Snow Hunter-New Zealand, July 8, 2008-Most of New Zealand's ski areas are basking in deep powder as heavy snowfall and some extreme weather conditions forced some resorts to close temporarily until the storm passed. Cardrona was typical reporting 60 cm (two feet) of natural snow falling over the three days to Saturday but with high winds and poor visibility forcing the resort to close for thee day.

Meanwhile The Remarkables has announced that they will celebrate the opening of The Stash® on Saturday, July 26th. This will be the third Stash to open in the world, and the first in the southern hemisphere. Conceived by Jake Burton and Burton team riders it involves using natural terrain featurtes rather than machine-made snow structures for terrain park design.

"The grand opening of The Stash in New Zealand will be a groundbreaking session, giving the public and our Burton team riders a chance to ride this new style of The Stash that uses rock features unique to The Remarkables' natural terrain," says Jeff Boliba, Global Resort Director for Burton Snowboards. Located in the bowls of Serpentine and the Galleries trails, The Stash is created for intermediate and advanced riders. The kilometer-long Stash run provides riders with an organic, big mountain terrain park that follows the natural lines of the mountain. Riders will discover rock-wall rides, log jibs, cliff drops, a stone hut and other one-of-a-kind obstacles hidden away in The Stash run. An all-natural environment, The Stash uses no metal or plastics to create obstacles, only stone, wood, trees, dirt and rocks. Even the signs that direct riders to The Stash are hand-carved out of stone and wood and are designed to be jibbed.

The Stash can also be found in Avoriaz, France and Northstar-at-Tahoe, USA. www.thestash.com

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