hmcleay
Likes Bikes
Hey all,
Just thought i'd give you a bit of a summary of our recent downhilling trip to Queenstown.
Please ignore spelling & grammar mistakes; it was a rushed type-up.
I intend to make a pdf of this summary including pics etc, but that will take some time.
Until then, here are some words:
When:
November 7th to 14th. Basically spring.
mountain tops still capped in snow.
daily temp was around 18-20 deg (perfect for DH).
sunrise around 7am, sunset around 8pm.
the forecast had predicted overcast and rainy conditions for the week we were there, however it turned out to be perfect weather, except for the fairly windy conditions on the last few days.
Where:
Queenstown & nearby areas. more details later...
why: duh.
how:
AirNZ is the way to go if you are travelling with bikes.
they offer 10kg extra free baggage if you are taking 'sporting goods' on the plane.
We each had a bike box as our only checked luggage.
the bike boxes had bike, helmet, armour, tools, and whatever else we could get in there without going over the max limit of 32kg.
the rest of our clothes etc were taken in our hand luggage.
Standard cardboard boxes will only last a few trips. I made my own bike box out of corflute, and sized it perfectly to suit my DH bike, so it ended up smaller than the standard Qantas bike boxes. I also put some wheels on it. it lasted very well on this trip, and I reckon it will last a long time.
3 of our crew were travelling from Adelaide, and as far as I could work out, it wasn't possible to get from Adelaide to Queenstown in one day, which was a bit stupid IMO.
This meant that the Adelaide guys had to overnight in Auckland.
Even though both of the legs (Adel-Auck, and Auck-Queenstown) were with AirNZ, they weren't allowed to check the bike boxes all the way through to Queenstown (something to do with more than 12hrs stopover between flights). Anyway, it turns out that Auckland airport has a luggage storage facility, so the guys were able to store their bike boxes there overnight while they went off and stayed at a backpackers.
we had four people in our crew. we were really hoping to have more like 6-8 people on the trip, but couldn't muster the numbers.
In hindsight, four people was the perfect number.
We hired a van, and pretty much based our week on doing shuttle runs at every track possible.
By sheer fluke, we were given a 4WD van, which gave us a bit more confidence when trying to get to the more 'inaccessible' tracks.
We were very happy with our van. It was an older model Toyota diesel, with a slightly higher roof.
It came with 7 seats (2 front row, 3 second row, 2 third row). we took the third row of seats out, which meant we could comfortably seat 4 people plus bikes.
we probably could have fitted 5 plus bikes, but never tried it.
the best packing system for the bikes was to put them in upside down, front wheel first. some minor occy-strapping was required on rougher drives.
Bikes:
we all had 8" DH bikes. nothing that you want to pedal up a hill.
If I was to do the trip again, I would probably take a 6" trail bike (if i had one!) and check out all the other tracks which are way more suited to trail bikes than DH bikes.
However we were there for downhilling, and there were enough shuttleable DH tracks to keep us busy for a whole week without having to pedal uphill.
Day 1:
Arrived in Queestown around 3pm.
built bikes up ASAP, and drove into town to visit the guys at Vertigo bike shop. They gave us directions to the 'Remarks' track, which is basically a DH track alongside the access road to the 'Remarkables Ski Field'. drop off point is at the cattle grid.
This was a great track for our first ride; there were no nasty surprises, and is pretty similar to what we are used to riding at home.
this track is probably better suited to morning riding though, as the sun gets in your eyes if it's late afternoon.
we did 8 runs here.
Day 2: Morning:
Did the Gondola runs with the vertigo crew. you get 2 runs for $150.
This is the only way that you can get bikes to the top without pushing.
It's a wicked track, with massive berms, and great rollers.
If you get to know the track, and get faster, all of the rollers become doubles. However 2 runs wasn't really enough to get to know the track.
Even if you have your own bike, I would recommend using one of the hire bikes (Glory DH1) for this track.
