Skiing on Mt. Ruapehu

New Zealand is well known for being a beautiful place. I saw yet another great example of just how beautiful the country really is on the skiing trip I went on this past weekend.

The group at the ski lodge

We traveled 4 hours out of Auckland to Mt. Ruapehu. Mt. Ruapehu is the most well known skiing mountain on the North Island. I've been told that the skiing is actually better in the South Island. The trip was organized through the school. They rented a bus, and a driver (he was from an organization that puts on trips to go surfing and skiing). There were a total of 15 people that came on the trip. We stayed in a backpacker place that was about 20 minutes from the Mountain. What I thought was kind of funny was that there was absolutely no snow at the backpackers, or anywhere on the ground, but once we got to the Mountain it was high enough up that there was snow. We arrived on Friday night at the backpackers. We woke up early the next morning (7:00am...) and had some breakfast, then we drove to a place to pick up the lift pass, and to hire (rent) gear. I didn't have a jacket or snow pants that were suitable for skiing, so I had to rent them.

The weather was actually not so good on the first day. It was raining, but when we arrived at the mountain we were high enough up where it was actually snowing (which in my opinion, at least while skiing, is better than rain....). Despite the bad weather, I still had an excellent time. It had been about a year or so since I had last skied, but I still managed to ski very well.

The second day was way better. The weather was extremely great, and so we were able to see all the wonderful views from the mountain. The mountain had about three levels to it, and I'd say from the top one it took about 20 minutes or so to make your way back down to the bottom one. It was nice because there were tons of spots you could stop and get some nice photos while heading down. The mountain was about 2700 kilometers high, which converts to around 1678 miles.

What's kind of interesting about Ruapehu is that it's actually an active volcano. I saw a photo of the mountain erupting back in 1995. There are two sides you can ski on at the mountain. The side we were on was called Whakapapa (pronounced fuckapapa). It was a bit different than the mountains I've skied on in New York. There weren't any trees, but there were huge cliffs, and rocks, so you had to be careful to make sure you stayed away from those.

The trip was a ton of fun. It's got me interested in skiing again when I return to the States.
Here are some pictures from the trip.

Me and Sebastian on the bus headed to the mountain

arriving
There I am on the first day

Looking good (as usual)

The second day

The second level

On the lift

Sweet as (kiwi slang, for awesome...)A great view

The master of the mountain

Clemens making his way down
Picture from Google of Ruapehu exploding
I love New Zealand

The mountain peak behind me

At the top

Me and my buddy Max getting on the lift
Warming up

Rolling out!
The mountain

The peaks
The mountain from a distance

I've been really busy lately. I have quite a few assignments due at the end of next week. The mid-semester break will be coming up in about 2 weeks. I am working on some plans. I am not sure if I am going to travel to the south island for the break, or if I will just up here in the north.

Yesterday was a pretty fun day. I met up with Leah (who was an exchange student in Oswego 3 years ago) and we went and visited our friend Shannon, who unfortunately has a broken leg. We played a game of buzz (it's a game for the playstation, kind of similar to Scene It). Me and Leah then went and got some really delicious Japanese food.

It's getting late, so I should probably grab some rest. I'll try to update this a bit more often in the coming weeks. It should be easier, because I should have less work I hope.

Cheers,
Shawn