Cardrona, New Zealand

Pierre from UNITED KINGDOM writes:

My experience of Cardrona is not good. Although any resort has a lot to live up to when you've spent several seasons in Morzine/Avoriaz. When it snows in NZ you don't get the massive dumps like you do in Europe or North America and I didn't find my self waist deep or even knee deep in powder for that matter. I've just come back and am seriously considering if I would ever go back due to the unreliablity of the snow. Cardrona did try though and made good with what little snow they had and its cheaper than Treble Cone which is really bad value for money. When I left they had 80cms base at the top which is pretty poor in my opinion and the lack of snow depth meant the terrain didn't have that many decent natural features to do any tricks off. I felt there chair lifts were too damn slow and kept stopping too frequently. The best thing about Cardrona is that Snowpark is opposite, I had more fun there as it has a really nice vibe even though I was limited to park riding the natural terrain was even more interesting.

[Editors comments. Having alternated between the European Alps and NZ for 12 years, I feel inclined to add a caveat. NZ is a big place with a very variable climate and the 2007 season was below average. Central Otago skifields like Cardrona always tend to have modest snowfalls because of the local arid climate - there are high mountains in every direction. Off piste can be frustrating as a result. The piste tends to be excellent, the parks too, and the weather reliably sunny. However, other parts of NZ frequently DO get very large dumps of snow that can compare with the European Alps. Westerly storms often give 24hr falls of more than 2m all along the main divide (heli-access only). These snowfalls just about reach Treble Cone and Temple Basin, giving say 50cm falls, but do not penetrate much further east into the rainshadow. 20-50cm snow events are fairly frequent at North Island resorts in any season because the volcanoes are exposed to all directions of weather. Without question, El Nino years such as 2006 are the best times to visit NZ. In such years, a steady march of southerly fronts invariably delivers regular dumps to most resorts, especially favouring ones closer to the Pacific coast such as Mt Hutt, Mt Olympus and eastern Otago resorts like Mt Dobson. In such years, Turoa and Whakapapa can accumulate more than 5m bases].

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