Latest news with #CardronaAlpineResort
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Soho Basin at Cardrona not ready yet due to lack of snow
Part of the Cardrona Alpine Resort near Wanaka which was due to open on Saturday. Photo: RNZ/Katie Todd A major expansion at Cardrona Alpine Resort will not open as hoped on Saturday as the wait continues for more snow. The Soho Basin boosts Cardrona's total footprint by a quarter with a new high speed lift, making it the biggest ski area in the country. The new terrain was meant to be officially opened on Saturday - the first day of the school holidays, but the ceremony has been postponed until Sunday due to a weather front. The ceremony would involve a lift blessing, formal welcome from Kāi Tahu, speeches, ribbon cutting and kapa haka performance before live music at Cardrona's base. Cardrona Alpine Resort said skiers and snowboarders unfortunately would not be able to test the slopes after the ceremony as they needed to wait a bit longer for Mother Nature to do her thing. Cardrona's main slopes opened earlier this month. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
22-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Major Cardrona Alpine Resort expansion almost ready to open
Shimmering high on the Queenstown horizon, an expansive off-map ski basin that, for years, existed only in whispers and long-term plans is finally ready to be revealed. Skiers and snowboards were praying the snow gods delivered in time for Cardrona Alpine Resort's planned opening of Soho Basin on 28 June, marking the culmination of years of painstaking planning and tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure investment. Cardrona and Treble Cone chief mountains officer Laura Hedley said the project had involved technical backcountry building work, helicopter missions and meticulous tussock replanting. "We don't often get to open up new terrain in New Zealand, so we are so excited about being able to open this up to our guests, let them explore a bit more of these beautiful mountains," she said. Chief mountains officer for Cardrona and Treble Cone Laura Hedley. Photo: Supplied The basin was tucked over the ridge from Cardrona's main slopes, high on the Queenstown horizon on a south-facing aspect. Punctuated by rocks and ridgelines, Soho Basin expanded Cardrona's total footprint by a quarter, making it the biggest ski area in the country. Hedley said it would mostly cater to intermediate and advanced riders. "It's really rolly and playful," she said. "We tried to keep it as natural as possible, because the terrain itself is amazing. "People will have this experience where they go basin to basin. You can get from Soho Basin to Captain's Basin, then across to the main basin. "You'll be able to ski in different places, eat in different places - it's going to feel like a whole different resort." Soho Basin's new high-speed, six-seater, 1.2 km chairlift. Photo: Supplied Planning for Soho Basin began in 2015, followed by a 2018 agreement to use land owned by Land Information New Zealand. A new high-speed, six-seater, 1.2km chairlift called Soho Express took two years to build, with towers brought in by a Black Hawk helicopter, because there was no road access. As the area was landscaped, Hedley said staff tried to leave the smallest possible mark on the environment. "We made sure that every time we took out a tussock, we replanted it," she said. Soho Basin's new high-speed, six-seater, 1.2 km chairlift. Photo: Supplied The project had driven development across the rest of the mountain, including a new T-bar ski lift, retail store and noodle bar, Hedley said. "We needed to make sure we had enough carparks, enough food and beverage seating, that our rentals [facility] was upgraded, that our infrastructure was upgraded," she said. "We've had some challenges. We didn't get every consent we wanted in time and that's okay. "It's a multi-year project, so things like the water reservoir for snowmaking, we'll do next year, but we do have the infrastructure in place already and we do have snow guns on. "We haven't quite finished yet, but this is definitely the big one." Cardrona's main slopes opened on 14 June. Photo: Supplied Along with snow guns, signage and a new ski patrol hut, staff had settled on eight names for new runs, including Sunny Side, Snow Farmer and Showtime. Ski patroller Shane Adams said staff started preparing the area for public access last year. "The snow safety specialists got to come in, and did quite a lot of work to look for avalanche paths and build their avalanche atlas, and all those sorts of things, which is really cool," he said. Adams said he recalled a lot of talk about the ski area one day expanding over the mountain, when he worked at Cardrona in 2015. "To be back here again and actually have that happen is pretty cool. I'm pretty excited," he said. Soho Basin could open at the start of school holidays, if snow coverage improved. Skier Sam Redwood was already eyeing up the possibilities. "I don't want to give away too many secrets, but I know some spots," he said. "My mate's been scoping out some really good lines down it and I'm really keen to hit those." Long-time Cardrona skier Will Murrell was also looking forward to trying out Soho's slopes. "The thought of a bunch of new stuff here is just awesome," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
