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Methven Heliskiing - Oh yeah baby

snow action team 14.10.2012

For the second time in as many years I’ve had the opportunity to experience Heli skiing in new Zealand and it’s absolutely the single best way to spend your money.  We hooked up with Methven Heliskiing that boast access to over 1,000 hectares of terrain

Paula, our guide, leads the way

The old saying that “getting there is half the fun” is absolutely true in the case of Heli skiing.  Hopping into and out of the chopper is something else altogether and something that you never tire of.  The insane noise, cyclonic wind and crouching low over your gear as 2 tonnes of pure power descends upon you is the greatest buzz you’re likely to experience on a ski trip anywhere.

Tony Geddes smashing Mexican Madness

After choosing the best spot to start our day, in our case Sunset Bowl, we are dropped off on what seems like a knife edge.  The process for alighting the craft is the opposite to getting in – pile out, crouch over our gear, more noise and wind and we are left in a wake of blustering snow.  Then silence.  We hop up, clip in and with the adrenaline pumping we make our way across a narrow ridge to the top of Sunset Bowl.  Never have I seen a prettier thing.  With sunshine reaching down from the brilliant blue above and not another soul in sight the stage.

Pick your own line

If Mt Olympus is the playground of the Gods, then the Ragged Ranges is their Colesseum.

More in SnowAction’s 2013  Ski Buyer’s Bible/Southern Hemisphere issue – out April 2013!

Gabe Fraid getting some in the Ragged Ranges