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1918 snow storm

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Name1918 snow stormDescriptionIn the afternoon of 2 July 1918, snow began to fall in Canterbury, and continued for three days. The snow storm wreaked havoc in the region, causing widespread power outages, and disrupted train and mail services.

The heavy snowfall had caused a breakdown of the insulators at the Lake Coleridge Power Station and Christchurch and surrounding districts were “practically in darkness”. More than a 100 years ago, people relied on landlines for communication, but the telephone lines were down and roads were blocked. To restore power to the district, the Public Works Department needed some way to communicate with the superintendent of the station. As the newspapers reported at the time, repair work was urgent, but not if it meant workers could be electrocuted on the job.

'No current can be turned on until it is known definitely not only that the damaged insulators on the transmission lines have been replaced, but also that all the men in the repair gangs are clear of the lines.'

Boris Daniels, an employee with the Public Works Department (PWD), offered to ski more than 20kms across some difficult terrain to get a message to Archibald Blackwood, the superintendent of the power station. The skis and poles Daniels took on his journey were the same used by explorer Captain Robert Scott when he journeyed to the South Pole! Daniels received them courtesy of Mr Joseph Kinsey, who was a close friend of Scott and a supporter of many Antarctic expeditions.

Boris, who learnt to ski in his native Russia but hadn't been on skis for seven years, set off to the meeting point in Windwhistle. On his arrival, he was greeted by three fellow employees on horseback, and after dispatching the message, Boris returned safely to Hororata. Power was finally restored to Canterbury on 7 July 1918.

DateJuly 1918

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