The Snow Farm

So while in Wanaka you have to go skiing. We decided to go to the Snow Farm to cross-country ski on Saturday since everyone told us it is the place to go x-country skiing in New Zealand.
To get there you have to go 12 km off the main paved road in the Cardrona Valley on a dirt mostly one-lane road up the mountain. The signs said to put your chains on, but we had the Subaru and no chains and made it fine (white knuckles and all). The problem wasn't slipping as much as not being able to distinguish the white, snow-covered road from the white, snow-filled air. And Kiwis don't buy into the idea of guardrails or fences to mark the edges of roads vs cliffs. We were very happy to get to the Snow Farm which is at the top of this mountain.

We rented skate-skis this time to try it out since up till now we have only done classic skiing. It's sort of like rollerblading or speed skating. We might need a lesson when we try it again.

This is the Snow Farm. Exposed. Windy. Trails are all in concentric loops with snow fences to keep the snow from erasing all the groomed trails. You can basically see all the skiers and trails while you are skiing or in the lodge. It was so different from Colorado where you ski through forests and have protection from the weather.

The weather started to clear up later in the day which is what the nice Appleton, Wisconsin guy that worked there said it would. Those honest Midwesterners. We were sort of worried about the white-out conditions but thankfully driving down the mountain was much easier than coming up it.