Speight's surf to Summit teams triumphant

Four days of extreme sport made up a very busy long weekend for the Surf to Summit adventurers, who travelled the length of the South Island surfing a different break and skiing a different summit every day.

Sponsored by Speight’s Summit, this action-packed mission saw teams of three drive, chopper, hike, surf, snowboard and ski the length of the island – from Farewell Spit on Day One, to Bluff on Day Four.

Crowd Goes Wild presenters Hayley Holt and Mark Richardson headed the teams: Hayley with NZ ski personality Alex Herbert and O’Neill athlete Kyle Cooper; Mark with skier and surfer Angus Kebbell and O’Neill athlete Jess Videbec.

Mark says that Day One brought a chilly 7am start at Cape Farwell.

“The opposing team took the easy route and surfed at Farewell Spit,” says Mark cheekily.

“We took a chance and hit the slopes at Rainbow Valley first for a beautiful bluebird day. It was a bit late by the time we got off the mountain and as we headed to Westport we were worried we were going to run out of light. There was a rip when we finally got out in the waves at ‘The Tip Head’, but a great day all-in-all.”

Hayley contradicts Mark’s comments, saying: “We took a risk from the outset, surfing in howling onshore winds at the tip of the South Island. However, a few locals put us on the right track, and we found a remote break to surf, full of seal pups!”

Hayley’s team went on for a late start skiing atRainbow Valley, meeting Mark’s team just as they were leaving.

Mark’s team woke up at Punakaiki on Day Two, to ‘unsurfable’ waters. The team decided push on through Arthur’s Pass to Broken River, where they got in a few runs and suffered only minor mishaps (losing the keys on the mountain…whoops). The crew surfed two foot at Banks Peninsula then set out for Dunedin.

Day Three brought high winds, massive swells and messy conditions for both teams. Hesitant to face the wild 10-foot surf at Allan’s Beach, Mark’s team headed to Karitane for more sheltered waters. Meanwhile, Hayley’s team also fled to Karitane, after waking to messyconditions in Kakanui.

Mark’s team was first out of the water – they boosted to Cardrona to meet up with two Salomon riders for an awesome afternoon session on the slopes.

Meanwhile, Hayley’s team were battling increasing winds and harsh conditions, so they retired to the unchartered slopes of Awakino, where they enjoyed being tow-roped up the slopes by a tractor on one of New Zealand’s interesting wee club fields. They battled “crowds” of 30 people, on one of the field’s busiest days of the year (if you can believe it)!

Dusk on Day Three saw the two teams meet for a drink at the infamous Cardrona Hotel – a few hours of relaxation, at last!

Mark’s team had a head-start on the morning of Day Four, thanks to a pre-booking with Aspiring Helicopters and Southern Lakes Heliski. A morning of powder skiing with James Ford was in store, while Hayley’s team hit kickers and rails at Snowpark, before both teams made tracks for the final leg of surfing at Catlins on Southland’s East Coast.

Thanks to a few sneaky shortcuts, the teams arrived at Curio Bay within five minutes of each other – a fitting way to end the challenge, before the final drive to Bluff.

Triumphant, but no doubt exhausted, the teams retired after an extreme four days: thousands of kilometers, snow, wind andwater.

Extreme enthusiasts can see all the peaks and troughs aired on Sky Sport One, September 15th at 9.30pm