Cardrona to install NZ's most pointless lift

[Draizuh]

was from a discussion i had with a lawyer a few months back, hinted that remarkables were not the only one with a proposal....when I asked if it was linked to a new access road to soho, he laughed and said its a construction road not an access road...can but hope.

on a side the top of the Chondola will roll over to the to the cat track that drops into SOHO will it not with a small amount of dozer work, and why are Soho looking at that large staging area behind the existing cardrona snow fence area??? RC indicated for construction, but seems excessive.

The last time i heard the vibe going forward was that soho would be standalone. Yes a gondola has been mentioned but Snowpark and treble cone aswell as porters have had resource consents for gondolas at various stages and nothing has materialised. The valley further north from captains is part of the cardona ski area subzone and i would imagine they would develop in there..

Yeah you could blow a whole lot of the area out with a digger but a 6 man chair dumping into a narrow cat track wouldnt be much fun. would also make the access back to the top of whitestar the only access out of captains from the top.

 

[scullee]

This will offset the cost of the lift a little

http://unofficialnetworks.com/2017/...ea-literally-strikes-gold-during-construction

 

[Red_switch]

This will offset the cost of the lift a little

http://unofficialnetworks.com/2017/...ea-literally-strikes-gold-during-construction

What's the date?

 

[ScottGN]

 

[pedub]

Now that I've seen it. Something is not right about this. Gondola in NZ???
It's going to be weird

 

[RichardP]

will be great for summer tourists....

 

[DPS Driver]

I have an idea. They should keep the covers on a few and market them as the mile high club cars.

Then again it's at Cardona, so you wouldn't have time to get your fly down.

 

[Draizuh]

On the 900m lift not at all, unless you do it as fast as you ski/ride!

Was a great challenge at a few french resorts with multiple gondolas (sadly i never had any taker to get a set/one)

 

[DPS Driver]

On the 900m lift not at all, unless you do it as fast as you ski/ride!

Was a great challenge at a few french resorts with multiple gondolas (sadly i never had any taker to get a set/one)

There you go. Another thing that's easier in snowboard boots.

 

[Nozawaman]

Whistler peak to peak is doable .

 

[DPS Driver]

Whistler peak to peak is doable .

Are you speaking from experience?

 

[Nozawaman]

Are you speaking from experience?

Matt gave me the lowdown .

 

[craighelo]

Can buy the first Chondola ride here http://www.trademe.co.nz/travel-events-activities/activities/auction-1327119213.htm

 

[windy]

I 'spose one positive is now the chair is faster.

 

[DPS Driver]

For the kiddies. Well positioned from a marketing perspective.

 

[Zimboo]

Dem group tour bundled discounts with Real Journeys. Wilderness (Milford)......tick, Lake / Farm etc (Queenstown Earnslaw).........tick, Snow experience (Cardrona).........tick. They must be one of NZ's biggest group tour specialists now and the Asian market continues to grow.

 

[pedub]

Rode it today. Why not...
The situation at the top is definitely much improved with the new chair offload. Actually the gondola wasn't really popular.. More people queueing for chairs

 

[Call_me_Ishmael]

Rode it today. Why not...
The situation at the top is definitely much improved with the new chair offload. Actually the gondola wasn't really popular.. More people queueing for chairs

Yes
Having seen it makes a lot of sense for in particular beginner snowboarders who might not yet have confidently progressed to a chair

 

[Dumph]

https://www.cardrona.com/winter/our-latest/posts/whats-new-for-winter-2018/

Caldrona talking about 'repurposing' the old MacDougalls chairlift to access more advanced skiing/riding as part of a $20m spend over the next two years. Any thoughts about where this is most likely to go? Good to see they're investing and developing the resort.

 

[Draizuh]

https://www.cardrona.com/winter/our-latest/posts/whats-new-for-winter-2018/

Caldrona talking about 'repurposing' the old MacDougalls chairlift to access more advanced skiing/riding as part of a $20m spend over the next two years. Any thoughts about where this is most likely to go? Good to see they're investing and developing the resort.

The basin to the right of Mt Cardrona would be my bet.
Before anyone says soho, I highly doubt it. Word on the street is that they are purchasing more cats for next season and looking to expand facilities.

 

[Dumph]

The basin to the right of Mt Cardrona would be my bet.
Before anyone says soho, I highly doubt it. Word on the street is that they are purchasing more cats for next season and looking to expand facilities.

