11-14 September 2025

Leader: Bryan Wild

The forecast wasn’t so good, we were a small group of five … there were poor snow conditions at Whakapapa and so with a few last minute plan changes we left on Thursday afternoon for what we hoped would be a three day ski weekend.

We got the three days okay but just the one day of skiing. We knew from the forecast that our best day would be Friday and so with an early start, breakfasted and gear on … up the ski road from Ohakune we went. We got a spot almost at the front of the car park, so we knew that not too many others would be on the mountain that day. The skiing wasn’t great and visibility was only about 50 metres but hey … it WAS skiing! We had a great day despite the poor conditions and then once we were back at the lodge and showered, we were all too tired to do much else apart from cook dinner and hit the hay. Some watched a movie, others crawled into their bed (me, that is)!

Saturday morning we saw heavy rain in Ohakune and that meant snow up the mountain but most of the chairs were not operating due to work to free ice and there were also high winds. So off to Tokaanu we went. Great soak in the hot, thermal pool and then a swim in the open-air pool was just what we all needed. Turangi café for a pie and cake and then we drove back to Ohakune.

Sunday morning dawned (slight exaggeration, but you get the drift, pun intended). Dark skies and heavy, heavy rain. So breakfast and pack up and gone by 10.00am. The obligatory stop in Taihape for coffee and a look at some more gear to buy or just admire.

Those on the trip were:

Bryan Wild, Yingjun Shelton, Qiqi, Lucas Shelton, Linus

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.