Wanaka
With 5 international ski areas close by and the largest heli-skiing area (outside North America) Lake Wanaka is the perfect destination for your South Island and New Zealand ski holiday – Treble Cone, Cardrona Alpine Resort and the Snow Farm are within only half an hours drive with Coronet Peak and The Remarkables just an hour away.
Treble Cone
The largest field in the South Island, Treble Cone is a 30-minute drive from Wanaka and has developed a reputation as the GoTo field for advanced skiers and boarders enticed by the regions longest vertical, un-crowded slopes, legendary off-piste runs with awesome half pipes and a terrain that is highly varied with challenging gullies, wide faces and exhilarating runs - both the New Zealand freestyle and the Norwegian Alpine ski team train at Treble Cone. With regular north west snow dumps throughout winter the field regularly has awesome powder days, especially fun on the Longest Run at 4km (2.5miles) long.
Terrain: Beginner Terrain 10%, Intermediate Terrain 45% and Advanced Terrain 45%
Slope Facilities: Facilities including bar and café, snow school with a FREE beginner surface lift, childcare centre, ski and snowboard rental kiosk and medical centre.
Cardrona
Also around a 30-minute drive from Wanaka is Cardrona, this is known as the family field and provides 3 distinct recreational areas each with its own degree of difficulty making it a great field for beginners and intermediate abilities. Cardrona is ideal for those wanting to learn to ski or snowboard and particularly with its several purpose built beginner runs which lead onto gentle wide open spaces, two surface conveyor lifts for learners result in an accelerated learning curve. Cardrona also has the only beginners trail in the country that runs along a mountain’s peak with beginners learning while enjoying breathtaking views over Lake Wanaka to Queenstown.
Snowboarding: A lot of emphasis has also been placed on attracting snowboarders and the field offers more in the way of specific runs for shredders (snowboarders) than most New Zealand fields and now the Snowboard National Championships are held here.
Terrain: 25% Beginners, 55% Intermediate, 20% advanced
Slope facilities: Include 3 terrain parks with a wide range of jumps and rails and two half pipes with a dedicated platter lift, and a great gravity cross course.