Thanks for that and I think you're probably right. That's good terrain over there but I haven't skied it as yet. Would the access from Captains be a bit tricky getting into the bowl. I thought it would involve a bit of a hike but maybe not.

 

[Draizuh]

Thanks for that and I think you're probably right. That's good terrain over there but I haven't skied it as yet. Would the access from Captains be a bit tricky getting into the bowl. I thought it would involve a bit of a hike but maybe not.

Possibly yes. but a well placed lift heading almost north from point 1894 would be accessible from captains using a bit of earthworks. Heard from a mate this morning that its almost certainly the spot.

Also a lot of markers out on the sugar headwall at remarks, and around curvey/doolans for new runs!

 

[Whatever really]

It’s pretty easy to access from the top of the captains at the moment it’s a mix of timber wind fences and rope out of bounds signs that if you enter high enough you can ski down and pop out near the secret chute.
I skied it briefly this season but from what I remember a lot of it is pretty steep into a Valley.

There is also another great spot top left as you drive up that people often ski basically a 45 degree angle from the bottom of the valley view but the road chops through it a couple of times so I don’t think it will be there.

I don’t think soho will ever have any assistance from Cardrona or vice versa plus I would hate to see soho get a lift it’s the best car park accessed back country in NZ

 

[snowgum]

I'm looking forward to Cardrona adding some solid black terrain to their network, it has a good supply of greens and blues already.

Having peeked over the ridgeline (skier's left of Captains), there's some pretty gnarly-looking terrain in the basin. Cardi could well take some market share from TC - which lacks the softer terrain so appealing to young families.

 

[mauricem]

I wonder if they're considering Arcadia Basin for the old Macdougalls chair? Some nice runs in there but the traverse back to Whitestar is a PITA plus that lift gets seriously long cues, even mid week outside school hols.

Hopefully though they'll open some new terrain as mentioned by posters above.

 

[N0frilz]

I recon they've dusted off an old plan a previous manager had for the old lift....

 

[pedub]

Whats the "old plan"?

I was wondering if a lift could work right up the guts of Arcadia basin to the summit?

Otherwise to skiers left of captains, down past the Cafe a little?

 

[N0frilz]

Whats the "old plan"?

I was wondering if a lift could work right up the guts of Arcadia basin to the summit?

Otherwise to skiers left of captains, down past the Cafe a little?

There was a plan for the old double chair that came out a long time ago...

 

[Call_me_Ishmael]

*cough cough*bump

Oh yeah, that's got Soho expansion stamped all over the bullwheel

Cardrona is three years into a five-year development plan that has focused on preparing Cardrona for the Soho expansion.

This included installation of a $10 million cabin-style gondola, called the McDougall's Chondola, the refurbishment and repurposing of the Base Area buildings, and expanded carparking with a connecting shuttle service.

First of all, its got nothing to do with soho. Infact Cardrona arent co-operating at all with soho expansion going forward.
Second of all, the trail from behind Mc Dougalls to Soho is uphill.
Thirdly the area behind mc dougalls doesnt hold rideable snow.
Any expansion into soho basin as a connection from cardrona will have to come from the top of Captains chair, and the resource consent for the installation of a new chair in soho basin says that it will terminate on the ridge near to the top of captains basin.

It goes into the myth as reality file for the Southern Lakes region along with
1.They'll never seal the Crown Range/Remarks Access
2.You can't build a road around the back of the airport on the escarpment

 

[Red_switch]

*cough cough*bump




It goes into the myth as reality file for the Southern Lakes region along with
1.They'll never seal the Crown Range/Remarks Access
2.You can't build a road around the back of the airport on the escarpment

I'm still not sure why they sealed the Remarks access road, summer maintenance is apparently an absolute bitch now (which they should have figured from Coronet...), but as long as you Aussies tolerate the ever increasing lift tickets...

Crown Range being sealed was a no-brainer, you think that road gets busy in winter, you wanna see it in summer.

 

[Red_switch]

As for Soho, Darby has played this pretty well. He's pretty much put RJ in a position where they had no choice (which is what I'd suspected he'd try). But yeah, they were definitely holding out.

 

[Donzah]

I'm still not sure why they sealed the Remarks access road, summer maintenance is apparently an absolute bitch now (which they should have figured from Coronet...), but as long as you Aussies tolerate the ever increasing lift tickets...

