An attempt to ski Mount Pisa

View Pisa in a larger map

Robin has had this place scoped for a while, so the weekend after the big snow day Shelagh, Robin, Sunshine, the dogs and I all head off for a look see. We stayed the night in a really nice little holiday house in Bannockburn, getting up long before the sun so we could start our way up a long steep route to the Pisa range.

I must admit, when I saw the maps, I had my doubts that Sunshine and I would make it up to a snow line, ski it and get back in one day, but Shelagh and Robin had packed for an over night stay in a hut up over the range on the Cardrona Cromwell Pack Track. That was a better plan as the climb to the snow line was too big for Sunshine and I in a day, seeing us turn back :(

It was a little disappointing to see the snow line wasn't anywhere near the 900m we had hoped, and the car pack was at 400m. Had we bought a 4WD along, we could have driven all the way to the snow line and into it! But the road was boggy in patches after the sun had melted the frost over it - the driving should be done early morning only I'd say...

The view we did get of the range and the bowls and valleys coming off it was enough to inspire a return.. but it is definitely a committing trip, and not one for less than 2 days.

A snow day

It snowed all day across Dunedin yesterday. The town services closed down including the Polytech, so we could all go out and play.

And play we did! Skiing around the Peninsula! That's less than 200 metres above sea level!

It kept snowing all day. In the afternoon Mike and I skied from Larnach Castle down to Broad Bay!



View Dunedin Ski in a larger map