New Zealand Backcountry Skiing & Split-boarding
New Zealand Backcountry Skiing & Split-boarding
Explore Wild, Untouched Terrain with Alpine Recreation
Alpine Recreation offers freeride, ski & split-board touring trips and winter skills courses in New Zealand's most spectacular backcountry locations. With two private, heated huts and a choice of many other venues, Alpine Recreation provides a wide range of backcountry touring options to cater for various ski abilities, fitness levels and personal objectives.
The glaciers in the Mount Cook and Westland National Parks offer New Zealand's most spectacular alpine ski & split-board touring and ski mountaineering terrain with multiple hut-based day trips and hut-to-hut options for experienced alpine tourers. Our "Symphony on Skis" links all four of these major glaciers into one epic hut-to-hut expedition!
Come and explore New Zealand's winter playground, enjoy the warmth and ambience of one of our private mountain huts and the peace of mind of being guided by our enthusiastic and experienced IFMGA and NZMGA ski touring & split-boarding guides.
Freeride, Ski & Split-Board Touring
Earn Your Turns in Wild Terrain
Step beyond the resort and into New Zealand’s rugged alpine backcountry, where every descent is earned and every turn unforgettable. Our free-ride, ski touring, and split-board adventures are all about exploring remote basins, steep lines, and powder-filled valleys — with expert guides leading the way.
Whether you're chasing clean powder turns, spring corn, or technical descents, our trips are tailored to match your ability, fitness, and sense of adventure. Based out of warm, private huts like Rex Simpson Hut in the Two Thumb Range, Falcon’s Nest and Lady Emily in the Cass Valley, or Erewhon Hut in the Potts Range, you’ll access pristine terrain without the crowds. For split-boarders, we offer customised guidance to help you navigate up and ride down with flow and confidence.
It’s not just about the skiing — it’s about the journey, the climb, the line, and the mountain moments shared along the way.
Up-Skill for the Backcountry
Build Confidence & Capability
Ready to take your backcountry adventures to the next level? Our Backcountry Skiing, Split-Boarding, and Avalanche Skills Courses are designed to give you the knowledge, technique, and confidence to travel safely and efficiently through alpine terrain. Whether you're a first-time tourer or looking to refine your ski mountaineering skills, we offer small group instruction tailored to your experience level.
Learn essential skills like route planning, avalanche awareness, skinning and transitions, safe travel techniques, and rescue procedures — all under the guidance of professional, NZMGA / IFMGA qualified instructors. Based from our comfortable private hut in the Two Thumb Range, you’ll get hands-on training in real mountain conditions.
Up skilling is the key to safer, more enjoyable backcountry adventures — join us and turn ambition into ability. We also provide tailored off-piste ski instruction for backcountry skiers at local ski areas — contact us to arrange a lesson.
Glacier Touring, Ski Mountaineering & Ski Traverses
The Ultimate Alpine Adventure
For experienced backcountry skiers and split-boarders ready to push into high alpine terrain, our glacier touring, ski mountaineering, and multi-day ski traverses offer an unforgettable challenge. Travel through vast glaciated landscapes, climb to remote cols and summits, and descend sweeping runs surrounded by towering peaks in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.
With expert NZMGA / IFMGA guides, you'll develop the advanced skills needed for glacier travel, crevasse rescue, steep snow and ice techniques, and rope work for ski mountaineering. Traverse iconic routes like the "Symphony on Skis", or undertake custom expeditions across the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers or around Mount Aspiring National Park.
These are journeys for those who crave the wild — where the approach is just as rewarding as the descent, and the mountains shape every decision. Alpine Recreation are experts in created tailored expeditions to match your ambitions and skillset.
Unplug. Skin up. Ride down. Repeat.
Leave the lift lines behind and discover the freedom of New Zealand’s backcountry with ski touring and split-boarding adventures led by Alpine Recreation. From wide alpine basins and mellow powder runs to steep chutes and high ridgelines, the Southern Alps offer some of the best backcountry terrain in the Southern Hemisphere.
Come experience the rhythm of the backcountry and the joy of earning your turns in one of the most beautiful mountain ranges on earth. Whether you’re stepping into touring bindings for the first time or chasing fresh lines far from the crowds, Alpine Recreation is your trusted guiding company for backcountry skiing and split-boarding in New Zealand.
Recent Adventures
Highlights from Alpine Recreation's recent Backcountry Skiing & Split-board Touring adventures
Articles
Features and editorials about New Zealand Backcountry Skiing & Split-boarding
Erewhon Awakening
Five Days of Ski Touring in the Heart of the Rangitata
We meet in the warm, timbered lounge of Mt Potts Lodge as a southerly storm slaps against the windows.
Off the Grid in the Cass
Four days of backcountry ski touring from Lady Emily Hut
We’d barely seen another soul since turning off the Tekapo highway.
Winter in the Cass
An ode to Falcon’s Nest Hut
A poem about ski touring at Falcon’s Nest Hut in the Cass Valley.
Daring to be Lydia
Empowering women ski‑touring in New Zealand’s Southern Alps
Thirty years ago this October, something extraordinary happened.
Antarctica
Ski Touring Adventures on the Ice
As we made our first anchorage, our guide encouraged us to get our ski gear together quickly for a late afternoon ascent of Banco Island, and our first, warm-up ski…
Symphony on Skis
Ski Mountaineering in the Southern Alps
In momentary surrender I hunched forward and rested my hands on my knees, breathing short and sharp, every expulsion filling the narrow band of light cast by my head torch…
Above Worry Level
Mid-winter ascents of Elie de Beaumont and Mount Tasman
A gripping account of two high alpine winter ascents in New Zealand’s Southern Alps — Elie de Beaumont and Mount Tasman — made during a perfect mid-winter weather window. A family expedition filled with glacier travel, summit challenges, breathtaking scenery, and reflection on the contrast between everyday life and the magic of the high mountains.
The Symphony on Skis
Original article by Gottlieb Braun-Elwert
A ski traverse is like a well composed piece of music. It flows with harmony, surprises with the unexpected.