Hi everyone....I am down in New Zealand, my local mountain being the active volcano Mt Ruapehu (or Te Maunga - The Mountain - in Maori), where my wife and I ski both sides (Turoa and Whakapapa) with our two keen young skiers.
Skiing is in the blood, my grandfather was a founding member of one of the South Island club fields, and used to make his own skis out of hickory wood. He would often do a run or two in the morning and then go to lower altitudes for some hunting. Mum caught the bug early and when kids came along took us skiing from a young age in the South Island.....I caught it bad from the first day (Mt Hutt, 1976) and it's been a central part of my life ever since.
Many great seasons in North America, great times through the 90's with university mates staying at our club on the mountain at Whakapapa, and now watching my family loving the sport and getting involved with another club (with a slightly more moderate drinking culture) :p
My avatar is taken from Whakapapa looking toward Mt Taranaki (it's my son, not me!).
As for pugski.....wow what a great site/resource/place to hang....already learned more genuine info and reflections on a multitude of things than any of the other sites can offer. Especially love the ski reviews and input, just fantastic. Love the industry inside perspective. Huge respect to Phil and some of the other long-term contribbutors. Very little ego floating around too
Cheers
Rob
Skiing is in the blood, my grandfather was a founding member of one of the South Island club fields, and used to make his own skis out of hickory wood. He would often do a run or two in the morning and then go to lower altitudes for some hunting. Mum caught the bug early and when kids came along took us skiing from a young age in the South Island.....I caught it bad from the first day (Mt Hutt, 1976) and it's been a central part of my life ever since.
Many great seasons in North America, great times through the 90's with university mates staying at our club on the mountain at Whakapapa, and now watching my family loving the sport and getting involved with another club (with a slightly more moderate drinking culture) :p
My avatar is taken from Whakapapa looking toward Mt Taranaki (it's my son, not me!).
As for pugski.....wow what a great site/resource/place to hang....already learned more genuine info and reflections on a multitude of things than any of the other sites can offer. Especially love the ski reviews and input, just fantastic. Love the industry inside perspective. Huge respect to Phil and some of the other long-term contribbutors. Very little ego floating around too
Cheers
Rob
