Ski or Snowboard Wanaka New Zealand                              

Page updated: 23 July 2010

TC All Set to Go!
Opening day is upon us and our chance to kick off the Wanaka season this Thursday. Warmer weather over the last week has seen the snow settle and thin out in the lower mountain however good work by the snow making crew has ensured opening. We will open with the Learners lifts and the Six seater express in the Home Basin. With Upper Main St flowing down Easy Rider to base. Early season conditions dominate Off piste and care should be taken. More snow is expected tonight which will hopefully improve conditions a bit.

The cafe will be open and in a staff testing yesterday it scored very well, so be sure to try it out on Thursday. Rental also had a run through using the staff – as did Snow sports school. They will both be open and lessons will be going out for all ages and abilities.

Special treats for Opening Day include Amisfield bubbles in the courtyard at 1pm. Amisfield’s generosity should ensure enough for all comers. Alongside this we will have ‘Windblown’ a local 3 piece band entertaining – aptly named for a mountain performance. The biggest treat will be the AirBag. And I mean BIG in a physical sense as well as what you can do on it. Set up at base it will be free to use to Treble Cone skiers and boarders from noon till three. A soft landing guaranteed no matter what your form in the air! For those for whom the scale and height may be off putting I can guarantee you will be well entertained by the ‘flying circus’ which I expect the Airbag to create.

Season Pass holders a couple of key benefits you need to be aware of. First up this Sunday will be the first of our Season pass holder benefit days in the cafe with $2 hot drinks all day (coffee and the like) not including extras eg, Soy, decaf or extra shots. Also your season pass gives you reciprocal deals on lift passes at Ohau and Snow Park this year so be sure to take your pass with you if you go visiting.

Cardrona Goes big

Cardrona ski resort near Wanaka and Queenstown has announced a new and exciting development will be operational for the 2010 season. Cardrona long renowned for a reliable and high quality snow pack has move the old captains quad chair onto the front of the ski field. This opens up a whole new area of terrain and increases Cardrona's vertical drop to an impressive 600m (from 390). You can find out more about this new Valley view quad by following this link. This development pushes Cardrona close to being one of New Zealand's best ski and ride resorts.



2010 Opening Dates

Welcome to the 2010 autumn. We have our regular updates coming soon, in the meantime, we have updated the provisional opening dates below. We expect the season to be a good one! Watch this space.

Local ski areas 2010 season, snow conditions. Cardrona - Renowned for Superb snow Depending on road conditions about 40 mins from Wanaka Status: Open for season Snowbase:45-80cm excellent skiing and riding ski vote & profile Snow report Treble Cone- Beeeg mountain 30 minutes from Wanaka Status:Open for season Snowbase: 55-83cm great winter snow ski vote & profile Snow report SnowFarm- Cross country Nordic field 35 km from Wanaka and 55 km from Queenstown. Status: Open for season Snowbase:trails in great condition ski vote & profile Snow report Snow Park- New School 35 km from Wanaka and 55 km from Queenstown. Status: Open for season Snowbase:great coverage whole mountain ski vote & profile Snow report Snow Park and Cardrona both offer excellent terrain features for the board heads

Wanaka paradise in central Otago Wanaka New Zealand is a picturesque holiday resort in the South Island of New Zealand. Its central Otago location make it an ideal place to base yourself as a less commercial alternative to Queenstown (although this is rapidly changing). If you want to ski or snowboard Wanaka you can enjoy some of New Zealand's best ski fields within a short driving distance. Including the world first Snow Park and snow area dedicated to the new school. Cardrona offers great snow and Treble Cone well there is some serious terrain up there. Get some amplitude at Snow Park!

Mt Aspiring near Wanaka is a spiritual place

Copyright Peter Laurenson.