Earn Your Turns
A Guided Ski Tour Package for the Truly Adventurous
Hike ⋅ Ski Tour ⋅ Pack Camp
Challenging ⋅ 4 Nights
P.O.A
Meet the mountain in glorious mountaineering style. This private backcountry ski touring experience will have you exploring pristine UNESCO World Heritage listed terrain with no-one else other than you, your guide and your own private troupe. Your days in the mountains will be full with two nights in our cosy wood-fire heated heavy canvas tents complete with camp beds. You will never want to go back to the crowded fields again.
PACKAGE INCLUDES
- 2 Nights Glamp
- 2 Nights at Base Camp
- 2 Dinners at Base Camp
- 2 Breakfasts at Base Camp
- All Food in the Field
- Technical Gear Hire
-
Heli
Transfers
- 4x4 Track Transfers
ITINERARY
Day One | Check-in & A Night at Base Camp
3.00 pm: Check-in at Base Camp, our team will show you around and to your mountaineer’s hut where your fire will already be going.
4.00 pm: Your guide will come to your hut — they will be keen to get to know you. Your gear will be checked, hire gear sorted, then you will be briefed on your adventure.
6.00 pm: You will be ready by now and it will be a good time for you to head over to the bar to meet the rest of us by the fire.
7.30 pm: Around this time, dinner will be served on a long table, family style, where you will be dining with our other guests. Your meal will have been cooking for most of the day in our wood-fired oven, served in the cast ironware it was cooked in — we know you will enjoy it.
9.30 pm: We will have kept the fire going in your hut and whenever you’re ready, you can retire for the night.
Day Two | Heli to the Mountains, Ski Tour & Camp
Rise with the sun, break camp and start snowshoeing back towards our heli pick up point.
8.00 am: Meet at the restaurant dressed for the mountain and warm your boots beside the fire. Your breakfast will be waiting for you.
9.00 am: Your guide will check your gear and provide a further briefing in our courtyard. Load up the 4×4 for your transfer to the nearby heliport.
9.45 am: Heli transfer
10.00 am: Arrive at your heavy canvas tent mountain base and then off you go on your ski touring mission. You and your guide will decide when to return. Once you’re back, there’s always a few jobs around camp that you’ll be encouraged to help with. Light the fire, hang out the wet gear, check the tent, prepare dinner, that sort of thing.
Day Three | Ski-Touring & Camping
8.00 am: A smooth start to your day is a good start. Up with the sun, light the fire, put the coffee on, straighten the tent, sort your gear for the day, breakfast, prepare your food bag for the day ahead — and away you go again for another day doing what you love and what we wish we were doing with you. Identical to yesterday, you’ll return to camp when suits for another night in the mountains.
Day Four | Ski-Touring & Heli Back to Base Camp
8.00 am: Start your day as you did yesterday, and head off for your final ski touring mission.
3.00 pm: Someone from our logistics crew will arrive with your helicopter to pack down your camp, so there’s no need for you to do much (we will pick them up later). Heli to the local heliport where our 4x4s will be waiting for you. Then back to Base Camp, where our team will be waiting for you. Your guide will debrief you before pop your gear in the drying room and retire to the sauna. The bar will be open and your dinner will be on the way.
Day Five | Breakfast & Check-out
8.00 am: Breakfast will be available between 8:00-9:00am and checkout is before 10:00am.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
This experience is for those of us who are ready to venture from the well toured trails around the popular ski fields to experience the beautiful backcountry that is our World Heritage listed backyard. This adventure is not for beginners and will require a good base level of fitness.
WHAT TO EXPECT
TERRAIN
The terrain will be typical backcountry alpine tops with a mixture of snow and rock, and a range of steepness. The snow pack will be well supported in some places and not in others.
TRANSFERS
4×4 Transfers to and from the helipad and your helicopter transfers are all included.
FOOD
All food in the field is included. It will be carefully planned to meet your nutritional requirements. Your food bag will include a mix of: House made soup, cheeses, slices, RealMeal dehydrated meals, plentiful snacks like nuts, dried fruit, muesli bars, chocolate, crackers, cheese, salami, hard boiled eggs, porridge, teas, coffee, barley sugar, electrolyte sachets and apples. We will provide you with your own Jetboil stove and gas canisters.
At The Great Glenorchy Alpine Base Camp, you can purchase wholesome meals from our licensed wood-fired restaurant.
GLAMPING
Our heavy canvas tents have been made especially for these conditions. They have steel tube frames with enough clearance for a tall adult. Each tent has waterproof floors and it’s own wood-fired tent heater with a stash of firewood. You will sleep on camp beds with air mattresses, and we provide camp chairs. We also provide sleeping bags suited to the conditions if you don’t have your own. The toilet is a shovel.
STAYING AT BASE CAMP
In the spirit of spending a few days with family/friends on a winter mountaineering adventure – we have included a cosy private 6 bunk hut for your nights in Base Camp. They came with extravagant bedding and linen, a wood burning stove heater, ear plugs, and some basics for tea and coffee. Your hut will be close to our restaurant, bar, sauna and bathrooms.
EXPERT GUIDES
Your guide will be an expert New Zealand Alpine Guide with impeccable credentials and 4×4 driving skills. We take your safety very seriously.
All adventures are carried out by a specialist accredited, audited adventure company with strict safe operating procedures.
GEAR
PACKING
You will be camping in the alpine region. It will be cold — so bring warm, waterproof clothing. Be sure to check out our packlist here.
Like all lists, it is a basis for your own gear check and will be subject to some interpretation. We encourage you to contact us with any questions. Separately we will be arranging a video call prior to your arrival where, among other things, we will go through your required gear in detail.
PROVIDED GEAR
- Winter Tent
- Alpine Sleeping Bag
- Snow Shovel
- Ice Axe
- Small Stove
- Winter Boots
- Snow Shoes
- All Safety Equipment
GEAR HIRE
We have an extensive range of hire gear and work closely with other hire businesses and, with reasonable notice, can have everything you might need for your arrival.
ADVENTURE SAFETY
We operate in the great outdoors, off the beaten track, in the wilderness. Your safety is our priority, but it is important that you are aware that this environment comes with risks and safety considerations.
Learn more about risks and your safety in the outdoors here.
HOW TO BOOK
1. GET IN TOUCH
Get in touch to ask questions or book a discovery call. We’ll chat about numbers, your preferred dates and your group’s objectives, needs and preferences. Because our trips are privately guided, we can tailor the trip to you.
2. BOOK & PAY DEPOSIT
On booking, you’ll be required to pay a 10% non-refundable deposit, with the remainder due 14 days prior to your departure day.
3. GET PREPARED
We’ll send you a packing list and the information you need to get prepared (and get excited) for your upcoming experience. We provide all technical equipment and if there’s something extra you need, you can hire it from us.
About four weeks before you arrive, we’ll jump on a video call together to talk through your upcoming experience and discuss your packlist to make sure you’re adventure-ready.
4. PAY OUTSTANDING BALANCE
You’ll receive the invoice for the remainder of your balance. Payment in full is required 14 days before your departure.
5. EMBARK ON YOUR EXPERIENCE
It’s time to embark on your experience, far from the madding crowds in the spectacular UNESCO South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. You’ll meet your guide, have a brief and then head out into the wild.