 Poster: A snowHead
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The owners of Treble Cone, one of New Zealand's leading ski areas, are talking to several prospective buyers of the business...
This report from BusinessDay.co.nz
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The present owners bought the ski area seven years ago to "secure its future as a community asset and make sure it was developed and not stripped of its assets", Nat Craig [Chairman] said.
The owners had invested more than $10 million into developing the ski area in the past five years. |
Anyone skied Treble Cone recently? Want to buy it?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I might want to but I definitely would'nt be able to !
Seriously, it would be a shame if New Zealand lost any of it's ski areas, althought by the sound of it the local community / shareholders will not let this happen. For those that have not visited, the resorts, although they are not resorts in the European sense because in general you drive up unmade roads (something similar to the 21 bends up to Alpe d'Huez but without tarmac or crash barriers, all part of the experience) and ski for the day then return to the nearest town village for the evening. The resorts are small but very friendly and fun. The skiing on Mt Rupheau (I think I have spelt that right) is something again because you are on the slopes of a live(ish) volcano that occasionally shows it's disgust. I have a picture somewhere). Having said that there is access to vast areas of back country and, dare i say it, heli-skiing is considered relatively normal because that is the only way to get to many areas. As well as the commercial ski fields, as they call them, there are also many private club fields that you can join for a day.
It is certainly worth the trip, but in truth it is difficult to see where they will go with this problem because it seems to me that there are just not enough people in New Zealand to draw in enough customers and the travel distance is prohibitive for a "normal" ski holiday for most of the rest of the world.
Having said all that I would go again !
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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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Nooooooooooo !!! You mentioned heli-skiing !! 
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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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dsoutar, a Kiwi can get away with it, verbally. It comes out "hilly skiing". 
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Anyone fancy clumping together some resources and putting in a bid? I've just found a few Euros and a bottle full of coppers to make a start... 
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half a dozen ewes in heat should do
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dsoutar, ahhh, you've fallen into the trap of confusing Kiwis for Austral-sheep-shagging-ians
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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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Was there a lot in Sept 06, staying in Wanaka where my daughter was then living and working at TC. There was talk then of them putting in a gondola, due in part to some tragic and fatal accidents on and (falling) off the unsealed road up to and down from the resort - which, I have to say, I found really scary. It's renowned for its back country. It would be a shame if it went out of business and I can't believe the dedicated NZ skiing fraternity would not try to stop that, if it's feasible. We did visit other ski fields and yes, the problem is that they are so disparate, not easy to reach and without, for the most part, accommodation; of the places we visited, only Cardrona had some very limited accommodation at the foot of the road up. It is a very different experience to European and North American skiing and I can't see that for non-Kiwis the resorts would feature in their own right as a place or places to spend a hol, unless you were training and/or had so much money it wouldn't matter. Plus NZ is the most magnificent country I have ever visited and there are so many places to see and visit that it would be a shame to restrict oneself to just the skiing, no matter how good it is. You Kiwis must do something to help keep TC going!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Nothing in the article mentioned anything about closing the ski area just that it is possibly for sale. It may be about trying to raise the 20 million they need to pay for the gondola from the valley. This project got planning permission late 2008 and would be a major improvement as the road puts a lot of people off. TC has great terrain especially for advanced skiers & boarders but has never been a great financial success. I believe that this has been due to the road and the restricted beginner/low intermediate terrain.
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FAQ
Nice wee write up 