The way they get the bikes to the top of the track is a bit dodgey: one of the gondolas is a 'cargo' gondola. They have an aluminium pallet (about 1500mm long and 600mm wide) to stand the bikes on, alternating direction, and then they strap them all together really tight. there is huge potential here for damage to stanchions, rotors, etc, etc.
When this cargo gondola comes around, the lift operator stops the gondolas, and this pallet then gets fork-lifted onto the cargo gondola.
the people that were operating the gondolas clueless when it comes to packing bikes, and the whole process takes quite a while, hence why you only get 2 runs in for a whole morning.
From our initial conversation with the vertigo guys, we were under the impression that we would get some kind of discount for using our own bikes. It was also hinted that if we were quick enough coming down the hill, we might have time for another run for free.
Neither of these things happened, which left us a bit sour, having just paid $150 each for 2 runs and some scratches on our bikes.
On the positive side, we were now 'mates' with the vertigo guys, and could use them for directions and advice on local riding spots.
The vertigo guys also said that if we book another tour with them, we'll get 10% discount...
Gondola Run: do it on hired bikes if you've got the cash, but don't expect too much. Otherwise, start walking. it's a 1 hour push to the top (we weren't keen enough to try it).
Day 2 Afternoon:
Shuttle runs at Wynyard:
Awesome track. easy to shuttle. lots of big berms, jumps, northshore,
stop at the jump park half way down for a bit of fun.
great track. pretty rideable on most bike types.
did 8 runs.
Day 3:
Drove out to Skippers Saddle and did 4 runs of the 'Zoot Track'.
It's a pretty basic short track down an old 4wd track. quite rutted in some spots.
you wouldn't be missing much if you didn't do this track.
Started to drive out to 'Skippers Canyon' along what is apparently New Zealand's most dangerous road.
It's a pretty scary road, and we could see the rideable single track way down in the valley below.
Before long, we got too scared, and found a spot to turn around and head out.
We then went for a short drive to coronet peak, to have a look at the lift-accessed MTB park which has just been canned (cheers for that). This was also where one of our crew got to touch real snow for the first time!
we then grew some balls, and decided to go back and tackle skippers canyon.
we split up in pairs, and dropped off 2 riders at skippers saddle, while the other 2 drove down the gnarly road to pick them up at the bottom.
the ride was pretty tame, but very scenic.
we only did 2 runs. I reckon the road got my heart racing more than the ride.
On my drive, I came across two 20 seater 4WD buses with trailers coming towards me. I had to pull into one of the narrow overtaking bays to let them pass. There was plenty of room; around 20mm.
On our drive out of the canyon, we came across another car parked on the side of the track.
as we were approaching, we were trying to work out why there was so much movement going on in the car...
once we were a bit closer, we could see that it was a fertile couple in the passenger seat. the guy was on top, giving her everything he had.
we let rip with car horns, cheers, and cameras.... classic!
Does anyone know any Queenstown locals that drive a green Rav4 with yellow fog lights?
Day 4: Dirt Park.
Went for a drive to try and find the freeride park at 'Dirt Park' near Cardrona (aka 'Snow Farm' and 'Snow Park' in winter).
Got to the top of the mountain to find the remains of a snow park, complete with chairlift, half pipe, and big jumps.
But no freeride stuff as our search on YouTube had releaved. It turns out that the freeride park wasn't sustainable for MTB (cheers again).
The place was like a ghost town... really creepy. there were buildings and sheds everywhere, some of them open, but not a soul in sight.
We then set out to find the downhill track.
after driving around all the little 4WD tracks at the top of the mountain, we finally found a small post in the ground with a box attached to it. In tiny writing, it read "Dirt Park honesty box - $10 per person per day". We all cheered, since we knew that the top of the DH track must have been close! We thought we'd do a run before chucking our money in, so we found our way to the start line...
This track would have to be one of the highlights of the trip.
the elevation drop is 1000m.
the top half is steep and rocky, with a few big gaps (non-mandatory) and jumps built in.
the second half is fast and flowy singletrack, through grassy farm land. watch out for sheep and cattle, and their shit. all of the fences have ramps built over them.
