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New Zealand Skiing
Browse this page for some very spectacular Ski Resorts in New Zealand, with General Descriptions, Trip Tips and Skiing Tips.
Use the drop down sub menu under Skiing for other country locations.
ENJOY!
Cardrona Ski Resort
Wanaka, New Zealand
August 2025 - it was overdue that I made a ski trip to beautiful New Zealand, having been there multiple times except to Ski.
Between The Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Cardrona/Treble Cone, my friend and I chose the latter as it is less touristy, less expensive and a bigger resort than the other two. So we made Wanaka our base and drove each day to the bottom of the mountain to catch the free shuttle up the mountain. We carried chains in the rental car but decided it was easier and quicker to catch the free bus than to have to put on and remove chains.
Unfortunately, 2025 turned out to be one of the poorer snow years in NZ. The weeks leading up to our trip hardly had any new snow fall with a base of only 50cm. As luck with have it, our first 2 days were white outs with constant snow falls. On the one hand, we welcomed the fresh snow but it was not ideal conditions with crowded slopes and you could barely see 10 metres in front of you.
In my 30+ years of skiing, thank God I never had any ski injuries. Perhaps statistically it was overdue. I had to leave my GoPro at home as it was not working as I found out just before flying over. So the next option was to take videos with one hand while skiing which I had previously done before GoPros were invented. On the second day on run number 6, in a split second of lapsed focus while filming, I had a nasty tumble and suffered a spiral stress fracture to my left fibula. So that was the end of my ski week, including not getting to ski at Treble Cone as planned. My travel mate was fortunate enough to enjoy 3 days of blue bird skiing. The beautiful photos here are courtesy of my ski buddy Gerry.
Instagram REELS:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNffOj4SlkP/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DNkmd4ayDF9/
Travel & Ski Tips
Easiest travel is to fly directly into Queenstown. Wanaka is just an hour's drive north from Queenstown going up on the scenic Crown Range Road. On this mountain pass snow and ice can happen any time so carrying tyre chains is mandatory. Be sure you learn how to put on and remove the chains prior to the trip.
You could also book paid shuttle up the mountain from Queenstown or Wanaka, except you lose the freedom of be flexible with your timings and and not having a car for your after ski logistics and sight seeing etc. We would rather have the freedom of our own hire car. The drive up the mountain is on narrow unsealed switch backs - quite easily done on dry days but require patience and caution on snow covered or icy conditions.
The resort has a couple of Green runs coming off the MacDougall Chondola, but most or the rest are blue and red, and some black runs. The new Soho basin is mostly blue. Unfortunately due to lack of a good snow base, that area was not opened when we were there. The views are epic as attested by my ski buddy on the blue bird days while sadly I did not personally enjoy that on the first two white out days. There are two casual cafeterias and two more formal table service restaurants at the village centre. While very busy, you could usually somehow still find a couple of seats.
I could relate from first had experience that their on-mountain medical centre is quite professional and it was very busy when I had occasion to be be attended to in there.
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