A long day ride from the top of the Crown Range back to Cardrona for a drink and some chippies. The ride is quite exposed so light to no winds are key, as is plenty of suncream. The initial climb from the Crown Range is an instant work out with little relief until the flatter sections of the tops. The fun part beings from Queensberry Hill all the way to the bottom of Tuohys gully. Photos snapped on a phone. Casual 5hr30min

23rd March 2015. Crew: Lee, Hannah, Tammy, Caro, Jules, Sarah

I'm not sure why I haven't headed up to Pisa Range until now for some Cross Country MTB action because it really is something else. Long climbs, exposed ridges, open plains, steep descents, rocky trails, unpredictable weather...what more do you want for a days riding? So for our first ride we decided to head straight to the top - Mt Pisa itself. The idea was to complete "The Big Easy" circuit, but due to private land issues we decide to change route slightly and follow the public access trails. We started at Snow Farm base building and headed direct to Mt Pisa (1963m) following the cross country/farm tracks. This was a long climb, but worth every minute because there on in the ride is pretty much all downhill...to which we all agreed was the longest, fastest mountain decent we have tackled in NZ and you can see why the area holds the title for NZ longest downhill heli biking descent. Unfortunately I only had my camera phone for pictures!