A couple of weeks ago I did had one of the best riding (and non-riding, for that matter)experiences of my life, as I had booked in for a heli-biking tour of ther Pisa Ranges near Wanaka, on the south island of NZ.
The helicopter took off at about 9.45 am & we had a 15 minute scenic tour of the moutain we were about to ride down, before being planted at the snow covered summit at 6300ft & -7 degrees (very cold). It is such a weird, but good feeling to watch a helicopter take off & be stranded at the top of the mountain, knowing the only way to get down is to ride. The ride was approximately 28km long & was called the Pisa Lochaburn Trail. It consisted of mainly old 4WD double track, but was very rocky & rutted. The first few km's were in snow which made steering a bit difficult but was such a blast. There were also some big water bars, little creek crossings, Tight corners with large drops onthe side, nice high speed open corners, some flat & even uphill (uphill riding is even less fun at altitude) & a couple of "find your own way" sections where we left the trail to avoid hitting herds of cows & flocks of sheep.
The ride took just over 2 hours but included a snack break, multiple photo breaks & having to stop to open & close gates as we got to different areas of land ownership. The other bloke on the tour was a NSW DH Racer named Matt, from Penrith, so we got on well (small world) but he was using a hire bike, I brought my own. The company I went with is called 'Alpine & Heli Mountain Biking' (www.mountainbiking.co.nz) & I would highly recommend getting a tour off them. The business is actually for sale if anyone is interested!
Here the photos I got.
Mt Pisa, from the window of the place I was staying in Lake Hawea:
Mt Pisa, closer-up & looking more intimidating:
Loading up the chopper at Luggart airport (the only way to shuttle!!):
View from helicopter up one of the valleys to the summit of Mt Pisa:
Approaching the summit:
Matt & I at the summit (6300ft), very cold but very excited:
A couple of views from the summit, across the Remarkables, Mt Aspiring & Cardrona:
A lookout across Cromwell, Hawea Flats & Cltha River from point not far down from summit:
View down to Lake Mckay about 2-3km ride from summit:
Part of the snow covered trail from the photo above to the photo below. You can vaguely see the trail snaking up the middle right of the photo:
At the shores of Lake McKay, we rode from top right of photo & followed the ridgeline down:
Me riding a section of the trail decending from Lake Mckay:
Hitting the cloudline!:
Getting Lower:
The trail down to the valley below:
At the bottom, with part of the mountain in the background:
A gratuitous photo of my family!
I also did a lot of DH & Trail riding in Dunedin & Wanaka but did not get any pics as I was mainly by myself. Let me say though, that the Signal Hill DH track in Dunedin isone of the best I have ridden. It has a rock garden from Hell, 3 road gaps. & nice 10' drop to perfect transition, lots of techincal sections, some very high speed open sections & is about 8minutes long (for me, after 4 runs).
I know I don't post on here often but I just had to share
The helicopter took off at about 9.45 am & we had a 15 minute scenic tour of the moutain we were about to ride down, before being planted at the snow covered summit at 6300ft & -7 degrees (very cold). It is such a weird, but good feeling to watch a helicopter take off & be stranded at the top of the mountain, knowing the only way to get down is to ride. The ride was approximately 28km long & was called the Pisa Lochaburn Trail. It consisted of mainly old 4WD double track, but was very rocky & rutted. The first few km's were in snow which made steering a bit difficult but was such a blast. There were also some big water bars, little creek crossings, Tight corners with large drops onthe side, nice high speed open corners, some flat & even uphill (uphill riding is even less fun at altitude) & a couple of "find your own way" sections where we left the trail to avoid hitting herds of cows & flocks of sheep.
The ride took just over 2 hours but included a snack break, multiple photo breaks & having to stop to open & close gates as we got to different areas of land ownership. The other bloke on the tour was a NSW DH Racer named Matt, from Penrith, so we got on well (small world) but he was using a hire bike, I brought my own. The company I went with is called 'Alpine & Heli Mountain Biking' (www.mountainbiking.co.nz) & I would highly recommend getting a tour off them. The business is actually for sale if anyone is interested!
Here the photos I got.
Mt Pisa, from the window of the place I was staying in Lake Hawea:
Mt Pisa, closer-up & looking more intimidating:
Loading up the chopper at Luggart airport (the only way to shuttle!!):
View from helicopter up one of the valleys to the summit of Mt Pisa:
Approaching the summit:
Matt & I at the summit (6300ft), very cold but very excited:
A couple of views from the summit, across the Remarkables, Mt Aspiring & Cardrona:
A lookout across Cromwell, Hawea Flats & Cltha River from point not far down from summit:
View down to Lake Mckay about 2-3km ride from summit:
Part of the snow covered trail from the photo above to the photo below. You can vaguely see the trail snaking up the middle right of the photo:
At the shores of Lake McKay, we rode from top right of photo & followed the ridgeline down:
Me riding a section of the trail decending from Lake Mckay:
Hitting the cloudline!:
Getting Lower:
The trail down to the valley below:
At the bottom, with part of the mountain in the background:
A gratuitous photo of my family!
I also did a lot of DH & Trail riding in Dunedin & Wanaka but did not get any pics as I was mainly by myself. Let me say though, that the Signal Hill DH track in Dunedin isone of the best I have ridden. It has a rock garden from Hell, 3 road gaps. & nice 10' drop to perfect transition, lots of techincal sections, some very high speed open sections & is about 8minutes long (for me, after 4 runs).
I know I don't post on here often but I just had to share
