This day course is designed for people who are new to ski or snowboard touring
Become familiar with the equipment and techniques before embarking on one of our more advanced backcountry or avalanche courses. Whether you are a beginner or expert skier we will show you what New Zealand backcountry skiing and riding is all about. The course will be taught using a variety of local backcountry access points such as local ski areas.
Combined with an Avalanche Awareness Course this will set you up for personal backcountry trips this winter.
Day One
Stop into our office the afternoon before and we will make sure you have all the right gear. Often people need to rent touring gear, we work with you and the rental shop to make sure you get the gear you need. We usually meet around 8 to 8:30 on the morning of the trip at our office and then finalise the plan for day. We'd then be back in town just before 5pm.
With a wide choice of touring destinations, Wanaka has the best one day ski touring options in New Zealand. In this country, with snow line at 1400m and above, it is all about how to get to the good snow. We are blessed with a choice of four local ski areas allowing us to quickly get to the good stuff.
Options to choose from
- Treble Cone backcountry (skills dependent). Using local ski areas for access, we ski and snowboard a huge range of off piste terrain. The single ride backocountry lift pass at Treble Cone allows us to use the chairlift to start the day and to get lifted out from the bottom of the Saddle at the end of the day.
- The Remarkables in Queenstown (location and skills dependent). Staying in Queenstown? No problem, there's loads of fantastic ski touring accessible from Queenstown including our favourite... the Remarkables Backcountry. This is really an alpine wonderland with many easier runs and valleys.
- Explore the Pisa Range between Wanaka and Queenstown (intro to adv). The Pisa Range offers a wide variety of touring options, excellent in poorer weather conditions due the safe nature of the terrain. But don’t be fooled, there are runs to put a smile on the best of skiers and snowboarders.
A good level of fitness is required.
Participants need to be able to travel up steep hills and be strong enough to handle variable conditions.
book nowSome ski experience is required.
The ability to control your speed in variable snow conditions is essential.
book nowAvailability
| Trip Date | Available |
|---|---|
| Saturday 13th July 2024 (splitboard) | Now Open! |
| Saturday 27th July 2024 | Now Open! |
| Friday 17th August 2024 | Now Open! |
| Saturday 14th September 2024 | Now Open! |
| Require a minimum of 3pax to run at this price |
Pricing
| Client Ratio | Price |
|---|---|
| 1:1 Private rate | $1,500 |
| 1:2 | $900 pp |
| 1:3 up to 1:6 Group Rate 1 day course | $500 pp |
What's included
- NZMGA Ski Guide
- Transceivers & avalanche safety gear & instruction on use
- One ride lift ticket is additional for Treble Cone courses
- All access fees
What's not included
- Lunch, snacks & drinks
Frequently asked questions
As a general rule: the more technically advanced / more complex the terrain - the lower the guide to client ratio. All professional mountain guides contracted to Aspiring Guides are qualified professionals and operate under the terrain guidelines issued by the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association.
Our maximum group size for introductory ski/snowboard backcountry tours or courses is typically 1 guide with 6 clients. We write this as 1:6 guide ratio. For ski snowboard touring in glaciated terrain this ratio is 1:4.
Have a look at our website. We provide detailed information about the equipment required at the end of the trip description. Typically this includes a checklist which you can use to "tick off" your gear, a document giving more detailed explanations as well as some of our best "guide tips" and a video to visually explain some of the terminology.
For our trips we have 3 categories of equipment:
Compulsory items - this is equipment you must have with you. You can either purchase or hire depending on the item.
Trip Dependent - these are items that maybe needed but will depend on the venue for the trip and prevailing conditions. Most times this cannot be decided ahead of time. Our best advice is that if you already own the items listed in the trip dependent section and you can fit in your pack then bring them along. Things like your own rock shoes and snow goggles are good things to bring - but disposable eating utensils can easily be obtained in Wanaka.
Optional - these are items which you can choose to bring or leave behind. But we think you should at least bring your camera. Your trip will to some of the most breathtaking locations on the planet!
Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about the suitability of equipment to avoid purchasing or carrying unnecessary equipment.
Equipment Detail
I had an awesome day. Andrea was fantastic and did an amazing job of meeting the group's needs. He found us great snow along with some great touring info....read more
Anthony, Australia, Backcountry Ski Touring
