Wanaka is Mons town, or at least it feels that way as you meander between the mountain, the bar and the supermarket. Our community and our brand are inseparable – each reflecting and inspiring one another’s lifestyles and attitudes. You could say Mons Royale is very much a product of its environment – this mountain community in shadow of the pristine Southern Alps.
The Mons House was born this winter to amplify the Mons spirit as our fan base grows in pastures far from home. We invited a group of international athletes including Dane Tudor and Freeride World Tour competitors Elisabeth Gerritzen and Yann Rausis to stay with us in Wanaka. They – along with a bunch of creatives, filmers and photographers – came to ride, compete, shoot and have some hang time aboard the mother-ship. We enveloped them in the world of Mons Royale, and they threw their own cultural influences into the mix.
For the Mons House crew, sending it with home grown legends like Janina Kuzma and hanging local ski bums has been a life changing experience. Any way you slice it, we do it differently here and this international group have now been initiated into our kind of hustle, wringing every last drop of fun out of every day. If you’re from Wanaka you might think it’s normal to ride, surf, heli-ski, shred on your bike, climb, skinny dip and SUP all in one day – but for our guests, time at the Mons House was a distinctly different and unique experience.
This experiment was too good not to replicate, so to keep the vibe alive, we’re setting up The Mons House 2.0 this winter in Austria. The objective: to create a base for athletes, filmers and photographers and to take that Wanaka vibe to the Alps, making the magic happen all over again in the depths of the European winter.
