2013 New Zealand Ski Season so far (Cheeseman to Mt.Olympus Ski Tour)

2013 has been an interesting season with a big start scoring about 2m of snow in a huge late June storm. We had to wait again until late august to get the goods - but when they arrived it was  one of the lightest dumps we’ve had and I enjoyed some superb days at Craigieburn – starting with a bluebird powder day on the Thursday which was EPIC!

One objective for the season was to ski the Ryton Valley and what better way to do this by touring from Mt.Cheeseman to Mt. Olympus skifields, staying over night and returning the next day. 

We scored a weather window in late July and had clear but windy weather on Saturday making our way south from Cheeseman skifield summiting Mt.Cheeseman and then skiing some nice powder into the Ryton before touring up to the ridge which led us to the summit of Mt. Olympus.  I decided to ski right off the top into a nice 45-48 degree chute which got the heart pumping, negotiating my way through a narrow colouir then opening up the turns above the skifield - a sweet line ticked. 

Then a grand awaiting of beers in the Mt.O hut tub with all 8 of us sharing stories and having a good old laugh - could a days' ski touring end any better!?!? Pity we didn't get a shot of the hot tubbing but we were having too much fun to take pics!

We awoke to a bluebird day and toured back up the ridge to stand again on the Mount Olympus summit.  Dropping into a superb sunny face with lovely soft springy powder - leaving our signatures behind as we peered over dramatic exposure into the Lake Coleridge watershed. 

Returning on the ridge some nice turns were had fanging into tarn basin before gluwein and muffins at the Cheeseman club hut to finish off a superb overnight ski tour in the Cragieburn range!

Gulmarg, Kashmir Ski & Snowboard Season 2013!

Powder doesn't get much more perfect than this.......

Well what a great season in Gulmarg. A very stable snow pack this year meant few avalanche incidents across the whole skiing population, We are proud that Sunstone continues it's 100% safe client record with regards NO fatalities, NO burials and NO injuries to our clients :-)

The usual big snow - ka ching!

Jules gets the weather we'd hoped for topped off with the freshest, deepest Himalayan Pow Pow!

Patty's turn on Monkey Hill...getting a face full.

The start of the season in January saw a massive 150cm dump that crushed some of the faceting and deep hoar frost that is often evident in the January snow pack getting ready for a mid Jan arrival. We skied untracked powder for 14 days with very little people around, before the February enslaught. And when Feb did arrive we scored another 150cms which saw some neck deep, snorkel enabled powder riding which was simply off the hook.

Again groups were very enthusiastic to take on Sunstone's 2 hour avalanche re-fresher/training and always keen to attend Bryan Newman (Gulmarg Ski Patrol Manager / Avalanche Forecaster) weekly Avalanche Night. Always a very informative meeting in which we receive an up-to-date conditions summary from the horse's mouth!

Loose Douche Crew got some.

The Perrys - father & son kiwi team earning their turns.

The Loose Douche Crew getting some!

We had subsequent snow falls right into March and some great touring out to Lenmarg!

The Swedes - Mans & Jeni hiking up Apherwat to access down the Pir Panjal Range to Lenmarg.

and BINGO....

Will charges off a cliff into deep deep powder...hell yeahs!

A powder 'run' in Gulmarg.....with Douche getting some cruisy air!

The Kiwi Docs heading on up!

Alex gets it on the way down to Baba Reshi Temple.

Jules the wrong way up on a Baba's session.

It was a great season - awesome Guys & Gals, smooth logistics and lots of powder smiles!

Marieke heads back to the Gondola!

Thanks for the gear Macpac...the Luggernaut 90L travel bag is the ultimate to lug around (see what I did there) and act as base camp bag:-)

For your smooth ride to Hakuba (Japan), Gulmarg (Kashmir) or Southern Alps (NZ) in 2013/14 contact Paul on: paul@sunstoneadventures.com

For updates check out: 

www.facebook.com/sunstoneadventures

Hakuba, Japan in January

So how was it!?

