There's plenty of terrain for a five day trip as I did.
The worst problem is getting tired, because there are no lift queues at all
and the main double chair which runs abour 1.2km is the only respite you
get.
One should note that even the groomed 'easy' run home from the top of the
chair is dark blue by Buller/hotham standards. This does have the advantage
that there are no day-tripping hoons on the slopes. There are learner's and
improver's areas but both are separated from the main slopes.
If one does the easy climb to the ridgeline from the chair (20 minutes for
an old fart like me @ 62), there's even more terrain, and then for the
adventurous, there's a further half hour walk to the top of Mt Sutton which
opens up the drop in to Hemi's Bowl for a fabulous cruisy run down to the
road about 10 mins below the day lodge.
The lodge runs a shuttle the 11km to the field for ~$18 return.
The lodge food is great, and there's a friendly bar with music and a pool
table.
So the 'Apre' is what you make it.
Worst problem: getting there. The bus lines do not go there, only past the
turnoff and its 17km to the lodge from there.
We found the best was to rent a car from Christchurch for $35/day. Our car
didn't have chains so we rented some.
But EzyRentals hired a nice little car for the same price to another skier
which was already chains equipped.
If you want some photos, mail me mdeeleyatjupiterdotnetdotau or take a look
on Frog's snowatch forum.
Post by Damien McBainPost by PotblakPost by Damien McBainI went to Falls 31/7 to 4/8 and it was OK. Not quite enough to get the
Summit chair open unfortunately. I'd definately had enough of Ruined Castle
and Scotts after 5 days.
Ohau was nice.
Great food at the lodge, too!
and all for 151 Kiwis a day; bed breakfast, lift ticket and dinner!
I just took a look at their website. Is there enough terrain to keep you
interested for, say, a week? And how do you get from the lodge to the
slopes?