Local Wisdom

Need to know

Lift Pass Info

It’s our intention here to give you a brief summary of some of the lift pass options available hoping that you may find it helpful!

For full information on lift passes, prices, package combos and conditions, check out this website for each of the ski areas. There are a lot of options. Lift passes can be pre-purchased online.

Children / Youth

Children (or Youth) age is 7yrs to 17yrs. Kids 6 years and under ski for free and kids 10 years and under ski for free at The Remarkables.

Day passes

Seniors are now 65yrs - 74years and get a special rate at most ski areas. 70+ at Treble Cone. 75+ at Remarks/CP and Cardrona get to ski for free.

Multi-day passes are available for most mountains. NZSki.com offers these from 2 or more days. The extra day rate is $90 adult ($86 & Remarks) and $49 child. One day off is allowed within the period i.e. ski 5 days out of 6.

Treble Cone offers a 5-day Wanaka Pass @ $425 which allows skiing or riding at either Cardrona or Treble Cone. There are also Anytime Passes (4 out of 6 days) @ $338 available as well as a Family Pass (2 adults & 2 children) @ $255. Family passes also allow use at both Treble Cone and Cardrona.

NZSki.com offers a Twilight pass from 12.30pm till 9pm or a Night Ski pass from 4pm - 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays from July to September (weather permitting).

There are also Beginner Passes available at each of the ski areas. This generally covers only surface lifts and/or designated beginner lifts and is all you need for the first day, if this is your first time skiing or riding. Beginner passes at Treble Cone are free for everyone.

Full day passes

Ski Area Adult Child
Coronet Peak $95 $52
Remarkables* $91 $49
Cardrona $94 $46
Treble Cone $99 $49

*Remarkables lift passes include free transport from the Station on the green line to the ski area.

Beginner Pass Combo

All of the Southern Lakes ski areas offer a special combo package for first time skiers or boarders. This is definitely the best value deal around as it includes equipment rental, two lessons (except at TC where there is only one), and the appropriate lift pass. This package is a great way to get into snow sports as you start having fun right from the beginning with a group of people in the same boat as yourself, you learn faster by not having to learn by your mistakes and it's by far the best deal price-wise. Probably Cardies offers the best value for money package there is.

The Remarkables & Coronet also offer a Beginner Lift pass. This beginner pass generally gives you access to the surface lifts e.g. rope tows and magic carpets, but excludes chair lifts. Naturally this is significantly cheaper than a full lift pass - but no need to pay for the full pass if you are not going to use it right from the beginning. Treble cone offers a free Lower Mountain Lift Pass which includes the platter & the magic carpet.

Tour Operators

Package tour operators offer various options for consecutive day passes as well as vouchers for single day passes. Be sure to let your tour operator know if you don't want to ski or ride everyday consecutively so they can be sure to give you the right vouchers. Also be aware that if you have for example 3 vouchers which you hand in together at the ski area ticket office, you will generally get a 3 day multi day pass in return. If you don't want to ski or ride consecutive days, exchange the vouchers individually for day passes as you want them.

Mountain Transport List Pass & Bius Ride Combo's:

NZSKI Snowline

The Station to Remarkables (Green Line along Frankton Road) is included with a Remarkables lift pass.

Transport to Coronet peak from either The Station or hotel pick-ups (Blue Line) costs $12 adult or child

For a list of companies that operate to other ski areas, see the section on Mountain Transport.

Mountain Transport

There are a number of different operators who provide transport to the various Southern Lakes Ski Areas. Operators who take you to the Wanaka fields need to take a seat reservation the evening prior. For Queenstown fields, there is a scheduled hotel pick-up service which will be operated by NZSki.com & Connectabus (NZSki SnowLine) @ $12 per person (no child price). For full information, combos and pricing you can check out the websites of each of the companies listed below.

Here follows a little summary of the main options - hoping to help you get pointed in the right direction!

Coronet Peak & The Remarkables

Transport provided by NZSki.com from The Station is included in full day passes and other combo products for the Remarkables.

Transport to Coronet Peak from The Station or hotel pick-ups costs $12 adult & child.

5 day return passes cover Coronet Peak, Remarkables as well as Arrowtown (Yellow Line) and cost $50

You might want to note that although skiing at the Remarkables & Coronet Peak is free for kids 10 years and under, a bus ticket is still required for all children 5 to 17 years.

TAXIS are also happy to take you, or a group of you, to the Ski Areas. It costs approx. $55 for up to 4 people to go up to Coronet Peak, or $65 for a mini bus which can take 5 to 11 people. These prices are one way although you can book a car or van to collect you when you are ready to get off the mountain as well.

