Good afternoon %%First Name%%,

What a week!! Pause for effect................. Cantabrians, what does not kill you will only make you stronger. The Crusaders are going to be UNBEATABLE this summer!! And Porters is going to be built out of the rubble... well they actually have no damage but you get the idea. The Porters Team are currently working through a submission period relating to a proposed plan change to the Selwyn District Plan. They have asked the Selwyn District Council to rezoned a section of land from 'Rural High Country' to become designated 'Ski Area'. This is a zone type that has been used in Queenstown and Wanaka for some years. Full details of the request for change that has been lodged are obtainable through the Selwyn District Council. Porters need you to Help Make it Happen Deadline Friday 24th.

TC was closed for two day due to a rock fall across their road last week. Now Cardrona is closed due to oxidation pond maintenance, they hope to open on Friday, or if not by the weekend. Keep an eye on their snowreport to or Facebook comments for updates.

At the time of writing there are no results available for the Mother of All Snowboard Events which happened at Whakapapa yesterday, but keep an eye on Snowco for results when they come to hand. The Xport33 Extreme , is postponed today and will probably happen, looking at the forecast on Saturday. Perfect for the weekend warriors to watch from the old cafe, or through the windows in the flash new Knoll Cafe.

In the south the big event this weekend for the under 30's is the Billabong Bro Down at Snowpark. (Check out the video). Or if you're over 30's the Cardrona Masters . If you don't mind the occasional aftershock the first half of the Canterbury Slopestyle series kicks off at Porters. Also the biggest events on the NZ snow sports calendar, the South Island and, North Island Inter-secondary School Champs kick off on Saturday at Cardrona and Monday at Turoa.

The Metservice forecast conflicts with Metview and our forecast for the weekend. (Yes we do compare) It's two against one so I'll stick with ours. For an absolute change riding at Ruapehu and actually seeing where you are going seems on the cards this weekend. Saturday will be quite nice with an approaching low pressure system bringing increasingly unsettled weather on Sunday.

Unfortunately the low will bring warm with the wet so after some snow in the forecast for tomorrow in Nelson and Canterbury, conditions will clear for a time but with moderate to strong nor-westers on Saturday. From Sunday though expect rain with freezing levels about 2600m. For the Mackenzie and the Southern Lakes tomorrow looks good with rain from Saturday and freezing levels around 2200m.

Get into it, have fun and be safe.

Oh and if you want to see where the earthquakes have been striking in Christchurch check it out on this Google Map .

We have put together an extensive events calendar to help with everything winter. Check it out here .

Our '2010 Cr*ppiest pair of skis' photo comp courtesy of Nordica is in full swing and looking well lets say cr*p - With plenty of entries so far… comp closes end of August so still a chance to post your own shot. Post one here .

Enter HERE now and good luck!

See you on the Mountain!

THE SNOWCO TEAM

Phone: 04 472 0330
nzXsports.com
P.O Box 1395
Wellington