| August 13, 2009 | ||
| 12:00 pm | to | 1:30 pm |
UCSA from 12 – 1:30 pm
Aug
11
Gnomes Free Ride Weekend
| August 22, 2009 7:00 am | to | August 23, 2009 6:00 pm |
Check out the ‘news’ section for all the details!
Aug
11
Gnomes Free Ride Weekend
22nd – 23rd August, Temple Basin
What:
Gnomes Freeride Weekend. It’s organized by University of Canterbury Snowsports Club (CUSSC) and involves a uni-games style weekend of freeride/big mountain competition and partying along with Canterbury University Boardriders Association (CUBA), Otago University Alpine Sports Club (OUASC), possibly Lincoln Uni Snow Club and anyone else who would like to come and have a sweet weekend at Temple Basin.
What is a big mountain/freeride competition?
These used to be called ‘extreme skiing/snowboarding competitions’, basically a venue is chosen which has fun terrain like chutes, drops and other ‘terrain nuggets’ and then competitors take turns to ski/ride down it one by one. Judges judge how difficult the path or line chosen by the rider is, as well as how well they rode it to score each competitor. This competition is for all skill levels and the venue will have mellow options as well as gnarly ones, so the idea is for everyone to get involved and have a good time.
When:
22-23rd August (the first weekend of the holidays for Canterbury, the weekend just after NZ Open finishes). The competition will be run on Saturday, party on Saturday night, with DJ’s, fire dancing and night skiing. Note that Temple Basin is a 2 hour drive plus a 40 minute walk from Christchurch so please get on your way nice and early on Saturday, or come up Friday night. If the weather is too bad on Saturday the competition will be run on Sunday.
How the competition will work:
A likely venue will be the skiers left side of downhill basin but this will be finalized a day or two before the event based on snow conditions, weather and advice from ski patrol. The bottom of downhill tow would be a good place to observe that venue, hopefully we’ll have someone on a microphone announcing who is skiing/boarding next etc. The competition will be run between UCSSC, CUBA and OUASC so each club should wear the t-shirt of the club. If you’re not in one of these clubs just ski for the club you know people in (that’s UCSSC for people that know me) and bring a tee of that colour (wear over your jacket for your run).
UCSSC- Blue t-shirt, preferably the one with the club logo
CUBA- Black club t-shirt, or extra points for the black tall tee ‘cuba snow crew 08’
OUASC- Whatever colour your club tee is, Sam H you update this I made you admin for a reason.
Individuals will be scored separately and there will be prizes from our generous sponsor Gnomes Snowsports, including spot prizes, so everyone get involved, competition entry is free! There will be two categories: Mens (ski and snowboard combined) and Womens (also combined). We’ll sort out some sort of system to determine which club wins, probably the top 5 or 10 of each category will win points for their club.
How to get there:
Drive towards Arthur’s Pass on SH-73 (aprox 2 hours from Christchurch). 5 mins after passing through Arthur’s Pass township you will get to ‘Temple Basin Carpark’, DON’T park there at first; keep going another 500m to the ‘goods lift’. Drop all your stuff off there where it will be lifted to the ski area in a wire-basket thing. Then drive back to the car park and start walking, the track is well marked and will take about 40 mins to reach the field, so leave Chch early! Your stuff will be waiting for you at the top of the goods lift, you have to carry it from there to closest lodge (not the red shelter on your right, the green UCSSC lodge on your left, that’s right we have our own lodge up there, booyah!). Then go to the top lodge to check in and be assigned a bunkroom (which will hopefully be in our lodge, that’s where the party will be).
What you need to bring:
Ski gear, shoes suitable for walking the 40 minute track up to the field, maybe some normal clothes for kicking it in the lodge, your own alcohol and a readiness to ski and party. You DON’T need to bring your own food, all meals will be provided, but you can bring your own snacky treats if you like. Alcohol is also sold up there but it’s cheaper to bring your own. Bring leather gloves/a glove saver/a nutcracker & harness for riding the nutcracker rope tows up there if you have these things, otherwise they are all available for hire/purchase on the field.
