Wanaka, New Zealand (Thursday, May 20, 2004) - A new high-speed detachable quad chair, an extended terrain park and increased facilities at the Children’s Alpine Centre are the key new developments this year at New Zealand’s most popular mountain, Cardrona Alpine Resort.

The Whitestar Express, named after a well-known gold dredge that operated in the Cardrona valley at the turn of the century, will replace the existing La Franchi double chair at a cost of NZD$4.5 million. The new lift will halve the journey time from the bottom of the mountain to the top to less than four minutes at a rate of five meters per second. It will increase capacity by an additional 1,200 skiers per hour, creating an overall mountain lift capacity in excess of 7,800 people per hour.

The resort's operations manager, Shaun Gilbertons, said the investment is a direct response to consumer demand.

“We know our customers want faster lifts and more capacity,” he said. “This new chair will answer both issues and be a very welcome addition for the 2004 winter. The area it services is a mix of intermediate and advanced terrain and is considered by many customers as some of the best in the resort.”

Cardrona’s comittment to snowboarding and freeskiing is further demonstrated with the extension of the terrain park. 2004 will see two trails running parallel to each other under the new Whitestar Express lift. The Heavy Metal trail will run the full the full 1.2km on a purpose-built terraced course containing larger rails and features in excess of 8m in size. The Playzone trail will run alongside the upper Heavy Metal trail utilizing smaller features, allowing a wider range of skiers and boarders to access the thrills of freeriding.

Work continues in early May on the base area of Cardrona's new Whitestar Lift, with the season's first snow blanketing the ground with white. (photo: Cardrona Alpine Resort)

A number of improvements have been made to Cardrona's Children’s Alpine Centre. Parents can now enjoy real-time ticketing and reservations as well as on-line registration, saving time on arrival. To make life easier for parents of pre-schoolers, Cardrona has invested in 20 sets of small skis and boots from Salomon which are supplied free of charge for Ski Korral programs. This means that the days of juggling skis and small children in Cardrona's main rental department are over.

Cardrona’s popular Skiwees has gotten even better for 5-12 year olds in 2004. Not only is it the only children’s program in New Zealand to run every week of season, but it’s also the only one that offers all-day supervision. Starting each Monday and running for four days, Skiwees and Lowriders (for young snowboarders) features lessons, lunch and play with the instructors from 10am to 4pm. This allows the children up to five hours on the snow and they get to ski with their friends all day.

“No other mountain in the country offers the same level of service to children and their parents,” said Jeremy Collis, Cardrona’s Development Centre Director. “The New Zealand approach to teaching skiing to kids hasn’t really changed since the 1970’s. We’ve listened to the kids and have introduced a program that can be tailored to their energy levels. The little ones will tire more quickly than the 10 year olds and that’s fine. They can go back to the Kids’ Club with their instructor and play games, have something to eat and then get back out on the snow when they’ve recharged their batteries.”

Cardrona Alpine Resort’s 2004 ski and snowboard season will run from June 24th to October 10th.