5 of the Best Big Mountain Ski Tours in New Zealand

Massive ski adventures in the "Land of the Long White Cloud", including a descent of the country's highest mountain.

Ski Touring Difficult, Severe, Extreme

Description

Despite being a modern, western nation, New Zealand remains one of the wildest ski touring destinations on Earth thanks to a combination of huge terrain and unpredictable weather. This all adds up to ski tourers requiring patience, wide ranging skills, high levels of fitness and a bit of luck to succeed on a trip. If you've got all of those things, get started on this list!

The tours are all in different areas of the South Island so it's perfectly possible to do them all in a single winter, but you'll need all of the qualities above (particularly luck) in abundance if you're to tick them all in the space of a few weeks. As such, this is a list best tackled by skiers spending a whole winter in New Zealand, or those on a short trip armed with an awful lot of psyche!

Regardless of which category you fall into, these are 5 unforgettable ski adventures in one of the World's great mountain ranges.

Routes included