Again Japan surprises with the reasonable prices for it's awesome powder, immaculate food and deluxe onsens capped off with efficient, friendly service....it's certainly polar opposites from India....more like Switzerland but cheaper!

And let's just check out a little bit of that quality......

A pint is $7.50NZD so always a good place to start if you're comparing international destinations!

I guess with any mountain town you get international influence - probably one of my favourite characteristics (being a people person) that catches me every time about the ski lifestyle.

Bumping into familiar faces, having great varied nights out with differing food & atmospheres; custom - mountain towns and Hakuba do this well - right I feel like Mexican tonight!

Here's the crew at the 'Sumo Tei' a traditional restaurant run by an ex-Sumo Wrestler specialising in 'Nabe' which you cook up and share. This was Jason's last night and great fun!

Mon Pidgeon is a favourite too - having fed my pizza addiction worldwide this place delivers. Kitschy atmos with cats & dogs playing about - pizza for brunch after 3 days of powder skiing was a well earnt....erm hit!

Pretty good coffee too and lots of great baked goods...oh yeah.

Again the snow monkey tour is just fascinating...

So more snow today....do I really have to go ski powder again? Oh ok....hit me up!

Next stop Gulmarg, Kashmir for more hilarity and catching up with new faces and old mates....

We like to ski pow pow:
www.sunstoneadventures.com

2012 Sunstone Ski & Snowboard Season (Gulmarg, Kashmir & Hakuba, Japan)

2012 in Gulmarg saw a dodgy snow pack in January and with the decision to ski guide in Japan for this month (because of previous lack of snow and dodgy unstable snowpack in previous Gulmarg seasons) it proved a good decision that paid off.

Getting the goods in Hakuba, Japan. Photo by Mitch.

Hakuba, Japan was simply off-the-hook. It's the FULL package of retarded amounts of powder, zeeperb food, chillaxed environment - hotpools, great service, genuine people and well organised transport & ski resorts. We'll be guiding in January 2013 so make your plans now and score some of those cheap air flights NOW. For further info/itineraries/early bird specials please contact Paul: paul@sunstoneadventures.com

There's a lot of terrain in the Hakuba Backcountry to explore!

Photo by sunstone.

Gearing up about to ski the South Face Backcountry bowls in Hakuba, Japan.

Photo byJoona Olkkola

Paul gets in deep into the Japow! Photo by Mitch.

Oh yes the food.....Pic by sunstone.

Snow monkeys - rather unique in Japan! Photo by sunstone.

We ran tours for clients to Gulmarg, Kashmir in Feb through March with superb powder conditions - as always! Some other guiding companies risked skiing the Shadowsland bowls in the South and saw them getting clients buried & injured - luckily there were no fatalities although there were some close calls!

Skiing the Gulmarg backcountry. Photo by Robbie Richmond.

The Himalayas - epic backcountry skiing. Photo by Ted Stone.

Paul leading up with Ted & Scotty in the Gulmarg, Kashmir backcountry. Photo by Robbie Richmond.

Skinning up Monkey Hill, Gulmarg, Kashmir with the client crew - Dan, Phil, Wayne & James! Photo by sunstone.

And it's not all skinning & hiking.....There's a really PHAT gondola that drops you at 4000m! Photo by sunstone.

Eric boasting in the Powder. Pic by sunstone.

Party time. There's more partying in Gulmarg than you might expect! Pic by sunstone.

Heading out to the legendary 40-60 degree slopes of the 'Shark's Fin'! Pic by sunstone.

In this situation of high avalanche rish it's paramount to ski & snowboard lower angle slopes (below 30 degrees), stick in areas with good snow anchors (like trees) and on lower elevations. There's still plenty of great options in the Gulmarg area to avoid High Risk Avalanche areas and that's why its such a great ski environment.