The first run of the day took 55mins (with a bit of exploring included).
the drive back to the top took about 25mins, and we proudly chucked our money into the honesty box to go again.
the last run of the day took 14mins, flat out.
This is the best track I have ever ridden.
Day 5: Morning:
Hired 5" Trail bikes from vertigo and checked out the trails at '7 Mile'.
awsome trails (not shuttleable though), with lots of rollable jumps and northshore.
definitely worth checking out if you can pedal your bike up a hill.
there are heaps of trails in this little park. you could easily spend a full day here.
Afternoon:
Heli-biking:
This is a tour organised through vertigo bikes. it costs $345 each, and we didn't get the 10% discount as previously indicated because we only had four people. i.e. It would have been more financially viable if we had 5 ppl, and they would be able to offer the discount.
Usually the $345 would also include bike hire (5" trail bikes), but we decided to use our DH bikes.
So we didn't get any discount, and we used our own bikes. As compensation, they had given us free hire of the 5" bikes to ride that morning.
Our bikes packed neatly on the sides of the helicopter - no issues there.
the chopper ride took about 15mins to get to 'Ben Cruachan' in the Remarkables.
the pilot had his iPod cranking for the flight up, unfortunately "Highway to the Danger Zone" wasn't on the playlist...
As a last minute thought, I gaffer taped my digital camera to my chest to film the ride down.
I now have about 45mins of footage of my head stem and handlebars. awesome.
there was still quite a bit of snow at the top and it was super windy.
Riding through snow is much harder than I imagined, and we all had a synchronised tumble in one spot where we sank down to our axles!
The views were amazing, and the singletrack was great.
I'm glad I took my DH bike rather than using one of the 5" bikes. even though there was a fairly long pedally bit part way down.
the fire road at the end was awesome too. big drifty corners!
Heli-biking is not cheap at $345, but the chopper ride was amazing, and the scenery spectacular.
the track down wasn't technical or challenging, but still good fun.
I reckon it was worth it.
Day 6:
Morning:
Went to Wynyard park and spent the morning messing around on the jumps.
they've got loads of different jumps here, it's great place to learn.
you can start on the small ones, build up your confidence, and then try to hit the bigger lines.
check out the dream track too... MASSIVE jumps.
Afternoon:
Went back to dirt park and did some more runs of the track there...
the wind was a bit worse this time, but the track is still amazing!
Day 7:
Drove out to Clyde (about 100km away) and checked out the 'Dam Track' which was apparently used for an Oceania Cup track at some point in the past. Nice rocky steep technical track.
Then drove to Alexandra, and went to the local bike shop to ask about the local tracks.
the guy there was really helpful. he gave us directions to the two main tracks at Alexandra, and also to the other 'school track' at Clyde
one of them was super rocky, and finished at the jump park. we got lost trying to find the other one.
then we went back to Clyde and did the 'school track' this was much more open and flowy, and took about 5 1/2 mins to get down.
we stayed here for a while and did about 4 runs.
That's about it!
we were all getting pretty tired towards the end (of riding and of each other).
Four or five people is definitely the right number.
a 4WD van is definitely the ideal vehicle.
Fergburger is definitely the best burger I have ever had. Check it out...
Upon re-reading this, I think it sounds a bit harsh towards the vertigo guys.
Don’t get me wrong, they were all really nice guys, and were extremely helpful in directing us towards great riding spots.
I’m sure the guys were genuine when they thought they could ‘do us a deal’, but at the end of the day, like all businesses, they have to run things past their boss, and they have to make a buck.
Our Costs in AUD per person were roughly:
Airfares: $600
Accomm: $500 (we stayed in a luxurious house, you could do it much cheaper if you wanted).
Van Hire:$170
Heli-biking $280
Gondola Runs $120
Food etc: $360
This adds up to a bit over $2000... bargain!
