Coronet Peak is a commercial

skifield A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North A ...

in Queenstown, New Zealand located seven kilometres west of

Arrowtown Arrowtown () is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River ( Māori: ''Haehaenui'') approximately 7.5 km from State Highway 6. Arrowtown is loc ...

, on the southern slopes of the 1,649-metre peak which shares its name. A popular ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere, Coronet Peak offers a long snow season, well received skiing and snowboarding terrain and lift systems.

Location

The Peak is one of New Zealand's most popular ski resorts due to its proximity to Queenstown, varied terrain and quality facilities, offering two high speed six-seater chairlifts and a high speed beginner chairlift. The view from the skifield south across

Lake Wakatipu Lake Wakatipu () is an inland lake (finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland, New Zealand, Southland. ''Lake Wakatipu'' comes from the original Māori l ...

and the smaller nearby

Lake Hayes Lake Hayes () is a small lake in the Wakatipu Basin in Central Otago, in New Zealand's South Island. It is located close to the towns of Arrowtown and Queenstown. The southern end of the lake is close to , while the western side is bordered ...

is a further contributor to the mountain's success. Dubbed the "original" resort ski area Coronet Peak is only 25 minutes from Queenstown.

Facilities

Coronet Peak has extensive snowmaking and receives about 2 m of snow per year.Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak. Retrieved 22 January 2018. The season typically runs from early June to early-October or late-September. It is one of the only skifields in New Zealand to offer night skiing on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights from July to mid-SeptemberCoronet Peak Ski Area
/ref> and First Tracks, operating between 8-9am offer a more secluded period before the main traffic hits later on during the day. Coronet Peak (and nearby mountains) are popular locations for school trips because of their extensive facilities. Children 6 and younger receive free day lift passes.

Lifts

Coronet Peak has a lifts system consisting of a combined six seater chairlift and gondola, the Coronet Express, as well as two detachable chairlifts, the six seater Greengages express and the Meadows Express quad, as well as a T bar. There are also three magic carpet lifts in the beginner area. The lifts can transport 9000 people per hour combined.

Ski terrain

Popular runs on Coronet Peak include Big Easy (beginners), M1, Greengates and Shirtfront (intermediate), and Exchange Drop and the Back Bowls (expert). Like European Alpine ski resorts, Coronet's Peak offers much well-developed piste skiing.

Events

Coronet Peak is often the site of calendared international ski races and the training ground for many world class athletes.

Operations

The field is operated by NZSki Ltd, who also manages

The Remarkables The Remarkables () are a mountain range and part of the Remarkables Conservation Area that includes Kawarau/The Remarkables and Tāpuae O’Uenuku/Hector Mountains and Te Papapuni/Nevis River valley. Located on the southeastern shore of Lake W ...

skifield just across the valley and

Mount Hutt Mount Hutt () rises to the west of the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand, above the braided upper reaches of the Rakaia River, and 80 kilometres west of Christchurch. Its summit is 2190 metres above sea level. The New Zeala ...

in Canterbury, near to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

History

The field was New Zealand's first commercial skifield, and was opened in 1947 with a single rope tow. Tourism pioneer

Harry Wigley Sir Henry Rodolph Wigley (2 February 1913 – 15 September 1980) was a pilot, entrepreneur, and pioneer of the New Zealand tourism industry. Wigley was born at Fairlie in 1913. In the 1930s, Wigley entered the family firm, the Mount Cook T ...

of Mt Cook airline fame commissioned Bill Hamilton to design and build this lift. As visitor numbers grew, the field introduced New Zealand's first double then treble chairlifts and in 1994, the second high-speed quad chairlift. In 2002 the

Mount Cook Group Mount Cook Group was a New Zealand tourism and transport operator founded on 2 April 1912 by Rodolph Lysaght Wigley. Originally a road transport business, the ''Mount Cook Tourist Company of New Zealand'' became a public company in 1928. By 1930 ...

sold Coronet Peak and The Remarkables to a consortium of Queenstown businesspeople, now NZSki Ltd, who also bought

. For the 2008 season NZSki Ltd invested over $30 million on a new base building and 141 new

snow cannons Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

. The 2009 season opened with new snowmaking equipment, new piste groomers, and a dedicated children's lift.Ski resorts gear up for action
news.com.au. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009. The 2010 season saw the Meadows double chairlift replaced with a detachable quad chairlift featuring a self lowering safety bar and child friendly restraints.

References

External links

Coronet Peak official websiteOfficial nzski.com websiteCoronet Peak Webcam
Powderhounds.co
Coronet Peak reviews
{{coord, -44.926898, 168.736053, display=title Ski areas and resorts in Otago Mountains of Otago Queenstown-Lakes District Southern Alps Sport in Queenstown, New Zealand