Phil has his turn coming out of the 'Singing Tree'. Photo by sunstone.

Travis mixes it up with local army. Photo by sunstone.

Wayne's turn skiing the pow pow. Pic by sunstone.

It was another epic ski season and we were happy to report NO clients in avalanches and NO fatalaties - a record we have maintained since we started our ski guiding operations 5 years ago - a 100% client safety record which we're very proud of!

Local sledgewaller models the sunstone merch. Pic by sunstone.

About to drop into fields of powder. Photo by Jonas Scherer.

Here's what some of our clients said about sunstone adventures this season:

"Skiing in Gulmarg weeks 9&10 in February/March 2012 with Sunstone Adventures was amazing! Our guide Paul knew the place, the skiing, the snow conditions, the food and the people, and shared all of this with us in a way that made us feel we were skiing with a friend. The deal covered B&B, transportation, guiding, so the only thing we had to decide was where to eat dinner each night. I was recommended Sunstone by a friend, and now it's my turn to recommend Sunstone! We are already looking to book for next time..."

Tea, Finland.

"A side from the awesome skiing, it was the organization of our stay as a whole - professional, yet casual and personal, with a dedication to make sure we got as much as possible out of our stay, including the best available skiing according to conditions as well as seeing the local sights and cuisine and getting to know people. In fact many times it felt like hanging out with old friends."

Mans, Sweden.

Tea & Mans (above)after skiing a massive free ride line in Gulmarg, below Paul, Tea & Mans getting 'Chai-drated'! Pic sunstone collection.

"Gulmarg is such a loose and wild yet relaxed place, and Sunstone Adventures was a perfect match. Paul is all of those things, but also timely, knowledgable and professional. Paul's, safety considerations are always apparent and at no stage did we feel exposed to any unnecessary or unexpected risk. It was an extremely cost effective service which was invaluable due to the possibility of avalanches, the language and cultural barriers and other "unique" peculiarities of the area. An absolute must for any skiers or boarders touring the area for the first time."

Liam, Australia

Liam above hiking 'The Monkey', below Liam & Danica practising some Avalanche technique. Photo by sunstone.

"Great service! Gulmarg is a tough place to arrange things especially if you haven't been there before. Paul gave us the full run down of the place before we came and made it really simple and easy for us to get set up with accommodation, guided us around the mountain and organised airport shuttles etc, very easy and stress free. Cheers Paul"!!

Tim, New Zealand.

Cody, Alex & Tim do some erm 'Product Testing'! Photo by sunstone.

And thanks to all our awesome clients for making it another special season - super fun and of course just epic skiing & snowboarding at exotic locations!

Sunshine area, Gulmarg, Kashmir. Photo by sunstone.

Sunstone was also lucky to be a part of filming the new Gulmarg promotional ski & snowboard film to promote tourism in the Kashmir area by the Jammu & Kashmir Tourist Board. Thanks to film maker Will Lascelle and all the riders, Gulmarg Heliski operation and a great day of dropping steep powder lines in the Himalayan backcountry while being showered with sunshine!

Check out a video preview of the footage skiing the Sunshine Peak area in Gulmarg, Kashmir:



https://vimeo.com/38523349



So what's up next for sunstone?

August, September, October 2012 - Skiing & Snowboarding in New Zealand

September, October, November, December 2012 - Trekking & Climbing in Nepal, Tibet & Bhutan

January 2013 - Skiing & Snowboarding in Japan

February, March 2013 - Skiing & Snowboarding in Gulmarg, Kashmir

March 2013 - Skiing & Snowboarding in Iran (Expedition to climb & ski off the 5671m Mt. Damavand - the highest peak in Iran & the Middle East)

March, April, May - Trekking & Climbing in Nepal, Tibet & Bhutan

Come get in the mix with sunstone!

Contact Paul: paul@sunstoneadventures.com
Phone: 0064 (0) 0211314492

www.sunstoneadventures.com