19-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Major Cardrona expansion almost ready to open
It has been 10 years and tens of millions of dollars in the making, now Cardrona Alpine Resort is set to show off a whole new side of the mountain. Skiers, snowboarders and the resort's staff are rejoicing as the major expansion into Soho Basin is almost ready to ride. Otago Southland Reporter Katie Todd went up for a look. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
31-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Countdown on for 2025 ski season as first operators begin to open doors
Mt Hutt is not ruling out opening next weekend if conditions play ball. Photo: NICOLE HAWKE The countdown is on for the 2025 ski season with a North Island ski field opting for a soft launch this weekend while snow guns are blazing down in the south. Staffing and accommodation shortages have hampered ski fields in recent years, but operators said their luck had turned around and scores of people had applied to work on the slopes. Nestled on Mount Ruapehu, Tūroa Ski Area was ready to open its cafes and offer snow play and sightseeing on Saturday. Chief executive Jono Dean said people could enjoy a day in the snow before the snow bunnies started hitting the slopes next month. "There's a little bit of snow in and around bottom of the mountain just in the base area, which is really exciting and it's a good precursor to what we think is coming next week, which looks like a nice, healthy storm to get the snow off and running for 2025," he said. "As we start to snow on the ground and snow on the forecast, we'll be progressively opening lifts and facilities over the coming month of June and we anticipate readiness for the 28th of June and the start of the school holidays." The ski area had almost 1200 applicants for 200-250 jobs and was fully staffed. "It's actually a real blessing against previous years where we have really struggled in our part of the world for availability of staffing and, of course, skilled staffing," he said. In the South Island, Cardrona Alpine Resort's new Soho Express chairlift opens this season, offering 150 hectares of new terrain. Cardrona and Treble Cone Experiences general manager Laura Hedley said they had been hard at work over the warmer months to get the ski fields ready. Speaking on Friday afternoon with snow falling outside her window, she was feeling positive for the season ahead, especially with a strong group of staff - half of whom were returnees. There was less pressure on finding accommodation as they had a 120-bed backpackers they renovated about three years ago to fall back on and rentals were not quite as hard to come by, she said. "We've got staff, they've got good accommodation and we've got all these upgrades. I'm touching wood that it's going to be a good season and that mother nature comes and helps us as well." Mt Hutt was expected to lead the charge and open its slopes on Saturday after receiving more than a metre of snow in April. NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson earlier said he was pretty confident it would stick around but those hopes were dashed by nor-wester winds. "The snow around the base area just wasn't enough to get access to the lifts so we wanted to give it every chance and we threw everything at it but that early season snow can disappear early," he said. Anderson was not ruling out opening next weekend if the conditions played ball, but said Mt Hutt could always fall back to its original opening date of 13 June. Further south around Queenstown, the picture was not looking so promising earlier in the week, but he said some good wintry weather had settled in so it could crack on with snowmaking. NZSki had invested in three new groomers, about $750,000 on improving its rental equipment, more 4WD buses in Queenstown and about a million dollars spent on snowmaking across the mountains, Anderson said. After a bumpy few years for staffing, it had a record staff return rate and plenty of newcomers which he put down to people feeling more confident travelling here with memories of border closures fading and tougher economic times meaning more people were looking for work. NZSki had previously taken the plunge into accommodation, buying a hostel and offering just under 100 beds. It had also built apartments for staff and planned to build another 12 in the coming years, he said. He believed some landlords might be getting tired of offering short term rentals and putting them back onto a fixed tenancy basis, which had also eased the pressure. Looking at the forward bookings, the Queenstown slopes were getting plenty of aroha from locals and Australians, he said. The Remarkables celebrates its 40th birthday this year, and Paul Anderson said there would be a 1980s themed party in late spring so people should prepare their perms, straight skis and retro ski suits. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