Just thought i'd give you a bit of a summary of our recent downhilling trip to Queenstown.
Please ignore spelling & grammar mistakes; it was a rushed type-up.
I intend to make a pdf of this summary including pics etc, but that will take some time.
Until then, here are some words:
When:
November 7th to 14th. Basically spring.
mountain tops still capped in snow.
daily temp was around 18-20 deg (perfect for DH).
sunrise around 7am, sunset around 8pm.
the forecast had predicted overcast and rainy conditions for the week we were there, however it turned out to be perfect weather, except for the fairly windy conditions on the last few days.
Where:
Queenstown & nearby areas. more details later...
why: duh.
how:
AirNZ is the way to go if you are travelling with bikes.
they offer 10kg extra free baggage if you are taking 'sporting goods' on the plane.
We each had a bike box as our only checked luggage.
the bike boxes had bike, helmet, armour, tools, and whatever else we could get in there without going over the max limit of 32kg.
the rest of our clothes etc were taken in our hand luggage.
Standard cardboard boxes will only last a few trips. I made my own bike box out of corflute, and sized it perfectly to suit my DH bike, so it ended up smaller than the standard Qantas bike boxes. I also put some wheels on it. it lasted very well on this trip, and I reckon it will last a long time.
3 of our crew were travelling from Adelaide, and as far as I could work out, it wasn't possible to get from Adelaide to Queenstown in one day, which was a bit stupid IMO.
This meant that the Adelaide guys had to overnight in Auckland.
Even though both of the legs (Adel-Auck, and Auck-Queenstown) were with AirNZ, they weren't allowed to check the bike boxes all the way through to Queenstown (something to do with more than 12hrs stopover between flights). Anyway, it turns out that Auckland airport has a luggage storage facility, so the guys were able to store their bike boxes there overnight while they went off and stayed at a backpackers.
we had four people in our crew. we were really hoping to have more like 6-8 people on the trip, but couldn't muster the numbers.
In hindsight, four people was the perfect number.
We hired a van, and pretty much based our week on doing shuttle runs at every track possible.
By sheer fluke, we were given a 4WD van, which gave us a bit more confidence when trying to get to the more 'inaccessible' tracks.
We were very happy with our van. It was an older model Toyota diesel, with a slightly higher roof.
It came with 7 seats (2 front row, 3 second row, 2 third row). we took the third row of seats out, which meant we could comfortably seat 4 people plus bikes.
we probably could have fitted 5 plus bikes, but never tried it.
the best packing system for the bikes was to put them in upside down, front wheel first. some minor occy-strapping was required on rougher drives.
Bikes:
we all had 8" DH bikes. nothing that you want to pedal up a hill.
If I was to do the trip again, I would probably take a 6" trail bike (if i had one!) and check out all the other tracks which are way more suited to trail bikes than DH bikes.
However we were there for downhilling, and there were enough shuttleable DH tracks to keep us busy for a whole week without having to pedal uphill.
Day 1:
Arrived in Queestown around 3pm.
built bikes up ASAP, and drove into town to visit the guys at Vertigo bike shop. They gave us directions to the 'Remarks' track, which is basically a DH track alongside the access road to the 'Remarkables Ski Field'. drop off point is at the cattle grid.
This was a great track for our first ride; there were no nasty surprises, and is pretty similar to what we are used to riding at home.
this track is probably better suited to morning riding though, as the sun gets in your eyes if it's late afternoon.
we did 8 runs here.
Day 2: Morning:
Did the Gondola runs with the vertigo crew. you get 2 runs for $150.
This is the only way that you can get bikes to the top without pushing.
It's a wicked track, with massive berms, and great rollers.
If you get to know the track, and get faster, all of the rollers become doubles. However 2 runs wasn't really enough to get to know the track.
Even if you have your own bike, I would recommend using one of the hire bikes (Glory DH1) for this track.
