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The latest dispatch from New Zealand features one of the most coveted experiences in snowboarding; clocking pow turns on the mountain, and glassy waves off it. There are a few other places you can do it – hell, even Scotland if you get lottery-ticket-winning levels of luck – but Aotearoa usually hovers around the top of the wish-list.

Aussie pro surfer Blake Thornton had given the combo trip a go before, heading to Alaska with Chris Rasman and Jussi Grznar back in 2013 (full story here). While that was at times pant-soilingly intense, the south island clubfield of Mount Cheeseman offered something a bit mellower, and despite having had less than two weeks on snow Blake was holding his own with seasoned shredders Nick Hyne, Nick Brown and Roland Morley-Brown (that last name you may remember from his appearance in Hungerpain, many moons ago).

The surf at Kaikoura proves to be just as good, with Blake putting on a show as the rest of the crew (and the occasional seal) look on. If you’ve got room in your boardbag for something with fins, NZ is well worth a look.