Longer skiing season at Cardrona

Longer skiing season at Cardrona

With winter approaching, Cardrona Alpine Resort have decided to lengthen their winter season and have invested heavily into improving the quality and number of groomed trails for all types of skiers and snowboarders.

Cardrona have extended their season by two weeks which gives the ski area the longest scheduled winter season in the South Island. Cardrona’s 2015 Opening Day will now be on June 13 and the final day of the season is scheduled for October 11. Dates are weather dependent and the first week of the season will see limited beginner’s terrain on offer with additional terrain opening as snowfall allows.

Cardrona have also invested approximately $2 million NZD towards improving the quality and number of groomed trails by purchasing 4 new Kassbohrer Pisten Bully Groomers and a state of the art ‘Snow Sat’ system. Cardrona will be the first ski area in the Southern Hemisphere to utilise the integrated GPS snow and fleet management Snow Sat system which provides:

• Premium slope quality

• More environmentally friendly operating from reducing fuel consumption by 8% and operating time by 5%

• A 15% reduction in the need to make snow

• Improved slope management technology and snow depth measurement for increased accuracy in guest communications relating to snow base depth

Cardrona are planning to widen a number of trails for guest convenience and undertake earthworks to improve terrain park facilities for the 2015 season. Improvement will include the linking of ‘Valley View’ and ‘Tail Race’ trails which will make it considerably easier to explore terrain accessed by the Valley View Chairlift from the upper mountain.

Cardrona will also improve their ability to collect snow naturally by installing 500 metres of additional snow fencing. This should result in using less artificial water and snow groomer hours while providing guests with higher quality slope conditions in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Improvements to the Cardrona access road will also be underway before the season begins which will include:

• Improving the road width in tight areas to make access safer and more user friendly

• Adding more safety barriers to the road side

• Constructing safe passing zones for quicker traffic flow

• Surface based road works (improved drainage and gravelling)

Cardrona’s ‘Early Bird’ Season Pass Sale is also drawing near, running from March 1st -31st with the ‘Late Bird’ Season Pass Sale following from April 1st-30th. Season Pass prices are now live on www.cardrona.com.

Due to popular demand the Cardrona Bike Park will be reopening for the Easter holiday break from April 4th -19th . Trail construction and maintenance is now underway to offer considerably more beginner’s terrain to suit recreational mountain bikers and families. Cardrona are currently taking

bookings for their on-mountain accommodation over the April opening period.

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