New Zealand
New Zealand is popular vacation destination for skiing because of the reversal of seasons for skiers from the Northern Hemisphere. Ardent skiers can spend their summers here at excellent resorts under brilliant weather conditions. Varied world class terrain, excellent accommodation and exciting nightlife make New Zealand a popular ski vacation destination between June and November. Both the North Island and South Island have world class ski resorts which have hosted many world competitions.
Nordic cross country areas and numerable ski resorts with short ski-lift queues are New Zealand’s great attraction. Heli-skiing is very popular and one can access the most remote slopes this way. Snowboarding is rapidly gaining popularity here and there are excellent natural and manmade half pipes as well as dedicated snowboarding parks. The wide slopes are a perfect balance of groomed trails, and unmarked terrain makes skiing here a challenging sport. Most of the slopes are open and treeless.
Accommodation and apres-ski night life are aplenty at the nearby towns. Ski resorts in New Zealand do not have any commercial development and are connected to neighboring towns and villages by shuttle buses. Accommodation is available for all tastes and budgets and there is plenty to do and enjoy as a part of the local nightlife.
Taranaki on North Island is home to several skiing areas, while Manganui is located in Egmont National Park on the slopes of Mount Taranaki. There is a goods lift for skis and bags but people have a twenty minute walk to access the slopes. This is an affordable ski area, popular with families. There are gentle open lower slopes accessed by T Bar while the upper steep slopes which are nutcracker accessed are more challenging.
Wanaka on South Island is New Zealand‘s most popular skiing and snowboarding vacation destination. The four mountain resorts here, Treble Cone, Cardrona, Snow Park and Snow Farm cater to skiers of all levels of skill. Heli-skiing and heli boarding is also popular on the higher slopes of the mountain’s range. Accommodation and apres-ski is world class. Lake Wanaka is a perfect resort town offering water sports, golf, mountain-biking and skydiving.