Mount Olympus is a ski field that is known here as a "club field". This basically means that it is a non-commercial ski field, hence it is much smaller, much more basic and much more fun :-).
The trick with the club fields, which are by the way "100% Pure NZ Experience", is that the lifts are not normal lifts. Some of them have platter lifts (what we call the pancakes) or T-bars (what we call anchor lifts), but most of them work with nutcrackers and rope tows.
Well I don't know about you, but I had never worked with nutcrackers and rope tows before - I had never even heard of them, come to think of it. So Alex gave me a few warnings, saying that it is difficult to learn but the snow is worth it. But, if I couldn't be bothered, we could go to Porter's, which only has platter lifts and T-bars.
You know me, of course. I couldn't say no to a real NZ experience. So we ventured up the access road of Olympus ski area.
The road in itself was already worth the effort. It wasn't something I would've taken Tony, the old camper van, up, so that says enough I guess. After about half an hour of the sketchiest - but most scenic - drive that we have done so far, we finally reached the snow. What a difference with The Remarkables or Coronet Peak! For starters there was no car park. You just drop your car somewhere on the side of the road in the snow, and hope that at the end of the day you can get out again. By the way, most people don't come there for only a day, but stay for the weekend or a week in the lodge somewhere on the mountain.
After you've parked your car, you get your "nutcracker" and rope tow belt. These belts are made of old car seat belts. You strap one around your waist and this will help you get up the rope tow. Your nutcracker is attached to your belt. The only thing you then have to do is to swing the nutcracker over the moving rope, and hop you're going - "easy peasy".
Wellll ... Let's say it will take you a few goes, to be honest. The funny thing is that the learners rope tow is on TOP of the access rope tow, so ironically enough you have to get up that one first.
Once you have succeeded in throwing your nutcracker over the rope, the trick is to keep it tight, hold on to it and get it over the pulleys (the wheels over which the rope moves). Now these pulleys are vicious.
I did fine at the start. The lovely liftee had stopped the rope for me so I could just position my nutcracker right and I would "just" have to hold on to it. The first few pulleys were fine and I had a little hope of actually accessing the ski field in the first go. But then my bum caught up with a pulley and I got thrown off the lift, head first. Now-that-hurt! I have a nice purple bruise now on my hip, and it hurts to move and sleep :-).
But, no matter, we try again. Second try I fell off after about 3 seconds.
Third try I fell off halfway, again. By then I was slightly losing hope. Alex suggested that we go to Porter's, so I could still have a fun day. I have to say, I was in a dilemma, because I didn't want to be thrown around all day ... But the snow looked so good.
Luckily, there was a nice fellow who offered me a "ride" up - basically instead of hanging my nutcracker around the rope, I attached it to a rope hanging from his belt and he just pulled me up. Much better!
The ski field itself really looks so much better than any other commercial one, so I decided to stay there for the day and get the hang of those damn rope tows. I fooled around all morning on the learners rope and got a few tips and tricks from the liftee digging a tunnel there. I was rather jealous of everyone who seemed to have the hang of it like it was nothing!
After a few tries it worked though, and I got my nutcracker over the one pulley. In the afternoon I decided to have a go on the main lift. That worked fine for a few pulleys, but about halfway I lost my balance and fell - hard - on the side of the lift. Key is then to crawl away as fast as possible, since there are people coming behind you ... So I boarded back down and tried again. This one lasted again about 5 seconds, and I had to go back down. Third time, I really thought I had it. But again, somewhere over halfway, I lost my balance, released the nutcracker and fell - unfortunately with a big kick from the nutcracker to my head. I have to say I was spinning around a bit, as those things are pretty heavy metal. So on top of my bruised knees, bruised bum and painful wrist, I now had a massive headache. So I decided to just call it a day and turn back with Alex - who was a bit dark because his touring binding - just new - had broken off somewhere on the mountain. What a day!
Although it is really hard work, it is good to have experienced the club fields - so much nicer than a commercial field. That is why I bought the Mt Olympus hoodie. Because after all, you are allowed to be a bit proud of mastering the nutcracker over the rope tow and pulleys after a few tries - and to have reached NZ's famous Mt Olympus :-).
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