The cook position at Craigieburn is a sole charge position managing the weekly food orders and cooking for the staff of 10 and lodge guests of up to 60 (averaging around 30). You will deliver a basic but hearty 3 course evening meal of soup, mains and desert 6 days a week, as well as set up for morning self-serve breakfast. The lodge guests are rostered duties to help you out with food prep and will do all the cleanup for you. You will be working in a very spacious well appointed commercial kitchen with new commercial ovens.

Best of all, after breakfast the time is yours to go and ski all you like until you decide to head back to the lodge to prep for dinner.

Cooking qualifications, experience and references are required, and you also be helping out with other jobs about the lodges to cover other staff days off.

Please click the button below to register your interest in this position.

Come and join us for a swig or three at CBD bar

When: Wednesday 12th June 7pm

Where: CBD Bar, 208 Madras St Christchurch.

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We have opted to give parents a huge break for 2013 and dropped the prices of our child and youth rates dramatically. We realise that taking your family skiing is getting expensive and we’re leading the charge in turning that around. All kids under 13 ski for free at Craigieburn, and our accommodation price is $15-$30 a night cheaper than the other club fields on the Craigieburn range. Check out our accommodation prices or skiweek prices now.

We have already started taking accommodation and skiweek bookings for 2013. Get in early to secure your spot during the peak weeks mid-late August and school holidays. Our accommodation is warm and spacious (even the dorm rooms only have 6 beds each) and dinner and breakfast is all included in the price. You don’t have to venture outside at night, your boots are warm and your skis are waiting for you at the front door to ski out in the morning. It doesn’t get any easier for a family ski holiday.

Now is also the time to consider becoming a member at Craigieburn. Members get 25-50% off accommodation and skiing. Join the club.

Field manager Nick Jarman opened up the tractor shed door at 3.30 Wednesday to find a wall of snow in the way. A whopping 125cm of snow had fallen in a 24 hour period. One of the biggest accumulated snow falls ever seen at Craigieburn.

By lunch time today there were over 114 “comments”, 1400 “likes” and 411 “shares” for the photo.

One person commented – “Sorry Queenstown, but I have a new favourite ski field”

Our accommodation is warm and cosy, and there are options for private or shared accommodation as you prefer. Our chef will cook you an awesome three course dinner, and when you roll out of bed at 8:30 there’s time for breakfast before hitting the slopes at 9am!

Koroheke Lodge

Highlights from the Craigieburn section of the K2 Big Mountain CHILL Series 2011.

This year’s event will be held Wednesday 24 August – Sunday 28 August (four days of competition and one weather day). Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th will be held at Craigieburn, and Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th at Mt Olympus.

Early registration payable to CHILL before 15 August ($100), late registration ($135). Note: Entry fee does not include access to mountain facilities and a valid lift ticket is required for each day of competition.

To register please click the image below which will take you to the Chill registration page. CHILL will contact you for payment and to confirm your registration.

K2 Big Mountain Competition 2011

Hamilton Peak | 15th July 2011

Ticket Office | 15th July 2011

Digging out the tow shed | 15th July 2011

Ticket Office | 15th July 2011

Phat As | 15th July 2011

Double overhead | 15th July 2011

We are looking to open Monday 18th July, with access to the ski area being available from the afternoon of Sunday 17th.

Please watch this website and snow.co.nz for updates. The CSA snowphone will also be updated 03 383 8888 ext 7

Photos to follow this afternoon….

It will definitely run at some stage in the early season, please keep a watch on the website or Facebook for updates.

Your club captain missed last week’s blog but apparently awesome hot dog weekend with plenty of antics around the lodge and skiing off the roof! Still lots of snow up top this weekend with powder and wind blown powder, and a big dump forecast this week!

In Koroheke

It was much quieter this past week and staff muscled in on accommodation due to lack of heating in staff HQ (that’s MY bunk – no that’s MINE) – only the hardy Kevin and Iwao remained in their rooms. There is still plenty of accommodation available during the school holidays. We celebrated Kevins 30th birthday in style in the bar (thanks to everyone who contributed to his jacket – he LOVED it and I am trying to upload a piccy) on Saturday night and we said farewell to Ewoi who leaves on Wednesday. Lets make the end of the season a big one….

