Wanaka

A FREESKIER’S PARADISE

BY REGGAE ELLISS

After two years of lockdowns many Australians skiers headed back to New Zealand last year, not surprising given the quality of the resorts and sheer beauty of the Southern Alps. I was one of them, heading across the Tasman in early September with my 18-year-old daughter Arkie for a junior freeride event in Treble Cone and basing ourselves in Wanaka for the week.

On our last visit to New Zealand in 2019 we stayed in Queenstown, so I was looking forward to checking out Wanaka, the quieter of the two prime South Island destinations which is nestled on the shores of Lake Wanaka, at the foot of Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is one of the most scenic, beautiful places in the world, a small but growing town surrounded by green pastures on one side, expansive views of the lake on the other.

Wanaka is also the gateway to some of the best skiing in New Zealand, just a short drive to Cadrona and Treble Cone resorts, incredible backcountry and for those with a bit of extra coin, the largest heli-skiing terrain in the southern hemisphere. In short, there is a lot to like.

Wanaka is home to some of New Zealand’s best skiers and snowboarders, not surprising as the combination of Treble Cone’s terrain and Cardrona’s incredible park make it a freeriding Mecca. But skiing, snowboarding and the mountains are part of Wanaka and the people who live there. Many of the pro skiers who come from Wanaka are second or third generation skiers and skiers like the Wells brothers, Finn and Hank Bilous, Sam and Anna Smoothy were introduced to the skiing and the mountains by their parents.

In an interview we ran with Jossi Wells in our 2021 issue, he said Wanaka’s location had a lot to do with it. “The whole southern alps are right at the end of the lake, just right there. So, it's a place that attracts like-minded people that are into the outdoors. When my parents moved to Wanaka there were 800 people living in Wanaka. It was farmers and people that were here for the mountains. So, it is a really special place.”

Finn Bilous, fresh lines at Treble Cone on a cold mid-winter’s day. The views from Treble Cone are up there with the best of any ski resort in the world.

“The ski culture here runs deep, and I think just because of where it's situated. With all that amazing terrain, you can't help it. I don't know if there are many people in Wanaka that don't use the mountains. It’s a really, really special place.”

That “special place” is very evident on our first morning as we drive to Treble Cone, the peaks of the Mt Aspiring National Park looming large over the lake. The dirt access road to Treble Cone is, let’s say, interesting and a little nerve-wracking for someone like me who is not too good with heights, but once you arrive the drive is quickly forgotten. The views of the Southern Alps, the lake and the green farmland below are incredible, up there with the most beautiful views of any ski resort in the world.

Treble Cone is a more laid-back resort than Cardrona and the Queenstown resorts, and while it only has two chair lifts and two beginner lifts, they access 550 hectares of terrain, the most of the South Island resorts. The terrain is classed 45% advanced and 45% intermediate, while the other 10% is the beginner area near the base area. Treble Cone’s off-piste terrain is legendary, and we spent our first morning in the Saddle Basin area which offers a variety of open bowls, fun natural halfpipes and rollovers.

This area is serviced by the Saddle Basin Quad which also accesses the double black chutes in Matapu Basin, an area of expert terrain that requires a hike back out. Matapu was closed when we were there, but we did head up to the Treble Cone Summit, an easy 15-minute hike which is worth it for the views alone, although the 10cms of untracked snow was also a lot of fun. Treble Cone’s terrain made it a perfect venue for the NZ Freeride Junior event and after watching the comp it is easy to understand why New Zealand has such a solid contingent of skiers on the Freeride World Tour, the standard of skiing, even in the U14s, was awesome.

Arkie met up with a few girls she had met last time we were in New Zealand and quickly brushed me for the morning. A bit of local knowledge goes along way and she ended up getting a good appreciation of the terrain around Saddle Basin.

“I like the variety of terrain and there was so much off that chair,” she told me later. “Different gullies where you could do some sick turns on like a wave and some good rocks to jump off. There were so many line options off that one chair.”

For those who like to rip a few laps on groomed runs, Treble Cone has some long blue runs, including the longest starting at the top of High Street and winding a leg-burning 4.5ks down to the Home Basin base.

While Treble Cone has so much to offer freeriders and advanced skiers, Cardrona caters to a broader standard of skier and snowboarder with plenty of intermediate and family friendly terrain. It has an extensive snowmaking system and some long cruisy on piste runs and we had a couple of early morning warm-up laps on perfect corduroy. Cardrona also boasts some of the most reliable snow in the region, thanks to its high elevation topping out at 1860m and favourable southerly aspect. It has a good variety of off-piste terrain and while we didn't get any fresh snow, we had the next best thing with good spring conditions and nice mid-morning corn snow in the terrain around the Captains Express Quad.

THE RESORT PRIDES ITSELF ON ITS WORLD CLASS TERRAIN PARKS AND HALF PIPES WHICH HAVE PRODUCED SOME WORLD-CLASS FREESKIERS AND SNOWBOARDERS OVER THE YEARS.

The resort prides itself on its world class terrain parks and half pipes which have produced a number of world-class freeskiers and snowboarders over the years. The current crop of young locals is continuing the tradition and includes Olympic ski halfpipe champ Nico Porteous and snowboarder Zoi SadowskiSynnott, Olympic slopestyle champ.

The park was going off when we were there with the NZ Winter Games underway while the Jossi Wells Invitational started on our last day. After a two-year hiatus thanks to the pandemic, a big contingent of international pro skiers and snowboarders were back in Wanaka for preseason training and to compete in Jossi’s event.

Swedish freeskier Henrik Harlaut has been coming to Wanaka to train in the Cardrona park since he was 15 and said it’s like a second home. “I came here for eight years straight,” he told me. “I always love starting my season off here, getting a bit of shredding going and get ready for the northern hemisphere winter. The park this year is probably the best I’ve ever skied it. Perfect shape and so many features. It’s awesome.”

There has been significant investment in Cardrona over the past five years, including the addition of a chairlift in the Soho area on the southern face of Mt Cardrona. Named Willow Basin, the area covers 65 hectares and made up of two big bowls, with undulating intermediate terrain. It opened for the 2021 season and the basin is south-facing with fantastic snow quality and stunning views towards Queenstown.

Treble Cone and Cardrona are both owned by the same company and you can ski both resorts on the same ticket, a great way to mix things up if you are there for more than a few days. While not as bustling as Queenstown, Wanaka boasts plenty of excellent restaurants, bars, breweries and near-by wineries for those bad weather days. For those who like to indulge in a bit of retail therapy you’ll find everything from ski and snowboard shops, to high-end fashion boutiques and galleries.

Wanaka definitely left an impact on Arkie, and when I asked her she’d like to do a season there she looked at me, dumfounded I’d even ask the question. “Yes, I’d do a season here, for sure. The freeride terrain at Treble Cone is so good and it's also close to Cardrona, so you can ski in really good parks. The freeride culture is a lot bigger over there than it is in Australia. Less rich ski mum vibes and more real skiing. And Wanaka is a really cool town.”