SKI > Cardrona Ski Resort

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Cardrona Alpine Ski Resort is incredibly popular for all types of skiers because of the three spectacular basins that each offer a huge amount of terrain to explore. Combined with an innovative and highly modernised snow making system it opens up an enormous amount of terrain to ski, board and play.

Many resorts that state that they have vast skiable terrain, are actually only accessible with perfect snow conditions, sometimes only to expert skiers and often with out an easy return path. That is not the case with Cardrona, here you will find heaps to explore with the bulk of available terrain suiting the intermediate to advanced skier (while still offering excellent beginner facilities).

For those who like to go bump, Cardrona is home to the most extensive parks and pipes in the southern hemisphere!

Getting There

Cardrona is an easy forty minute drive from Queenstown (58 km) or twenty five from Wanaka (34 km). There are return buses from Queenstown as well. For those who don’t want to drive up to the top, you can park at the bottom and get the free shuttle bus to the lifts, this is a great option to avoid needing to fit chains when they are required!

What is it like to ski?

Cardrona has the best intermediate skiing with longer runs, more terrain and some crazy fun and that is before you get to the new ‘Willows’ region. Your first run (depending on if you park in the main resort or down at the valley view quad) is likely to be on McDougals Chondola. If the queues are not too bad you might want to do a fast starter and whip down ‘Racecourse’ to get your ski legs in before heading over to the Whitestar Express Quad, my preference is to get there over the top of Arcadia Basin, through the Arcadia Valley and the return (its a really nice cruisy run). As your ski legs settle in you might choose ‘Powder Keg’ to ‘Tail Race’ or ‘Mine Shaft’ and drop down to the Valley View Quad

The Captains Express offers some great opportunities to find fresh tracks after a storm and to carve through the Exhibition Bowl.

Village Facilities

There is no village on the mountain but there is a small amount accomodation and there are food outlets and a bar, ski hire and a retail store for those things you might have forgotten.

For everything else there is Queenstown or Wanaka.

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Where to Stay

You can stay at the Cardrona Base near the Cardrona Hotel or in the township of Wanaka. There are hotels, farm stays, lodges and even glamping in some very fancy geo domes.

It will depend a lot on where you want to spend most of your skiing, if you plan to visit wineries or do some sight seeing as well as to where is best to ski. If you are planning to ski ‘The Remarkables’ and Coronet Peak as well as Cardrona and potentially Treble Cone then you will probably prefer being based in Queenstown. If you are all about the steep and deep and don’t need lots of fancy restaurants and bars then Wanaka is a beautiful town with easy access to both Cardrona and Treble Cone.