New Zealand Kick's Off

Prepare to Get Winter Envy.
 
            Its July and the crew at Basecamp are well into another winter program down in New Zealand. Our 10 week instructor course based out of Mt Ruapehu New Zealand kicked off last week with a bout of good blue sky and good times all around. The scenery here is unreal, good coverage up on the mountain overlooking lush green forest below. Despite a warm start to the winter we still have great skiing conditions, a huge storm has moved in this week and our snow base is steadily climbing each week.

 
Our crew has settled into their accommodation at LKNZ lodge, they are very fortunate to have a great lodge located right in the heart of Ohakune. The staff there cooks them dinner five nights a week and I can personally vouch for their chef skills. I’m probably going to catch myself going round for dinner more often than usual. The lodge is a good hub for action on the weekends with lots of our of town skiers coming to get involved in the action.

 
The groups have put in their first week with the trainers and have come away raving about how much they are learning and rightly so with the high level of coaching they receive on this course. Our trainers are certified examiners in the NZ instructor system and have countless seasons under their belts. Between our two head trainers and our resort manager there is almost 50 seasons of experience. There is still a lot of hard work to go in before the level 1 exams but the crew is off to the right start.
 

We had a crack at the kings pub quiz in Ohakune the other night, a great time was had with good company and cheap beers. Too bad our pub knowledge is pretty minimal but we can only move up the ranks from here.
 
There’s a whole pile of snow coming this week, it looks like we are going to get treated to a bunch right down in town as well so you can expect some great photos coming through from NZ.
 
 
For now enjoy the first video update from the crew.
 
 
-Andrew