As any good cook will tell you, everything’s better with bacon. And the same is true of mountain biking. Just add a helicopter….
Waitangi Weekend in Wanaka is my favourite public holiday – the weather is usually settled (which means hot & dry in Central Otago) and there’s a longstanding tradition with my mountain biking mates that we head for the hills to an off the grid backcountry hut where we can escape the Email Inbox Monster!
This year’s choice of accommodation: Bob Lee Hut high in the Pisa Ranges above Lake Wanaka.
The Pisa Range, just south of Lake Wanaka, forms the eastern edge of the Cardrona Valley and offers some of the most spectacular highcountry mountain biking in New Zealand. The rolling tussock landscape provides a variety of riding from tricky single track to 4WD farm trails and even wide, gentle cross-country ski trails which are great for family biking in the summer. Oh, there’s also downhill heli-biking too, as you’ll find out shortly….
Big hills, big views and a big weekend on the Pisa Range, Lake Wanaka.
Saturday, Day 1
After being dropped off at the iconic Cardrona Hotel and the obligatory coffee,* a 45minute “warm up” (yeah right) climb to the Crown Range Saddle (1200m) lead us to a marked DOC track which switch-backed steadily to the top of Rock Peak and Mt Allen. It’s an honest climb, but at nearly 1500m in elevation there are some stunning views across the Southern Alps and down to the vineyards of the Gibbston Valley below.
*No coffee, no ride is a strictly enforced rule which we abide by.
From Mt Allen our route traversed the Rock Peak track along the ridgeline of the Pisa Range, back towards Cardrona and the hut located at the Snow Farm. But be warned, ridgeline does not mean flat….or even gently undulating…. There are some really steep pinches along this track which follows the natural contours – up to peaks of nearly 1600m and then down to saddles around 1200m. This route is a solid workout.
3 hours of steady and occasionally challenging riding later we reached Tuohy’s Saddle. From here we would usually complete a loop back down to the Cardona Hotel via the fast & flowing Tuohy’s Gully, but instead we continued on towards the Snow Farm & the hut. (Other options from this junction include riding out to Lowburn, near Cromwell, or down the Roaring Meg Pack Track and into the Kawarau Gorge).
A steady traverse – more rolling than climbing this time – took us via the Nordic skiing trails of Snow Farm NZ to Bob Lee Hut. And what a spot! With unrestricted views west to Mount Aspiring and the glaciers of the Southern Alps and then to the east the golden, rolling hills of the Pisa Range broken occasionally by rugged rock tors silhouetted against the deep blue sky.
In good weather, Bob Lee Hut has to stake a claim as one of the most scenic huts in the country.
Complete with alfresco dance floor… The Bob Lee Hut, Snow Farm, Lake Wanaka NZ.
We loved the authentic simplicity of Bob Lee Hut. It’s a genuine, no frills backcountry experience but at the same time very cosy and somehow evokes a raucous party atmosphere!
Our…erm… support crew had reached the hut ahead of us (4WD access is permitted when you book the hut www.snowfarmnz.com) so the beer was on ice, dinner was simmering on the hut’s rustic stove and several blocks of chocolate were in circulation.
It was following liberal quantities of chocolate…and maybe some beer…. that we discovered the deck in front of the hut is in fact an outdoor dance floor. Who needs disco lights when you have a glowing sunset over glaciers, the twinkling stars of the Milky Way and a bright glitter ball moon?!
Disco lights and glitter ball over Bob Lee Hut at midnight…
Sunday, Day 2
The following morning after bacon & eggs and the mandatory coffee, we climbed for around 90mins towards the summit of Mt Pisa. We initially headed up the Kirtle Burn Track which is a nuggety 4WD route with a couple of creek crossings and some technical (ish) rutted sections to negotiate.
At 1,964m, Mt Pisa offers the highest mountain biking terrain in New Zealand and as you would expect offers more stunning 360 degree views of the Southern Alps and Central Otago. From the summit, we then descended at speed back via the main DOC 4WD track to make a loop, before returning via the Snow Farm to Tuohy’s Saddle.
Sunrise over Mt Aspiring seen from Bob Lee Hut
On our return we stopped to talk to a family with young children who had spent the night at Meadow Hut. They were having heaps of fun on their bikes cruising the cross country ski tracks. Meadow Hut is another option available to book through the Snow Farm. It’s a little more comfortable than Bob Lee (great for kids) and offers more shelter in bad weather than the exposed Bob Lee Hut – although lacks the views.
The descent down Tuohy’s Gully on the Meg Hut Pack Track. 800 vertical metres of downhill goodness (check your brake pads after this one)!
Once at Tuohy’s Saddle it was a fast descent of some 800m vertical to the valley floor and a race to the Cardrona Hotel for a coffee and some of the best blue cod and chips that the Mainland has to offer.
And so ended an epic week of riding and mateship on the Pisa Range, without so much as a single email.
Or so I thought.
But then, the sizzle happened…..
On Sunday evening, at around 8pm I got a call from Dan of Wanaka Bike Tours. And when Dan calls, you listen. Because Dan operates NZ’s highest helicopter accessed mountain biking. And Dan had a spare seat for Monday morning.
“Could I make it”?
You bet I could, because everything is better with bacon. And helicopters!
Monday, Day 3
I smile uncontrollably like the Cheshire Cat every time I climb into a helicopter. And with my bike racked up next to me on the skids, the anticipation of an epic day was building.
Dan McMullan is a Wanaka local, born and bred, and has been running Wanaka Bike Tours (formerly Freeride) for years. It’s fair to say that not only does he know his way around the hills like the back of his hand, but he also knows his way down them. And fast.
But first we had to go up. And fast. The 15minute flight from Wanaka Airport to the top of the Pisa Range was as much a scenic flight as a practical means of transporting our bikes to the summit, and the views over the meandering turquoise water of the Clutha River, the glistening lakes of Wanaka and Hawea as well as the snow-capped mountains were just incredible.
OK, maybe not the most honest way to bike to the top, but unquestionably the coolest!
Unloading from a helicopter at nearly 2,000m with your mountain bike is not just epic, its bucket list epic. A once in a lifetime experience, and Dan understands this. So rather than immediately jump on our bikes and start hurtling downwards, we spent 20minutes, maybe more, just taking in the view and talking through what the next 2 – 2.5hours of riding has in store.
And what Dan had in store was a mix of semi-technical rock garden riding, fast, flowing farm tracks, gnarly rutted 4WD trails, twisting single track (built by Dan) and kilometre after kilometre of in-your-face views. Oh, and 95% of it is all downhill! Could it get any better?
Well yes, actually. Have I mentioned bacon?…..
Things tend to go downhill rapidly with Dan from Wanaka Bike Tours…
The trip conveniently concluded at the Luggate Hotel, another of the regions iconic old pubs. Where cold beer, hot chips and a bacon sammy awaited the intrepid mountain biker….
Whilst I might have a masochistic streak that does actually enjoy long, hot, gruelling climbs on my mountain bike and whilst the rewards of a stunning view or a cold beer afterwards are undeniably great, you just can’t beat the shear thrill and fun of heli-biking.
Cold beer, hot chips, good mates, great views, mountain bikes and helicopters. Just another weekend in Wanaka….
So, to make your next mountain biking mission better, just add a helicopter….or if your budget won’t quite stretch that far, bacon works too….
To learn more about Lake Wanaka go to www.lakewanaka.co.nz
Where this adventure took place:
