lounge before meeting up with Slim and Squirrel.
At our arrival in Auckland, I never miss the cafe skier’s right in the Domestic terminal. Perfect spot to get you beer, flatwhite, and pancakes before the flight to Queenstown.
On the flight down to Queenstown from Auckland, make sure you request a window seat on the right-hand side of the plane….BEHOLD THE SOUTHERN ALPS!!!
Some scenic stoke….
View of Mt. Cook in the background….
Zoomed up, a nice view of the super-gnar-glaciated Caroline Face….
After the world’s record of the quickest mount ever by Tuk at Outside Sports. Done in about 15 mins, Slim, Squirrel99, 666, head to the Remarks to meet NZPhotoslave for a half-day chute session. In no rush to ski, Mrs. 666 headed for the day spa with my credit-card.
Squirrel on the first lap….to the Alta Chutes:
Unfortunately, it rained the night before, and the chutes were "a little firm."
However, SQ99 managed to squeeze in some of his first Kiwi turns…
666 sessions some of the northern corn…
Slim laughs at the "firmness" of the previous run…
SQ99 in corn hoodie steeze…
Local hero, NZphotoslave tests the Skinny Kingswoods on some fresh corn…
NZPhotoslave…."this is my backyard yo’"…Top of Alta Chutes.
Rain soaked Double Cone…
We head over to Diagonalator…NZPhotoslave feels uneasy about the "powder conditions"
Slim "deburring" his edges…
SQ99 straps on his ice skates…
and decides to put the Goats on edge…
…to give Slim a hug:
NZPhotoslave makes another rare appearance in front of the camera:
Back down the access road into Frankton…
….off to get a Speights…
OK, I’m back…
Day 2: Rainy day at Coronet…but soft snow equals fun for all. Well, that is, until your wetsuit gets a little too damp.
Imported Peets makes a "grimey flat-white" to charge any jet-lagged American on a ski holiday.
Coronet is a fun little mountain. No trees, lots of rollers, and open bowls to let them rip. It also has a nice back-drop of Lake Wakatipu…
666 bought a new beanie at the Auckland airport…
NZPhotoslave "slaying it"….
Mrs. 666 gets into the action…
How Kiwis ski switch….
Slim in the "shot of the day"….credit = SQ99
Off to Arrowtown to visit the newest Joe’s Garage…
Mmmmmmmm mmmmmm bitch!
Heavenly……….
Some Sheepdog NZ stoke – 07/30/06
Sheepdog – Photoboy from down-under the tussock fields just sent some me some shots. Most are from the Chutes at the Remarks with a few Coronet bangers to compliment.
Here’s why I like skiing out of Queenstown…..good coffee shops/food and this – Alta Chutes at Remarks (click to expand) Double Cone on left – Lift served/minimal uphill travers on far right…
Woody on triplets…
Woody – backside of Coronet
Coronet crud…
Windblown bliss at Remarks…
Coldsmokin’…
Woody – I can’t schmear shot’…
That looks nice….
What kiwis eat…
Kiwi Chute Day, NZ – 09/01/05
Wet weather may be moving in so we ran up to the Remarks to do hit up some ‘chute only’ runs….snow was variable but quite good in spots, and the steepness made it all worthwhile. 
All of the shots are from the Alta Chutes at the Remarkables.
Music: Hive – ‘Against The Grain’
Winter 2005 in Queenstown….
Sheepman taking an enormously HUGE flight into "elevator shaft"….
The top middle of the photo is where we started the run…then migrated towards lookers’ left through a tiny steep chute called "Telex."
NZphotoslave taking his first turn….
….and where the snow changed from velvet to concrete….
Shot of "Telex" from the top. This chute is kind of hard to find and very intimidating due to the massive exposure.
Kiwiphotoslave’s phonecam sepia pic from the middle of the chute….
NZphototgrlurker getting out of the gnar, finding a pocket of windbuff…this shot gives you a good view of the obstacles one had to deal with in the chute. I have never seen so many rocks in this thing.
SuperNZdork taking some MASSIVE AIR! At least 100 ft onto hardpack…
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Coffee time…..
Sammy making me my usual……I love you Sam!
The Summer Snow of Winter, NZ – 09/06/05
I’m back home from NZ….only skied 5 out of 10 days. No heli time, no deep face shots, hell…not even winter snow. We tried to heli at any chance possible during the last half of our trip, but the weather gave us the mental middle finger and decided to bring us glorious rain, puffy clouds, extremely un-cold temps, and er….lack of a snowpack.
