Riding in New Zealand is a wild experience. Winter here runs from June to October but it’s not the full-on winter we are all used to back in the northern hemisphere. In our home base of Ohakune at the base of Mt Ruapehu, we normally only see snow in town a few times a year.
However, we do get a few big New Zealand storms rolling through each year that bring snow right down below the mountains. Recently, the storm of the decade walloped Ohakune and shut things down for a few days, giving us plenty of time to come up with the ultimate storm survival list:
How to survive being snowed-in
Step one: Be prepared
The best way to survive a snowed-in scenario is to be prepared before it happens. In New Zealand in particular, when a big southerly storm is rolling through you will have lots of heads up and plenty of time to get your emergency kit together. When preparing for a snowed-in scenario, you need to ask yourself: do you simply want to survive?
Or do you want to have a blast doing it?
Storm survival essentials:
- Knowledge of your local area
- Stashes of water in case the pipes freeze
- Lots of wood inside to keep the fire raging
- Ample snacks
- Candles and flashlights in case you run out of power
- All your devices fully charged
No Power? No Problem!
The majority of houses in Ohakune come standard with a good wood burner so if the power goes like it did last time, the good news is that you won’t freeze to death. More importantly, if you are clever you can prepare some pretty ace dinners in and on top of the fire. Just imagine you’re camping; wrap up everything you want to eat in foil and chuck it in with the logs. My favorite fire meal is a pork seasoned pork loin, accompanied by some kumara (Kiwi sweet potato) all wrapped up and roasted. You can top it off with some steamed winter greens simmering on top of the fireplace as the meat simmers.
Passing the time
So that’s the basic necessities of life, food, shelter and warmth all covered. Now, it’s time to decide how much fun you can have while you ride the storm out. To make the most out of your time you will need the following:
- All your riding gear brought home from the hill. You can be sure that there is going to be an impromptu rail jam somewhere in town to celebrate the storm. Don’t leave your gear on the hill and miss out.
- Someone with a 4 wheel drive and snow chains. Those roads are going to be covered but that’s not going to stop you is it? Go find an empty parking lot and do some doughnuts
- Some tasty beverages. It’s not like you’re going to work today, is it? So you might as well get merry. I recommend whiskey; you can fire it into some hot apple cider to keep you toasty while heaving snowballs at anyone foolish enough to walk by your house.
- All of your buddies. The more people you can fit into one house the better; who else is going to help you eat that pork that’s been roasting in the fire? You can also steal all of your buddies body heat to keep your house warm. It’s a win-win situation.
The best thing to do when snowed in is to accept your fate and make the most of it. Build a snow man, rally around snow covered streets, chuck snowballs at cars and settle into a good house party round the fire. Don’t party too hard though because when it’s all over there is going to be a stack of new snow on the mountain and you want to be the first one up there!
