Cardrona riding guide - World Snowboard Guide

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Freeriding

Freeriders will love it here. There is a fantastic variety of snow-gathering gullies and plenty of rocks to throw yourself off. Keg and Arcadia are the areas where Cardrona holds it's National Extreme Championships. Records have been set by dropping down the 30 metre plus Eagle Rock in Captain's Basin, so if you're feeling suicidal this one is for you. If the runs within the boundary don't satisfy you, you could go heli-boarding in Cardrona's expansive back bowls.

Cardrona Riders
Cardrona.com

Freestylers

Freestylers are provided with an 800m boardercross course and a cool 1000m terrain park that comes loaded with a large table top, spines, jumps and rails. There are also two halfpipes including a 22ft superpipe. Cardrona’s 22 foot Olympic Halfpipe is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere to have been homologated by FIS as World Cup standard. The pipe is 18 metres wide, 6.8 metres high and has an 18 degree pitch.

Cardrona Groomed
Cardrona.com

In 2011 Cardrona relocated a platter lift from the beginner’s area to run alongside the 22ft Olympic Superpipe.Cardrona is alsothe only ski area in the Southern Hemisphere offering a dedicated mechanised lift to access its halfpipes. This means no more ‘hiking to the pipe’, providing athletes more training laps each day.

Pistes

Carvers will find either of the two main faces ideal for laying out some big turns on. The Sluce Box is a great carvers run.

Beginners

BeginnersIn 2011 Cardrona redeveloped the learner’s area. This redevelopment increased the size AND quality of the novice terrain on offer. A new state of the art “Sunkid” surface conveyor lift was installed to improve accessibility and ease of learning for beginners.

Easily accessed from the McDougalls Quad is Cardrona’s famous Skyline trail. Skyline gives beginner skiers/riders epic views across the Wakatipu basin making them feel on top of the world.

Resort Statistics

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: June to Oct
Summer: None

Lifts

Total Lifts: 7
Chair lifts: 3
Drag lifts: 1
Other lifts: 3 x Magic Carpet in beginners area
Max people per hour: 7,800
Board Leashes required: Yes

Mountain

Total pistes/trails: 25
Total ride area: 345 hectares
Longest run: 4 km

Top lift: 1894m
Vertical drop: 390m
First lift: 1264m

Piste suitability

Green runs: 25%
Red runs: 55%
Black runs: 20%

Lift Passes

	Low Season			High Season
	NZD	GBP	Average	NZD	GBP	Average
Day Pass	-	-		-	-

	NZD	GBP	Average
Season Pass:	-	-

Lift Passes:
Half-day pass $69
1 Day pass - $95
5 Day pass - $330
Season pass - $1049
Offers exist for early bird season passes before April 30th.
Lift times:9.00am to 4.00pm

Snowfall

Average annual snowfall: 2.7m
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 30%

Facilities

Snowboard Schools: Group lessons 2hrs $60
Cardrona operates an Alpine Development centre. Pre courses exist for those wanting to obtain NZ certification in Snowboard instruction or just improve their riding. There are also pipe camps with exclusive use of one of the pipes and park technique courses. Expect to pay around $600-700 for a 10 day rider improvement course. Around $380 for a 5 day pipe camp (passes extra).
Snowboard Hire: Board & Boots NZ$46 per day
Night Riding: : No