New Zealand Skiing and Snowboarding

New Zealand is a great place to enjoy some fantastic skiing. You will find the winter snow a great New Zealand experience.

If you ski Europe or North America and have had a great time, you could then turn to New Zealand and continue your world skiing experience. When the sun shines in the Northern Hemisphere the winter arrives in NZ.

Skiing is mainly concentrated along the scenic eastern slopes of the Southern Alps where many of the 13 commercial and 12 club fields are located. Commercial fields have high-speed quad chairs, ski schools and groomed wide open slopes. Club fields have simple lifts and rope tows and are accessible only by 4WD or on foot. Generally there is no accommodation on commercial fields so skiers commute from local resort towns.

The Southern Lakes area around Queenstown and Wanaka boasts five outstanding fields with pristine powder slopes and breathtaking views. These are Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Treble Cone, Cardrona and Waiorau Nordic Ski Area - New Zealand's only specialist cross-country ski location. Inland from Christchurch and Nelson are other world-class areas such as Mt Hutt, Porter Heights and Mt Lyford. The North Island has the largest ski fields in the country, Whakapapa and Turoa, on the slopes of our most active mainland volcano, Mt Ruapehu.

For the best winter ski party try Queenstown, for the winter festival around the beginning of July every year.