Thinking of heading to New Zealand to ride this winter?..Heres a quick overview of what to expect.
60th ISSUE PARTY!
11/07/2014
Turning over 60 issues seemed like a good excuse to throw a party so come and help us celebrate upstairs at Gin and Raspberry in Wanaka on Friday 1st of August.
( 8.30pm till 2.30am )
We have some crazy spot prizes to give out on the night including a brand new Bataleon Disaster 155, 5 Nyjah Huston Monster skate decks, Will Jackways Signature Shoes from DVS shoe co, day passes to Treble Cone, Dragon Goggles, Mons Royale First Layers and tons more.
Exclusive footage will screen from many of New Zealand’s top riders, and Brent Screen, AKA, B ROK will be on the decks with guest appearances, including a set with Deano Johnston and J.West…
Click here to purchase your tickets ( includes a Corona or Fast Vodka and Monster Energy and a chance to win the spot prizes )… limited door sales on the night, we”ll be stoked to see you there!
Early Season Porters
09/07/2014It may have been a slow start to the season, but what we have up there has not gone unridden!…
Big shout out’s to those that are saying ‘fu#k it, we are all over it regardless….!..Here’s a slice of what some of the canterbury crew have found at Porters…Words and photos by Shannon McBride
With a lean start to the season and seeing opening dates come and go, my phone finally started ringing. We were hearing rumors that “Porters is opening”, so a plan was put into place. The next day I find myself waiting at the gate of Porters access road just off Highway 73 and before long a green mud covered 4WD pulls in. New Zealand’s favorite Czech rider Jan Hurka is sitting in the passenger seat, I haven’t seen him since last spring. Methven local, Dom’s pizza owner and solid shredder and sledder Ryan Grice gets out and we throw my gear in the back and are away. Arriving in the car park we find it cold (funny that) and the new Porters snow-making system is pumping out man-made-snow covering the lower mountain. It’s good product, powdery and squeaky under foot but due to the
snow gods being on holiday only the first T-bar is open up to the 7th tower.
Ryan and Jan set to work…
The three of us make the most of what is on offer and have a fun morning playing on all the early season terrain that usually gets filled in with snow and Alan from the Community Park crew has set up a couple of super slippery PVC pipes to finish off each run. Now warmed up and hungry it was time for a bit of lunch in the Porters café filling up on Sheffield pies and coffee, we decide that we will climb to the top in the search for snow and hopefully a feature to hit. The climb sees us snowshoe and skin from just above the T get off point. As we climb in elevation the pockets of wind swept snow become more consistent, deeper and in the shade the snow is even dry and light! Once at the top we are meet by one of Porters best features, the views. Looking south over a glassy Lake Coleridge our vision is filled with countless snow and glacier capped peaks and to the east I can see a cloud-covered Christchurch. On the way up we have noticed a small building near the ridge line with a possible approach, which we think will work. With cloud starting to buildup and the sun on it’s way down we set to building a small lip to gap onto the roof. Soon everything is looking good and Jan is itching to go and he’s straight into it.
Jan Hurka, early season meth at Porters
Ryan some how finds a nail in the roof on his first try and then finds himself in a bit of a difficult position. After that everyone is comfortable with the gap to roof and fun is had. With the sun now well and truly low and the good light gone we all know the real fun is about to start, fresh turns! I throw my camera gear into my bag and we drop in, the snow is a bit wind affected but nice and the ever-present rocks that need to be avoided keep us on our toes. There are a few sections that see us take our boards off to get over rocks but the majority of the run is a lot better than we were expecting with a few powder puffs being thrown-up. So for my first day riding this year it was perfect, not like wading through waste deep powder digging out sleds like we were this time last year but it was fun riding with mates and making the best out of what was on offer. As a good friend of mine always says “Any day on your board is a good one” and it proved to be true.
News 2014
04/07/2014
Burton High Fives
PORTERS TO GET FIRST CHAIRLIFT
The closest ski field to Christchurch is finally get a chairlift, something the locals have been wanting for years. With luck this is just the start of developments!
World Heli Challenge Sept 2014
Back again remixed relocated and reformatted this is gonna be sick.The first thing you need to do is vote!
2014 Nitro Elan Rail Jam, hosted at Turoa Parks
The 2014 Nitro Elan Rail Jam, hosted at Turoa Parks was a huge hit with all the riders. This year’s set up was next level and featured 5 Rail and Box features, a wall ride and hitching post. Big thanks to Nitro and Elan and to all the skiers and rider who came up to compete. Results here >
Treble Cone Banked Slalom
Another successful ‘banked’ goes down at Treble Cone, check the results here.
The Riders
03/07/2014
Where ya at?- JJ Rayward
03/07/2014JJ Rayward is another of the new wave of kiwi shredders tearing @#%* up right now, we find out where he’s at!
JJ in full effect, rippin this groomer slash @ Cardrona – Photo Angus Grey
Where you at right now? At the moment I’m based in Wanaka for the season which is a sick place! I love it.
How long have you been there? Roughly 2 weeks.
And before that? I was in Richmond-Nelson peeling onions 5 days a week to get that cash money and hanging out after this summer in Mammoth CA. Haha.
How have the first couple of weeks at Cardies been? So good, snow wasn’t the best at the start but it’s snowed the last few days which is dope and hopefully the jumps will be up real soon!
Funnest thing to hit up there at the minute? Probably Stag Lane then all the natural side hits and slashes down the rest of the run.
What was your time over seas like this year? Really cool, there wasn’t much snow at the start of the season but once everything was set up it was hammers. I also got to travel a little bit which was an awesome experience and I am so thankful for.
You spent quite a bit of time at Mammoth how do you rate their park? 12 out of 10. They have about 3 big parks ranging from so many different levels and you can always find a sheltered place to ride no matter what the weather is. And it’s usually warm so hoodie weather 24/7.
Where else did you ride? Ah, I went to June Mt once (45min drive from Mammoth) but they had really bad snow and no park so didn’t go back, haha. Also went to Sun Valley ID for a competition and all the way to Valmalenco in Italy for Junior Worlds which was crazy and had the BEST lasagne I have EVER had. Haha.
Funnest trick for you right now? That’s a rough one, probably a solid tweeked grab on a side hit – You have to send it though!!
Scariest trick? Back 2 on, I still have to man up and do it on a rail.
Who were you shredding with in the US? Heaps of the NZ crew and American guys who I trained with on the Mammoth Junior SB team.
What were the highlights of that trip? Forsure the improvement I made on snow, all the rad people I met and hungout with, and defiantly the amazing trips I was able to go on.
Plans for the NZ winter? Train hard and get stuff done, also have a tonne of fun with everyone and yeah.
Who will you be shredding with? Liam Whiley, Sam Christie, Angus Grey, hopefully the Canadian boy Seb if he comes out, maybe Freeman if he comes down, all the coaches and others from Cardrona Parks Squad and just whoever is down to boost some laps – If I left anyone out sorry ha.
Shouts? My parents for letting me do what I do, all my coaches from Cardrona and Mammoth, my sponsors for helping me out, Cardrona Resort, Volcom, DVS Shoes, Signal Snowboards, Electric Visual, MadWax, Replay Cameras, everyone who has helped me get to where I am and also the guys at NZSnowboard mag for this checkout!!
Hamish Bagley – This runs for you buddy!