New Zeeland is one of the most spectacular places on Earth. No wonder why they decided to film the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit here. The climate in this country is perfect for any human being. New Zeeland is known as the perfect destination during all seasons of the year. The summers are hot and long, ideal for its lovers, while the winter is cold enough to offer snow in the south part of the country and perfect for ski and snowboarding.
If you are visiting New Zeeland for a short time, a “Snowboard Tour” is highly recommended, because it helps you maximise the time spent on the mountain. There are many companies who offer such tours for New Zeeland’s South Island. This is why you need to be careful and look all over before choosing one, because prices can be competitive.
You can only cross with the ferry-boat the two islands. The tax is pretty high (75 USD for car and 30 USD for person). The trip lasts three hours. All the adds will try to convince you that New Zeeland’s South Island is the place with the most beautiful landscapes in the world. The tourist industry is extremely well organized, because the country lives from tourism and agriculture. Even though the industry is basically non existent, New Zeeland has one million tourists every year. This is why its members care a lot about their country’s image, as being friendly and ecological. They consider themselves lazy, their ideal is not to become rich, but to be laid back. It’s some sort of national division and all they want to do is keep their lives as simple as possible, have lots of leisure time and activities like gardening, fishing, rugby and well, ski and snowboarding for the passionate ones.
In Christchurch, there is an Arctic Centre that rebuilds the live in Antarctica. You can experience the violence of a storm, which is pretty amazing. You can continue your trip to the extreme South, or you can cross the Island towards west. Many travellers prefer to go to west, in Queenstown. Queenstown is the place where you will find all the extreme sports: alpinism, parachute, bungee, jet, ski, rafting – during the summer. During the winter, this is the ski, snowboarding and ice-skating paradise. The road continues towards North. This is the least populated area in NZ. The West Coast is very wild, glacial even during the summer. The most spectacular attractions are the two glaciers, situated at 250 meters above the sea.
In Queenstown you will find Coronet Peak, which is the ideal place for amazing free riding. You really can’t miss it, because the ski field has terrain for snowboarders of all abilities with slopes that offer both wide-open pistes and well-groomed trails.
Have you ever imagined you could go snowboarding on a volcano? The Central North Island has two ski areas that cater to all snowboarding abilities, perched on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu. How about spectacular views while you go practicing your favourite sports? Ohau, the ski area between Christchurch and Queenstown is the cherry top. It is suitable for all levels and it also offers lessons for novices.
If you are travelling with your family and didn’t practice snowboarding before, The Remarkables is the best location. Perfect for beginners, youth and entire families, the north-facing slopes of The Remarkables are home to versatile terrain, fantastic learning facilities and fun for all ages. In 2015 The Remarkables opened its new base building. This is stage two of a redevelopment project which in 2014 year saw the 1.2km, six seater Curvey Basin chairlift installed, the learners’ area expanded and a bigger car park. As of 2016 season the access road to the resort is fully sealed.
One more reason for practicing winter sports in NZ is that Olympic and World Championship ski squads from countries such as Japan, Austria and others come to New Zealand for their off season competitive training. These countries have found that by training here in the Northern Hemisphere summer, they will improve and have a better chance of a podium placing in competition.
What are you waiting for?
