Tim is a ski instructor with ES in Zermatt in the winters. Here he tells us about his summer, coaching skiing on the volcano at Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand.
Contact us to book lessons with Tim in Zermatt.
After the winter season in Zermatt Tim travels all the way to the other side of the world to New Zealand. Here the southern hemisphere winter starts late June and ends half way through October.
Tim lives in a small town called Ohakune at the foot of Mount Ruapehu. Mount Ruapehu is an active volcano in the middle of the North island. The resort has stunning views that reach all the way to the coast. Ruapehu is one of New Zealand’s most active volcanos, with ten eruptions since 1861, the last one being in 2007.
It is located in a World Heritage National Park. Solidified lava has shaped the terrain and made the mountain an incredible playground for skiing. The resort has everything from gentle learner slopes to advanced freeride terrain.
Bringing on new talent
Tim works at the southern side of the mountain at Turoa, training gap year students to become ski instructors during the week and coaching some of new Zealand’s upcoming talent on the weekends. Some of his students have been competing in the junior freeride world tour and in the NZ junior nationals. Its amazing to see how dedicated the youth is to the sport over here.
This season’s conditions
This season Turoa had some incredible conditions with a snow base averaging 255 cm. On the 20th of August, NZ records Mount Ruapehu having the deepest snow base worldwide with the groomer’s snow satellite data reporting snow pockets as deep as 8 meters.
Towards the end of the season the temperatures have been rising fast and a lot of the snow has been washed away by rain on the lower parts of the mountain. Thankfully the deep snow base has kept the upper mountain intact, and has kept the resort going for some epic spring skiing!
Hiking up to the top of the crater and skiing all the way down to base is an amazing experience!
While you read this Tim is probably mid flight, making his way back over to the other side of the world, getting ready for another winter in Zermatt!
Tim loves sharing his passion and knowledge about skiing with anyone! It doesn’t matter what type of skiing you are into, Tim does it all with utmost enthusiasm! Skiing bumps, floating in powder, freestyle in the park, racing gates or just a casual ski around enjoying the mountain scenery. Tim has been teaching in Zermatt for many years, and knows every corner of the resort.
Contact us to book lessons with Tim in Zermatt.