A few weeks ago, Steve and I managed to wrangle another day off together, and we decided to make the most of it by doing something a bit different. I found a good deal on cross country ski rentals and a trail pass for the Snow Farm, so we woke up early and headed out of town. The snow farm was an hours drive over the mountain along the same road we traveled to go to Treble Cone for our birthdays. As we wound up the road past golden-brown grass covered hills it was hard to have faith that there would be enough snow up there to go cross country skiing. Even when we arrived at the access road for the snow farm the mountains were still bare, but as we rounded the final bend all of a sudden we were surrounded by white. The same phenomenon occurs when we go snowboarding... because the climate is just too mild for snow to survive anywhere but at the very tops of the mountains in the shaded areas.

When we arrived at the Snow Farm we found out they were gearing up for a big cross country ski race the next day, and we felt a bit out of place surrounded by a bunch of Lycra-clad athletes springing around the trails. The skis we were given were thinner than the cross country skis we have at home, designed more for racing than exploring the back country, but they didn't take too much getting used to. We decided to leave the racing crowd behind and set out on the Loop Trail, a 13 kilometer round trip that would take us over gently rolling hills  and past the Meadow Hut. It took us about three hours to reach the hut, where we stopped to warm up a bit and eat the lunch we had packed before continuing the last few kilometers back to the base building. We debated exploring another one of the shorter trails, but decided to save our energy so we could go night skiing at Coronet Peak.

We drove back into town around 4pm and treated ourselves to Domino's before headed up to the mountain. Neither of us had ever been night skiing before and we weren't quite sure what to expect. The sunset from the top of the mountain was spectacular, and we soon got used to the darkness in-between light-towers. The evening was warm and the snow was quite soft and slushy, so after a few hours on the main chair we decided to head over to the beginner lift and work on some tricks. We've both been concentrating this season on learning to ride switch (with our opposite foot forward) and we spent the last few hours working on 360s, tail and nose presses and buttering. We won't  be joining the x-games anytime soon, but we both made good progress on new skills and had a lot of fun riding together.

One of the perks of having our birthdays just two days apart is that it gives us a great excuse to spend a little extra money to do something special. So after several months of working multiple jobs and saving every penny, we took the day off in between our birthdays and took a trip to Treble Cone in Wanaka for a day of snowboarding. We jumped on a bus at 745 in the morning, slept most of the 90 minute drive to the mountain, and had our tickets by 10am. Following the bus drivers advice, we headed straight for the top of the mountain, and we weren't disappointed. After a warm up lap we hiked up to the top of the mountain and we found the closest thing to powder we've seen in New Zealand, as well as one of the best views yet.

After our hike we spent the rest of the day on the Saddle Basin lift, enjoying the best runs on the mountain. Our favorite spot was a run called Super Pipe, a huge drain with 30ft walls that acted as a natural half pipe. Even after the clouds moved in and the visibility started to deteriorate the snow in Super Pipe was still good. Of the three mountains that we've ridden in New Zealand so far, Treble Cone was the closest thing to a "proper" ski resort. The beginner and advanced areas didn't overlap, the difficult runs were actually challenging, the runs were well-marked, the lift ramps were well-maintained, they didn't groom every run to within an inch of its life, and maps were available everywhere (and for free!). It would be great to go back one more time before the season ends.