Sam Hazeldine, of Queenstown, at the Stash.
"Awesome" was the word on snowboarders' lips when they
finally got the chance to blast down the newly opened Stash
terrain park at the Remarkables ski area on Saturday.
Clouds opened to "bluebird" (blue skies, calm and clear),
just before the official opening of the first natural
snowboarding terrain park in the Southern Hemisphere, known
as the Stash.
A crowd of about 400 boarders, skiers and a media contingent
from around New Zealand, Australia and the United States
gathered as the Remarkables terrain park manager John Power
used bolt-cutters to cut through a wire, rather than snipping
a ribbon, to open the park at midday.
Until then, it had been open in the morning for invited,
top-end riders to pit their skills on the range of natural
rock jumps and slides, along with timber logs and concrete
wall rides that feature in the Stash - the third of its kind
in the world, following similar terrain parks at Tahoe, in
the Sierra Nevada mountains of the US, and Avoriaz, in
France.
The freestyle park concept, developed by Jake Burton of the
Jake Burton Corporation, was based on using as many natural
elements, instead of introduced structures, as possible, said
the Remarkables ski area manager Ross Lawrence.
Speaking at the opening, Burton global and the Stash director
Jeff Boliba, who has attended all three Stash openings around
the world, rated the new Remarkables Stash as the "most
unique", with 23 different features to offer plenty of
ongoing challenges for riders looking for a new thrill.
"So go in there, have fun and let's be stoked on the Stash,"
he said as the crowd cheered at the opening.
While some hurtled straight off down the new terrain, trying
out the slides and doing a few moves and turns on the way
down, others were a little more cautious on their first time
down the new runs.
The biggest thrill of all for riders trying the park on
Saturday was waiting for them at the Stash base slide and
stone alpine hut built specially for hanging out and watching
the action or, for the lofty jumpers, a specially designed
roof for riders and skiers to launch off.
Riders and media watchers piled inside on Saturday to get a
good view of the action as riders tried the big slide for the
first time, and to catch a glimpse of the specially painted
mural inside the hut, depicting a flying kea and snowboarder.
Mr Power said because of the different features, riders could
expect a different challenge every time.
"It's not something you do straight off first time. There's
heaps of different stuff you can come back and try again, so
no-one's going to get bored on it.
"Then there's the hut when we get a bit more snow to ride
over. It's going to be a big draw for the park."
He said new additions to expand the park in future meant
riders could expect more thrills once the Stash was going
well.
"Right now it's going to be a great way to get into freestyle
[riding]."
While the Stash concept had come from Jake Burton and had
been developed alongside the Burton company, Mr Lawrence said
there had been a huge local input as well as valuable
co-operation from the Department of Conservation.
"We have a very good relationship with them. They are the
landlords of this place. We respect that and appreciate their
values and share their values."
After starting the ground work for the park about a year ago,
construction continued right up until the start of the snow
season with completion of the stone hut, kept under wraps, in
May.
"We were moving rocks as big as houses," Mr Lawrence said.
Opening the Stash would not only attract lots of riders from
throughout New Zealand, but would also boost the park's
international profile, he said.