Snow softening to spring conditions as we staged our own big mountain event down the chutes most of the weekend. Still good snow up top but the rain down below means take care below 2^nd tow. Nymphs spotted in the waterfall late last week!!! HOT DOG day this coming weekend so practice your old style turns and blow the dust off your retro ski gear. There will be plenty of prizes for stunts on the mountain.

In Koroheke

Last weekend was another busy one in the lodge with entertainment from Acoustic Solution – thanks again guys for a great night and for driving up from and back down to chch in one night despite the ongoing aftershocks. We said goodbye to staff member Aaron as we slow down for the season. And goodbye to long term regulars Dinah, Al and Malcolm Braddock. Be prepared for the DJ set this coming Hot Dog weekend.

Schedule

Saturday – 10am at the daylodge

A day to fine tune your technique

• Personal improvement clinic with your own goals as the focus. Learn to cruise gracefully or charge like the boys!
• Includes video analysis.
• End of day Apres wine and cheese in the Koroheke bar.

Sunday – 10am at the daylodge

Skiing the ‘Big Mountain.

• Tactics to deal with different off piste conditions.
• Skiing the steeps! (Optional)
• Intro to avalanche safety. How to use tranciever, probe, shovel. Safe ways to travel in the backcountry.

$125 for the clinic ($65) per day. Email ski@craigieburn.co.nz for reservation. Usual lift ticket and accommodation rates apply.

Craigieburn historic footage. 1 – Introduction from Craigieburn on Vimeo.

Craigieburn historic footage. 2 – The rope tow from Craigieburn on Vimeo.

Craigieburn historic footage. 3 – Weekends at Craigieburn from Craigieburn on Vimeo.

Craigieburn historic footage. 4 – Equipment from Craigieburn on Vimeo.

Craigieburn historic footage. 5 – Work parties from Craigieburn on Vimeo.

Craigieburn historic footage. 6 – Club trip to Coronet Peak from Craigieburn on Vimeo.

Worldwide Honour Names Craigieburn Alongside Jamaica, Finland Among Favourite “Clean Breaks”

Everyone who lives in the South Island knows it’s the best place in the world to unwind. But it’s always nice when the world takes notice.

The UK’s TIMES ONLINE has listed Canterbury’s Craigieburn ski field among its favourite “10 trips to break clean from daily life.”

The Times team spent 10 years researching the “clean break” they were seeking, from the Pyrenees to the Kalahari. They call it a “journey into the heart of a destination and its culture, when you do something different, stay in family‐run hotels, visit local festivals and hire local guides.”

“To think that one of the world’s top green, clean and favourite destinations is a simple hour’s drive from Christchurch . . . we know we are lucky, but do we realise our backyard is among the absolute best in the world?” asks Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism CEO Christine Prince.

Alongside swimming Finland’s lakes and bog‐walking Estonia, “Ski the resort‐free Craigieburn” brings New Zealand to the top of the Times’ list.

“And they say that your skiing will improve immeasurably – on this kind of testing off‐piste terrain it has to,” writes the Times.

Craigieburn is a 988‐acre ski area featuring a spectacular collection of generous powder bowls, steep, skinny chutes and a popular vertical plunge of 1,968 feet. It is part of a network of 13 ski fields located in a single region – Canterbury – known for dramatic vistas of the Southern Alps, lush green plains and cheeky alpine parrots.

The Canterbury region encompasses the heart of the South Island, with Craigieburn itself only one hour’s drive from Christchurch International Airport.

Craigieburn is one of 16 ski areas in the Canterbury region; “A world‐class prescription for clean, green and good‐for‐you couldn’t be closer to home!”

To read the Times Online article, click here.

