The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 3 (August 1, 1931)
“The Finest Ski Run in the World.”
“The Finest Ski Run in the World.”
“In my opinion, the downhill ski-route in the vicinity of the Ball Hut, at Mount Cook, is the finest I have seen in the world,” said Mr. Thomas Mitchell, of Victoria, the well-known international ski expert, in an interview with a Timaru Herald reporter recently. During the course of his travels Mr. Mitchell has visited the principal snow playgrounds in the world, and studied the art at Muerren, Switzerland, for three months, under Bracken, the English champion.
The visitor likened the ski-ing grounds of Mount Cook to Switzerland, and considered there were vast possibilities of making this region a very good magnet for improving tourist traffic in New Zealand. In Australia, he said, the sport had gone ahead in a remarkable manner. It would be fine, he considered, if a team from Australia could come over and race against New Zealand, and this could be accomplished by an organised club movement throughout this country, where the scope for the extension of the sport was so great.
Mr. Mitchell was of the opinion that New Zealand had an advantage over Switzerland as far as the snowfields were concerned, in that in this country it was the people's snow. In Switzerland there were the different clubs, and the snow areas were controlled by local government bodies, with the result that it sometimes took as many as three seasons to secure improvements to different courses. Here the areas were of a very fine standard, and he was sure that the snow country could be administered by a New Zealand Council, if such were formed.
The centrally heated Hermitage, with its comfort and hospitality is the headquarters for this “finest ski run in the world.” What could be finer than returning tired from a day's Winter Sport to a good hot bath, log fires, warmth and excellent cuisine of the Hermitage?
(A special article, by Mr. James Cowan, descriptive of the unrivalled attractions which the Mount Cook region offers to the tourist and the mountaineer, is featured in this issue.—Ed.)
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Winter Sports In The New Zealand Alps.
(Rly. Publicity photos.)
(1) An ice cave near the Hermitage; (2) the thrills of glissading; (3) setting off for the Tasman Glacier; (4) ski party leaving the Ball Hut for the Malte Brun; (5) a party on the snow field near the Hermitage; (6) a typical scene at the Hermitage; (7) resting in the shadow of Mt. Cook; (8) making a snow man on Mt. Sebastopol.
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Panorama from the lake on Mt. Sealey, shewing notable peaks of the Southern Alps.