 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Coronet Peak snow report today said: "Great skiing and riding on soft, spring-like snow." Both the 8am and 12.30pm reports said that.
Moosepig said: "Great skiing my a*se!!"
It was a dripping, sodden slush festival with all the appeal of a melted ice cream, from the top of the mountain to the base. And that was at 10am! Having made the mistake of believing the snow report and driven up the hill, bought my day pass and kitted up, I splished and sploshed my way through the hoardes of poor, unfortunate beginners (what a way to spend your first day on skis) to the express lift, which then ground to a halt while they loaded 47 Japanese sightseeing tourists on at the top for their trip back down. An hour and a half - and only 3 runs - later, I gave up for the day as I was in danger of having to swap my goggles for a snorkel.
I don't mind missing a few days' skiing while I'm here, there's plenty else to do - so come on Coronet Peak, BE MORE HONEST ABOUT YOUR SNOW CONDITIONS!!!! $70+ for 90 minutes of poor skiing is, frankly, a rip off.
As for the resort itself - well gourmet skiing this ain't. Nowhere to change, huge queues for everything and inefficient staff at the end of them, storage lockers that cost $2 an hour, plus impatient and discourteous instructors on the beginners' course (my wife was trying out skiing for the first time today - needless to say she is not especially hooked!). Not a great advert for New Zealand I'm afraid. Maybe it's just Queenstown - which at the moment, thanks to the Festival of Winter, is full of rude people, and that seems to include the locals. Shame really, the rest of New Zealand has been totally and absolutely wonderful (with the exception of the rugby results). I won't bother with Coronet Peak again on this trip.
The weather systems we have at the moment are going to preclude decent skiing for several days anyway, so I'll probably leave the Remarkables and Cardrona until later in the week. Ciao for now!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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moosepig,
Sounds to me like nothing has changed at Coronet Peak since I went there in 1990 ! Be interested to know more of your thoughts on Queentown, Earlier in this thread I got castigated for rubishing the town. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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moosepig, bad luck - exactly this time last year (first week of July) it was extremely cold, and superb conditions, if mainly artificial snow... No change for the queues though!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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moosepig, I found that a really interesting report. Thanks. Hopefully the operators of the resort will read it one day and reflect on it.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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moosey yep, NZ never sells its ski fields as gourmet. For NZers it's the time on the snow that counts, not the time off it  Sorry, I should've mentioned it.  In fact what's there is perfectly servicable, but it is a culture shock to Euro skiers used to Continental comforts.
It doesn't help that you were lured up the mountain on false pretences....If it's any comfort, Kiwis also often zoom up the mountain on the basis reports from ski field management of good snow, only to find out upon arrival that management had massaged the truth. It IS frustrating, and you're not alone - the whole of NZ's skiing fraternity hates the situation.
On behalf of all NZ, please accept my humble appologies for the rude behaviour of my compatriots. The staff up their own Peak at Coronet sound like they need a swift kick up the ar$se. Sigh.  Customer service is one thing NZ does well and, considering NZ's principle trade is tourism, we can't afford a few idiots up a mountain going off-message. Please let me know if staff at other resorts are as bad so I can go kick the relevant people in the shins when I'm home this xmas. BTW, you should fill in the ski field's customer satisfaction form - it WILL get read and acted upon.
You lucked out on the snow - it should be pretty much perfect by now....
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Well, in the interests of balanced reporting, I guess I ought to add some positives...
The views of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu from the top of Coronet Peak were outstanding. The hill itself seems well managed and I'm sure if the snow had been better (i.e. if it had been snow) then I would have been more positive about the whole experience. The staff at the Peak were friendly and helpful - just inefficient. I joined a queue for lift tickets in sixth place. 20 minutes later - no kidding - I finally got my ticket.
Manda, fear not, I haven't been put off New Zealand by my experience yesterday. In fact my wife and I are already discussing when we can come back and do the country properly without the rugby getting in the way
David, I emailed the resort.
stanton, Queenstown is okay. It's not like the rest of New Zealand, but it's not gone completely tacky. It's probably not fit for Queen Victoria any more (which is how it got its name) but the surroundings are still breathtaking, and there are more things to do here than there is time to do them. This week it's the Festival Of Winter, which is apparently an excuse for youg people who normally wear beanie hats indoors to take them outside and make noise in the streets.
New Zealand is to be recommended to everyone, it's a great place. As for the skiing - it could have been worse!! 
My limited research shows that The Remarkables is the place to go to for (relatively) cold temperatures at the moment so that's where I'm off to tomorrow morning. Report to follow.
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moosepig, balanced? That's only for skiing innit, not reporting?
BTW, for future reference queuing for everything an NZ ski field is normal, but can be avoided. It starts during the journey up (especially during snowfall up the mountain which you only discover upon hitting the +2hr wait halfway up the road where it becomes mandatory for non-4WDs owners to fit chains), and continues through ticket purchase, obtaining any refreshments at the mid-point station cafe, and includes the apres drive back down the hill (when you again hit the +2hr wait at the half-way point where everyone stops to remove chains).
Delay avoidance techniques, NZ style:
1) Purchase tickets in town - try the local Tourism office, or the ski field's urban ticketing office (e.g. Queenstown )
2) BYO own food/drink.
3) Breakfast pre-dawn, and set off your drive up the hill at least 1hr before the lifts are due to start.
4) Drive a 4WD.
To determine whether the ski-field snow report is luring you up up the mountain on false pretences: the evening beforehand, consult a local skier in their natural habitat i.e. bars/pubs. Kiwis are good at reading their local weather patterns and a good skier will be willing and able to tell you whether the next day's report is a waste of the paper it's printed on (don't be surprised if they glance out the window and accurately predict the hour at which the snow will (or not) start falling).
And the next morning, after you the kettle on for breakfast i.e at dawn, phone the ski field direct and ask someone who's actually staring out the window at the slopes (you can still do this at most ski fields....)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Cardrona on Saturday, conditions good - low temperatures and some fresh snowfall have finally arrived in the southern Alps and all the ski areas have benefitted. Cardrona was the best skiing experience yet in NZ, with about 4cm of fresh snow overnight. The new express lift was open for the first time, though it kept stopping, rather reducing its expressness. The skiing iself was good, although some marked trails ought to have been shut for ack of snow cover (one black run I did was literally black, as the lower section was nothing more than ice-covered rock). The sun shone to begin with, making for very pleasant skiing and fantastic views. Later on, low cloud moved in, causing near white-out conditions near the top and flat light at best elsewhere - by that time the trails had started to cut up quite a bit (it was very busy) so I called it a day around 1pm.
Coronet Peak today (Sunday) - a much better experience all round than last Monday's! Cold temperatures and a bit of fresh snow, and no queues for anything Managed to ski most of the runs before the thinnish snow had been skied off the slopes revealing the icy base beneath. So I take back what I said about CP last Monday, they must just have been having a bad day
That's it for skiing for this trip. Off to Auckland tomorrow, back to the UK on Friday.
P.S. Manda, we waved to your mum but she didn't see us
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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sounds just like Scottish skiing..........
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Manda, yeah we're in Auckland now and it snowed in Queenstown the day after we left! Never mind, only another 6 months before I go skiing again...
I know what you mean about the cliffs and all that, especially as the terrain is so open and trails are only vaguely marked.
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Moosepig was actually 'home'. That is he'd been home, dropped his stuff and was having a pint (or quite a few I believe) in the Waterloo Arms, which doubles as home.
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Poster: A snowHead
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