Crown Range being sealed was a no-brainer, you think that road gets busy in winter, you wanna see it in summer.

Gotta have those frickles at cardies.
It's a conga line of inconsiderate juicy vans and sparkling Toyota highlanders

 

[Red_switch]

Gotta have those frickles at cardies.
It's a conga line of inconsiderate juicy vans and sparkling Toyota highlanders

It's all good. Coronet is like a locals hill again now. And more expansion at Cardies will take some pressure off remarks.

 

[Dumphfish]

Everyone getting a bit 'sniffy' about Cardies but for most the development will be welcome. Good to see expansion and new terrain being opened up (apologies to the bc brethren). Cardies will become huge and hoover up the tourist market which must be a bit scary for the others.

 

[Call_me_Ishmael]

I'm still not sure why they sealed the Remarks access road,

I love compulsory chains day at Remarks

 

[Red_switch]

I love compulsory chains day at Remarks

I've had a 1.5 hour trip up the remarks road. Chains on all vehicles from the bottom. That was after having to drive with chains on from five rivers to garston earlier that morning. Opening day 2013, was pretty good.

 

[Red_switch]

Everyone getting a bit 'sniffy' about Cardies but for most the development will be welcome. Good to see expansion and new terrain being opened up (apologies to the bc brethren). Cardies will become huge and hoover up the tourist market which must be a bit scary for the others.

I don't think they'll be all that worried. Cardies expanding is great for people looking for the cardies experience, but lots aren't.

Cardrona and NZSki have quite a positive history of working together on quite a lot of stuff, though I'm not sure what impact the dog derby may have had on that.

 

[Draizuh]

Wanaka international airport is next.

As Niseko said to Hakuba, You can have them.

 

[snowgum]

Everyone getting a bit 'sniffy' about Cardies but for most the development will be welcome. Good to see expansion and new terrain being opened up (apologies to the bc brethren). Cardies will become huge and hoover up the tourist market which must be a bit scary for the others.

This excellent for us Aussies as we run out of gradually snow(?). I love Cardi, a great all rounder, they do most things well perhaps without excelling in many except half pipes/ terrain parks.

Staff treat you well, fair policy for bad weather, good creche - happy son! - and overall very good snow quality. Perhaps lack black runs, biggest neg - maybe this will be corrected with expanded terrain in Soho???

 

[DPS Driver]

The new/ old Pringles lift.

 

[Zimbooo]

The new/ old Pringles lift.

Wow, go Real Journeys!!!!
One can only hope they buy Treble Cone as well!!!!!

 

[DPS Driver]

I've meetings with Cardrona and TC the week after next.

I believe TC have some things in the works. Not sure what yet but be interested to find out.

Will only share if not commercial in confidence.

 

[Red_switch]

I've meetings with Cardrona and TC the week after next.

I believe TC have some things in the works. Not sure what yet but be interested to find out.

Will only share if not commercial in confidence.

TC have had "things in the works" for decades.

Real Journeys are a progressive company though. Can't fault them on that. Though their connection to some pretty dubious planned development in Fiordland National Park has me finding a little less time for them.

 

[Froff Life]

 

[DPS Driver]

TC have had "things in the works" for decades.

Real Journeys are a progressive company though. Can't fault them on that. Though their connection to some pretty dubious planned development in Fiordland National Park has me finding a little less time for them.

Does this add to the skiable terrain we discussed previously?

I think you accounted for the Pringle lift terrain in your research. Yes / No?

 

[Red_switch]

Does this add to the skiable terrain we discussed previously?

I think you accounted for the Pringle lift terrain in your research. Yes / No?

Nope, wasn't in that, so new terrain! That said, the face below arcadia holds snow pretty relative to the area of chutes below captains.

 

[DPS Driver]

Nope, wasn't in that, so new terrain! That said, the face below arcadia holds snow pretty relative to the area of chutes below captains.

So maybe their totalled skiable terrain is starting to add up closer to their quoted figure.

 

[Red_switch]

So maybe their totalled skiable terrain is starting to add up closer to their quoted figure.

Maybe. That said, it's a number they've been throwing around for at least a decade.

 

[Draizuh]

James nieheus was working on this trail map earlier in the year and it featured the lift.
i still dont understand why you would build a lift down lower...

 

[1dayasalion]

Putting it just above Valley View up to the telecom tower would've been the go if you were really being legit about taking some of the loading off Whitestar and Captains.