The best New Zealand has to offer?
About an hour out of Wanaka or just under two out of Queenstown on the edge of Mt. Aspirin National Park is Treble Cone. The access road winds up a fairly precipitous slope, whilst being steep narrow and unsealed it is well established. The carpark is infested with Kea (mountain parrots) bent on eating every car! Something to watch whilst you eat your lunch in the baselodge.

The ski area is fairly rectangular in shape with a high speed six pack chair heading up the middle with a beginners tow at the bottom and a T-bar running parallel with the chair for the top half of the slope. The first noticeable thing about the ski area is it’s steeper than average, with the Intermediate and beginner runs snaking back and fourth to provide an easier angle.

Over the top left-hand skyline lies a back bowl, this is as large itself as some other NZ ski fields, containing a double chair in its lower half and a T-Bar up top. Snowmaking covers the principal runs on the main area.

The area provides for some exiting skiing, not least because it is steep. I found quite a lot of open freeriding terrain in the back bowl. There is also a small park hidden in the back bowl. The snow when I visited was rather good on the upper slopes and in the back bowl, but getting rather thin towards the base lodge. No fresh track to be had, as it had been quite some time since the last snowfall.

This is probably the best and equal largest commercial ski area I have visited in New Zealand… but not as good as the third best in the world they claim!

Words and Pictures from Tom Greenall - Natives Resort Reporter

More First Impressions...

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of Mt Hutt
of Porter Heights
of Broken River
of Craigieburn Valley
of Mount Olympus
of NZ Nutcrackers
of Coronet Peak
of The Remarkables

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