| Hi everyone, welcome to the Snow Centre. |
| My name's Annie. |
| I hope you enjoyed the bus trip from the airport - |
| we've certainly got plenty of snow today! |
| Well, you've come to New Zealand's premier snow and ski centre, |
| and we've a whole load of activities for you during your week here. |
| Most visitors come here for the cross-country skiing, |
| where you're on fairly flat ground for most of the time, |
| rather than going down steep mountainsides. |
| There are marked trails, |
| but you can also leave these and go off on your own |
| and that's an experience not to be missed. |
| You can go at your own speed - |
| it's great aerobic exercise if you really push yourself, |
| or if you prefer you can just glide gently along and enjoy the beautiful scenery. |
| This afternoon, you'll be going on a dog-sled trip. |
| You may have seen our dogs on TV recently racing in the winter sled festival. |
| If you want, you can have your own team for the afternoon |
| and learn how to drive them, following behind our leader on the trail. |
| Or if you'd prefer, you can just sit back in the sled and enjoy the ride as a passenger. |
| At the weekend, we have the team relay event, |
| and you're all welcome to join in. |
| We have a local school coming along, |
| and a lot of the teachers are taking part too. |
| Participation rather than winning is the main focus, |
| and there's a medal for everyone who takes part. |
| Participants are in teams of two to four, |
| and each team must complete four laps of the course. |
| For your final expedition, you'll head off to Mount Frenner wearing a pair of special snow shoes which allow you to walk on top of the snow. |
| This is an area where miners once searched for gold, |
| though there are very few traces of their work left now. |
| When the snow melts in summer, the mountain slopes are carpeted in flowers and plants. |
| It's a long ascent, though not too steep, |
| and walkers generally take a couple of days to get to the summit and return. |
| You'll spend the night in our hut half-way up the mountain. |
| That's included in your package for the stay. |
| It's got cooking facilities, firewood and water for drinking. |
| For washing, we recommend you use melted snow, though, to conserve supplies. |
| We can take your luggage up on our snowmobile for you for just $10 a person. |
| The hut has cooking facilities so you can make a hot meal in the evening and morning, |
| but you need to take your own food. |
| The weather on Mount Frenner can be very stormy. |
| In that case, stay in the hut - generally the storms don't last long. |
| Don't stress about getting back here to the centre in time to catch the airport bus - |
| they'll probably not be running anyway. |
| We do have an emergency locator beacon in the hut |
| but only use that if it's a real emergency, like if someone's ill or injured. |
| Now, let me tell you something about the different ski trails you can follow during your stay here. |
| Highland Trail's directly accessible from where we are now. |
| This trail's been designed to give first-timers an experience they'll enjoy regardless of their age or skill, |
| but it's also ideal for experts to practise their technique. |
| Then there's Pine Trail... |
| if you're nervous about skiing, leave this one to the experts! |
| You follow a steep valley looking right down on the river below - scary! |
| But if you've fully mastered the techniques needed for hills, it's great fun. |
| Stony Trail's a good choice once you've got a general idea of the basics. |
| There are one or two tricky sections, but nothing too challenging. |
| There's a shelter half-way where you can sit and take a break and enjoy the afternoon sunshine. |
| And finally, Loser's Trail. |
| This starts off following a gentle river valley |
| but the last part is quite exposed so the snow conditions can be challenging - |
| if it's snowing or windy, check with us before you set out to make sure the trail's open that day. |
| Right, so now if you'd like to follow me, we'll get started... |