If you like winter sports, you have probably already heard of New Zealand as one of the top destination for it. But how much does it cost? Where should you go? And most importantly….is it worth it? In this article we will try to give you an insight of how you should prepare yourself if you intent to come here skiing!

New Zealand is not like Europe/USA

If you ask any Kiwi how is skiing in New Zealand they will tell you “Look, it’s cool but it’s not like Europe” and that is true but not in a negative sense, which is what they mean most of the time!

We stayed in Queenstown for 5 days and we really really enjoyed it. Here are the main differences we noticed between New Zealand and the European Alps:

• Surprisingly (for us) it does not snow in town but only at the very top of the mountains where you will be skiing

• Overall we found less snow than the one you would fine on the Alps in winter. That also means that the risk of avalanches is reduced.
• The mountains around Queenstown are not that steep and the borders of the slopes are not always defined; you will notice a lot of people skiing off track.
• There are more snowboarders than in Europe.
• Unsurprisingly, food in New Zealand is more expensive and worst in quality. If you go skiing in Italy, with relatively little money you will get a massive portion of polenta with sausages; here, for the same amount of money, you will get a slice of pizza (maybe). We suggest that you prepare a couple sandwiches the day before and possibly have a coffee at the bar to warm up (5$ minimum)

Don’t wait until the very last minute, you need to book in advance!

One thing that we learnt when we arrived here is that Kiwis like to be very organized. Being Italians does not help from that point of view, but a few years in the UK have changed us a bit. If you decide to go skiing in July/August in the South Island, we strongly recommend you to book some key things in advance:

• Queenstown is quite a tourist place, you will probably find an accommodation last minute but, if you don’t want to spend a fortune, you should book it in advance.
• You can hire your gear in town. There is plenty of places, it is cheaper and quicker than on the mountains. If you go to a rental shop after 6pm they will not make you pay for the day. We went to Green Toad and we found it relatively cheap.
• Unless you decide to hire a car, you will have to rely on shuttle buses to go to the ski fields. There are a few buses going up and down the mountains but, particularly during the peak season, the number of tourist is impressive. We strongly recommend you to book in advance at least the shuttle buses so that you are sure you will go to the ski fields. If the weather is miserable you can always reschedule the buses. Click on the link to book the buses to Coronet Peak, Remarkables or to Cardrona Ski Field.
• If you don’t find any place on the buses online, try to go to the ticket offices in town. We found a free shuttle bus departing from Cardrona ticket office (city centre) at 7am. No information available on the internet, it is only a last minute option.
• Book the ski-passes online and collect them at the ticket offices in town. For the ski fields around Queenstown, you will need to collect the Mypass card (click here for more information) even to board onto the bus. That it is not necessary for Cardrona but it is still wise to book the ski pass in advance to avoid the very long queues on the mountain.
• If the weather forecast is not the best and you have limited time, it may be better to buy a single day pass rather than a multi-day one. Indeed, the latter is not refundable and, although it cost 10/20$ more, the single day pass gives you the flexibility to decide at the very last minute. It should not be a problem finding a ski pass even on the very same day you want to go skiing, but remember that it is always better to collect the pass in town.
• Weather forecasts in Queenstown are not reliable. It was meant to be very rainy when we went there but we were actually very lucky with the weather. Go there and see!

Where did you go? And which is the best ski field?

We went to three ski fields: Coronet peak, the Remarkables and Cardrona.

Coronet peak and Remarkables are the closest ones to Queenstown. The first one tend to be icy and it’s more for intermediate/advance skiers. However, when we went there the snow was perfect, it was sunny and we did not find it particularly challenging.

Unfortunately when we went to the Remarkables it was foggy, rainy/snowy and the visibility was quite limited. We did enjoy it anyway and we would say it is more for beginners/intermediate skiers. Having saying that, there is also quite a few challenging slopes for expert skiers. All of these tend to remain onto the right looking at the trails map.

Finally, Cardrona is one of the biggest ski fields in New Zealand and it is for everyone, from beginners to more expert skiers. The view is also really nice but it is far from Queenstown (over 1h by bus) and it is normally overcrowded to the point that you may have to wait for 15/20 min for the ski lifts. For this reason we suggest going during the week if possible.

If you don’t ski, the bus journeys are still pretty amazing in each case. In particular, the Coronet peak will give you a stunning view over the valley of Queenstown!

Is it really worth it? And how much does it cost?

In our opinion yes, it is worth it but it is also quite expensive. Queenstown itself is ok, nothing special, but the surroundings are just stunning! Also, isn’t skiing your cup of tea? No problem! You can hike, paragliding, bungee jumping, doing the zipline, skydiving indoor…in one word there is plenty of things to do if you like the outdoors in Queenstown.

So far we have only been skiing in Queenstown but we were told that Wanaka is also a very nice place (cheaper as well) to go for winter sports. From there, you can easily access Cardrona and Treble Cone, which are quite far if you come from Queenstown.

Overall we spent around 1200$ each in 5 days. Roughly 200$ per day only for the ski passes and the equipment, 350$ each for the return flights from Auckland (it was high season, you may find something cheaper), 140$ for 4 nights in a dorm room in a hostel in Queenstown. The rest was food and a few beers….to sum up, not a cheap holiday but really beatiful!