Cardrona Opens New Chairlift to the Powder Hounds

It’s all systems go for Cardrona Alpine Resort’s new four-seater chairlift which fired up for the first time for skiers and snowboarders to use today (Friday).

The ski area, between Wanaka and Queenstown, now boasts the largest number of chairlifts in the South Island.

Paralympic Gold Medalist Adam Hall cut the ribbons this morning officially opening the Valley View Quad and the Goldrush Downhill trail.

Cardrona’s High Performance budding athletes then followed Hall down the Goldrush Downhill for the first run.

Cardrona Sales and Marketing Manager Nadia Ellis says thanks to the huge weather system that’s been battering the ski area the new chair hasn’t had to rely on snowmaking to open.

“The snow has come just in time for the school holidays,” she says. “We’ve had 115cm of accumulated snowfall since Thursday (July 6) and it’s very exciting that we can now offer visitors even more terrain to play on.

“We installed 22 state of the art snow guns during the summer in the Valley View area but we haven’t had to use them yet because we now have such a fantastic base of natural powder snow.

“Cardrona now has 345 hectares of terrain on offer; with our longest run over 4km. Skiers and Riders can descend 600m of vertical.”

The Valley View quad extends Cardrona’s terrain from the bottom of the Whitestar lift down to the Speed Straight section of the access road.

The carpark at the base of Valley View means season pass holders can have even quicker access on to the lift.

For further information, snow reports and web cams, visit www.cardrona.com