High on the Piste

Jane Peak is on a remote station in the Southern Alps accessible only by helicopter and “just begging for a beating” in the ski season when the slopes are “covered in fresh, untracked powder”, writes novice heli-skier Rachael Oakes-Ash, reporter at The Age. “First-time heli-skiing is a moment never to be forgotten; first-time private charter heli-skiing goes one better. Southern Lakes Heli-Skiing in Queenstown and Wanaka offer the standard heli-days with hundreds of thousands of acres of terrain but they also offer the private charter with personal access to private farmland. It means we’re out here alone, really alone. A 10-minute chopper ride across Lake Wakatipu and through a narrow valley with Alps thrusting from the floor reveals mountain after mountain of snow. Australians wanting a heli-fix can now get it across the ditch.” Jane Peak is 2022m and forms part of the Eyre Mountains in the Taka R? Haka Conservation Park.