Turn of the Century

This documentary comprehensively traces the history of skiing and winter sports in New Zealand. From Mannering and Dixon, who used homemade skis in an almost-successful ascent of Mt Cook and the hut-building pioneers of recreational ski clubs in their pre-Gore-tex garb, to commercial ski fields and lifts, superb archive footage shows the advances. New Zealand teams at the Winter Olympics in Oslo in 1952 and Sarajevo 32 years later had come some way from the days when carrier pigeons were used to report snow conditions from Canterbury's ski fields to Christchurch.

Recreational skiing began in the early 1900s. These pioneers taught themselves. Their skis were often made from native timber, or fashioned from blades of farm implements.

– Narrator

Key Cast & Crew

Howard Moses

Producer, Director

Rob Winch

Composer

Gethin Creagh

Sound

Donald Duncan

Cinematographer

John Gilbert

Editor

Steve Douché

Sound