When I picked up POWDER’S Porter Fox and Dave Reddick, 4FRNT founder Matt Sterbenz and Tahoe ripper Jeff McKitterick from the airport last week, my first thought was how the hell we were gong to fit all their gear in my miniature kiwi wagon. Somehow we all crammed in and immediately headed to Temple Basin Club Field, stopping halfway to meet recently crowned NZ Freeski Open Big Mountain champ and Kiwi native Hamish Aclund and enjoy a round of New Zealand’s legendary meat pies.

After Lucy and the crew chugged up to the parking lot, we loaded the gear onto the Goods lift while Porter freakishly became obsessed with New Zealand’s alpine parrot known as a Kea. Once the gear was sent off on the dodgy lift, we tramped up a mountainside for over an hour to Temple’s lodge. At one point, my sorry ass had to grab onto Hamish’s backpack strap to maintain balance as I constantly slipped on my Wallaby boots resembling a first-time figure skater. Eventually we all made it intact, including our gear, and stared up at the towering moonlit peaks that we would call home for the next week. High-fives were thrown as the AK-style lines streaming down Temple’s surrounding white faces induced feelings of pure joy.

The boys hiked and shredded hard all week with Reddick capturing both the awesome display of skill from Sterbenz, McKitterick, and Hamish and sheer beauty that is New Zealand. Without giving too much of the upcoming magazine story away, the week was a big hit, despite Porter’s loss to McKitterick in a grueling, deuce-filled championship match of ping-pong. -John Stifter