How much it costs:
These costs include everything; food, accommodation, lift pass, competition entry, DJ’s, fire dancing and night skiing. The only other expenses you will have are petrol and alcohol. To fill seats/find a ride post stuff on the facebook page, if you’re not on the facebook page search it ‘Gnomes Freeride Weekend’. Some of the organizers will be going up a day or two early so if you want to get amongst that and help out then hit me up on 0273502901 (Neil) and you’ll get the days you help for free. Please don’t try to bargain a lower price if you don’t utilize all the things I listed above, I busted my ass to get this mint package price so lets make everyone’s life easier by not arguing about it, I can guarantee you it will be worth it.
If you need lift passes and arrive on Friday night: $176
If you need lift passes and arrive on Saturday: $141
If you don’t need a lift pass (using a Chill Pass, TB Season Pass or work tickets) and arrive on Friday Night: $106
If you don’t need a ski pass (using a Chill Pass, TB Season Pass or work tickets) and arrive on Saturday: $71
Email neilwilliman@hotmail.com or snowsportsclubuc@gmail.com or hit me up on 0273502901 if you have any questions, otherwise see you there, peace. Neil
P.S. This is NOT the big mountain comp that Chill is running at Temple Basin on the 5-6th of September, but everyone should check that out too.
Aug
4
Temple Basin recommended gear list
In past years we’ve seen heaps of people come up to Temple Basin with completely inadequate gear. It won’t be the the end of the world if you’re not well prepared, but it might sour your experience a little if you’re cold, wet and sober because your clothes and sleeping-bag got soaked and your beers got smashed. The following is a list of gear that it would be worth at least considering bringing to Temple Basin.
It’s a very conservative and exhaustive list, and I don’t know anyone who actually brings up all of this gear. However most of these items tend to be pretty useful, and a number of them are pretty much essential. Think of it this way: if you did have all this gear your would be prepared for pretty much anything. I tend to use it as a checklist to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything while I was packing.
Consider them more like guidelines than actual rules.
Year-Round:
- A beanie/woollen hat – your head is the biggest heat-sink in your body
- A good raincoat and overtrousers
- Thermal top and leggings – polyprop or merino
- Wool/thermal socks – 1 pair per day plus a pair in reserve if the weather looks dodgy
- Torch – a head-torch is ideal, but any good torch will do. Bring spare batteries!
- Spare underwear
- Hiking boots – these should be tough and sturdy with good ankle support, and ideally somewhat waterproof. They will get a lot of punishment.
- Gaiters – optional, but they help keep snow, stones and grit out of your boots
- Indoor shoes – something to wear while your boots are drying out. Ideally they should be able to handle a short trudge through light snow/ice between the lodges.
- Indoor clothing – jeans, t-shirt, hoodie, etc. Something comfy to wear while your outdoor gear is in the drying room, basically.
- T-shirts – merino shirts rule, but cotton shirts are fine.
- Jersey/hoodie/windbreaker – wool or polarfleece
- Gloves – a few different types if possible. Fingerless gloves are particularly handy for doing fiddly work (rope splicing) in Antarctic winds.
- Sleeping bag
- Sunblock and chapstick
- Toothbrush, toothpaste, toiletries, etc.
- Camera – if you have one
- Sunglasses
- A hunting knife/pocket knife, some light rope/string/twine, and some duct-tape – not essential but they can prove useful, especially on work parties.
- Towel – because any hoopy frood should know where his towel is
- Snack food – energy chocolate, scroggin, muesli bars…
- Drink bottle/hydration system. – (Home Brand soda = 60 cent 1L drink bottle!)
- First-aid kit – optional
Winter-Only:
- Skis/Boots/Poles or Snowboard/Boots – duh.
- Avalanche transceiver, shovel, and probe – optional unless you’re going into the backcountry.
- Snow-shoes/skins – optional
- Ski helmet – optional
- Ski goggles
- Ski jacket and pants
- Ski gloves
- Nutcracker, harness, glove protector – if you don’t have these they can be hired/bought on the mountain relatively cheaply.
- More thermals – you can never have too many thermals
Summer-Only:
- Swimming togs – in case you want to prove how hard you are by swimming in the mountain tarns
- Hiking shorts – shorts and thermal leggings are an excellent combination for hiking up the walking track
- Old clothes – stuff you don’t mind getting covered in paint/engine-oil/grease.
