Three weeks ago I jumped on a flight to Christchurch for my annual New Zealand ski season shooting trip. I usually spend four weeks here, but this year has been good financially so I decided to push that out to six weeks and I’m so glad I did! After a slow first week or two, spent mainly catching up with old friends over beers, NZ turned it on and I’ve had possibly the best week I’ve EVER had over here!

This year I have a new addition to my kit; a Jones Solution 164 splitboard. Having never owned a split before, I took a little practice tour out the back of Cardrona with Italian/Kiwi athlete Fiona Laryn and Japanese shredder Hiro Nakamura. I planned on focusing on my splitboarding technique but decided to take the camera anyway.. good call as I ended up with this epic shot of Fiona:

@fionji ripping a HUUUGE toeside turn into a field of fresh in the #backcountry behind @cardronanz in today's #epic #bluebird conditions. It's been a bit of a slow start to the trip but today's #shred made up for all that! #blueskiesfordays #nz #newzealand #newzealandsnowseason #wanaka #cardrona #winter #snowboarding #snowboard #bigmountain #freeride @mottolino_livigno @funkysnowboards @levelgloves

A photo posted by Dan Power (@danpowerphotography) on Aug 11, 2015 at 4:20am PDT

This is the day that started it all.. the snow and weather have been amazing ever since! A couple of days later I woke up to blue skies and a report from Treble Cone of 46cm of fresh snow overnight.. a combination I’ve never had before in NZ. We made the most of it, riding in the resort on that day:

When @trebleconenz is on, it's really REALLY ON! @christophschofegger hits a massive stash of fresh just a couple of minutes' traverse from the chair. Today's combination of a good foot of snow and gorgeous blue skies made it one of the best days I've had in five years of riding in #NZ.. @snowaction @monsroyale @fstopgear #snow #skiing #winter #wanaka #lakewanaka #powder #powdertothepeople #freeride #freeskiing #treblecone #beautiful #view #bluebird #blueskiesfordays #newzealand #newzealandsnowseason

A photo posted by Dan Power (@danpowerphotography) on Aug 19, 2015 at 12:43am PDT

Spent a morning just hanging out at @trebleconenz grabbing shots of @scottylago getting real sendy.. @snowaction @monsroyale @fstopgear #snow #snowboarding #winter #wanaka #treblecone #booter #sendit #airtime #gobigorgohome

A photo posted by Dan Power (@danpowerphotography) on Aug 22, 2015 at 5:02pm PDT

So much #powder at @trebleconenz today that even the lifties got some! Came out with some absolute bangers today, stay tuned! 😀 @snowaction @icebreakernz #iblayerme #snow #skiing #treblecone #wanaka #powdertothepeople #NZ #newzealandsnowseason #newzealand #liftielife

A photo posted by Dan Power (@danpowerphotography) on Aug 18, 2015 at 11:45pm PDT

…touring out of bounds the next day:

@mjhandford #ripping a toeside turn in some beautiful #powder at the back of @trebleconenz on Thursday. I did another tour out there yesterday and there is still plenty of #fresh to be had if you know where to look! @monsroyale @snowaction @sparkrandd @jonessnowboards #snow #winter #snowboarding#powdertothepeople #mountainlife #treblecone #wanaka #newzealand #nz #newzealandsnowseason #nzmustdo

A photo posted by Dan Power (@danpowerphotography) on Aug 22, 2015 at 8:52pm PDT

…getting heli lifted further out the next day:

Today with @southernlakesheliski was beyond #epic! #bluebird conditions and fresh #powder made for an absolute blast! @snowaction @fstopgear @icebreakernz @alpinehelinz #iblayerme #heli #heliski #winter #snow #skiing #blueskiesfordays #wanaka

A photo posted by Dan Power (@danpowerphotography) on Aug 21, 2015 at 3:14am PDT

Snow conditions in @southernlakesheliski 's zones are #EPIC right now! @peteoswaldfreeskier puts in a huge #powder slash above some lovely textures created by the afternoon sun. @snowaction @icebreakernz @alpinehelinz #winter #snow #skiing #bluebird #freeski #powdertothepeople #blueskiesfordays #bluebird #wanaka #heliski #heli

A photo posted by Dan Power (@danpowerphotography) on Aug 21, 2015 at 3:24am PDT

…and finally doing another ski tour yesterday a bit further out than we did on Thursday (image by Christine Wu as I was frothing too hard on the snow to take many shots!):

Early bird gets the worm, what a day!! @_mariankrogh @trebleconenz #treblecone #splitboard #pow #powder #touring #ski #snow #snowboard #skiwanaka #gapyear2015

A photo posted by ChRistine Wu (@su_ying5) on Aug 22, 2015 at 1:09am PDT

With locals commenting that this is the best season in between 10 and 15 years, NZ has delivered more awesome snow, wicked shots and fantastic memories in the past week than I’ve had in the last five years. With three weeks to go, I can’t wait to see what else comes out of the trip!