But you know what? Its hard to not have a great time on the South Island….especially with great local food, beer, wine, coffee, gorgeous scenery, and some of the nicest people on the planet. Big thanks to NZphotoslave for hooking us up with almost everything while we were down there.
Here are some scenic pics along with some pics of my last day mission up to the chutes at the Remarks.
Music: Luke Slater – Freek Funk
Summer holding Winter hostage:
Cableman:
Gibbston Valley:
Lake Wakatipu:
Tasman Valley:
The Town of Sumner:
Shadow Basin lift, Remarks…09/06/05:
First run in Alta chutes with 5cm of sloppage:
Top of the chutes, next to the weather station, looking down on Lake Wakatipu:
and then migrated into this chute in the fog, with wetslide dangers all around:
View from the top of the chute…hard to navigate in this weather:
….a little further…
…and the rest (I took these pics due to the avy conditions, ski a little, stop, wait for the snow to slide down, and so on)
Diangulator (nice and fun on the left wall)
The Sugar lift along with the monster snowpack:
Kea Birds following me up to the chutes:
Looking true north:
Double Cone looking nice, but probably really dangerous due to the rotten snow:
My last turn, er straightline of the trip:
NZ….thanks for having us:
Cruising the Crap at Coronet – 09/01/05
Coronet Peak….very spring day, skiing over dirt, solid ice, puddles, etc.
Still a good time when it softened up. I was testing a pair of the new Kingswood Skinnys with the bamboo core, so I was stoked to check them out.
Music: Concord Dawn – Morning light
Nice view to the west….
Mrs. 666 shredding the parking lot gnar….
666 doing his pre-ski stretching…..
Hardpack-ice-burl….
NZphotoslave showing his skillllllllllllz…..
The rad backdrop pic…..
Then we did some jetboatin’…why not? Especially, when our kiwi mates hooked us up with a free ride.
Summer on the South Island Ski Fields – 08/30/05
Its REALLY warm here….in my past 6 years of coming here to ski, I’ve never worn shorts and a T-shirt in the middle of the winter. We even ended up playing a couple holes of golf. Today was that day. Some weather may move in, probably rain, but we may end up trying to get some scenic heli-skiing around Mt. Cook just to do something different.
Some NZ stoke from today….the south facing chutes were still the best bet for a chance of winter snow, pretty firm but grippy enough to edge and have fun.
Music: Aphex Twin – 54 cymru beats
Alta Chutes…again, best snow on the hill:
NZphotoslave….slaving in pipeline:
Sharpening his ice skates:
Geoff Small has been rumored to have skied this face….pretty burl.
Mrs. 666 slaying a chute in the Alta Chutes…..
NZphotoslave skiing the tussock with a mandatory slush carve….5ICKN355!
An early evening golf game with gollum’s personal servant….
Remarkables, NZ Photobloggage – 08/29/05
Players: 666, Mrs. 666, and NZphotoslave
Location:The Remarks, NZ
Snow: 
py but fun, firm but soft corn on sunny slopes.
Snow to date: Not much, just enough to make it fun, but hell, they’re not doing too well. Even the south facing chutes were pretty firm do to a little rain the week before.
…..I really didn’t mind it though.
Music: Roni Size – Brown Paper Bag
From the plane…some snow out in the interior of the southern Alps:
…and another:
Kiwi families only use the latest equipment….
NZphotoslave off of Shadow Basin…
666 enjoying the view:
Double Cone….
Alta Chutes…
Dianglator….
NZphotoslave….trying to spray bullet-snow….
….he found some winterish snow:
View from the bottom….
View of the bottom of Pipeline….
Mrs. 666 enjoying the corn on Homeward Bound…
But we had to walk down some tussock and mud to the access road:
NZ Kite Skiing – 11/03/04
You don’t see many shots like this,
I thought I’d share these with you guys….some massive air in some of these. One friend of mine claims he got 60-80 feet up and 200 feet out on one gust but then slammed into the ground and tweaked his knee. If I can gather anymore shots, I’ll pass them along.
Pretty sick….
Mt. Cook, NZ skied from summit – 11/01/04
Mt. Cook, South Island, New Zealand…..11/01/2004
One of my mates (Miles Holden) from NZ was hired to take photos and another was on the mission to ascend and descend Mt. Cook…for Red Bull. Todd Windle of NZ was the other Kiwi, and I don’t know the rest of the crew.
Supposedly, as far as I know, Mt. Cook (NZ highest peak) has only been skied twice before from the summit due to the massive amount of snowfall required to make it possible. This year has been MASSIVE for snowfall down south…so it was on.
The word is that after a few bad days of weather, they had the greenlight and charged to the top, skied from the summit, had to rappel down a few feet, and then a ski the rest of the way….success. I don’t know if the rappel means anything but they did ski from the top.
I don’t any more than that…these photos were just sent to me as my friend finally got back to his computer. I’m guessing that the summit attempt was on the 1st, since he called me on 10/30 from the location.
Enjoy, these pics are SICK!!!!!
Mr. Windle…looks kinda icy:
El Senor Windle on a big descent:
Skiing the Southern September Slush in NZ – 09/26/04
Bit of weather today, huge wind, and rain with snow in the mountains. Headed up to Coronet to make some turns for a couple of hours. Conditions….about a 8 inches of fresh over ICE…! Super sick, eh? Did I mention flat light? Oh yeah, it was sierra cement at the bottom. Wait…it was also sort of raining/snowing. Yep…droplets on the goggles so you can’t see shit….so yeah it was sick…but only because I was skiing and riding a chairlift.
Music:LTJ Bukem – Demons Theme
A Southern Hemisphere Quad lift……to Middle Earth
SICK SKIING FOOTAGE…………..DEEP AS FUCK!!!!!!!
Skier666 & NZphotoslave rinsing it out proper…..literally!
GNar Killing it!
09/21/04
Great day today, but some mean wind at the summit. Gollum broke his leg launching an 8 footer so he will not be represented in these photos.
Hill of Hearing out in the distance, no heli skiing due to strong winds and Frodo’s bad breath:
Crack of Doom in the core of Orodruin, the Shadow Basin Quad runs right over it:
Mrs. 666 heading to the council at Minas Tirith leading to the War of the Ring:
Mrs. 666 abrogated her mission in the War of the Ring and became a shape-shifter to make some open powder turns:
Mrs. 666 enjoying some Middle Earth shuga’, still can’t find Liv Tyler:
Orcs and Dwarves and other speaking creatures love to ski Elevator in the Alta Chutes, sweet wind buffed powder and consistent pitch:
The royal emblem of Gondor was found in this area known as Pipeline, home of some quality billygoatin’:
Sauron’s fortress of Barad -dur is hidden under the double cone the top of the Remarkables, the Grand Couloir down the center. From that couloir to the lookers right of the next picture is the Alta Chutes…the main reason I love coming here. You can hike to anything from left to right and its all good. South facing, steep and littered with scary lines.
After Sauron settled there, the land became known as Mordor (the Black Land) – no record of an earlier name for this region exists, but the locals now call it the Alta Chutes:
Jeremy Pierce rinsin’ it out propa’ with Araggon taking the photo:
Mordor was a land of approximately rectangular shape, measuring some 600 miles east to west and 400 north to south. On all but its eastern borders, where it marched with Rhûn and Khand, it was surrounded by the mountains of the Ered Lithui and the Ephel Dúath.
Skier666 doing the token shot with Mordor in the background:
09/25/04
On the 9/25/04, Nick flew Skier666 and Mrs. 666 above the lake…it was Mrs. 666′s first time so she was a little nervous.
Nick of Paraglide Queenstown:
Mrs.666 in the air:
Take off zone:
Views from the flight:
Skier666 and the Pilot…..admit it…you love the suit
09/26/04
Well, I’m back in SF after some glorious travel time of about 24 hours total. Glad to be home but also not so glad…the mountains on the South Island are loaded. They are having one strong season and the locals are getting ready for some stellar spring conditions. I’m sure they’ll be heli-ing somewhere until New Years.
This was my last day to take some turns and the weather finally calmed down a bit so I get some much need turns in the Alta Chutes…they got some fresh snow the last couple of days and it was pretty flat light, so I knew it was going to be good.
My buddy was getting married the same day, so I needed to be quick, efficient, and make wise line decisions.
The first run I hiked to the top of the Remarkables and skied down a chute to the skier’s right. Here are the dorky internet pics for us slaves…
Looking down into Diagonalator:
Just below the weather station, random guy followed my boot pack so I made him take a photo:
View of the Grand Couloir…looked super sick but I was captain solo and didn’t have the time…but I’ve been up there before and its really niiiiiiiiiiccccceeee.
