The CUSSC was founded in 1941 as the Canterbury University Ski Club. Many of the members in the first few decades were sons and daughters of the Christchurch Ski Club, who had been skiing at Temple Basin since at the 1920s in conditions that would strain even the hardiest of modern members. In those early days, there were no ropetows or goodslift, and accommodation consisted of a draughty and cold 18-person hut.
Prior to 1948 the amount of skiing possible in any one day was limited to one’s endurance in climbing up carrying skis and then skiing down to repeat the process. Only very few of the 10 or so pairs of skis owned and hired by the club had edges and the ‘bear trap’ bindings were highly efficient at breaking the lower leg and ankle bones. Most members travelled up to the Pass by the ‘Perishable’ Goods train on the Friday night for weekend skiing and on arrival then tramped up the road from the Railway station and on up to the hut arriving generally well after midnight. Return on Sunday night was also by train. Pretty much everything going onto the field had to be carried up the walking track, including construction materials, food, fuel, and of course skis and clothing.
In 1948 the Christchurch Ski Club and Canterbury University Ski Club agreed to install a Hamilton Ski Tow in the main basin. It would be the second tow in the South Island, coming a year after Coronet Peak’s new tow. The C.S.C. financed the venture, with members of the University club playing the major part in the detailed arrangements for design, transport and installation of the tow unit, tow line and tow hut. Much of this work fell to the engineers in the University Ski Club. The tow unit itself comprised a Ford 10 side valve engine developing about 22kW and driving through a 3 speed gear box.
The main work was undertaken in the May 1948 varsity vacation by a party of about 15 CUSC members (assisted on weekends by CSC members). Pack horses were tried for the task of hauling the tow up the hill but failed miserably, so there was nothing else for it but back-breaking slog. The tow unit was mounted on a sled and slowly pulled up the mountain by a process of winching itself to successive deadman points, and took four days to reach the basin site from the road. The bulk of the ancillary equipment including fuel, the rope, pulleys, towers and materials for the tow shed were carried up. This aspect of the work took about ten days, and was associated with almost continuous rain and bad weather. Up to 4 trips were made each day by the fitter members of the party, with the ‘standard’ time of 1 hour to go down to the road and return with a 4 gallon (18 litres) tin of petrol.
The University club hut was built during the 1963-65 period. The goods lift was built in 1959-60 in order to ferry the required materials up the mountain, and required 40 people to haul the cable up from the bottom. Construction of the new lodge was hindered when “fate in the form of a gigantuous Nor’west wind lifted/wrecked the Nor’west portion of the roof in a section 75 feet long (the full length of the hut) and 17 feet wide. It was deposited across the gulley separating the two huts.”
The Page Shelter in Downhill Basin was built in 1967 with a donation from Mrs Nancy Page as a memorial to her husband Robin and son Fred. The clubs’ largest project for many years, the Shelter was built at 5300 ft in the Downhill Basin and was designed by architect Paul Pascoe as a day shelter for skiers, climbers and the general public. A helicopter lifted 69 loads of materials, but much heavy packing was also done. In an event reminiscent of the Varsity hut’s construction, the building work was hindered when a storm blew away a lot of the building material shortly after work began and the original builder pulled out. However work continued under a new builder, who carried on with the help of Park staff. The formal opening was June 1, 1969.
The ‘Big Snow Years’ of the 1970s were a dynamic time for the club, the most notable feature being the development of the CSC and CUSC huts (‘Old Hut’ and ‘New Hut’). The New Hut was transformed from being a smallish hut with a kerosene oven, two lukewarm/cold showers, two long drops, a closet come ski-hire, and a pressurised fire alarm system (which needed to be pumped up every 3 hours or so because it leaked) to nearly the size and shape it is today. There was much discussion of strength requirements during both design and construction, but general consensus was achieved by adhering to the catch-phrase at the time, that “it must be able to support two fornicating elephants”. ‘The Loft’, Ski-hire (now Ski Patrol) and the ‘Grovel Pit’ (lower common room) complete with ‘big red’ were added in 1976-7, and the south wing, including double bunks and the infamous ‘69’ in 1977-8, built with both club and contracted labour. Student relief work schemes added much to the interior redecoration from 1978 onwards.
Ski-hire was targeted for special development at a time when few if any clubs offered this facility. Some of the original hire gear was ‘scary’ with some unsuspecting learners ending up with size 12 boots, 205cm metal skis and ‘Hope’ bindings. If you were really lucky you even got matching bamboo ski poles.
For ski weekers there was a relentless rivalry between ‘Old Hut’ and ‘New Hut’. On one occasion New Hut woke up to find breakfast, tables, chairs, plates etc., all beautifully set up for them. There was only one problem – it was all halfway up the Temple tow line!
Old Hut had an atmosphere of its own. Bunks in the kitchen ensured minimal sleep for the ‘last to bed first up crew’. A long drop with a nauseating, spiralling red and white colour scheme did little to help the hangover from the night before. The hut floor was soaked with kerosene – probably caused by too many people trying to coax some degree of cooking heat from the dilapidated oven – which aided the hut’s eventual demise in 1978 by cremation.
Lack of snow was never a problem at this time. In face the reverse was true, so much so that Downhill was often not able to be accessed, sometimes for weeks at a time. Avalanche damage to huts and ropetows was (and still is) a fairly regular occurrence, necessitating speedy repair jobs by club members and staff.
Throughout the 80s, 90s and 2000s there have been many projects and additions to the club infrastructure. Main grid power was switched on in 1986, and the CSC was renamed Temple Basin Ski Club in 1987. The new Temple Basin club hut (‘Ferrier Lodge’) was built in 1989, with extensive renovations and a new wing being added in 1994, making the Temple club’s hut once again the dominant lodge at Temple Basin for the first time in thirty years.
Due to the efforts of countless dedicated club members over the years, these days visitors to Temple Basin are able to relax in comfortable modern lodges with central heating, double-glazed windows, hot and cold running water, flushing toilets, mains electricity, telephones and even wireless internet.
Recent projects undertaken by University club members include the replacement of the goodslift cable in 2007, and the May 2008 rebuilding of the access bridge after it was blown down in November 07. In early 2011, the carpet in the boot room was pulled up and replaced with vinyl and rubber matting, providing a much more effective floor for wet and snowy gear.
