Month 239, saved in New Zealand

At 70, with 238 months under my belt, and my enthusiasm and the glaciers receding - maybe it was time to quit my streak! One glimmer of hope for October, which has generally been my most difficult month- we were heading to New Zealand. Nail October and then an easy tour or downhill at Crystal in November, and no worries till July 26 or so! This was not going to be a ski trip, but maybe I could sneak in a day...

I kept checking all of the areas, and they were closing quickly. Both Whakapapa and Tuara on Mt. Ruapehu, however, were promising to stay open until October 26th. I really didn't want to go touring by myself in unfamiliar territory, so that seemed like a good option. I threw some old Rossignol boots (12 lb!) in my duffel, and off we went.

We were in Ohakune, near Mt. Ruapehu, for three days, Oct 22-24. The weather was mostly horrible, with so much wind and rain that the area was closed. Their reports kept saying.... "maybe tomorrow". Finally on Friday the 24th they said they would open Saturday the 25th for the last day of the season. We left for our next stop in Taupo.

I got up early the next morning and drove the 1 1/2 hours up to the area, and was greeted by sunshine and many happy skiers. I had my own ten-person gondola on the way up. The T-bar was boilerplate corduroy first thing, softening gradually to perfection by about 11 am, then mush by 1:00. Had a lot of nice runs and a lot of good conversations on the way up. 

The ski area did an unbelievable job, Thursday night there had been almost three inches of rain, and winds up to 120 kph at the summit. Lift ticket and ski/poles rental were about $80 US. Last day of the season, and all food services, rentals, bars, etc. were open and staffed by friendly, smiling people . What a delight!