Latest news with #TrebleCone
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.
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Queenstown open for skiing action on Saturday
It is not too shabby for an opening day. NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson says both The Remarkables and Coronet Peak will open as scheduled from 9am on Saturday, with the latter opening from top to bottom. At Coronet, all the beginner conveyor lifts, the Meadows Chair and Coronet Express would be in action — Rocky Gully and Green gates would not be open, "but we'll be looking to add those in as soon as we can stitch that together". At The Remarkables, the learners' conveyors, Alta and Curvey Basin would be open for action, with Sugar Bowl and Shadow Basin still to come, Mr Anderson said. "Our whole objective in getting both mountains open on the same day is to send a really, really strong signal to the market that ... Queenstown's open for business, and hopefully you see that switch flipped and the town gets busy very quickly." Mr Anderson said last weekend's perfectly timed snowfall had been supplemented by a huge amount of snowmaking, which he believed had been the longest period of snowmaking in Queenstown for a decade. "And the new guns we've got up there, they are just incredible." At The Remarkables, for example, the whales of snow from the guns were higher than the conveyor covers. "It just gives you an idea of the amount of snow they were belting out." He estimated Coronet was opening with between 60cm and 120cm on trail, and about 60cm at The Remarkables. "We're kind of expecting the locals to come out in force once they hear how good the on-trail skiing is ... It'll be nice to get a bit of a dump before school holidays, but with or without it, we're going to have a good school holidays, I can see that." Cardrona, which along with Treble Cone is owned by Queenstown-based company RealNZ, will also open on Saturday. Chief mountains officer Laura Hedley said thanks to an "incredible effort" from the snowmaking team, and some help from Mother Nature, the McDougall's Chondola and the learner conveyors would be spinning. Skiers and boarders would be able to access McDougalls' trail and the beginners' area from Saturday, while the North Face Cardrona parks crew would also put in a few features in McPark, the temporary early-season terrain park under McDougalls. "Our new base area building is nearing completion, and we are aiming to get our new Cardrona Corner retail shop open on Saturday, too," Ms Hedley said. To reflect the early season offering, Cardies day passes will be at early season rates until Whitestar Express opens. Treble Cone is scheduled to open on June 28.
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Open for skiing action on Saturday
It is not too shabby for an opening day. NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson says both The Remarkables and Coronet Peak will open as scheduled from 9am on Saturday, with the latter opening from top to bottom. At Coronet, all the beginner conveyor lifts, the Meadows Chair and Coronet Express would be in action — Rocky Gully and Green gates would not be open, "but we'll be looking to add those in as soon as we can stitch that together". At The Remarkables, the learners' conveyors, Alta and Curvey Basin would be open for action, with Sugar Bowl and Shadow Basin still to come, Mr Anderson said. "Our whole objective in getting both mountains open on the same day is to send a really, really strong signal to the market that ... Queenstown's open for business, and hopefully you see that switch flipped and the town gets busy very quickly." Mr Anderson said last weekend's perfectly timed snowfall had been supplemented by a huge amount of snowmaking, which he believed had been the longest period of snowmaking in Queenstown for a decade. "And the new guns we've got up there, they are just incredible." At The Remarkables, for example, the whales of snow from the guns were higher than the conveyor covers. "It just gives you an idea of the amount of snow they were belting out." He estimated Coronet was opening with between 60cm and 120cm on trail, and about 60cm at The Remarkables. "We're kind of expecting the locals to come out in force once they hear how good the on-trail skiing is ... It'll be nice to get a bit of a dump before school holidays, but with or without it, we're going to have a good school holidays, I can see that." Cardrona, which along with Treble Cone is owned by Queenstown-based company RealNZ, will also open on Saturday. Chief mountains officer Laura Hedley said thanks to an "incredible effort" from the snowmaking team, and some help from Mother Nature, the McDougall's Chondola and the learner conveyors would be spinning. Skiers and boarders would be able to access McDougalls' trail and the beginners' area from Saturday, while the North Face Cardrona parks crew would also put in a few features in McPark, the temporary early-season terrain park under McDougalls. "Our new base area building is nearing completion, and we are aiming to get our new Cardrona Corner retail shop open on Saturday, too," Ms Hedley said. To reflect the early season offering, Cardies day passes will be at early season rates until Whitestar Express opens. Treble Cone is scheduled to open on June 28.
Otago Daily Times
26-04-2025
- Climate
- Otago Daily Times
Upgrades entice more skiers as season start approaches
As the leaves change colour and the winds get colder, Wānaka skifields are preparing for another busy winter season. The first alpine snowfall in the region occurred last week and the area's ski resorts have been working hard to ensure they have sufficient capacity for the upcoming season. Cardrona and Treble Cone general manager Laura Hedley said numbers had been going up for a few years and the resort had had to make some changes to accommodate the increasing demand. One of the biggest changes skiers could expect this season was 60ha of new terrain with a new six-seater express lift in the Soho Basin. "The team have been working all summer, actually over the past two summers on that, and we've been doing some trail design, so it's a pretty amazing basin to open up." The upgrade came as increased interest in the resort pushed the limits of both staff and infrastructure. "So we actually put in capacity management over the last two years to manage a better guest experience" she said. The resort is also building a new food and beverage building and retail store to take the pressure off lifts in the main basin. Ms Hedley said they already had high numbers in the pre-bookings which she suspected was partly due to people's excitement over the new terrain. "Yeah, we're seeing good numbers in our pre-bookings ... but all we know is from the last two years managing that capacity we had more people than that before. "So there is an excess demand of people wanting to ski," she said. Although she was disappointed that the skifields would not be hosting the Winter Games this year, she said there were still several events and activities for skiers of varying levels to look forward to. For the more experienced skiers, the Josie Wells Invitational sees some of the world's best skiers coming to the Cardrona slopes to show off their skills Although the slopes are a haven for athletes, they are also open for school activities and family passes. Cardrona and Treble Cone are not the only ones hard at work to cater for an increase in skiers coming to Wānaka. Snow Farm has also highlighted the changes it has made over the last few years including their new Musterers Hut and infrastructure upgrades to better maintain their trails. To prepare for this year's snow season they are working on a new toilet block with the Queenstown Lakes District Council and introducing more robust water storage and solar electric systems.
