NEW SKI-ING GROUND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21252, 4 August 1932, Page 6

NEW SKI-ING GROUND

SLOPESi OF HERBERT PEAK The Lyttelton trains and tho Diamond Harbour launches on Sunday carried 150 winter sports enthusiasts, with their skis and toboggans, to a new snowfield —high tjp on the slopes of Herbert Peak, says a Christchurch newspaper. There they found a first-class ski-ing ground, extending for miles back to the snowclad hills of the Peninsula. For winter sports purposes the ground had the advantage that it could be reached in less than a tvro-hours' walk from Diamond Harbour. The only regret is that such a quantity of snow is nntisnal on this part of the Peninsula., and that it is not likely to be suitable for tobogganing, unless there is a further fall of snow, for more than a week longer. Though no new snow had fallen for nearly a week, tho depth on the area ■where'most of the ski-ing was done was three feet and over, with a slightly frozen crust. From that point back to Herbert Peak (3074 ft.) the depth gradually increased, and in some places the fences were buried, and there were drifts 15 feet deep. The result was that the slopes of the main spur formed a ski-ing ground as g( od as could be found anywhere. This was made better by the formation of the ground, on a kind of table-top with a good rise at one side and a long, gently sloping run-off, giving a straight ski and toboggan run of a quarter of a mile.