The North Face Basecamp with Wanaka's Aspiring Guides

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Mountainwatch | Bart Schiphorst

There’s nothing like the promise of a big backcountry weekend to cure a slow season, especially when The North Face invites you to test their top-tier Summit Series kit and celebrate 25 years of “Athlete Tested, Expedition Proven.” That alone had my stoke meter redlining. But chuck in an overnight mission to Black Peak in NZ’s South Island Harris Mountains with Aspiring Guides, one of NZ’s leading mountain guiding outfits, dome tents in the alpine and a helicopter drop?

Yeah, I was already mentally drafting my “you should’ve been there” speech.

What actually happened was… slightly different.

But here’s the thing about the mountains — sometimes Mother Nature throws the plan out the window, only to replace it with something even better. This trip was exactly that: part gear review, part backcountry refresher, part comedy of weather-induced chaos, and ultimately one of the best pow days I’ve ever had in New Zealand.

The Plan: Heli In, Camp Out, Test Gear, Score Turns

I ducked into the Queenstown North Face store a few days early to check out next year’s range and pick up the Summit Series kit. They only had demo sizes in the 2026 line, so I walked out with this year’s version, not a bad consolation prize considering the reputation the Summit Series has built over 25 years of expeditions.

First impressions? Light. Technical. Comfortable. The jacket was longer than expected (in a good way), the Breithorn down was insanely warm for the weight, and the FUTUREFLEECE™ mid-layer felt like slipping into a warm waffle cone. I put it on, and honestly… never really took it off again. Even now, weeks later, I’m wearing it while writing this.

That waffle-texture FUTUREFLEECE™ is one of the key Summit Series technologies designed to trap heat while keeping things breathable and light, part of a suite of proprietary innovations TNF has built into the line over the years Summit Series 25th Anniversary …

Another standout was the base layer: long-sleeve thermals with that same textured feel. Soft, warm, breathable, easily some of the comfiest I’ve ever worn. Lucky, because Day One was going to demand everything they could give us.

Day One: Changed Plans, Whiteouts, and Lessons

Saturday started with a quick drive over the Crown Range from Queenstown. Fesh snow had finally arrived, so it felt like the season was properly waking up. I pulled into the Aspiring Guides office in Wanaka feeling pretty chuffed with myself… only to be politely informed that everyone else was meeting at Treble Cone. Classic me.

But the real kicker was the weather. Gusting winds, heavy snowfall, and zero chance of a safe heli drop to Black Peak. The overnight camping plan? Cancelled. Turns out throwing first-time snow campers into gale-force winds with heaps of new snow is frowned upon.

Instead, the mission pivoted to a full day of backcountry workshops, light touring, and avalanche refreshers out the back of Treble Cone. The type of day that every skier and snowboarder who venture into the backcountry knows they should do every season… but most of us don’t.

Aspiring Guides are absolute weapons. Not just technically, but in the way they explain things, calm, clear, funny, and reassuring. I’ve done bits of backcountry training before, but it’s wild how much you forget when you’re not actively reinforcing it.

Avalanche Rescue, Kick Turns, and the Jeans Girl

We kicked off with pole-assisted riding drills (splitboarders, you know the pain), then transitioned to avalanche rescue practice. Angelina, who had literally just wrapped her Level 5 cert, absolutely schooled us, zeroing a buried beacon in seconds with clear directions for the team. A good, humbling reminder that beacon work isn’t a “one and done” skill. Techniques evolve. Habits slip. The mountains don’t care.

Just as we were gearing up for a cheeky first lap on the backside, the radio crackled, someone in another group had gone down hard. That froze the day for a moment. The guides split to assist and coordinate a safe extraction. These are the moments that remind you why you trust professionals out here.

The weather then properly moved in – thick, sideways flakes, visibility dissolving – so we tucked into a sheltered pocket for a session on kick turns and skinning technique. I have spent the last few years touring between The Remarkables and Japan, so kick turns aren’t new, but getting finessed by guides who’ve done thousands of them? Always helpful.

Our first actual turns of the weekend ended up being in tour-mode because visibility was too cooked for anything steeper. If that doesn’t sum up the New Zealand backcountry, nothing does.

On the way back to Treble Cone, we found a skier who’d tomahawked off the side of the track, wearing jeans. Jeans. On a storm day. No waterproofing, no wind block, no anything. Meanwhile, I was bone-dry, warm, and extremely smug inside my GORE-TEX 3L Summit Series kit.

