One mistake on Mt Olympus and you're out

By LENA CORNER

There's no margin for error," says our South Island ski guide, Heather Dent, as our truck crawls along a single-lane gravel track which hairpins up the side of Mt Olympus. "If you make a mistake, that's it, you're down."

This "road" is arguably the most dangerous ski-resort access road in the entire southern hemisphere. Without a four-wheel drive, snow chains and nerves of steel, it's impassable. A checkpoint at base radios up to announce our arrival just in case another vehicle, or an avalanche, is on the way down.

"The first part of the climb is pretty technical," says Dent, who has been escorting skiers up the mountain for seven years, "but the second part is mind-blowing. It's definitely not for the faint-hearted."

And this is exactly the way the locals like it. The resort on Mt Olympus has been there for more than 50 years, but even so, on an average day there will be no more than 30 skiers on the slopes. It's a local resort for local people, built in the late 1940s by a group of farmers, all keen skiers, who formed a co-op and built a tow- lift up the mountain out of old tractor motors.

Other farming collectives did the same, and today a string of these "club" resorts, as they became known, is dotted throughout the Southern Alps. Each one is off the beaten track and unspoilt. Some date back to the 1920s.

"It's the Kiwi way," says Richard Norris, a club member at Olympus. "If you haven't got something, you make it yourself. Back then they had all these great mountains and no way to ride them. We didn't have the money to build a St Moritz, so we had to figure out a way of doing it ourselves."

Little has changed at the club resorts since they were built, and the legacy of the farmers' handiwork is some of the best natural riding terrain in the world. People who use club resorts often describe the experience as like skiing in a time warp. Facilities are basic, trail maps can be unreadable, chairlifts are unheard of, and cooking and sleeping arrangements are usually communal. But by the same token, lift queues and fast-food outlets are non-existent.

"At Olympus we started out with one rope tow and a small hut," says Norris. "And now we've graduated to five rope tows and a big hut."

Most clubs don't have grooming facilities so every run is, in effect, off-piste, and deep powder can remain untracked for days. It's not surprising, then, that club resorts have become a buzzword among young thrill-seekers wanting deserted runs, uncharted terrain and extreme free-riding.

"I've spent 20 years skiing all over the world and there is nothing like club skiing here," says Norris. "It really is a pure mountain experience. They've just stuck a tow up the middle and said, 'Go for it'. It's a total adventure. Often it just feels like you and the mountain."

Different clubs have become known for their idiosyncrasies: Temple Basin for natural wind-formed half-pipes and cornices; Broken River for its three basins, five tows and a 6km hike from the nearest road; Porter Heights for the longest run in the southern hemisphere; and Fox Peak for christening its learner slope Skid Row. But it's Craigieburn which has the most fearsome reputation. It is steep, deep and truly terrifying.

"I've just had the best skiing week at Craigieburn that I've ever had," says one Australian boarder. "The terrain was insane, it was a lot harder than anything I'd done before, there were no trails at all, but it was awesome."

In keeping with this free-riding ethos, the clubs are all non-profit organisations. Each has a group of members who pay an annual subscription. At Olympus there are around 250 members who pay about $50 a year. This core group are then responsible for running and maintaining the resort.

Usually the only paid positions are the safety officers and, tellingly, the chef. In theory anyone can be a member, but in practice, as Norris puts it: "We get you up for a week and if we like you, you're in and if we don't, you're out."

It is estimated that a club costs $70,000 to run for one season, and any money made on lift passes is ploughed straight back. Ski passes are about 50 per cent cheaper than those at big commercial fields.

Which is why club resorts have never advertised. They don't need to. All rely on word of mouth and the same faces coming back year after year.

Most of these are students or ski enthusiasts who stay for the whole season - usually New Zealanders or visitors from Australia or Japan.

Last season, however, the club resort at Broken River reported an increase in visitors and noticed more were coming from Europe. The internet is partly responsible, but many club skiers believe people are voting with their feet.

Unwittingly, perhaps, farmers have created the antidote to congested, commercial skiing.

It is unlikely the club resorts will ever get overcrowded, because if the terrifying access roads don't stop the crowds, then the notorious nutcracker tow ropes, which drag you slowly and painfully up the mountain, certainly will.

"There are a lot of tears, and it's usually from the snowboarders," says Dent. "I've seen some top American snowboarders go up there on their own and have to turn round, walk away and eat humble pie.

"We're not a commercial hill. If you think you can turn up in your best ski suit and swan around expecting to be pampered, then you're definitely in the wrong place."

- INDEPENDENT

Getting there

Mt Olympus is a 90-minute drive from Christchurch. The mountain road is shingle, and chains should be carried at all times. Occasionally mountain access becomes 4WD only from the bottom hut, where transport can be arranged.

Lift passes

Under-5 free, learners $15, juniors $20, students $25, adults $35.

Accommodation

Situated on the field, the club's centrally heated top hut has 40 bunk-style beds, hot showers and a drying room. All meals are organised by a chef and communally prepared. A basic self-catering option is available at the bottom hut, which sleeps 11 people. Staying at the top hut costs $40 a person a night (includes dinner, bed and breakfast) and the bottom (self catering) hut is $20 a person a night.

Start of season

Field plans to open this Sunday, but call to check on 0800 686 596.

Websites



Mt Olympus

Black Diamond Safaris