Porters Ski Field

An hour and a half from Christchurch by car is the Porters Ski field. With a couple of drag lifts and a few intermediate runs it is definitely worth the journey. What's more is the lift passes are 2 for the price of one on Mondays!

Above, apparently the only alpine species of Parrot - the Kea. Contact with humans has led to this bird becoming a pest and they are known to hang out near National Park visitor centres. Often they pick at anything including car weatherstrips, unattended walking boots, camping gear etc.
View from the top of Porters Heights - 1980m. Looking roughly North. Thumbs up to that view!
View West. Coleridge Lake is in the distance.



A few of us from the hostel made the trip out of a drizzly day in Christchurch to the sun soaked pistes of the Craigieburn range. Snow chains were not needed but were brought along just in case.
We had the last run of the day to ourselves - a 680m vertical descent as the sun was going down and the ice was forming. Unreal. It's been around 5 years since I was on the snow with a board and I got right back into it. Can't wait to go again.