Conditions Report
Treble Cone, New Zealand Report
August 3, 2014 by Skimac
It rained since we arrived in Wanaka on Tuesday and we patiently waited for the wind and lightning to stop by eating at the local Korean restaurant and fishing in the nearby rivers and making a day trip to Queenstown about an 1 hour west.
Finally, the weather turned and Treble Cone reopened on Sunday and a huge crowd showed up.
The off-piste looked pretty sketchy all day
Only the lower mountain was open in the morning, as they were de-icing and prepping the Saddle Basin chair and terrain. There are so many obstacles and the coverage is so thin that we saw 2 ski patroller sleds come down with injured people BEFORE 10 am; the sleds kept coming down pretty much all day (and here at TC the snow mobiles that pull the sleds with the injured have sirens).
But finally, around noon the Saddle Basin opened up and it was a free for all to get first tracks in.
We were fortunate and got one fairly pure powder run from top to bottom before the rest of the crowd showed up.
Someone even did the closed hike to the top of the ridge and put in some nice turns.
Even the sun made an appearance mid afternoon.
The light was so filtered and exquisite on the ride up and made the ridge line appear like a fortress.
The drive down the dirt road was less eventful than the drive up in the morning, but the valley views were spectacular.
The shades of brown of the hills and mountains is unique and makes for a very hypnotic view.
