We have researched all the best ride venues in the Canterbury, Centeral Otago area and have a list of locations to choose from depending on your requirements if its off season DH race training or a free ride holiday for yourself and your mates. Drop me an e-mail.

dhnz.com road trip example tour

Mt Hutt Bike Park

Starting in Alexandra with the the chilled out vibe and the coolest jump park,Clyde with its epic rock gardens,

Queenstown,and the Freeride capital that is Wanaka.

A big thanks to all our friends in the south island

This look like the sort of Mountainbike holiday you want to experience this season?

We want to hear from you!

Reference : David Pattern , april 2006

I spent 3 days riding with the boys from DHNZ.com sampling some of the riding on offer over in the MT Hutt area ( Canterbury ) of NZ . In three days I rode some epic single track, gnarly downhill runs and some crazy steep scree runs, I have the feeling that I only scratched the surface of what is on offer out there. The boys are based in The main ski town for the Mt Hutt ski area, which is located roughly an hour and a half from the Christchurch central city on the south island of New Zealand.On the first day Andy from DHNZ.com took me on a drive to the top of a mountain then after a short pedal and a climb/hike right to the top of a peak we began our decent . I have never ridden anything like this before, completely open, loose and very steep scree runs. This makes the 10% in Morzine look like a kids track. It took a while to get the hang of , but after a few test runs I was pretty much surfing my bike down the steepest terrain that I have ever ridden. followed with some epic secret single track on private land was fast and technical. With huge cliffs on our side and a good few kilometers of amazing trail in front of us I knew the riding in NZ was defiantly worth the plan journey. My next 2 days of riding saw us head up to Mt Hutt which is home for the extensive trail network that the guy's from DHNZ.com are helping to develop.This is what I had been waiting to ride; the full on DH trails that I had heard this area of NZ has to offer.The trails are almost a mixture of the fast flowy DH tracks the Portes du soleil has to offer and the trail development and build quality of the Whistler bike park.They have everything from fast technical alpine DH tracks to bug jumps and drops. This area would provide the ideal training ground for the northern hemisphere DH racer.The extensive trail network combined with the guiding and the fast efficient uplift service that the guys from DHNZ.com supply gives groups or friends, even pro teams from the northern hemisphere an ideal winter training ground .I managed to get a good couple of days riding here and was eager to further explore the trails provided in this area , but my trip was cut a little short due to me breaking my collarbone trying to jump a 35 foot double . A short trip to the medical centre in Methven and I was on the road to recovery. The good news here is that if you are a British citizen you only have to pay a very low excess charge to receive medical treatment . It cost me 4 quid to get an x-ray and see a doctor.
I cannot recommend the service dhnz.com provides enough. From the guiding and riding, to the affordable accommodation and friendly service. For my time in Methven I got to ride some amazing, truly unique trails and made some new friends. If you are looking for a place to ride in the winter, be it a holiday or a team training camp then i believe that the guys from dhnz.com offer the perfect package for you. If you have ridden over in France, and even been over to Whistler bike park in Canada, this is the next step to ride some amazing terrain

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OTHER Stuff !!

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Whistler! .1

articles by Ian Cook

If your into mountain biking then whistler is a place you just have visit whilst your still able to hoist a leg over a bike, it really is the mountain bikers "Mecca". sure the world is full of so called “Mecca’s“, but what sets whistler apart is the sheer number and variety of quality runs you can pack into your day. this is born out by the number of pro riders u see knocking around. so if your looking to increase your skills on two wheels this is the place to do it.
I have been here four weeks now and still loving the trails still learning and perfecting them. jumping is one area that was woefully lacking in my game and whistler certainly provided plenty of practice, with trails like crank it up, A line, Dirt Merchant you can really start to nail your jumping skills whilst in between jumps enjoying the biggest and best berms I have ever ridden. of course not everyone wants to jump all day, (although it can become quite addictive) the great variety of trails means that there’s something here for everyone. You have awesome technical trails such as Slayer, Joyride, Rock City with their rocky chutes, roots and drops. north shore style trails such as Clown Shoes and Crack Addict. if your more of an intermediate rider don’t worry your covered all the trails are graded so you are able to chose between green and blue runs and then move onto the blacks whenever you feel up to it. Outside of the park there are miles and miles of cross country and free ride trails of all levels of difficulty, but I can’t tell u about those because that would involve pedalling!

One other aspect of Whistler life that must be mentioned is the wildlife and by wildlife what I really mean is BEARS. You pretty much
see black bears everyday in the park. Coming from New Zealand its a real novelty, they seem to have no fear of humans I saw a biker
nearly land on one off the GLC drop at the bottom of the park (I think the video is on u tube).you will also come across deer and plenty
of cute little squirrels, I missed one by inches the other day. must not forget about Beaver! I have been lucky enough to have seen Both!
US and Canadian Beaver! but not the species I was looking for unfortunately.

As I write this I am across the border in Washington state so when I get back maybe I will tell u what the top half of the park is like.

Ian Cook

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Post Cards From

Morzine!

Article by. Cameron Bissit ("the cave man")

Well, I am now in my third week in Morzine (french alps)and am still loving it. Doing at least 6hrs of riding a day, more if we can handle it because the lifts are open for 8 hrs a day.

Its unbelievable, we have only just scratched the surface of all the DH trails, single track and bike parks the Portes du Soleil has to offer. With over 16 chairlifts and gondolas (all fully kitted out to take your bike) for you to use you can drop into 8 different valleys and from France in to Switzerland without even breaking a sweat, because 99% of the trails linking the lifts are downhill. Most of the pro riders can be spotted out here training for the World Cups etc. etc. So if you think you could be the next big thing in DH, come out, if you cant speak French don’t worry, most of them have a good handle of English, and if you think you will be the only Kiwi out here you’re wrong. There is a thriving micro community of Kiwi’s and Aussie’s working and living the mountain biking dream. Morzine has a very similar vibe as Queenstown, tourists, extreme sports and brilliant nights out. Just missing the big lake at the side!

The trails consist of every conceivable level, from the super fast Plenty course to the super tech French cup course, the never ending Swiss cup course and the famously brutal Champery Swiss World cup course. Then there is the ever growing single track, every summer there are more and more built by the seasonal residents, they can be super tech steep, tree roots, big drops or just mellow flowing trails that follow the hill down back to the lift. Then there are the bike parks of Les Gets and Chatel, flowing trails littered with tabletop jumps, road gaps, northshore and as a bit of a draw card a massive airbag to practice your tricks on! The Chatel slopestyle park is nuts, everything on it is massive.
The only pieces of advice I would give to anybody looking at coming over is, make sure your bike has a good set of brakes, because they will get a roasting. And make sure you stay in Morzine because it is the lowest point of the surrounding area, if you do get caught out by the lifts closing due to bad weather or if you run late and miss the last lift, you can just roll down the fire roads and main roads back to your accommodation !

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