The reintegration of GORE-TEX into Summit Series is a key moment for TNF this year, a return to their most trusted membrane, engineered for windproof, waterproof, bombproof performance in harsh alpine conditions

Even with vents open (I run hot), FUTUREFLEECE™ underneath, and heavy snow blasting sideways, the system kept everything balanced. By the time we reached the base building, I was toast, physically – but the gear was still bone dry.

Day Two: Surprise! We’re Not Going to Black Peak

Sunday dawned clear, calm, and blue, the type of morning that makes you forget every bad day you’ve ever had on snow. I pulled on the still-dry thermals I’d hand-washed the night before (quick-drying base layers are so underrated), grabbed a coffee, and drove to the heli hangar.

The plan was simple:

Fly to Black Peak, shred pow, come home heroes.

The reality?

Our guides and pilots huddled, assessed the snowpack, wind loading, and… made a last-second call to divert. To End Peak. And thank God they did.

We flew over Treble Cone as the sun lit up a whole valley of cold, untouched powder, 20cm+ overnight, with wind-loaded pockets pushing 30–40cm. The heli dropped us on a ridgeline, rotors kicking up glitter, and suddenly a whole zone of playful terrain opened beneath us.

This wasn’t the weekend we planned. It was better.

Party Laps, Face shots & The Range That Kept Giving

Run One was pure group therapy, hoots, hollers, leg burners, face shots, and those first few turns where your season finally makes sense. The snow was cold, dry, and hero-grade. You could feel winter coming back to life under your board.

Transition. Skin on. Up we go.

Along the skin track, our guide dug into the cornice formations, wind-loaded, reactive, and a perfect teaching moment. A small push and a section cracked. Another reminder: good decisions > good turns.

Then we topped out on a short, steep face — the type of pitch that looks fun from below but even better from above. Rider after rider dropped in, shredding huge white rooms that would have any powder lover losing their mind. Two cameras rolled, the sun was out, and every person got a fresh line.

This is peak New Zealand backcountry, technical enough to demand respect, fun enough to unleash the stoke.

Lunch, Laps, and Legs Screaming for Mercy

Lunch was a sun-soaked picnic, jackets off, boots loosened, sandwiches inhaled. Then we pushed to another peak. This one felt longer (maybe my legs were simply starting to file complaints with HR), but the reward was worth it: a wide, playful bowl perfect for drone-follow laps.

Then one more climb. One more drop. One more wave of deep, surfy powder. My legs begged for retirement. My brain asked for one more lap. The mountains didn’t care either way, they just kept delivering.

By the end, I parked myself at the base with Josh, cheering for the last riders and snapping photos. Angelina laid down one of the turns of the day, a proper, snow-exploding toeside slash that deserved its own poster.

Then the sound of rotors echoed through the valley.

The Flight Out, The Cold Brew Down, The Stoke Reset

No matter how many times you fly in a helicopter, leaving an alpine peak still feels surreal, tiny humans, big mountains, and a machine somehow threading through it all.

We skimmed down the valley past Treble Cone, hearts full, legs cooked, and spirits humming. Back at the cars, the temperature had dropped, so I pulled on the Breithorn down hoodie, ridiculously warm for its size, thanks to TNF’s PRODOWN™ water-repellent down tech that preserves loft even in humid or snowy conditions

A few cold beers by the lake with old and new friends wrapped the day perfectly, one of those moments where everything slows down and you realise you’ve just had one of those weekends. The ones that stick. One that turned my otherwise flat uninspiring weekend, into one I will never forget.

Final Thoughts: Not the Weekend We Planned… but One I’ll Never Forget

What started as a cancelled camping trip turned into one of my top two riding weekends ever in New Zealand. The combination of fresh snow, bluebird conditions, heli laps, good people, and top-tier gear came together in a way that doesn’t happen often.

Aspiring Guides were outstanding. The North Face Summit Series held up in every condition the Southern Alps threw at it. And End Peak delivered the goods, lap after lap after lap.

If you ever get the chance to jump on one of these trips, do it. They book fast for a reason.

And if you’re looking to upgrade your outerwear for the northern winter, or for next NZ season, the Summit Series is the real deal. Athlete tested. Expedition proven. Backcountry-rider approved. Read the full review here.

And in my case?

Legs destroyed. Stoke fully restored.