There's plenty of winter sport in New Zealand, all year round. Photo / Supplied, Naseby Curling Rink
There's plenty of winter sport in New Zealand, all year round. Photo / Supplied, Naseby Curling Rink
The Beijing Winter Olympics are only four days young and already we've seen thrills, spills and New Zealand's first ever snow sports gold medal.
20-year-old snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott took home the win in womens' slopestyle on Sunday. A sequence of back-to-back 1080s made history for the Olympic games whichare in their 98th year.
As supporters in New Zealand watched on, it ignited an itch for winter sports. Which is a challenge.
Zoi Sadowski-Synnott of Wanaka celebrates her historic Winter Olympic Gold medal in Beijing. Photo / Getty Images
Watching wintery scenes in Beijing's -7 degrees, it's easy to feel a pang of jealousy with the snow still six months or 10,000 km away.
No country south of the equator has ever held the games.
Fortunately Aotearoa is full of all-year-round snow sport experiences. If you're missing out on the downhill action we've gathered a collection of activities.
Many of these are indoors, which is a bonus given the unpredictable southern summer.
Snow Farm's backcountry huts in Wanaka are open to book all year round. Photo / Supplied, Lake Wanaka
Wānaka
Zoi's home town might be the spiritual home of New Zealand skiing, but it looks a bit different this time of the year. Snow Farm and the Pisa ranges are without their usual white blanket. However there are extensive mountain biking trails and backcountry huts for hire, which keep the slopes busy all year round. snowfarm.nz/summer-activities
Winterless sports: Cardrona is home to Mountain Carting during the summer months. Photo / Jay French, Lake Wanaka
Cardrona, on the other side of the valley in the Crown ranges, gets even busier in summer. Mountain Carting - all terrain tricycles - is the perfect place to get your downhill fix at the Cardies in summer. cardrona.com/summer
Queenstown
SITE Trampoline, formerly the site of the world's largest dry-slope ski park, in Frankton is a place you'll spot Kiwi ski champions in summer.
The trampolining centre offers lessons for honing balance and tricky moves. Adults and children. If you've ever wondered how the. A launch ramp for fast and safe progression It's a lot of fun, even if you never intend to take the lessons to the snow.
Monster Scooters at HeadsUP Adventures: Snowfree downhill in the Winterless North.
Whangarei
Even in the 'Winterless North' you can get a fix of downhill sports. HeadsUP Adventures near Whangarei Heads offers visitors a go at the unique sport of "monster scooting". Using scooters with large, all-terrain tyres - it might be the closest equivalent to the Winter Olympic sport of boarder-cross.
With purpose-built trails from beginner to advanced, it's an activity with options for a range of ages and abilities.
Naseby is home to New Zealand's only dedicated, indoor curling rink. Photo: Supplied
Naseby
In the middle of Otago, Naseby embraces its Scots connections and the sport of Curling. It is home to the only purpose built curling rink in New Zealand.
Seemingly equal parts chess, bowls and housework - curling is the thinking-person's winter sport. Competitors sweep the stone blocks towards a target. Hard to explain, easy to get into, the centre runs coaching and regular give-it-a-go sessions.
While you might think central Otago has enough blocks of granite, every curling stone has been imported from the island of Ailsa Craig.
The 400m Naseby ice luge track is also worth a visit, but unlike curling is not open all year round.
See the summer snowpack in Aoraki Mount Cook. Photo / TNZ
Mt Cook Village / Aoraki National Park
If you really can't wait until ski season to see the snow, Aoraki Mt Cook might be the place to go. Majestic glaciers and mountains are visible even in the middle of winter. There are plenty of easy walks from the mountaineering village, and some more challenging hikes that are best done in summer, with careful planning. However, to get up close and on the snow pack, Mt Cook Ski Planes have been running trips to the Tasman Glacier since the 1930s. The largest glacier in the country is a bit of New Zealand in perpetual winter.
Tamaki Makaurau might have the country's most reliable ski conditions: Snow Planet, Silverdale. Photo / File
Auckland
Tamaki Makaurau may have no Alpine climate or any point above 196 metres elevation, however it does have the most reliable snow conditions in the country.
Snowplanet in Silverdale is open 365 days a year on 8,000 square metres of real snow. Sadly for skiers - happily for those still recovering from carpet burn - the Albany dry-ski slope north of Auckland is no more. It was replaced by Snowplanet, an indoor slope with snowmakers which makes for a more forgiving surface for skiing.
With events, coaching and school holiday programmes there's plenty going on.
The artificial indoor snowfield is the perfect place to pick up skis or a snowboard for the first time. snowplanet.co.nz
