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Lifts & Terrain

Treble Cone Ski and Snowboard Terrain Treble Cone is one of our favourite ski destinations in New Zealand with some incredible advanced and powderhound terrain. It has the largest skiable terrain, longest groomed runs and the highest vertical rise in the South Island. As to be expected, TC is above the tree-line, so off-piste skiing opportunities are plentiful within chutes, bowls, gullies and natural half-pipes. The mountain is steep, but winding runs have been carved out so that there is terrain to suit all ability levels.

Lifts The skiing area is spread over three large basins. Home Basin at the base of the resort is serviced by the speedy 6-person chair lift, whilst the Saddle Basin is serviced by a quad chair. The Matatapu Chutes, which are double-black runs, are accessible from the top of the Saddle Basin, but most of the chutes require a hike to get back to the lift.

Even though the resort only has 4 lifts (two of which are beginner lifts), they have been very well planned and provide an incredible number of skiing options. They are efficient and lift queues are a non-issue. As such, Powderhounds have awarded the resort with the “best lift infrastructure” in NZ. The only limitation of the lift lay-out is that some of the ski areas at the top and bottom become a bit repetitive as you need to travel or traverse to get to the runs furthest away from the lifts. The other disadvantage is that it’s impossible to hide from your ex-wife.

Treble Cone Lift Tickets Prices for one day passes are high, but there are discounts for families and multi-day passes. If you’re staying in NZ for a while, seasons passes are expensive, but more economical options are the 5, 10 and 20 day non-consecutive passes.

A 5-day Wanaka Pass is available that is valid at either Treble Cone or Cardrona. It’s slightly more expensive than a Treblecone-only 5-day pass, but it is worthwhile if you want the flexibility of skiing at both resorts.

Snow conditions By NZ standards, Treble Cone is renowned for plenty of snowfall with an average of 5.5 metres falling annually. The powder that falls is far from “champagne”, but it is pretty good for NZ.

Grooming is limited to only the main trails such as Easy Rider and Main Street, the beginners area and one trail around the perimeter of Saddle Basin. Snowmaking is also somewhat limited, with a main focus on the beginners area.

One downfall of Treble Cone is the patrollers and the lack of signage in relation to the snow conditions. On one visit to TC there were quite a few runs that were incredibly marginal and had bare patches or sinking snow where the base had melted out, yet there was absolutely no signage at the top of the run or the area to warn people or deter non-expert skiers away – quite amazing!

For the Beginner Treble Cone has a reputation as being inappropriate for beginners, but this is undeserved. Only 10% of the terrain is rated as “green” but considering that the total in-bounds terrain is so large, 55 hectares is more than enough for beginners. The purpose built beginners area near the base is fenced off from the main skiing area and features a very gentle slope on which to learn. It is serviced by a 25m magic carpet and the Nice ‘N’ Easy Platter lift. The next progression is the Easy Rider run off the top of the 6-person chair lift which snakes its way down to the base.

For the Intermediate There is plenty of terrain for intermediate skiers, accessible from both the quad chair and the 6-person express lift. The groomers are steep and fast, and considering the lift efficiency, you get a huge amount of skiing in each day. A nice long run is from Upper High Street all the way down into Home Basin, providing 4.5km of thigh burn.

For the Family/Kids The dedicated beginners’ area provides a safe environment in which children can learn. More experienced children can ride the 6-person chair lift which services green, blue and black runs, so the whole family can ride the one area.

For the Shredder Treble Cone has a terrain park catering for advanced riders to beginners, which is situated in the Saddle Basin at the end of the bullet run. Excavation works have enabled the park to open from the early part of the season. The park is somewhat limited with only one of hits, so shredders seeking lots of freestyle variety will be better off at Snowpark or The Remarkables. On the plus side, the terrain of Treble Cone offers lots of natural hits including ledges and half-pipes.

Advanced Skiing Advanced runs are the absolute strength of Treble Cone. The black runs at TC are typically much more difficult than those at other resorts in NZ or Australia. Many of them are both steep and narrow. Great areas include Powder Bowl in the Home Basin and the chutes above it, and Saddle Basin is an advanced rider’s dream with lots of lines to choose from along ridges and gullies that catch the powder and produce some nice stashes. Those on the skiers’ right are steep, and the gradient progressively diminishes as you move across to the skiers’ left.

If you follow Upper High Street you’ll get to several chutes which lead to Gun Barrel and Sundance. If the snow is icy these runs can be quite dangerous for the inexperienced rider due to their steepness. These runs can also be accessed to the right of the 6-person express chair.

Off the express chair, head along Expressway and drop into Solitude, Farout and Outer Limits. Because the 6-pack chair is so fast and there are negligible lift lines, you can get back up to the top almost as fast as you can ski down. By the end of a day your legs should be very weary.

Expert Skiing Where do we start?! The terrain is extremely variable and is relatively steep wherever you go. From the Saddle Quad Chairlift, turn left at the top (skiers right), staying high until you enter the control gates of the backcountry area of Motatapu Basin. Here you will find some of the steepest and most challenging chutes in New Zealand. These areas can be extremely dangerous and prone to avalanches, so always obey the signs (if there are any) and only ski these areas with the appropriate back-country essentials. For the inner chutes a traverse is required to return to the quad chair, but the outer chutes will require a 15-20 minute hike. And if you get carried away with the moment and ski below the quad chair, it will be a really long walk back.

There are also other back-country areas around the resort that can be accessed with a bit of a walk. These include the summit (about 30 minutes) and Tim’s Table above the Saddle Quad.

Powderhound Skiing Sure you have to pick your day, but at times there are some amazing powder runs. The topography of Treble Cone provides many areas to catch the snow, rather than it blowing away as occurs at some resorts.