BOOTHY”S BLOG – The Rewards of TEMPLE BASIN

If you’re seeking big mountains, Temple Basin is the place to find them

Boothy’s Blog

Flight JQ7271 arrived at Christchurch airport at 12:50am, the last flight before the airport closed. Sure, it was late, but it cost 160 bucks and I reckon that’s worth it. I jumped a taxi to the Jailhouse backpackers in Addington, close to the (now ruined city centre. The jailhouse is so called because up until 1999 it was a federal prison. Sure, I was staying in a cell for the night, but at 35 bucks, I reckon that’s worth it too. Plus, it was only for a few hours, cause at 7am the following morning, I was off to Temple Basin.

I took the Atomic Shuttle to Aurthur’s Pass, then a cool bloke named Willie gave me a lift in the back of his truck to the Temple Basin Goods lift – a decrepit, old, rusted cable car that gets your bags up to the club lodge while you make the one hour hike into the base of the mountain. This first step alone is part of what makes Temple Basin legendary, as the perfect place for those in need of hardening up a little bit.

The Temple Basin goods lift, no room for human passengers

My reason for being in NZ is to compete in the World Heli Challenge (WHC). The WHC asks athletes to ski aggressively in really big mountains, and the only way to adjust to those mountains is to go and spend time in them. At Temple Basin big mountains are the first thing you see, and the only thing you see for as long as you stay. Mt Phipps and Mt Temple dominate the skyline above the quaint little lodges, creating a spectacular and at time times ominous amphitheatre within which lies the ski area.

Temple Basin has a highly reverent following of quiet, passionate kiwis who return there every year to go skiing in a place that allows them to escape. I can see why; stripped of all the trimmings of a commercial resort, the priorities immediately feel clear. People don’t go to Temple Basin for the coffee or the cultural cache, people go to Temple Basin to ski. It is not just locals who love Temple though, the place has a core international following, with one Transworld Snowboarding editor claiming, “if I had to stay in one area… to snowboard for the rest of my life, it would be Temple Basin. It’s that good.”

That’s a big call, something I have never been able to say about any single place. I’m still searching for it actually, that spot where I could buy a property and be happy skiing at for the rest of my life. But I can see how someone could arrive at feeling that way about Temple Basin. The place has a lot to offer for people who like to ski off-piste, its got an abundance of aspects – a very important element when you consider New Zealand’s unpredictable weather and snow pack. Its got an abundance of vertical – if you’re willing to get up a boot pack, you can get some long descents. And, at just over 100 bucks a day all inclusive, that’s kind of amazing.

The view alone is well worth battling with the nutcrackers

What else is amazing is that I was the only Aussie in the place all week. Kiwi land is unapologetically overrun by us down around Queenstown and Wanaka, and while even Craigeburn has a loyal Aussie clientele, Temple Basin seems leeward facing, a protected little nook off the Aussie agenda. It took me a while to adjust. At first I didn’t know how to handle having conversations with people who were so visibly relaxed, nor could I cope with the way people came straight up to you, said hello and introduced themselves. What was wrong with these people? I wondered. It felt like what Australia must have been like in the 80s, back when people used to say ‘morning’ to anyone they passed before midday.

The rewards…

You can make laps on cool terrain all you like in Temple, with the nutcracker tows giving relatively easy access into spots like Bills Basin, but the real skiing is accessed on foot. Anything from a short boot pack to a couloir climb gets you into the goods, the only limit being your energy level and how equipped you are for going uphill.

Hiking is a bitch for anyone who loves to ski downhill, it’s the proverbial catch-22 in backcountry skiing. We’ll do anything, even finding justification in helicopters as ski lifts, to get out of it. I felt the same way, but after a week at Temple I think I feel differently. The sense of completion you receive from laboring up a mountain, arriving at the top, then skiing back down the route you memorized in your mind, is quite possibly one of the most rewarding feelings you can get in an alpine environment.

Thank you Temple Basin, I had an awesome time.

Temple Basin delivers

Thanks Willie!

Leg two of the journey finished

Uninterrupted sunset

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