Tips:
- If you bring a cardboard box of beers and they’re not in your pack, put them in a plastic shopping bag. That way the box won’t get soggy in the rain/snow and fall apart, spilling your beers everywhere (in which case the guys at the goodslift will probably drink them). The plastic bag will also prove useful for keeping your rubbish and wet/dirty clothes separate from the rest of your gear when it’s time to leave.
- A common student beverage at TB is ‘goon’, or cask wine. It’s the cheapest alcohol in town, the packaging is very light and collapsible, and the plastic bag can make a handy pillow.
- If you have one, bring a hiking pack rather than a suitcase. They’re way easier to carry up from the goodslift to the lodge, and can come in handy for work round the field too. It’s also a good idea to bring both a main pack and a daypack. All of your clothing in your main pack should be wrapped in plastic rubbish bags (or ideally a proper survival pack liner, which you can buy for around $5 from DoC and most outdoors stores) to stop them getting wet if it rains. Especially remember to wrap your sleeping bag in a plastic bag, because getting into a wet sleeping bag sucks.
- There is effectively zero cellphone reception at Temple Basin. There are the occasional hotspots which you can find around the place, but they are unreliable. The nearest solid reception is 5mins drive away in Arthur’s Pass village.
- If you brought your own car, don’t forget to keep your keys on your person (rather than in your main pack) when you walk back down the hill. It sucks when you arrive at the bottom of the track and realise that your car keys are still in your bag 800m up the road at the goodslift.
- It’s a good idea to have duplicates of your most important clothing (socks, thermals, shoes etc) in case it gets wet.
- When you arrive at Temple Basin by car, the first thing you’ll see is the car park sign and the start of the walking/4wd track on the right. Drive 800 metres past the sign to the goodslift, and drop off your gear with the goodslift operator. Then drive back to the carpark and park your car, and start walking. The walking track should take 45mins for the reasonably fit, to about an hour for the rest of us. The first third of the track is a 4wd track, the middle part is the zig-zag up through the rocks and tussock, followed by the last homeward stretch known as ‘Columbo St’, along the ridge towards the lodges.
- There have been a number of thefts from cars left in the carparks this season. Never leave valuables in your car. If your vehicle has 4wd and good ground clearance, you can try parking it a short distance up the 4wd track, where it is less likely to be noticed by thieves. However make sure to park off to the side of the track so you don’t block other vehicles coming back down. Also note that you’re more likely to get snowed in up the 4wd track if it dumps while you’re up the hill, so don’t try this if you absolutely have to be in class first thing on Monday morning.
Cheers, and have fun up there.
Aug
3
New website
Hey all.
I hope you had a sweet weekend and hopefully got a few good turns in. The 80s party was pretty epic, with an abundance of fresh snow and a few bevvies on Saturday contributing to plenty of sore heads and bodies on Sunday. If you’ve got any photos from 80s weekend send us an email and we’ll chuck them on the website photo page. When I walked off the hill the snow was dumping on the Basin but the other Cragieburn range fields had clear skies, so Temple Basin is gonna be the place to be this coming Fire & Ice weekend. Places are extremely limited so make sure you’ve booked your spot.
The heavy snowfall and strong winds on Friday and Sunday meant that I had heaps of time on my hands to finish off the new club website in the warmth of Temple lodge. After a couple of years with a plain generic theme, we’re stoked to have a fancy new custom design for our website, and we hope you like it as much as we do. Constructive criticism is always appreciated so if you have any suggestions for the new site feel free to send them in.
Cheers,
Jul
10
80′s Weekend
| August 1, 2009 | to | August 2, 2009 |
On the 1st-2nd of August CUSSC are going to be holding the first 80’s Party weekend up at Temple Basin Ski Field since the mid to late 1980’s. It’s a chance to bust out your bodacious 80’s ski kits for a righteous weekend of gnarly skiing, boarding, and huge volumes of way far out partying come Saturday night. The psychedelic strobe, black lights and disco ball will be tearing the dance floor into a totally groovy rave-up. You can’t help but feel the funk already. There will be prizes for best dressed thanks to Liquorland Riccarton. Sign ups at clubs day or by email to secure your spot fast! Ace!
Latest TB Twitter Update:
- Set up Downhill tow today - we're nearly ready for the season! A little fresh snow around the tops, looking promising. #
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