Some impressions so far....

Hey guys,

its been a couple of days since I was in Wanaka. Since than we have been to Dunedin watched pinguines and I actally saw an albatross. It was pretty cool. New Zealand really rocks. After that we went back up north to ski in the clubfields were we skied Temple Basin a really cool clubfield. It was a bit of a walk to get there (45mins up the hill), but it was totally worth it.

Our base right now at Castle Hill. having breakfast in the morning....








Springfield, I found Homers real hometown..... :D












New zealand famous parrot, the Kea...really cool and evil...hahha









Powder Day in Cragieburn









Nice sunset after skiing in Mt. Olympus









Me in Treble Cone, watching down in the valley








At the westcoast, checking out the Franz Josef Glacier








Cliff drop at Temple Basin, it was really cool up there








We met an austrian crew also skiing here, pretty cool guys. We decided to ski together, and its been awesome.... :D









This is Fred, one of the coolest kiwis....we stayed at his house for a week- no problem. Thx so much fred! :D








For the last two weeks the plan is to head up to the northern island. We are going to ski Mt. Ruhapehu. Ruhapehu is a vulcano and its still activ. So I am really excited how its going to be up there.....
There is also a Big Mountain Competition were we going to start....so much more to come before i fly back home at the 13th.. :D

Stay tuned....

Eric



Photos: Kai Stoeckel

NZ Völkl Open, Freeride World Tour, 8th Place

Wow, overall an really impressive day.
Still feel a bit hangover from the afterparty, so we actually had some reason to party.

Back to the contest itself. :D Finally, after 3 days of postponing due bad weather conditions, the competion was able to be held. Snow conditions weren´t really great. A litte fresh of like 3-4cm on a really icy pack, so good edges should have been mandatory.

I am enterting as the 15th competetor in the startinglist. It finally clears up a little before I leave the startinggate. First turns in really nice snow, I try to get as much speed as I can (other competitors came to me afterwards telling me that it looked ridicoulous fast) :D

As the steep part begins I am looking for my first cliff to hit, I see it in front of me....looks bigger than i thought, but I am to fast to stopp anyways. Good drop, perfect landing, first part of the run is done. The next turns bring me into a really alpine face, only 3 people chose to ride there. End of the face brings me into an big couloir I try to sideslip it as much as I can then straight it....lots of speed into the last turns but I am able to handle it and ski safe to the bottom. My helmetcamrun is attached at the end of the text.

In the end I come 8th on a 3 star Freeride World Tour event. My final score is only 5points away from the podium, it was really tight up top. I am still happy and look forward to more freeriding.

It´s just amazing here in NZ.....more to come.

Cheers

Helmetcamrun NZ Open; Rider; Eric Zeller:

8th place - Völkl New Zealand Open, Freeride World Tour from Kai Stoeckel on Vimeo.

Trailer for our epic skimovie.....

Hey we made it....hahha just kidding. It´s not done yet, not yet. But we collected some footage from the stuff we did so far. From the looks of it our movie is going to be epic. So far we skied in Cragieburn, Roundhill, Mt. Olympus, Treble Cone and some lines where we went up with the heli.

Our cameraman Kai Stoeckel (thanks to him :D) edited in hours and hours a trailer for our epic movie project New Zealand - Where dreams come true.

I am super stoked, we are all really happy and can´t wait to get some more snow to ride some gnarly lines.


Trailer: 2010 New Zealand - Where dreams come true

Videocut by: Kai Stoeckel

World Heli Challenge 2010, 7th Place

It´s thursday, last day of competition.The alarm goes down at 6.00 a.m., everybody is super stoked, but when we arrive at 7.00 a.m. in the parking lot we are still on hold, cause there are a lot of clouds up in the mountains. An our later everything is clear and a beatuiful cometition face is presented to us. The face is pretty steep and there a lot of cliffs to hit. Unfortunately its pretty icy and no powder in sight.

I´m coming with bib number 18, I have solid run and I am happy with it. My second turn in the competition face gets the whole snowpack under me going but I am able to manage the sluff and ride it out. My next turns brings me in to the main part of the face where I picked one couloir to an open field. Big turns to the next ridge, its really icy here. :D One last drop at the end and finish. I am super stoked, the othere riders are cheering. In the end I take 7th place. I was hoping for a bit more, buts its a judgement sport and the judges liked something else more. Overall I am still happy I got the 7th place overall in a competition with the best riders in the world like Ted Davenport and Chris Booth. I filmed my run with my helmet cam check it out guys.


While the challenge were going on, I lost a bet in playing darts....here is the result of the lost bet. :D


You guys have no idea how cold the water is here in the wintertime.....




Photos: Kai Stoeckel





Helmetcam run: