New Zealand

Beach

Beach

Member
So I didn't get much skiing in this winter and am going to try and make up for it this summer in New Zealand. I'm definitely going to the South Island and probably head to Wanaka rather than Queenstown, partly because of location and it being easier to get jobs. I am just about to buy my season passes and trying to decide which mountains to go for.
I am definitely going to get a Snow Park pass for park, but am thinking about getting a pass for Treble Cone for more big mountain skiing for when it snows.
I know this isn't that much of a question but was hoping someone could give me some advice that have had more experience skiing in NZ. Any help would be much appreciated before shelling out on a season pass.
 
About getting jobs, I don't know what nationality you are but you should definately check to see whether you need to get a working holiday permit.
 
I'm from the UK so shouldn't have an problems getting an Open Work Visa as they have an unlimited number available and shouldn't take more than a couple of months to process, but should be a lot quicker. But probably should sort that soon. Thanks.
 
All the snow falls in Canterbury. Cool scene down south but the snow sucks. Clubbies and Heli is where it's at.
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Snowpark isnt selling season passes this year sadly... Only doing day passes because there in quiet a bit of financial trouble... But Cardies should have a nice park and Remarkables park should be sick this year. so wheather you want to change you base to Queenstown idk... Hope that helps!
 
I spent 3 weeks in NZ this summer, skied for two. SOOO MUCH FUN

We lived in Queenstown (it was kinda like a teen tour except not at all). Queenstown is really fun, i loved it, its beautiful and very fun. The only mountain we skied there was the Remarkables, coronet wasnt even worth it. The remarks is soooo much fun. no lines, the parks are really fun, i learned a ton there. They also have The Stash which is awesome. They also have a lift that takes your right to a cat track with access to also BC skiing as well as a ton more hiking.

Wanaka was about an hour away. Wanaka is also cool. You have Snowpark, TC, and Cardrona. Snowpark is self explainable. Im not sure if im remembering this correctly, but Treble Cone is really fun but also big. lots of hiking. I was there twice. The first time the snow was pretty good. me and a friend did some hiking and built a little kicker into some pow and it was very fun. The second time there was not a lot of snow, they kinda got owned. Also, be careful for the Kias, or mountain parrots. Those little bastards ate away at the rubber inbetween panals on our car and actually ate some of the rubber on the ski rack. they eat everything around the lunch tables too. (http://image61.webshots.com/161/3/39/40/514833940ANQDpp_ph.jpg)

Cardrona was HUGE and pretty crowded. There is a very big park, but there are also a ton of people (especially asians down cuz their season is over) so its reallllllyyyy crowded. I went there on a day when the fog was so bad, you couldnt see 5 feet infront of you. i litterally had to folllow a fence to get down the mountain or else i would have died. I didnt really get a lot of good skiing in because of the crowds and fog.

The Remarks was my over all favorite mountain. we skied there the most cuz it was close and not crowded. They basically have 3 parks. One with a lot of rails and what not (nothing technical though), The other has a bunch of kickers and a few rails. finally you have the stash which is a ton of fun. The lift to the BC access is great. We skied there on a great pow day and not having to hike (cuz im from the EC so im not used to it) was awesome. got fresh turns on open lines (no trees), hit a couple little cliffs and had fun. once that was skied off, i did a little hiking and found open untrouched lines once again. i just had a ton of fun there. my leaders were also doing some skinning and get some reallll BC runs

have a good time, and bring a camera for sure
 
yeah son you got it pretty spot on, i lol'd pretty hard about the kia's, im surprised you didnt like them, the asians go nuts over them..

heres my input, i live in queenstown, but go to uni in christchurch, in the winter i will drive 4 hours each weekend for 4 days to be in WANAKA. i dont go near queenstown. Wanaka has an amazing vibe to it, everyones chill and everyones stoked to be in the mountains.... queenstowns mixed, you got skiers and you also got a shit load of straight tourists, i dont like it, i wont go home much at all....

Hes right about the remarks, they're pretty sick, its an underated mountain, especially for its park.. Cardrona has a sick park, but like he said is mad crowded, and the rest of the skiing is fairly boring (for jr nationals we skied the most technical lines on cardies, and the 12and under kids skied the same shit)... its not that advanced....

Treble cone-thats my hill, ill be up there so come shred :}, ill show you were my secret stashes are... ive skied there all my life, we traveled to wanaka for skiing before we moved to qtown, and now we have a house in qtown, i didnt wana leave treble cone... ITs the highest elevation of the hills around, so it gets more snow, its a ton steeper, has an infinite amount of cliffs and shoots, has wicked patrolled bc, no ques, stoke factor, killer facilities, its just rad... they even set up a little rail park mid winter...

but yeah, didnt mean to drag this on, the above post summed up well... PM me if you need any help, im going to set up a thread about helping people out who are coming to nz this winter
 
Far better resonse than I was hoping for, thanks, +++karma...
Sounds like Wanaka is where it is going to be then, Treble Cone when the snow is good, failing that Snow Park...not a bad alternative. Really appreciate the advice.
Does anyone know whether Snow Park is likely to remain open for the whole season?

 
yeah man, they generally open 1st, and are one of the later ones to close, although they all close around the same time coz theres no one around
 
i have been looking all around for study abroad programs where i could take regular classes in wanaka (previous to this thread).now i know that the skiing is good near queenstown so that could also be a possibility.does anyone have information on any program similar to this.ideally i would like to be able to ski pretty often, and get college credit for like general education classes or basically anything i need to graduate.
 
I dunno man... I was lookin into applyin at snowpark this season but they got a real crappy system for it. You need to apply for the visa and IRD number (social security/national insurance equivalent) before you can even apply for a job. Kinda gay...
 
Hey guys, im from the UK and heading to NZ as well. Got my VISA already and have applied for jobs at Cardrona and TC.

Will be going at the start of June if anyone is interested? I think the buddy i was going to be going out with is not going to go anymore but i still wanna head out.

Ill be living in Wanaka and hopefully spending 3 months out there, i dunno if anyone has a similar plan and wants to kind of head out for the same thing? Im not trying to make this a hook-up thread but maybe someone wants to.

Visa was easy and cost about 50 quid, i got it 2 weeks later and yes you do need it to apply for jobs. Jobs for TC can be applied for online which is what i did last week. And if you get a job on the hill its a free pass which is sweet.

Anyway PM me or something. Would be ace to head out with some NS guys from the UK.
 
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