Best New Zealand Ski Resort/Mountain???

K

keithskibum

Member
What would be your recommendation for a ski resort/mountain in New Zealand because I was thinking about becoming a ski instructor after High School in two years and I wanted to know what the better mountains are (better ski terrain and more instructor friendly). So any replies would be appreciated.
 
Definatly not my home mountain... Mount Ruapehu in NZs North Island... Icy as fuck!

South Island is were the best resorts are, as well as the better pow and terrain parks.... Snowpark is pretty much a giant terrain park, so I dont think you would be able to get a job as a instructor there unles you coach freestyle?

Cardrona is probly the best, with both park and terrain.... Have a look at the winter of wells edits that Jossi Wells has been making, he usually skis cardrona and snowpark....
 
I'm from Colorado but i've been living in Queenstown NZ for the last couple of months and the two mountains close to here that i've skied are Coronet Peak and The Remarkables (25 days between the two so far). Neither peak is exactly huge, you can go top to bottom in about a minute or two if you're hauling ass. We just started getting dumped on with some snow (relatively) and i'm told this is about as good as it gets for here. We've had a few days with 10cm+ and they call them "powder days" actually. Dont expect knee deep unless you went heli skiing but it still can be pretty fun and ya it feels like you're skiing ok powder atleast. Coronet has really nice facilities and seems like it would be a pretty decent place to teach, but the terrain isn't very challenging. There's also no trees AT ALL so with not a ton of powder, no trees to ski, not really challenging terrain, oh ya, and no terrain park at all, I prefer to ski Remarkables. Remarks has a pretty solid couple of terrain parks (not gonna rival keystone, breck, vail, beave....mountains i'm used to) so other than hiking some pretty fun lines there I spend literally all my time riding park. Im not generally a park rat either, in CO i ski probably 40% of my time in the park vs 90%+ here. I've heard good things about Cardrona and Treble Cone, the powder there is supposed to be better and there is a bigger diversity of terrain I think. That's my experience with NZ so far, id like to get up to snow park for a day cause ya it's just a massive terrain park and sounds like fun, Cardrona should be dope too since their hosting a big comp there this year.
 
For the most instructor friendly resorts I would definitely have to recommend Cardrona or Coronet peak.

I dont ride much at Coronet peak but cardrona is definitely a good resort, they get decent snow and have a pretty good park. I don't really like the rail setup at cardrona that much, but they have sick jumps.

To the guy above, I enjoyed a knee deep day at cardrona yesterday and a 15cm night riding sesh at snowpark on friday :) Another storm coming through tonight!

Peace.
 
^

I'm jealous as shit...i gotta get up to wanaka or further north for some better skiing, snow isnt super dry down here and with the wind it packs down so fast. Watch out for that BC, it's eating people up, someone died out of bounds at Coronet yesterday. I'm going nuts just lapping remarks' park and the avy conditions are too sketchy outside. I long for the CO pow pow.
 
I just moved to NZ for a semester of school, and skiing is essentially what I want to do haha. Thus far I have been to Treble Cone and Cardrona. Personally, I prefer Cardrona because the terrain is more varied and it has a really fun park whereas TC has no park pretty much. I am from BC so the terrain down here does not really compare at all, at either resort, but they are still tonnes of fun to ski. My one recommendation based on what others have told me is to stay on the south island. Coronet, Remarks and Mt. Hutt are others that I have heard about, but cannot offer personal opinions. good luck with the adventure.
 
Hey i've lived in Wanaka most of my life and it really depends on the type of skiing.

For terrain and powder and big mtn skiing, treble cone(wanaka) is THE best mountain in NZ without a doubt. Huge advanced terrain, not busy, and just super fun to ski at. Heap of good big mtn skiers there, and over in the saddle no problems with bad skiers getting in the way. Apart from park skiing, my favourite resort in NZ by FAR. www.treblecone.co.nz

Cardrona (in wanaka too) is ok, would be a good resort to teach at but pretty mellow/boring terrain compared to TC, but it pretty good for all around as its got a good park,pipe,some steeps and lines and groomers too.

Remarkables (queenstown) is also sick.A lot like cardrona, not nearly as good as TC in terms of terrain, but has good all around. Decent park,ok steeps ect. www.nzski.co.nz

Coronet (queenstown)- I'd avoid. Average terrain, park, its low,,bad snow, busy...

Snow Park- I know you can't teach there but definitely sick to check out. Im sure u know plenty about it

Clubbies(cheeseman, craigieburn,broken river,porters,mt potts...) in canterbury are all super sick. Generally no park but knarly as terrain and SUPER quiet. Check chillout.co.nz

Ohau- almost a clubbie, near canterbury sick terrain. Small. Chill

Oh and btw all these are in the south island. Wanaka and queenstown are close together in the tourist center i guess you would say.Canterbury is a fwe hours north. Those are the two areas i would look at mainly- def get the best snow, atmosphere and vibe.

For theski/party life Wanaka/Queenstown for sure.

Want any more info on NZ feel free to PM me
 
if you're interested in skiing park then apparently cardrona this year is a fair bit better than remarkables and even snow park right now. ive been skiing remarks for the last 6 weeks and it doesnt look like the weather is gonna get any better before i leave, So we might not be able to check out cardrona
 
Keep in mind that if your considering coronet or any of the other queenstown fields, that rent and living costs are pretty huge. Wherever you go in the south island, you'll have a great time. There's no such thing as a crap field down here, just depends what you like.
 
