Trip Report
Blue skies and winter conditions…can you ask for anything more?
Cardrona, New Zealand – August 15th, 2018
In mid-August 2018, a family from California descended upon a lovely ski field on the South Island of New Zealand. Cardrona, in a nutshell, is a ski resort with impeccable views, cruising piste runs, mammoth terrain parks, steeps, open bowls and so, quite literally, terrain for the entire family.
On this day, we were met by gorgeous blue skies, new snow and had a blast skiing virtually every aspect of the ski field. With kids in tow, we warmed up on the Captain’s lift and slowly checked off new terrain from Tulips, to Valley View to even a few laps in the Arcadia Chutes. We found everything from untouched powder to perfect corduroy and even a few decent cliffs for dad to leap off.
We topped off the day with some pizza, beers for the parents and skied down Skyline all the way to the carpark. Even if dad coasted on fumes all the way to Wanaka to refuel the rental car, it was a day to remember.
And don’t forget that they are adding a new chairlift and additional terrain in 2019 with The Pringles Chairlift.
The Pringles install takes Cardrona’s skiable terrain for Winter 2019 to 400ha. Once the Soho development goes in we’ll more than double that terrain to 900ha total – NZ’s largest single commercial ski area.
 Back to the day at hand…
McDougall’s Gondola was a new addition for this season…
Not a bad day up on the mountain…
The main lodge clock tower is pretty iconic in these parts…
For my 7 year old, it was her first time to Cardrona and she couldn’t have picked a better day…
Not a bad view looking down the valley to Queenstown…
Need to hit a terrain park in NZ? Then you found the right place…
My older son got the day started by heading down All Nations down to Whitestar…
A few more turns before we end up doing it again…
Here’s a better view of the jump line…
Up above Whitestar, dad found some fresh snow…
A short hike above Whitestar leads you to some fun terrain…
On our way to Captains Basin, we found Powder Keg to be groomed quite nicely…
Conditions were primo for taking some fast laps…
Did I mention the Southern Alps views from the summit?
The kids found some powder to play in…
Captains Basin has terrain for the whole family…
We took a few laps around the Tulips Zone and dad found some steep terrain…
Searching for pow in the Southern Hemisphere…
Young Americans and Kiwis get along just fine…
There’s also plenty of mini-golf lines to keep you busy…
My daughter had no problem finding the goods (for a 7 year old that is)…
Just another peaceful lunch with the kids…
Next up was some laps in the Arcadia Chutes…
If you are looking for some steep terrain variety, make sure you visit all aspects of Arcadia Chutes…
We found great winter conditions and steeper pitches…
So much fun to be had yet so little time…
And with that, time to head to the car and hope we have enough fuel to make it to a gas station…
See you next year Cardrona!