Wanaka Ski Areas and Private Transport Operators

OperatorToAdultChildWebsite 
Info & Track Cardrona $ $  
Adventure Queenstown Coronet Peak $ $ adventurequeenstownnz.co.nz
Buckley Transport on demand $ $ buckleytransport.co.nz
Serious Fun Snow Shuttles Cardrona $ $  
The Snow Shuttle Snow Park, Cardrona & TC $ $  
The Ski Shuttle Cardrona & TC $ $ skishuttle.co.nz
Snow Chaser   $ $ snowchaser.co.nz
Ski Connect   $ $  
Kiwi Discovery Cardrona & TC $ $ kiwidiscovery.com

Rental Cars

Don't forget if you are renting a vehicle to ask for it to be "skierised". This means that you want chains and a roof rack.

Chains

Whether you have a rental or your own car, it is ESSENTIAL TO CARRY CHAINS pretty much all season long. Don't underestimate how quickly and dramatically the weather can change in the mountains -and for heaven’s sake - DO put the chains on when you are directed to do so in the interest of everyone’s safety! Most service stations in town hire out chains. Cost depends on the particular chains needed. A deposit is generally also required.

Car Pooling

Check out www.snowpool.org.nz and see if you fancy joining up with other people who want to car pool. This site is a contact point for all the major NZ ski fields.

Ski School Advice

A little bit of advice that you might find helpful if you are looking for some lessons with the various mountain Snowsports Schools (it’s not called Ski School anymore for PC reasons!).

Group Lessons

You don't need to pre-book adult or child (over 6 yrs for ski and 8 yrs for snowboard except Treble Cone which is also 6 yrs) group lessons at any of the ski areas. Group lessons pretty much start at 10.30 and at 2pm at all of the ski areas.

Group lessons for the littlies (5 yrs and under) are best booked in advance by calling or emailing the ski area. This is because there are limited places available due to a strict control on the number of children to staff and specialist facilities. Obviously there is very high demand in School Holiday times, so if you think your family holiday will work better with the kids in Snowsports School - then book ahead!

Cardrona probably has the most comprehensive Kids Centre in the area having 4 different facilities based on age. They are no longer the only mountain who has facilities for children from as young as 3 months old. Coronet Peak and The Remarkables have also continued to upgrade their facilities and also cater for the really little ones.

For children's information for

For more information on children's options (including School Holiday programmes), check out our Kids page.

Private Lessons (now known as "personal training sessions"):

Most ski areas recommend booking ahead for these too. Prices vary a little between mountains and the time of day that you take the lesson. If you do take private lessons with a friend/friends, it’s important that both/all of you are a fairly similar level i.e. you ski at a similar pace and on similar terrain, even if your respective styles vary. Generally speaking, 5/6 people is the maximum number for multi person privates. Getting accelerated learning and lift queue priority is always good and in the busy times, can be a real boon. Did you know that you can also "request" a particular Instructor, so if you know someone or someone has been recommended to you, you can ask for that person.

TREBLE CONE offers a 1 hour lesson for $120, the Early Bird rate is $90. 2.5 hr lessons are $260, 5 hours (all day) $450. Additional people join the session @ a flat rate of $55 per person. For bookings or info snowsports@treblecone.com

REMARKABLES/CORONET PEAK offers 1 hour for 1 person @ $120; $180 for 2 to 4 people or $220 for 5 or 6 people. There is a child special price available @ 9.30 & 12.30 only. There is a 2 hour lesson available @ $220 for 1 person, $320 2 to 4 people and $420 5or 6 people. Bookings or info school@theremarkables.co.nz or school@coronetpeak.co.nz

CARDRONA offers 1 hour @ $115, Half day $325, Full day $550. Additional people (max of 4 extras) can join the session @ 35 per head. For reservations snowsportscentre@cardrona.com Cardrona also offers telemark lessons.

Most Snowsports Schools also offer a discounted rate for "Early Bird" lessons which are usually at 09.30am.

3 hour (half day) and 5 hour (full day) private lessons are also available. If this is your preference, then you definitely want to make a reservation in advance.

First Time Skiers or Boarders

Each of the ski areas offer a special one-day package called a "Starter Pack" (or similar). Prices vary slightly between mountains but the best value for money is Cardrona’s @ $110. The Remarkables cost $112 for an adult. This really is the deal of the century because you get 2 lessons (1 x 2 hour lesson at TC @ $105 adult), equipment rental (not including clothing) and the relevant lift pass for the day all for the one cheap price. This really is a winner for everyone. The Ski area wants to get you hooked into a new sport, and for first timers we really believe that it is the best, most fun way to get into snow sports and certainly at the best price possible. Coronet Peak and The Remarkables no longer offer a child Starter Pack as they have restructured the packages on offer for kids and will be running the first timer classes as part of regular children’s ski school.