Looking off the back into Queenstown and the Southern Alps….and I had to come home
Looking down on the schear gnar that is waiting if you want to ski to Queenstown…you could ski this but if it slides…well don’t need to tell you what happens. The snowline ends pretty early, so you would also have to walk out into some thick brush down to the road….one day I’ll post pics of this….one day
My run before I head skier’s right where it looks like a massive ciff, this is the area where Paul Ahern performed his record air of 224.5 ft…gives you a nice perspective of what he saw in October 1995:
The Alta Chutes in the distance…southern aspect and always good.
Looking down onto the chute I punched out on my first run:
Looking up at what I just skied…above the looker’s left debris path:
Looking up at the bottom of Diagonalator:
Looking up at the chute I skied skier’s right of Diagonalator:
View skiing down….its pretty hidden and without tracks its kind of hard to find but its a fun line…
Skier’s left of Pipeline in the Chutes…this was soooooooo good! I hit it up three times this morning. Not many people go in there because you have to billygoat where you see the rocks poking out…but its pretty much a non-issue. After that, you can point it off a ten footer and lean back in some untracked steep cold smoke and speed toward Alta Lake… its was damn good for some of my last turns of the trip.
After that, rally to the hotel, put on a suit, and charge it to the wedding…to see my buddy get married on a perfect New Zealand afternoon. You can’t really have a better day…
BEST WISHES to Mr. and Mrs. Miles Holden….
Now if I could only find where I put Woody’s AK Maiden’s….
Remarks on the Remarkables, NZ – 09/20/04
Back in NZ for my mates weddin’…
Still winter conditions at the Remarks. Skied the 19th half-day right off the plane and hit up the Alta Chutes for a couple of runs. We had some severe flat light and wind but the snow was super winterized and sick….hike and skied "Diagonalator" with my mate Woody with no tracks and about a foot deep. It slid a little but it was a great way to get off a 24 hour journey.
Today we hit the Remarks again with the sun peaking through the window but as usual a single cloud sat over the Remarks. More flat light, wintery snow, and people in shorts and a T-shirt in Queenstown, it was time to do some skiing.
Brought the digi-cam this time and took some shots, but with the flat light it made life a little difficult.
Music: Cause 4 Concern – Paranormal
Welcome to Middle Earth
Hobbit village in winter
Gollum’s buddies/skiers
NZphotoslave and Mrs. 666 looking down Diagonalator searching for the Ring…but in flat light
Just saw the Ring glitter
Gollum giving Mrs. 666 advice
Mrs. 666 and the Dragon’s Lair which also happens to be Paul Ahern’s record Huck above…
Gandalf leaving in Kea form
Elevator…Alta Chutes….no sign of Froto
Geoff Small, Jeremy Pierce, Miles Holden, Casey Cane, Nigel Mctussock about to be swept up by Souron
Gay-homo eating some Elfen party mix
Kiwi light bulb
Remarkables in the Springtime…..Liv Tyler in the backround…not in the shot sorry
Arghhhh……August New Zealand Angst – 08/18/04
NZ August 2004
In NZ…..
Queenstown…..
2 feet last 48 hours….Rinsed out propa’
Went to the Remarks today but the roads were treacherous in the morning. The sick lift was on hold due to avalanche control and flat light…only skied a couple runs. The worst part about it is that it was pretty much bluebird everywhere but on the mountain…oh well.
Music:- Alec Empire “NEW WORLD ORDER”
Looks like some mean weather on its way so I don’t know about tomorrow…
Here are some pics from today:
Wow, what amazing scenery…
Oooohhhhhh…
The snow at lake level turned to rain last night but still snowing hard on the higher peaks. Remarks were closed, so we heading up to hit something at Coronet. For those who don’t know, Coronet isn’t really that exciting but its the closest to town. Its also at the lowest elevation so its dumping at the higher peaks. Bad flat light and some wet snow in the afternoon, however the first 5 runs from the top was buttery smooth. and about a foot deep.
I’d be lying if I’d say we weren’t soaking wet …
No actions shots due to the wet weather but this will give you an idea.
WE RINSED IT OUT PROPER!!!!
The word was that the Chutes at the Remarks would not open, so we sessioned about a foot of fresh at Coronet in some mighty fine clear blue skies…I have never seen this place so covered.
Tried to book a heli for the afternoon but too windy, another storm rollin’ in tonight through tomorrow, so we have some bookings for monday or tuesday…
Well, the weather has been hitting hard and the ski fields have been operating at a minimum. Went to Methven to the Big Air…the ski/board jump was lame but the Moto X guys stole the show. Massive rain storm kicked in and woke up in a mighty low-pressure right above us….rain turned to snow. Drove 7 hours back to Queenstown on closed roads with up to a foot and a half in places…hopefully some skiing tomorrow.
