cardrona
The Southern Lakes ski fields are
superb. One in particular has wonderful, safe, open terrain that
puts it in a category of the best family ski fields in the world.
Cardrona is a top shelf skiing and boarding experience, and
everyone can have a great time here. Introduce a beginner to
these smooth rolling slopes and after several days of lessons,
they will be able to enjoy skiing the whole mountain, including
the Grand Traverse across all three gently undulating
basins.
The field is remarkably versatile. It has an established
reputation as family-orientated, and also has steep runs that
attract expert skiers. The Arcadia Basin offers some serious
chute skiing and boarding straight off the double chair lift.
Over 20 national and international skiing and snowboarding events
are held here each year.
Cardrona has a June to October season, and its snow ratings are
25% beginner, 55% intermediate and 20% advanced. Lifting capacity
over its 320 hectares of skiable slopes is a massive 6,500 people
per hour, provided by 2 quad chairs, 1 double chair, 3 magic
carpets and 1 platter lift for learners. Full ski, snowboard and
clothing hire is available on the mountain.
The field is 25 km from Wanaka and 57 km from Queenstown. The 12
km access road is unsealed. Shuttle buses run from both towns
during the season. The base facilities at Cardrona are
world-class, with three cafeterias, child care, rental/workshop
centre, snow shop and on-snow apartments. The slopes contain New
Zealands leading superpark of four half-pipes, a 900 metre
parallel terrain park and rail playground, plus a permanent
Gravitycross course.
The Cardrona Alpine Resort bills itself as higher, dryer and
naturally better. The higher altitude means good snow
falls, and fresh powder days are quite frequent. The field is
also synonymous with quality and high standards.
For families, individual skiers and boarders Cardrona delivers so
much that words cant do it justice. It simply
rocks!
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