18 <strong>Style</strong> | Feature CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Peter and his late wife Shirley at Mt Dobson; Despite being “retired”, you’ll likely find Peter still up on Mt Dobson during the ski season; From humble beginnings, Mt Dobson Ski Area has grown into a modern playground for skiers; An aerial view of the ski area, perhaps as Peter may have seen it when he first spied it from a farmer’s plane in the 1970s; Mt Dobson attracts skiers from around the country; Peter and Shirley taking a break with a cuppa. Photos: Supplied
<strong>Style</strong> | Feature 19 It must have been quite a sight around the Fairlie area in 1976. People knew from the newspapers that Peter Foote and his bulldozers were up to something up there on the hill – actually, there’d been a fair bit of controversy. Now they could see him inching into sight as he and his workers crawled up the hill, creating a road that would lead to what would be known as Mt Dobson Ski Area. “Before that they couldn’t see me and were probably saying, ‘What’s that silly fool up to?’” chuckles Peter. It took him, with his three bulldozers and drivers, seven months just to cut through a 700m, rocky, steep part of the road. But once they got through that, Peter knew the next 5–6km would be “easy going”. The physical part of cutting the road was the easy part. A man and his machine can get a lot done, but a man up against a bureaucratic machine can achieve far less. When Peter came up with the idea of establishing the Mt Dobson Ski Area, he found himself doing a merry dance around government departments. But Peter was not deterred by such things. If anything, it simply fuelled his resolve. So, he sent a telegram to the then South Canterbury MP Rob Talbot to sort things out. “Everybody had their finger in the pie but no one had the authority to say yes, so I went to him to get the consent started and he took it to Wellington,” says Pete. That was the first hurdle. But back then, there were catchment boards, which had the purpose of minimising and preventing damage to land by floods and erosion. However, if you ask Peter what their purpose was, he may have a vastly more colourful answer for you. Suffice to say, he says, they “kept shifting the goal posts”. “Because they were convinced I couldn’t do it,” he explains. “They wanted extra work done and I had to do an extra planting of 26,000 trees. I was accused of causing erosion in the newspaper and all these sorts of things.” But again, instead of dissuading him, it had the opposite effect. “It was never on the drawing board to stop. We were going to do this, even if it was going to kill me.” More than 45 years later, as he recounts the story, you hear the steely determination in his voice. You almost feel sorry for the bureaucrats. Almost. BEFORE THE ROAD Peter Foote was a young man who loved machines and was not really all that fond of the “boring weekends” in Timaru, where he lived. On one of his weekend expeditions with the Scouts, he visited Fairlie’s Fox Peak Ski Area and after a few visits found himself roped into being on the committee. At that time, he was an apprentice with Massey Ferguson tractors, so his skills up on the hill, where tractors ran rope tows, were invaluable. Ask him what his fondest memories were of that time and he’ll give you a list of machinery – the valve on the petrol motor that drove the ski tow that he fixed; the international tractor with steel wheels he used to get up the hill; an old Bedford truck the work parties used; and the wartime bulldozer he bought for $600 to build the top half of the road. Peter and his family moved to Fairlie into a house bought off a farmer for $300, in which sheep had been the previous inhabitants. By that stage, he and his wife Shirley had two children, Richard and Allan, while the youngest, Bruce, was born there in 1973. It was during this time that Peter decided to build his own ski field. He had been running Fox Peak for about three years and was getting itchy to create a ski field his way – without the input of a committee. A local farmer took him up in his airplane to scout the area and he pinpointed the basin that would become Mt Dobson Ski Area. And after four years of red tape, he finally got the green flag in 1976 to begin work. Greg and lyn marshall Good old fashion service from a owner/operated local business. • Full mechanical repairs • Vehicle servicing • woF repairs • Tyres • wheel alignments • Puncture repairs stockists of all brands of tyres walk ins welcome. Greg and Lyn Marshall and their experienced team look forward to welcoming you. 496 Wairakei Road, Christchurch | Ph: 03 359 4114 A/h: 0274 356 484 office@marshallautoandtyres.co.nz www.marshallautoandtyres.co.nz Fresh FIsh TWO WAYs You can’t beat a classic Fisherman’s Basket A selection of fried seafood, mussels, prawns, fish and calamari. Served with fries, salad and homemade tartare sauce. Why not Dish of the day? Fresh pan-seared tarahiki served on a warm coconut rice and red quinoa salad with cherry tomatoes, spinach, red onion, capsicum and crispy noodles. 39 Norwich Quay, Lyttelton Wednesday - Sunday 12pm – 8pm Phone: 03 328 7530 fishermanswharf.nz
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