 Poster: A snowHead
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Coronet Peak – New Zealand – July 2009
So second in my list of the big five (Mt Hutt, Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Whakapapa and Turoa) is Coronet Peak. Coronet is one of the two major ski resorts in Queenstown – the other being The Remarkables and, from what I gathered, not many people here give much street-cred to Coronet with most opting to ski/board The Remarkables. The access road here is a godsend, sealed, relatively short (about 7kms) and a huge relief after our Mt Hutt experience!
The reasons most people to go to The Remarkables is that Coronet is very commercial and the lift queues can be fairly busy at times. However, in my opinion those people are missing out as being the most commercial field it has the most money behind it and this gives it several advantages over other NZ ski fields. Firstly, a sealed access road, secondly first rate facilities such as a Tyrolean restaurant cafe, a Mexican cantina, a bistro, great toilets etc but most importantly snow! Yes the good old white stuff! The mountain is literally covered in state of the art snowmaking cannons and they have even built additional water reservoirs to keep pumping the stuff out!
The ski field itself lacks the height of many others in NZ but it is much wider than most other which gives you real freedom to go from top to bottom. In effect it’s is three separate peaks – each with their own chairlift and two valleys in between. There are around five or six clearly defined runs from each peak plus the valleys in between house all the off-piste and is generally where the wind blows all the snow so some great powder pockets can be found! Before I came to NZ I had never skied off-piste before and now find myself pretty much only skiing in the off piste. This photo is Mrs NB skiing in one of (and our favourite) off-piste valleys!
This is one of the great things about skiing in NZ is that it can really push you on to the next level. Where in Europe, black generally dictates the steepness of a run here it’s all about terrain. I find myself having to constantly ski around rocks, through ice patches, jumping off ledges etc so it can be great for developing you quickly and giving you a real boost of confidence. This shows the kind of terrain we are skiing.
One of the other great things (and I attended three times!) is night skiing. Every Friday and Saturday from 4pm – 9pm the mountain is lit up like a Christmas tree, a DJ plays at the base and it’s just great fun! Also, Coronet does happen to have one of the best skiable views in the world so it’s definitely my favourite place so far! And on that note I will leave you with a picture of the view from the top of the Greengates run...I doubt many places can beat 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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Coronet is a fine hill in decent conditions. Been To Treble Cone yet? That's teh pick in terms of terrain and snow. The natural half pipe runs are nothing short of spectatular, and in places, really narrow and steep.
Hopefully now you've headed onto all sorts of terrain in NZ, you'll have an eye for spotting similar opportunites in Europe. There are many indeed, you just have to venture off-piste a little and look around. It's where the fun is ...
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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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NomadicBoo, Glad you like my local hill. I see you have picked up on certain amount of bias amongst some of the locals. Some of this is I believe due to it's success in attracting customers. It is always busier than most of the local competition. There is a lack of seriously steep areas at Coronet but it does have a great deal of really fun terrain that can give a lot of very enjoyable skiing. Unlike most other areas in NZ the road is state owned and maintained so is not the narrow gravel rutted mess that is common elsewhere. Buy the look of you photos they were taken a week or two ago. The snow coverage on the lower areas is quite a bit better now.
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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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Sarge McSarge, They were taken over a month ago! I'm just not very good at getting around to putting them up. I spent a week after this at Remarkables and I thought Coronet was miles better!
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