Cardrona Revisited

Two years ago we took our first South Island trip and spent a few days skiing at Cardrona. I documented our first visit here. Last winter we had to pass on skiing because of Robert’s broken wrist, but this year we were determined to make it back. I’m so glad we did because skiing with the kids is only getting more fun the bigger they get. We did a few things different for this trip, so by choice and some by accident.

First, instead of staying in Queenstown at the Rees Hotel, we stayed in Wanaka, a cute town west of Cardrona and about an hour west of Queenstown. After making the drive from Wanaka up to Cardrona, I can say that it is MUCH easier to stay in Wanaka than in Queenstown. The drive is shorter and easier as there is no need to cross over the Crown Range to get to the slopes. We left each morning at 7:45 and typically made it up to the resort and parked in Lot B by about 8:30.

Secondly, the Ski Den setup has been replaced by Skiwees. I wish I had done my research on this prior to planning our trip because I was under the impression we could pick and choose our ski days like we did two years ago. The setup has changed, however. Skiwees is a full day program, 8:30-3:30 Monday through Thursday for kids 5-14. It is wonderful to be able to drop off the kids and have them entertained all day so we could enjoy adult skiing, but I didn’t realize we had to sign up for the full program. Skiwees and Lowriders - the snowboarding equivalent - costs NZ$499 for the four days, which is actually less expensive than four days of the Ski Den in prior years. There are also discounted rates for equipment, helmet, and lift passes for the kids.

I cannot emphasise enough how this program makes the whole trip better for everyone. The kids loved hanging out with friends - both existing ones from school and new ones met there. They raved about the food served at lunch because it was junk food-ish stuff that I would never voluntarily give them. At the end of each day, they couldn’t wait to go up the mountain with us for another run or two and show us what they learned during the day. And they learned A LOT. Much more than I would’ve ever been comfortable teaching them.

Cardrona does not appear to be suffering from lack of international visitors due to the closed borders. The slopes were PACKED. On our first day, we waited in line up to forty five minutes to catch a lift. Grabbing a coffee or lunch was typically an exercise in patience, too. It was important to break for lunch just before the group lessons got out at 12:20 to beat the incredibly long lines that formed each day. With that said, once we figured out how to time things - like eating lunch at 12, not 12:30 - and using the ski concierge to house our gear - it was a fantastic trip.