Craigieburn claims longest descent

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 30

Craigieburn claims longest descent

A Canterbury club skifield, Craigieburn Valley, is now claiming the longest vertical descent in New Zealand — a whopping 725 metres. That is possible now that Pomagski agents were engaged to commission its troublesome poma lift which takes skiers to the top of Hamilton Peak at 1922 m.

“They will provide the final professional touch to get it operational,” said a club spokesperson. Club members originally installed the poma themselves two seasons ago but have not yet had full use of it. The lift was initially bent by high winds and with no snow on Hamilton Face it was not operating last season. The Poma agents have reinforced the ski lift so it can withstand wind and “anything else that can be thrown at it.” All that then has to be done is attach the hangers and wait for the snow to arrive. Hamilton Peak is the highest point of the Craigieburn Range and the lift is 520 m long with a capacity of 600 skiers per

hour. It will give the field a total vertical lift of 614 m.

By ski-ing way down Middle Basin to “Big Bend” it will be possible to get that 725 vertical metre (about 2500 ft) descent. From there only a short walk of 10 min is required back to the access tow.

Once this lift is fully operational, Craigieburn Valley Ski Club members can turn their attention to a second poma lift which they have in storage. It will be installed on the line of the Top Tow “in the foreseeable future.”

Craigieburn skiers do not face the long treks associated with some club fields. They can drive through beech forest to the car park beside the accommodation lodges (70 bunks) with only an easy smin walk to the bottom tow. The bunkrooms, built in 1984, are heated and carpeted. Dinner, bed and breakfast is provided for nonmembers on Saturday nights at $3l with bookings able to be made at Cromb and Merritt. Ski

weeks are priced from $2lO. Craigieburn is not really a beginners’ field because of the steepness of the terrain and it goes down better with intermediate to advanced skiers. With the poma operating they have much easier access for their neighbouring field; from Hamilton Peak it is a straight run down to Broken River.

Last season 10 ski weeks were scheduled and all but the first two were held.

Respecting the current unemployment situation, C.V.S.C. has employed a swag of New Zealanders, of the staff of eight, only the two ski instructors (Martin Jagersberger and Gerhard Grabner, both Austrians) are not homegrown products. The skifield manager will be Len Smyth with the one familiar face, Nick Jarman, as his 2-i-c.

© Craigieburn Valley, 116 km from Christchurch, poma lift, four rope tows, vertical lift 614 metres. Adult lift charge: $23 (including road toll).