Welcome to the Bottom Hut

After three weeks in NZ, I decided to leave the safe, cozy environs of Broken River and head to Mount Olympus. Olympus is another club ski field on the Craigieburn Range (the same range as the Porters, Broken River, Mt Cheeseman and Craigieburn fields) but it’s tucked into a valley on the western side of the range. The other resorts are on the eastern side, so rather than the usual drive from Christchurch out towards the West Coast, you get to Mount Olympus by driving around the southern end of the range and then heading along a few ks of dirt roads.

Once at the field, there are two accommodation options. You can stay in the Top Hut, which is right in the middle of the ski field and accessed by a rope tow. This hut seems really nice. Food is provided (and is reputedly very good), they have internet access, a nice lounge area and a hot tub. However, if you’re not a member of the club it costs $100 a night. This isn’t so bad considering it includes lift passes and food, but it’s a lot if you’re going to be hanging around for a few weeks or months.

The alternative is the Bottom Hut. This is 3.5 kms from the car park and ski field and is somewhat infamous among the skiers here. I’d been warned by a few people that it probably wasn’t a good option, but it’s $25 a night for non-members. Seriously people, what did you think was going to happen?

So, this is my second night in the Bottom Hut. I’ve summarised my findings in an easy-to-read table...

Pros:	Cons:
It has running water.	When the water is turned on, it not only comes out of the taps, it also comes out of one of the walls. This means that you have to turn the running water off.
It has toilets.	They’re pit toilets, and they’re outside.
It has a reasonably sized and pretty well supplied kitchen.	The microwave doesn’t work, the zip boiler doesn’t work, and of the four hot-plates on the stove one works properly and one has no thermostat and just wants to burn things.
There’s lots of company.	That company is comprised of mice that eat my food and crap on the kitchen benches.
It’s quiet.	The silence is increasingly being disturbed by me talking to myself like a lunatic.
It has a radio to contact the Top Hut.	People from the Top Hut occasionally radio drunken messages to each other in the middle of the night.

Despite the mixed blessings of the bottom hut, I’m happy to stay here a bit longer. It’s hard to go past such cheap accommodation and I’m keen to get to know some of the people at this field. It seems like there’s a lot of touring and hiking going on, so it would be good to tag along with some people and get outside the patrolled boundaries. Plus this place oozes dirtbag chic.