Many of you wear an avalanche transceiver when you ski and ride in the valley but:

Are you really confident that you can effectively search for a buried mate? Do you know the latest search techniques for single and multiple burials? Can you confidently find two buried transceivers in under 4 minutes? Do you know how to be part of, or supervise a probe line? What do you know about the Craigieburn Valley Ski Area Avalanche Rescue Plan? How old is your transceiver? They loose effectiveness with age.

These questions and many more will be answered if you turn up for the Avalanche Rescue Exercise on the 4th of July.

Wearing an avalanche beacon and carrying a shovel and probe does not necessarily make you safe. It is essential that you have the knowledge of how to use the gear. You also
need to regularly practise avalanche rescue techniques to ensure that if the worst happens you are able to be an effective part of an avalanche rescue effort.
Craigieburn is just about all avalanche terrain, all the more reason for you to improve your avalanche safety skills. It would be fantastic if we could have a high turnout of members to make the most of the weekend.

You don’t need to own an avalanche transceiver to participate. But if you do please bring it along (please make sure you have installed new batteries for the 2009 season) with your probe and shovel if you have them.

Program (Weather and avalanche conditions dependent)
Saturday 4th July
10.00am – The avalanche rescue plan and avalanche rescue techniques.
12 noon – lunch
12:30pm – up the hill for transceiver and probe searching practise
2:30pm – avalanche rescue scenario
5.00pm – debrief + MSC Avalanche Safety Video

Sunday 5th July
More transceiver searching practise. (you can never do enough of it!)
Back up day for avalanche rescue scenario if weather no good on Sat 4th.
If time allows we will run a basic session on safe travel techniques in avalanche terrain and general avalanche safety.

Everyone wishing to attend MUST email Nick staff@craigieburn.co.nz or leave a message 03 018 8711 by Wedensday evening.

Same deal as usual:
• 9am start in carpark
• Please leave a message for Nick by the Wednesday before the weekend. Phone
the field on (03) 318-8711 or email staff@craigieburn.co.nz

Please Bring:
• A packed lunch
• Something for dinner, breakfast & lunch next day.
• Sleeping bag.
• Work gloves &/or garden gloves

There is a great BBQ set up at Ngahere that is good for dinner items.

SPECIAL NOTE: Safety Equipment
Please come well prepared with appropriate personal safety equipment when you come up for a work party. You may be required to work around chainsaws, heavy equipment or other loud equipment.

We suggest you bring:
• Earmuffs
• Gloves
• Safety Glasses (sunglasses or approved safety glasses)
• Sun Protection

It is also a great idea to put a pair of loppers in the back of the car since pruning is a good fill in job.

Excessive snowfall on the days leading up to August 16th forced us to call in the helicopter to help with avi control work. The results were spectacular to say the least. Lodge guests were treated to a spectacle not often seen in this magnitude (from a safe disatance).

Meet 10am sharp in Koroheke
Cost: $40 Privileged Members / $60 Ordinary Members
Includes dinner, bed and breakfast.
BYO lunches and snacks
Please confirm your attendance by Weds 2nd July by emailing cvstaff@xtra.co.nz .
Come meet the staff, learn how to use your avalanche transceiver plus other useful and life saving information, and generally have a great weekend with other clubbies. Details for the weekend are below, care of Shannon Werner, our Snow Safety officer for this season.

Provisional Programme

Saturday 5th July
10am: The Avalanche Rescue Plan and avalanche rescue techniques.
12 noon: Lunch.
12:30pm: Up the hill for transceiver and probe searching practice.
2:30pm: Avalanche rescue scenario.
5pm: Debrief & MSC Avalanche Safety Video.

Sunday 6th July
• More transceiver searching practice.
• Back up day for avalanche rescue scenario if weather no good on sat 7th.
• If time allows I will run a basic session on travel in avalanche terrain and general avalanche safety.

We all have a responsibility to ensure our avalanche rescue capability is as effective and capable as possible so please do your best to
attend this weekend. It’s going to be loads of fun. Remember if you are unfortunate enough to be caught in an avalanche you will be relying on your fellow skiers and riders to rescue you. So it is in your interests to encourage as many other members as you can, to attend.