Downhill

Far from the groomed runs and high-capacity chair lifts of our commercial ski fields are the small, committee-run, not-forprofit club fields. Two in the North Island, five throughout Arthur’s Pass, and others dotted around Kaikōura and Mackenzie Country. Set up postwar to give local teens something to do, they’re now being run by the founders’ children and grandchildren. Those who come here, skiers and snowboarders, can muck in with chores, feel like they’re contributing and enjoy the wild terrain.

Sticking to the motto of “cheap, steep and deep”, most of the fields have avoided adding expensive mod cons. At Craigieburn Valley, that means no groomed runs. At Broken River, no chairlifts. And at Temple Basin, there’s no road to the base building, so people do a 40-minute