What you need to know about NZ is that you don't live/sleep at the ski resort, but down below at lake level. The good thing about this is, wherever you stay, you have access to several mountains. For example:

If you stay in Wanaka you generally ride Treblecone, Snowpark and Cardrona.

If you stay in Queenstown you generally ride Remarkables and Coronet Peak.

From this point of view, in my opinion, Wanaka is the best place to be in New Zealand.
 
If you can get hooked up with a job at the club fields in Canterbury that would be the way to go. Craigieburn, Broken River, Olympus, Temple are all amazing, no crowds (usually bout 40 people on the hill), great powder and awesome backcountry.

No parks tho haha

Heres some stoke from my trip a couple of weeks ago

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Some good advice here. TC def has the best terrain. Some really cool stuff. It kinda sucks when the snow is not good though. Cardrona has real good park and some decent steeps but everything is so short. I would say the way to go is work at Cardrona and ski at TC on the few really good days. As said above the Club fields are also worth checking out but im not sure if you would want to spend a whole season. Keep in mind getting and instructor job is very hard here.
 
fuck wanna ski a clubbie so bad.... although i skied there ages ago Cardrona seemed to be the best all rounded area (getting there from Queenstown was a bit of a bitch though).

I heard the Remarks have put alot in trying to improve their park scene? what would be the best park area out of Queenstown if u weren't to go to Wanaka for Snowpark?

 
I looked into going over there to teach as well, I believe to transfer over there for a season they hire at PSIA level III...so thats at least 3 seasons of teaching and passing exams if you are a really good skier and can ski how they want you to ski...maybe it's different and you are actually living over there idk, I didn't call and ask...I may be doing it soon as well...it sounds like at some of the mountains they have great freestyle training programs and need lots of coaches.
 
hell yeah i was born in new zealand. but i haven skied there yet... i think im going to next new zealand ski season.. i was born in mount monginui on the north island.. aswome place... but no snow not to many great places on the north
 
Ok I'm a ski instructor myself and although it might seem really easy like oh yeah ill just go work down under for the summer, its not as easy as you first think.

First of all the resorts are really small therefore not employing that many people. This allows them to be really picky about who they choose. Priority is given to those with higher qualifications for example Treble Cone makes you go through a hiring clinic if your not ISIA or CSIA level 3. Also you need to have a visa, a lot of these visas are one hit wonders (to work) so you will need a written job offer ( can be very hard to get ) after your one chance is gone.

Its definitely do-able if you want but its gonna be harder than it seems, you pretty much need ISIA standard (if your from America that's PSIA Level 3), you can try and get a job with less qualifications but it will certainly help. People get in, and I got a place on the hiring clinic at TC but couldn't go because of my knee. but you'll need a lot of luck. There's always gonna be a lot of highly qulaified dudes going down so the job opportunity pool is a lot smaller.

Resorts wise though there are: Cardrona, Treble Cone, (Snowpark - cant instruct here really), Mt Hutt, Remarkables, Coronet Peak, Reaupeahu (sp?) with the ones in Wanaka being better choices. Theres also ones in Australia like Perisher and Mt Hotham as well.

This is mostly my own knowledge that Iv gathered myself and from people who have gone there and done seasons etc etc hope I havnt put you off just I remember thinking before training and finding jobs etc that It would be wonderfull and easy and the reality is not. Still a fucking sick profession just not as easy as it seems.

Hope that helped, anything else you wanna ask hit me up. Peace
 
snowpark is 5 runs of all park and a pipe but a good place is Cardrona. not too many people, great snow, pretty good park, plenty of runs.
 
most instructor friendly resort is cardrona... hands down

cardrona has the best park, better than snow park, good vibes.. and also places to ski when it snows...they hold the jr national big mountain comp there, so there are places to find lines

remarkables has just stepped up their park in the last week, its looking good, the locals are digging it...sorry to one of the 1st posters saying its no keystone, but this is nz, this is how we roll

treble cone is my home mountain... best terrain in nz, shitty little park, but who cares...the instructors digg it there, they get to ski the most powder and best terrain all season.... usually, however its the worst place to instruct, but theres new managment this season, and so far, tc has really stepped up their game so in 2 years i think it will be really instructor friendly place

this is a pic of tc base cafe this morning (likely fail)

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pm me for more info

 
^TC for the win! But yeah i'd agree with everything there. If it was me, i'd try get a job instructing at cardrona and ski TC on my days off. Instructors get awesome deals on day passes at other resorts, but its just as easy to ride someone elses season pass too
 
Gotta thank you guys for all of the replies, I'm so stoked to go ski NZ after High School and want it to be over, but I think I got an idea where to teach in NZ. Thanks.
 
Remarks park is pretty fun. I know I said it isn't like the CO parks but i was really surprised by how nice it is. Hopefully they'll have their half pipe open next week, they got a few pretty big jumps though. They are changing it up pretty actively which is always nice...they had a slopestyle comp there a week or so ago and people were throwin down. Not a ton of skiers but saw a pretty steezy switch 10 and a guy throwin' 7s on his teles is always entertaining. Way more boarders huckin but it was good to see some local talent.
 
dhogg sumed it up, cardies i grand but when it snows treble cone is the only place to be. which given it has snowed almost 3ft up there already this week is now. Coming skiing Dave?
 
TC is so sweet! i have been up here for 3 days and skied at least 10cm of fresh everyday! so sick! i bet it would be a good place to work also everybody up there is really nice.
 
Blake? Yeah man can't wait! This weekends gonna be epic. I'm gonna leave thurs night. Working on sussing TC pass too.
 
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