Cardrona is a 45 minute drive from the lakeside town of Wanaka. The last 8 miles are up an unpaved access road so instead of putting chains on the car we jumped on the free shuttle bus from the base carpark.
Another above the tree line NZ ski area Cardrona was always going to have poor visibility in the current snowy weather. Upon arrival at 9am there was 12 inches of new overnight snow on the ground and it was still snowing lightly.
The trail map shows a few more rocky features than Coronet Peak that we skied a couple of days ago. The rocks helped us first timers with navigation and visibility to a degree.
www.cardrona.com
We spent the morning trying to get at the new snow. I managed a couple of photos when the sun partially broke through.
It was an enjoyable morning with surprisingly no lift lines. I got tied up for half an hour trying to help out a very upset lost 5 year old kid. I took him to patrol who somehow called his mother. The mother was “waiting for someone to call” as she “lost Ollie about 30 minutes ago”. She didn’t go to patrol to report him missing. I’ve heard of ‘no friends on a powder day’…….
In other news we discovered New Zealand’s best value food at the Cardrona base restaurant. $30 for a comparatively huge plate of missed salads and warm vege and protein. Very tasty!
After lunch was spent mostly around the Captains side of the mountain. Visibility was still tough. It was fun moving around and through the rock features though.
The low cloud was persisting so we jumped on the 3.30pm bus to the base. We broke through the cloud at about 800 metres elevation.
We collected a nice young hitch hiker from the base carpark and took him back to town. He was a fellow from Prince Edward Island who plans to spend the next 6 months working in Wanaka.
Another above the tree line NZ ski area Cardrona was always going to have poor visibility in the current snowy weather. Upon arrival at 9am there was 12 inches of new overnight snow on the ground and it was still snowing lightly.
The trail map shows a few more rocky features than Coronet Peak that we skied a couple of days ago. The rocks helped us first timers with navigation and visibility to a degree.
Cardrona Ski Area Trail Map | Cardrona NZ
All you need for a day skiing is here on the Cardrona ski field trail map. If you’re here to ski in Queenstown or Wanaka check out the Cardrona trail map.
It was an enjoyable morning with surprisingly no lift lines. I got tied up for half an hour trying to help out a very upset lost 5 year old kid. I took him to patrol who somehow called his mother. The mother was “waiting for someone to call” as she “lost Ollie about 30 minutes ago”. She didn’t go to patrol to report him missing. I’ve heard of ‘no friends on a powder day’…….
In other news we discovered New Zealand’s best value food at the Cardrona base restaurant. $30 for a comparatively huge plate of missed salads and warm vege and protein. Very tasty!
After lunch was spent mostly around the Captains side of the mountain. Visibility was still tough. It was fun moving around and through the rock features though.
The low cloud was persisting so we jumped on the 3.30pm bus to the base. We broke through the cloud at about 800 metres elevation.
We collected a nice young hitch hiker from the base carpark and took him back to town. He was a fellow from Prince Edward Island who plans to spend the next 6 months working in Wanaka.
