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There’s an epic little something that sets NZ’s clubfield scene apart from … well pretty much anywhere. And, in true kiwi style, it takes no average comp to make the most of it. Picture lining up some world-class terrain, rounding up a bunch of mates to hit it, and waiting for the next big dump to ensure epicness all-round. Then persuade someone to supply a heap of freebies, and maybe even pay you to get amongst it, and you’ve got the K2 CHILL Big Mountain formula! It’s a pretty sweet deal, and 2008 saw everything come together big-time for a comp that really delivered the goods.

It all started with the crew locked into the waiting-for-snow programme, ready to mobilise when the conditions might look good. No one was keen to budge on the fresh powder policy to do the CHILL terrain justice, and sure enough patience paid off when a big system hit the weather maps. It was game on. With some kind of huge dump obviously on the way, the comp format switched up to a four-day straight programme to maximise the hoped-for powder. Good call! Wednesday night saw us arrive at Craigieburn to find heavy rain and a heavy drinking session in progress. By morning the scene had materialised into a foot of fresh at the Lodges, and it was still chucking down!

Competitors were roused and hit with the plan, but the biggest job of the day was for ski patrol.

Comp plan for Day One was hatched; it involved the competitors tracking out the field while ski patrol were loaded up with bombs and tasked with checking out the steeps for later. The patrol worked furiously all morning to check out what was on offer at the comp venue in the extensive Craigieburn terrain. The middle chutes were deep – too deep for now, but Access had a foot of fresh and good viz, despite the snowy skies. The scenario wasn’t too shabby at all. By lunch we had the team assembled above the untouched slopes of Access chutes ready to hear the latest briefing … time for two ‘inspection runs’ then into Round One!

As you can imagine, the good times had been rolling for quite a while come early arvo when it was time for some scoring lines to go down. The comp zone was pretty good ‘ease into the comp’ material, with a maze of features across the slope, allowing plenty of choice but nothing too extreme. In no time, the place was decimated with every conceivable combo of hits going down – and there were quite a few. The day’s end saw an even spread of results, with Romain Bellon top-scoring in the points. A satisfied crew retreated to the Lodge for some Craigieburn hospitality or maybe to jib off the odd roof while the snow just kept on falling.

Day Two dawned, and it was still snowing, but patrol were determined to open up some new

Romain Bellon PHOTO: SHANE ORCHARD

Words by Shane Orchard

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terrain and ramp it up a bit. Instead of working familiar ground, we got set up on the big prow between fourth and fifth guts, where some serious steepness was lurking. It was a case of turn it up or perish, with some spicy, if not scary, lines on offer, and big features a plenty for those looking to throw down. The lower ledges attracted a fair bit of attention and saw plenty of crowd pleasers, including a massive sick-bird front flip! By the end of the day, we’d seen a world class show of big mountain antics, despite the testing conditions. Consistently technical lines and solid scores saw Geoff Small edge out the field to take away the cash in the Men’s. Meanwhile, Shannon Werner completed a sweet double act after swapping her patrol uniform for a comp bib and skiing hard to take out the Women’s section.

Unfortunately, Shannon had another big powder day to deal with come tomorrow and would have to bow out from joining the contest machine for its next adventure. Being no ordinary comp, this was nothing less than a good old kiwi road trip through the night to our next snowy destination. Cars were dug out and fired up, and before long the convoy was snaking its way through the now-pasted Craigieburn’s in search of a kitchen to take over (aka the Springfield pub!).

Morning saw us working the back roads towards the promise of yet more untouched powder, and it became obvious that we were in for a real blue blazer this time. Being slightly further back than the other ski areas only seems to breed ampage when you’re on the road to Mt Olympus – and the mountains were looking insane! Rounding that final bend towards Bottom Hut at last revealed the valley, and Little Alaska was a sight, with huge pillows sitting on every rock.

The road trip dealt with, the comp machine swung back into action to do what it does best. Yip, track out the field!

By now the crew were well-stoked with the comp format and wasted no time. Meanwhile, the Mt O patrol had a week’s worth of pristine terrain available for competition shredding. It was a major dilemma deciding where the best comp venues might be; there were way too many choices.

Chill innovation again cracked this one by deciding we’d make the whole Ryton ridge the comp zone. This paved the way for an incredible day, especially for those watching from the lodge, who were treated to a spectacle of action that is seldom seen. There were a ridiculous number of lines up for grabs and the terrain features were looking sick! Competitors were faced with a choice of

DAY 1 Cragiburn Valley

1st. Geoff Small2nd. Shaun Ryan3rd. Anders lysmore

1st. Shannon Werner2nd Lucy Clinton-Baker3rd Kylie laurie

DAY 2 Mt Olympus

1st. Geoff Small2nd. Tom Dunbar3rd. Ben Wooster

1st. Rosie Fisher2nd. Rosie Goodman3rd. Astrid Nuggard

Neil WillimanPHOTO: SHANE ORCHARD

Fraser McDougallPHOTO: GEOFF BROWNE

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several big high-sided chutes with multiple entries and exits, either side of three big bad buttresses. It would be fair to say that any resort in the world would have been stoked with the scenario that unfolded.

The lines pulled out were way too many to mention and the powder deep as. Some of the highlights included airs into chutes, flips off cliffs, massive hucks and doubles, and the odd bit of carnage. All said, it was a hard act to follow, but then again the Mt O kitchen had other ideas, coming up with salmon entrees all round, and that was just for starters. The rest of the feast would have been the envy of any restaurant in town, which pretty much summed up the vibe: only at the clubbies, ay!

Then of course there was the hot tub, and the complimentary hot tub booter to be sessioned afterwards. Surprise, surpise, the place was cleaned right out of beer (which doesn’t happen too often at Mt O!).

That was one large day, but come morning there was no hesitation in getting back to the powder, since this was a comp, after all. The cash was still up for grabs and the gnarly lines of the Sphinx were the obvious choice for the final showdown. Keeping the innovation going, there were two aspects made available for line choices: either side of an extremely scary piece of doom. There were a couple of serious options available either way for those looking for high line scores, but nailing them was definitely in the super-technical category. And so it was that the spectators were treated to plenty of carnage as lines were charged and victims claimed by the tricky conditions.

In the end, it came down to the crunch and we had Tom Dunbar and Geoff Small in position for their chosen lines, perilously close to the nasty spine. Tom’s line was a technical start to a double drop which he skied solid as, putting the heat on Geoff to step it up one last time. Geoff started much the same as Tom, but, to the amazement of onlookers, took none of the escape routes on offer, hopping his way into a series of small snow patches above massive exposure towards the only logical exit, a shoulder-width straightline chute. All in a day’s work for some!

The line was a fitting finale to an outstanding four days in the mountains, and a level of performance as good as you’d find anywhere. But even better was the unique vibe and dedication to massively good times which sets the whole event apart from rest. The K2 CHILL Big Mountain comp is all about delivering NZ’s best snow in true kiwi grassroots style. If this sounds at all like you, you’ll definitely be checking out the 2009 event, right? In which case, I’m guessing we’ll see you there.

Niki Begg PHOTO: SHANE ORCHARD

PHOTO: SHANE ORCHARD