Ski-Snowboard Treble Cone, NZ
Skiing-snowboarding in Queenstown, New Zealand is worth the trip.
A ski-snowboard vacation to Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island that included four ski areas continues at Treble Cone Ski Area.
The grand skiing and snowboarding vacation in Queenstown, New Zealand, last summer under the auspices of U.S.-based Holidaze Ski Tours and the guiding of Queenstown-based Ski Express, finished at Treble Cone Ski Area.
Queenstown, of course, is an internationally renowned destination for skiing, snowboarding, bungy jumping, and adventure of all kinds.
Treble Cone
Looks like we saved the best for last.
Not that any of our other New Zealand ski stops were bad ones. But, you’ll always have a favorite among ski-snowboard resort destinations, and on this trip it was Treble Cone for me.
The place has only two lifts, three if you count the beginner slope t-bar. So, go figure how it managed to achieve the closest thing to big-time skiing we encountered.
And, in a world of black-diamond access roads, this one took the cake. At one point the man from Holidaze Ski Tours, Bob McEarlen called out, "Jeez - when you look out the window, you could think you were in an airplane."
Steep? Yes. The bus could progress only in first gear.
Severe drop-offs? Yes. You could all-too-easily imagine the vehicle rolling into oblivion.
Nerve wracking? You betcha—especially when I thought about the brakes giving out on the downhill return.
A gondola rising from the valley flats is proposed for accessing the ski fields here. Hopefully for 2008. That would not only eliminate the nervous time, but it would cut the travel time by at least half an hour.
Once you're up there, however, a superb world of white opens.
Once again, it's all treeless, wide open terrain, but here there are numerous spots to dart among large rocks into chutes, gullies and natural halfpipes. There's about 2,000 feet of vertical, too.
Some of the steep is seriously steep. One adventurous member of our group called the terrain to far skiers' right "some of the best extreme terrain I've ever skied." And, vast amounts of hike-to terrain is also accessible.
Friends and I ventured in the afternoon out to a spot called The View, at far skiers' left. Clearly the name speaks for itself. But, there we found a run named Outer Limits. Because we’d all skied innumerable days at Vermont’s Killington Resort, where Outer Limits ranks among the steepest bump runs anywhere, we felt compelled to ski this Outer Limits, too.
At Treble Cone, Outer Limits lead into a huge bowl that, at one point was completely empty of skiers except for we three skiers and our guide Paula.
Spectacular doesn’t begin to describe it: the skiing, the views or the feeling.
And those views? Oh my.
A narrow valley held the foreground with Lake Wanaka carrying off into the distance surrounded by stark brown/green hills and containing a small roundish island in its middle. Altogether it resembled a major volcanic caldera. But, no, its glacier-formed. The volcanoes are on the North Island.
This was not only the best skiing, but the best weather. The base lodge was too small to handle the bodies, but the sun allowed the crowds to spill out onto the concrete deck, and the food proved excellent—especially for base lodge fare. We're talking about huge salmon or tofu burgers and other very tasty hot dishes.
Back on the snow, we cruised for all we were worth. This was a day that we never wanted to end. On a trip that could’ve been twice as long. But, mostly, nobody wanted to drive back down that access road!
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