Coronet Peak gets 45cms of fresh snow

Over the week end Coronet Peak picked up 45cm of fresh snow and is back at it's best!

All the ski areas picked up something out of the storm and August is looking like its going to continue as a snow month, now is a good time to come to Queenstown for your winter blast on the slopes. September should shape up great too.



Skiing or snowboarding in Queenstown, New Zealand is a little different from most snow resorts around the world. The thing that really stands out apart from the spectacular scenery is that the valley floor is not covered in snow during the winter apart from the odd snow fall that blankets the valley. This means that on any given day you can ski or snowboard in the morning and 20 minutes later be teeing off for a round on one of the many fine golf courses in the Wakatipu Basin. If golf is not your thing then Queenstown offers a variety of other off snow activities that may be more associated with the summer season, fishing, parasailing, bungy jumping, parapente, jet boat rides, rafting and many, many more.



The Wakatipu Basin is home to 5 ski areas, Coronet Peak and The Remarkables near Queenstown and Treble Cone and Cardrona which are closer to the town of Wanaka, about 1:15 hrs drive from Queenstown. Just across the valley from Cardrona is the Snow Park which is home to one of the most impressive Park and Pipe facilities in the world. They also cater to cross country skiers. For the wicked work out you can test your self on a biathlon course, ski – shoot – ski.

The NZSKI areas operate a great bus service from Queenstown to Coronet Peak and free shuttles to the Remarkables. If you are in Queenstown you can get away with not hiring a vehicle although it is handy if you want to go explore some of the other options in the area.

All the ski areas or to be politically correct these days, snow sports areas, offer very different experiences. Between them they most certainly look after the wants and desires of almost all the different wishes a snow sports participant could ask for. But if that is not enough the heli skiing in the region is world class, especially if you get on a Clarke glacier day with Southern Lakes Heli Ski – out of this world! About the only thing I can think that is missing is the lack of tree skiing. All the ski areas are above the native tree line, and introduced species are black listed above the snow line.



The accommodation and eating options are next to endless in Queenstown and are pretty good over the hill in Wanaka too. Fine dinners might want to check out The Bunker in Queenstown. Fergberger offers one of the best casual meals going. For a relaxing day check out Dart River Safaris, make sure it’s a fine day and grab a feed in the GY Cafe while you are there.

Wine buffs will love to taste the most southern pinots in the world, grabbing a wine tour or better still a limo to investigate the delights of the Gibbston Valley, especially good after a wee ski at Coronet Peak in the morning and taking full enjoyment an early tracks pass.

A good time to visit is usually around Aug/Sept for the best snow and avoiding the school holidays. This place is just one big playground!

Make sure to book me for your private ski lessons while you are here enjoying the snow in Queenstown

Natural snowfall hits Queenstown ski areas

After a month of fine weather the weather patterns have changed and the snow has arrived with Coronet Peak getting 12cms overnight and 10cm at the Remarkables. It has continued to snow in the ski areas this morning and they have picked up another 10 or so.

Coronet Peak has had amazing skiing even with the lack of snow over the last month due to the fantastic snow making system with great chalky snow to ski on. Perfect for the NZ schools holidays. Now they have finished it was the perfect time to get some natural snow. It looks like we should get some more later this week on Thursday with another front coming in. My bet is we will now see quite regular snow falls throughout the end of July and August. For those of you heading to Queenstown for some skiing or snowboarding action the next month should be awesome.

The heli skiing is going to be excellent through August so make sure you book with Southern Lakes Heli Ski for your big day out in the mountains.

Ski Tip - approx 25% of your overall body mass is in your arms and hands, make sure you carry them in front of you. You should be able to see your hands at all times while looking straight ahead. If you can't see you hands they are not in the right position and you will tend to have your weight move to far back.

Driving Tip - Make sure you carry chains in your vehicle and know how to put them on. Drive to the conditions!

Heli day in the Southern Lakes

Took a group of 10 for a private charter heli skiing day and worked as the second guide. Give the grey sky to the north we flew southwest from Queenstown to stay in the blue sky and sunshine and went in behind Walter Peak and down towards the Western Eyres. 8 runs with 6 on corn snow and the last 2 found a high true southerly shot which had about 5 fresh light and dry to about 1/2 way down (400 meters vert) before changing into a hard rain crust. All in all given the conditions it was a great day our with this group and they throughly enjoyed their first heli skiing experience in very moderate terrain and of course and excellent lunch with lovely surrounds. The silence out there is deafening - what a nice change!

Given the base out there right now with one more good size fall and then some top ups there will be some great heli skiing this season. C U out there!