The way they get the bikes to the top of the track is a bit dodgey: one of the gondolas is a 'cargo' gondola. They have an aluminium pallet (about 1500mm long and 600mm wide) to stand the bikes on, alternating direction, and then they strap them all together really tight. there is huge potential here for damage to stanchions, rotors, etc, etc.
When this cargo gondola comes around, the lift operator stops the gondolas, and this pallet then gets fork-lifted onto the cargo gondola.
the people that were operating the gondolas clueless when it comes to packing bikes, and the whole process takes quite a while, hence why you only get 2 runs in for a whole morning.
From our initial conversation with the vertigo guys, we were under the impression that we would get some kind of discount for using our own bikes. It was also hinted that if we were quick enough coming down the hill, we might have time for another run for free.
Neither of these things happened, which left us a bit sour, having just paid $150 each for 2 runs and some scratches on our bikes.
On the positive side, we were now 'mates' with the vertigo guys, and could use them for directions and advice on local riding spots.
The vertigo guys also said that if we book another tour with them, we'll get 10% discount...
Gondola Run: do it on hired bikes if you've got the cash, but don't expect too much. Otherwise, start walking. it's a 1 hour push to the top (we weren't keen enough to try it).
Day 2 Afternoon:
Shuttle runs at Wynyard:
Awesome track. easy to shuttle. lots of big berms, jumps, northshore,
stop at the jump park half way down for a bit of fun.
great track. pretty rideable on most bike types.
did 8 runs.
Day 3:
Drove out to Skippers Saddle and did 4 runs of the 'Zoot Track'.
It's a pretty basic short track down an old 4wd track. quite rutted in some spots.
you wouldn't be missing much if you didn't do this track.
Started to drive out to 'Skippers Canyon' along what is apparently New Zealand's most dangerous road.
It's a pretty scary road, and we could see the rideable single track way down in the valley below.
Before long, we got too scared, and found a spot to turn around and head out.
We then went for a short drive to coronet peak, to have a look at the lift-accessed MTB park which has just been canned (cheers for that). This was also where one of our crew got to touch real snow for the first time!
we then grew some balls, and decided to go back and tackle skippers canyon.
we split up in pairs, and dropped off 2 riders at skippers saddle, while the other 2 drove down the gnarly road to pick them up at the bottom.
the ride was pretty tame, but very scenic.
we only did 2 runs. I reckon the road got my heart racing more than the ride.
On my drive, I came across two 20 seater 4WD buses with trailers coming towards me. I had to pull into one of the narrow overtaking bays to let them pass. There was plenty of room; around 20mm.
On our drive out of the canyon, we came across another car parked on the side of the track.
as we were approaching, we were trying to work out why there was so much movement going on in the car...
once we were a bit closer, we could see that it was a fertile couple in the passenger seat. the guy was on top, giving her everything he had.
we let rip with car horns, cheers, and cameras.... classic!
Does anyone know any Queenstown locals that drive a green Rav4 with yellow fog lights?
Day 4: Dirt Park.
Went for a drive to try and find the freeride park at 'Dirt Park' near Cardrona (aka 'Snow Farm' and 'Snow Park' in winter).
Got to the top of the mountain to find the remains of a snow park, complete with chairlift, half pipe, and big jumps.
But no freeride stuff as our search on YouTube had releaved. It turns out that the freeride park wasn't sustainable for MTB (cheers again).
The place was like a ghost town... really creepy. there were buildings and sheds everywhere, some of them open, but not a soul in sight.
We then set out to find the downhill track.
after driving around all the little 4WD tracks at the top of the mountain, we finally found a small post in the ground with a box attached to it. In tiny writing, it read "Dirt Park honesty box - $10 per person per day". We all cheered, since we knew that the top of the DH track must have been close! We thought we'd do a run before chucking our money in, so we found our way to the start line...
This track would have to be one of the highlights of the trip.
the elevation drop is 1000m.
the top half is steep and rocky, with a few big gaps (non-mandatory) and jumps built in.
the second half is fast and flowy singletrack, through grassy farm land. watch out for sheep and cattle, and their shit. all of the fences have ramps built over them.
