Coronet Peak is a commercial

skifield A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

in Queenstown, New Zealand located seven kilometres west of

Arrowtown Arrowtown (Māori: ''Haehaenui'') is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 7.5 km from State Highway 6. Arrowtown is locat ...

, on the southern slopes of the 1,649-metre peak which shares its name. A popular ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere, Coronet Peak offers a long snow season, well received skiing and snowboarding terrain and lift systems.Coronet Peak
Powdertravel.com. Retrieved 1 July 2009.

Location

The Peak is one of New Zealand's most popular ski resorts due to its proximity to Queenstown, varied terrain and quality facilities, offering two high speed six-seater chairlifts and a high speed beginner chairlift. The view from the skifield south across

Lake Wakatipu Lake Wakatipu ( mi, Whakatipu Waimāori) is an inland lake (finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland. ''Lake Wakatipu'' comes from the original Māori nam ...

and the smaller nearby

Lake Hayes Lake Hayes is a small lake in the Wakatipu Basin in Central Otago, in New Zealand's South Island. It is located close to the towns of Arrowtown and Queenstown. The southern end of the lake is close to , while the western side is bordered by Sl ...

is a further contributor to the mountain's success. Dubbed the "original" resort ski area Coronet Peak is only 25 minutes from Queenstown.

Facilities

Coronet Peak has extensive snowmaking and receives about 2 m of snow per year.Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak. Retrieved 22 January 2018. The season typically runs from early June to early-October or late-September. It is one of the only skifields in New Zealand to offer night skiing on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights from July to mid-SeptemberCoronet Peak Ski Area
/ref> and First Tracks, operating between 8-9am offer a more secluded period before the main traffic hits later on during the day. Coronet Peak (and nearby mountains) are popular locations for school trips because of their extensive facilities. Children 6 and younger receive free day lift passes.

Lifts

Coronet Peak has a lifts system consisting of a combined six seater chairlift and gondola, the Coronet Express, as well as two detachable chairlifts, the six seater Greengages express and the Meadows Express quad, as well as a T bar. There are also three magic carpet lifts in the beginner area. The lifts can transport 9000 people per hour combined.

Ski terrain

Popular runs on Coronet Peak include Big Easy (beginners), M1, Greengates and Shirtfront (intermediate), and Exchange Drop and the Back Bowls (expert). Like European Alpine ski resorts, Coronet's Peak offers much well-developed piste skiing.

Events

Coronet Peak is often the site of calendared international ski races and the training ground for many world class athletes.

Operations

The field is operated by

NZSki Ltd NZSki Ltd, or nzski.com'manages three major New Zealand commercial ski fields; two in Queenstown, The Remarkables, New Zealand, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak, and Mt. Hutt nearer to Christchurch. The company is based in Queenstown. It was for ...

, who also manages

The Remarkables The Remarkables ( mi, Kawarau) are a mountain range and skifield in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. Located on the southeastern shore of Lake Wakatipu, the range lives up to its name by rising sharply to create a remarkable backdrop ...

skifield just across the valley and

Mount Hutt Mount Hutt ( mi, Opuke) rises to the west of the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand, above the braided upper reaches of the Rakaia River, and 80 kilometres west of Christchurch. Its summit is 2190 metres above sea level. The Ne ...

in Canterbury, near to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

History

The field was New Zealand's first commercial skifield, and was opened in 1947 with a single rope tow. Tourism pioneer Harry Wigley of Mt Cook airline fame commissioned Bill Hamilton to design and build this lift. As visitor numbers grew, the field introduced New Zealand's first double then treble chairlifts and in 1994, the second high-speed quad chairlift. In 2002 the

Mount Cook Group Mount Cook Group was a New Zealand tourism and transport operator founded on 2 April 1912 by Rodolph Lysaght Wigley. Originally a road transport business, the ''Mount Cook Tourist Company of New Zealand'' became a public company in 1928. By 1930 ...

sold Coronet Peak and

to a consortium of Queenstown businesspeople, now

, who also bought

. For the 2008 season NZSki Ltd invested over $30 million on a new base building and 141 new snow cannons. The 2009 season opened with new snowmaking equipment, new piste groomers, and a dedicated children's lift.Ski resorts gear up for action
news.com.au. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009. The 2010 season saw the Meadows double chairlift replaced with a detachable quad chairlift featuring a self lowering safety bar and child friendly restraints.

Footnotes

References

Powdertravel.com. Retrieved 2009-07-01.

External links

Coronet Peak official websiteOfficial nzski.com websiteCoronet Peak Webcam
Powderhounds.co
Coronet Peak reviews
{{coord, -44.926898, 168.736053, display=title Ski areas and resorts in Otago Mountains of Otago Queenstown-Lakes District Southern Alps Sport in Queenstown, New Zealand