Temple Basin is a popular ski club located in Arthur’s Pass, New Zealand, with limited accessibility. It has two ski resorts, rope tows, and an educational facility for outdoor enthusiasts and prospective ski patrollers.
Temple Basin is a ski club located on the South Island of New Zealand in an area known as Arthur’s Pass. Its rugged natural terrain has made it a popular skiing and snowboarding destination in the area and internationally. The area has two important ski resorts with various services. Temple Basin is only accessible via a 45-minute hike, with limited accessibility being a common feature among many club ski fields.
A ski club is primarily a New Zealand term used to describe ski resorts that are open to the public, but paying members of the clubs can receive heavily discounted rates on skiing and other activities. Temple Basin is one such club ski resort located about two hours from the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, Christchurch. It is operated by two ski resorts, Temple Basin Ski Club and Canterbury University Snow Sports Club.
Covering nearly 800 acres, Temple Basin has some courses that are only available through hiking, making it an adventure sports paradise. Some trails, however, have tow ropes which are mechanical systems for hauling skiers and snowboarders up the hill. Temple Basin has three such rope tows, also known as ski tows or hand tows, and one starter tow.
Cassidy Tow is one of the main lifts and is a great area for beginner and intermediate skiers. A visitor can then walk to Temple Tow which is an intermediate slope. Another short walk later, you arrive at Downhill Basin, which is the highest gondola in Temple Basin, offering intermediate to advanced skiing opportunities.
From Downhill Basin, intermediate to advanced skiers and snowboarders can access two rope-free areas. The first is Bills Basin, which has intermediate slopes. The other is called Minger Valley and as it is not regularly patrolled, it is usually reserved for inland enthusiasts. Minger Valley is also on the western side of the Southern Alps, so it receives much more significant snowstorms than the eastern areas.
Temple Basin is home to an educational facility called the New Zealand Snow Safety Institute. Open all year round to allow for teaching about the variety of weather and climate conditions, the Institute hosts a range of climbing, mountaineering and safety courses. Some courses are designed for outdoor enthusiasts, such as Avalanche Awareness, with didactic learning about the terrain and general safety of mountain activities. Other courses are specifically designed for prospective ski patrollers to gain an education and eventual qualification.
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