What an adventurous day today! Woke up early and had our breakfast and then went outside our accommodation to wait for the guide to pick my brother and I up. We will be snowshoeing in the backcountry mountains today! Snowshoeing is basically the same as hiking or trekking, with an additional gear called the snowshoe. It helps walking on snow a lot easier especially on fresh, soft snow.
The dining area at Southern Laughters backpackers.
Peter, or as he calls himself Pete, who's our guide, came to pick us up at 9am and then two other people from other accommodations before heading off to the Double Cone mountain for our snow expedition. We will be driving to the Remarkables ski park and then walking beyond the ski boundary into the snow wilderness. The road up to the Remarkables carpark was all off road and uneven, but the views of Queenstown only got better the higher we went up.
In Pete's car on our way to the Remarkables ski park.
That's the mountain that we were headed to.
Near the base of the mountain, a sign warmly welcomes us (with a little word of caution) to the Remarkables!
It was a really rocky and dusty ride up!
Queenstown airport seen on the way up the mountain.
Seeing a lot more snow as we got higher up!
The day started off with high clouds, but as we reached the carpark of the Remarkables ski park, snow clouds were already building up very quickly. We quickly got off the van and took our snowsnoeing equipments which our guide taught us how to put them on then we started our hike. We started at the lowest point of ski slope, then going out of the ski park boundary and that's where our adventure began.
The Remarkables ski park.
At the carpark getting ready our snowshoeing equipment.
Putting on our snowshoes!
Weather seem to be fine just as we began our hike.
Our guide!
In just a matter of minutes since we started hiking, the snow clouds were already in full blast onto the mountains. The wind was strong and the snow came hitting our faces. That was when it didn't feel like it was spring anymore. It was weird walking with the snowshoe at first but it soon became more comfortable and easy to walk on. The visibility got worse and the snow got heavier. We could no longer see Queenstown as we look back down the ski slope, which was still visible not long ago.
Oh my, look at the clouds!
Some snowboarders on the slopes.
Regardless of the weather, we continued our hike to the top of the ridge. Our friendly guide talked to us and gave us information about the area that we were walking through. As we walked further away from the ski boundary and deeper into the mountain, the snow became a lot softer and deeper, untouched by anybody until we stepped on them. So we kind of spoilt the neat and smooth white snow with our snowshoe-prints.
Soon it felt like it was winter again. The snow became heavier and visibility went down.
Having a chat while taking a rest.
Peter's expensive watch. He said it costs $2000 for it because the watch had lots of features like wind direction, altitude, temperature, weather info and much more! It says that we were at 1790 meters above sea level.
My snowshoe on the fresh snow.
Anyway, after some steep climbs up the slopes, we finally reached the top of the ridge and looking onto a frozen lake. Actually we cannot see the ice or the lake as it was all totally covered in snow. However there were some small areas where the snow was thinner and I poked the ice using the walking poles which broke the ice and there was water below which just to prove that it is a lake. I was doubting that it was a lake at first! Our guide also said that this place was used as one of the scenes in the first part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I couldn't really recognize the place probably because visibility wasn't too good.
Saw a group setting up camp there.
A couple of skiers were there too.
The ice over here was quite thin and my brother broke the ice showing a small part of the lake here.
Peter waiting for us.
Continuing on our hike, we walked a little more, probably another 600 meters before having our lunch. We stopped in the middle of nowhere and our guide started digging for a cave so that we can have our lunch in a warm and cozy place away from the bitter snow outside. We took turns to shovel large amounts of snow down to about 2 meters deep and into a cave. Shoveling snow was a good first time experience and definitely fun to do!
Diggy diggy hole!
After much digging we saw the hole into the cave.
My brother's attempt in shoveling.
The cave has a really low ceiling height and we had to crawl into it. We got into it one by one and soon all 5 of us we inside. It was about 4 degrees inside the cave, a lot warmer than on the outside, due to the shelter from the strong wind. We began eating our lunch, which was just a simple chicken sandwich and a cup of hot tea. Had a chat and took some group shots in the tight cave before heading out again.
Looking out from inside the little cave.
Hot tea in an ice cave! But there was nowhere warm we could place our cups on so the icy ground was our only choice. And yes, it became iced tea within a couple of minutes :(
Exiting the cave.
Instead of walking back by the path to where we walked from, we headed towards another direction which we will walk around the ridge before cutting back into the track we took earlier. There were also a few slightly technical parts where we had to walk perpendicularly across a steep downslope. We just continued walking and enjoying the foggy mountain scenery and soon ended our walk back at the base of the ski park.
Peter said that this guy is the only person here licensed to drive this snow mobile. Not any ordinary one but the most powerful snow mobile.
Peter showing us the way on this steep slope, and how to walk without losing our footing or sliding down.
My brother walking across it. It doesn't look steep in the photo like in real life.
Our cheerful guide who loves to pose for pictures!
Back into the ski park. Some learner snowboarders having lessons there (bottom right).
Once back at the main building of the ski park, we saw some cute dogs. I asked the owner what they were and she said a lot of words so quickly that I think I only managed to catch the world Maltese.
Are they a kind of Maltese breed?
Back on the base of the mountain.
Peter drove all of us back to our accommodations. We said our goodbyes to the others when they alighted, and we got off the last. Our shoes were not fully waterproof and thus got most of it soaked including our socks. We changed them in our room and went out for dinner.
Camp Street with the Double Cone mountain at the back. How nice it would be to stay in a town surrounded by snow capped mountains.
Jetty at Queenstown Waterfront.
We had dinner then went to Patagonia ice cream shop to savor a cone each!
The benches outside the store.
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