The first run of the day took 55mins (with a bit of exploring included).
the drive back to the top took about 25mins, and we proudly chucked our money into the honesty box to go again.
the last run of the day took 14mins, flat out.
This is the best track I have ever ridden.
Day 5: Morning:
Hired 5" Trail bikes from vertigo and checked out the trails at '7 Mile'.
awsome trails (not shuttleable though), with lots of rollable jumps and northshore.
definitely worth checking out if you can pedal your bike up a hill.
there are heaps of trails in this little park. you could easily spend a full day here.
Afternoon:
Heli-biking:
This is a tour organised through vertigo bikes. it costs $345 each, and we didn't get the 10% discount as previously indicated because we only had four people. i.e. It would have been more financially viable if we had 5 ppl, and they would be able to offer the discount.
Usually the $345 would also include bike hire (5" trail bikes), but we decided to use our DH bikes.
So we didn't get any discount, and we used our own bikes. As compensation, they had given us free hire of the 5" bikes to ride that morning.
Our bikes packed neatly on the sides of the helicopter - no issues there.
the chopper ride took about 15mins to get to 'Ben Cruachan' in the Remarkables.
the pilot had his iPod cranking for the flight up, unfortunately "Highway to the Danger Zone" wasn't on the playlist...
As a last minute thought, I gaffer taped my digital camera to my chest to film the ride down.
I now have about 45mins of footage of my head stem and handlebars. awesome.
there was still quite a bit of snow at the top and it was super windy.
Riding through snow is much harder than I imagined, and we all had a synchronised tumble in one spot where we sank down to our axles!
The views were amazing, and the singletrack was great.
I'm glad I took my DH bike rather than using one of the 5" bikes. even though there was a fairly long pedally bit part way down.
the fire road at the end was awesome too. big drifty corners!
Heli-biking is not cheap at $345, but the chopper ride was amazing, and the scenery spectacular.
the track down wasn't technical or challenging, but still good fun.
I reckon it was worth it.
Day 6:
Morning:
Went to Wynyard park and spent the morning messing around on the jumps.
they've got loads of different jumps here, it's great place to learn.
you can start on the small ones, build up your confidence, and then try to hit the bigger lines.
check out the dream track too... MASSIVE jumps.
Afternoon:
Went back to dirt park and did some more runs of the track there...
the wind was a bit worse this time, but the track is still amazing!
Day 7:
Drove out to Clyde (about 100km away) and checked out the 'Dam Track' which was apparently used for an Oceania Cup track at some point in the past. Nice rocky steep technical track.
Then drove to Alexandra, and went to the local bike shop to ask about the local tracks.
the guy there was really helpful. he gave us directions to the two main tracks at Alexandra, and also to the other 'school track' at Clyde
one of them was super rocky, and finished at the jump park. we got lost trying to find the other one.
then we went back to Clyde and did the 'school track' this was much more open and flowy, and took about 5 1/2 mins to get down.
we stayed here for a while and did about 4 runs.
That's about it!
we were all getting pretty tired towards the end (of riding and of each other).
Four or five people is definitely the right number.
a 4WD van is definitely the ideal vehicle.
Fergburger is definitely the best burger I have ever had. Check it out...
Upon re-reading this, I think it sounds a bit harsh towards the vertigo guys.
Don’t get me wrong, they were all really nice guys, and were extremely helpful in directing us towards great riding spots.
I’m sure the guys were genuine when they thought they could ‘do us a deal’, but at the end of the day, like all businesses, they have to run things past their boss, and they have to make a buck.
Our Costs in AUD per person were roughly:
Airfares: $600
Accomm: $500 (we stayed in a luxurious house, you could do it much cheaper if you wanted).
Van Hire:$170
Heli-biking $280
Gondola Runs $120
Food etc: $360
This adds up to a bit over $2000... bargain!