No pics right now because my buddy was shooting with slide film today…check back later
All I can say is that we hit 9:00 am powder about a foot deep at Coronet. Back bowls were open and was sick….super light cold smoke snow.
At 1:00 pm we hit up the Remarks where the weather began to clear. About a foot to two feet of the lightest driest Antarctic powder was up for the taking. My kiwi bros reckon it was one of the best days EVER at the Remarks…Lots of "Fuck it" airs and a few drydocks later we ended up skiing halfway down the access road at 4:15pm.
Remarkables, South Island, New Zealand…Shadow basin chair
BLUEBIRD…
NO WIND….
HUCKS INTO POW…
It was really, really, really good, especially for my last day of skiing for this trip.
Left at 1:00 pm, we had a chopper lined up with Neutral Heli-ski but when we flew to the LZ at the top, the weather turned all flat light. So we had one run on a western faced aspect that was definitely not as good compared to where we were planning to ride. Oh, well, I just had two sick days to end the trip so I’m more than happy. Even wierder is that I used my NZ made fat twins the whole trip when usually you’re rockin’ jib skis because of the funky conditions.
Here’s a sample of some of the crappy snow we skied today. We hucked tons of rocks as you can see from all the bomb holes, the action shots are on slide film and I’ll post them in the next week or so….
Gallipoli Chutes – Sugar Bowl Chair
Bus that went off the road the previous day…all the people died…
Just kidding…..
Breakfast rocks….Shadow Basin Chair
Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound
James from Neutral Heli in Kingston, NZ….
The mega flat-light run
Some more shots from this day:
666
Woody….getting some
Now back in SF, and extremely jet-lagged…here is the TR from my last day. If you can get to NZ in the next couple of days, DO IT!! The conditions are absolutely sick…the resorts have huge bases and locals are saying that it hasn’t been this good for atleast 5 years.
My plane left at 3:10 pm from Frankton and I was off, back to the wonderful time of the season called depression, or summer.
Prior to departing, a beautiful day unfolded, and we bolted south to Kingston to fly for a couple hours with Neutral Heli-ski with James. Now James is sort of a loose cannon, in that he can fly the shit out of a helicopter and land almost anywhere.
On the chopper was myslelf, Miles Holden (sickest Kiwi photographer), and Jeremy Pierce (NZ top monofreeskier)
We skied some mellow runs at first to test the snow and get some “token” untracked riding shots. However the snow on the northern aspects developed a thin layer of crust that prevented us from jumping in some exposed lines. I’d rather be able to ski another day than be a human avalanche trigger, especially a couple hours before traveling for 15 hours of airtime.
We did ski some shady southern aspects and let them rip. Jeremy and I tore up some pristine couloirs while Mr. Holden took photos from the bird. More photos may be posted soon, but here are the ones I was able to take myself.
James
Mr. Holden coaching Mr. Pierce
Mr. Pierce
Wait, what’s this?
Nutcracker? What’s that? Mt. Olympus, NZ – 08/15/03
The Location: Mt. Olympus is a little gem on the South Island, via a good couple hours from Christchurch. I cannot even remember how long it took to get there…
The Date: Aug. 15th, 2003.
The Players: 666, Pentium, Sheepdog, Woody, Brownie, and Alex and Kris of Kingswood skis.
The Conditions: Low snow year and wind affection.
Music: Spirit – ‘Inside Out’
The lowest tow (nutcracker) and parking lot. Some nice goods to hike to up above…pics to follow below.
And a little to the right…
The Upper Hut – you can stay up on the hill, or at the bottom below the lowest tow on the access road. Woody with his 2003 "hottest haircut"
The upper terrain and bowls…
The summit in the distance. You can boot up to the summit and ski either the bowl (in the sun) or the south facing chutes.
C’mon…doesn’t this look fun? The upper hut is there on the right, and the lower hut is down the valley where the snow disappears.
666 below the summit…
The snow was a tad grabby….
Alex finds an open face….
To test thiose proto Kingswoods….
Kris gives this chute a go….
Carving the South Eastern face…
….just a little hike for the good snow 
Woody skiing from the top of the bowl in the first pic above….
and finds a pocket of PWDR!
I followed but everyone ditched me for Speights, so here’s a shot to the west of raw New Zealand.
And the bottom hut….warm and toasty.
