All you snow-bunnies out there have probably heard of the massive earthquake that shook Christchurch and Canterbury on the weekend. The silver lining to this disaster, however, is that all of Canterbury’s ski areas and 98 percent of accommodation providers and tourism attractions are fully operational.

Many people can’t go to work just yet and people are discouraged from travelling to Christchurch’s cordoned-off city centre. Brown Bear reckons it might be good to breathe in some fresh mountain air and get away from the city and the aftershocks. A trip to Canterbury’s ski areas will take your mind off things for a while and emergency services will be able to work faster with less people around to obstruct the clearing process.

Mt Hutt Ski Area, for example, just opened the Australia New Zealand Continental (ANC) Cup which will run until 11 September. More than 125 of the world’s top ski racers will attend the event to be held in Mt Hutt’s Red Bull International Race Training Arena. The ANC Cup is part of the Continental Cup Series which is just one level behind the World Cup! Come along to watch competitions in Super Combined, Super G, Slalom and Giant Slalom.

Whether you come and watch the ANC Cup, go for a long walk in the snow or head to the freestyle terrains and steep chutes of Canterbury’s ski areas, a trip into the snow is bound to be a welcome change after a very scary weekend.