Speaking of Met Service....

More snow pictures

We know you're probably all already bored of snow photos.... and it's not even winter yet... but still.... these are the facts. It's the coldest May in Queenstown in 15 years. Coronet Peak already has over a metre of snow at the top of the ski area and about 20 cm at the base, which for this time of year is unheard of. We're just hoping it sticks around. The locals have a saying: "Snow in May never stays, snow in June is still too soon" so we're not holding our breath.... however we're still getting excited.

This first photo was taken from Andrea's work a few days ago, when we'd had snow to lake level. It settled to just above lake level - and made the trees look very pretty!

Today, Greg, Max and a few friends decided that with all the snow we've already talked about that they would head up Coronet Peak to hike up and ski and board back down. Greg and Max were both in snowshoes, and boarded back down, whilst the others had touring (similar to telemark) skis on. Even with snowshoes on, Greg and Max were still nearly up to their waists by the time they got to the top. Boarding back down they definitely had to keep their speed up, or they would have sunk under the snow. They even set off a small avalanche (note: we're planning on doing an avalanche safety course this year).

Here are the photos from today's mission.

Greg near the top of Coronet (note depth of deep powder - and this is with snow shoes on!)

Max near the top of Coronet (also wearing snowshoes)

Greg laying into a turn... and trying to not submerge his board in the powder!

Ben Lomond.... take 2

We woke up with snow forecast to near lake level and bitterly cold southerlies - and white hills. So, Greg and Max, in their infinite wisdom, decided it was the perfect day for another hike up Ben Lomond.

They started off at the bottom of the Gondola and made it to halfway between the saddle and the summit when the cloud came in and reduced visibility to the point where it wasn't a smart idea to go much further.

The boys were a little disappointed to discover that what looked like a good foot or two of snow from here was actually only about 4-6 inches up the top.

Some photos:

Greg walking up the track (snowing lightly, but with the sun trying it's hardest to break through!)

Greg looking out at the view, from just above the saddle (a glimpse of the Remarkables in the right hand corner)

You may remember the park bench below from a previous blog: http://gregandandreajarvis.blogspot.com/2009/01/hard-yakka.html - back when we first started hiking. (Max standing beside the bench)