BR Night Mission

Comment Share Posted on Monday August 16th at 1:22 p.m. Tweet

It was 3.30pm on a Sunday afternoon at university when I heard the call that Broken River was opening for night skiing.

With the potential for Porters Pass to close it was a high speed round up of keen participants.

A quick stop in Springfield on the way for a famous pie was mandatory before heading over the pass and to the base of the BR road, where we would have to put chains on in the dark. Note to self: Don't forget torch next night skiing session.

Driving up the BR road on a snowy night was picture perfect and it was in awesome condition after such a big snow fall. On arrival to the car park we realised we weren't the only ones who had heard about the night skiing. Parking was like a game of tetris and being first in meant there was no getting out early...not that it bothered us.

Being able to ride up in the goods lift this year is amazing and after a short walk to the bottom of the tow it was on. The weather seemed to know we wanted to ski the new pow as the snow almost cleared off for entire night and only came back in on the drive home to Christchurch.

A strong grip was essential for the night as the rope tow was iced up, making getting going tough. But once at the top the snow was worth it, with over 30cms of fresh and many tracks to be had. There was nothing like an ice cold beer at the bargain price of $3.50 to finish off the night, making it the first of hopefully many night skiing sessions for this season.