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Cardrona Alpine Resort

Cardrona Alpine Resort

Cardrona Alpine Resort
4.5
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
About
Located between Wanaka & Queenstown in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, Cardrona is a high ski resort renowned among skiers & snowboarders for its dry powder snow & wide slopes. Features include the Southern Hemisphere's most extensive park & pipes, excellent kids skiing facilities, ski & snowboard school, 8 distinctly different cafes & restaurants, & apartment accommodation. Cardrona is open for both winter & summer operations, with mountain biking, gondola rides, hiking/sightseeing, stargazing & NZ's only mountain carting in the summer months.
Duration: More than 3 hours
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  • Paul A
    Auckland Central, New Zealand7 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    One of the best ski fields in NZ.
    Always good times @ Cardrona even when the weather isn't the best. Usually go there during Winter X Games so that's busier than school holidays and during those times queues are a bit annoying if you are on the MdDougalls or Whitestar and want to watch so it would be great if they upgraded to a six-seater. But then the Captain's is usually relatively empty. Limited off-piste as you need decent snow coverage to hit the best diamonds trails but there are plenty of other cool drops and steep areas for adrenaline junkies around the Captain's. If the usually used for racing trails are open, you can get some decent speeds while carving it up hard :) Food/Beverages got a lot more expensive from the 2023 season to what I remember so you may want to pack lunch and bring your isotonic drinks with you :)
    Thank you for sharing your review of Cardrona Alpine Resort! We appreciated your detailed feedback as we are continuously seeking to improve our offerings to our guests. We hope you continue to have fantastic experiences at Cardrona, and we look forward to welcoming you back for more memorable adventures on the slopes! ⛷️
    Written 26 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited August 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 9 October 2023
  • Harry S
    Hobart, Australia7 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Such a cool mountain! Wide variety of terrain, great food, friendly and helpful guest services team.
    The drive from Queenstown through the Crown Ranges was one of the coolest things I’ve done on my ski holiday. Cardrona is well-equiped, and had all the terrain I could ask for as an intermediate boarder. In comparison to the other resorts, I was impressed by the quality of the food and the customer service I received from the team. Thanks to the QT snow centre team and driver Josh for safely returning my phone to me after I lost it on the mountain. Such a fun day on the mountain, and I can’t wait to come back!
    Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We’re thrilled to hear that the drive over the Crown Range added to your experience, and that you enjoyed your time at Cardrona. It’s great to know that our terrain, food quality, and customer service exceeded your expectations. We're especially glad that our team could help reunite you with your phone. We’re delighted you had such a fun day on the mountain and can’t wait to welcome you back for more great times!
    Written 20 August 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 4 August 2024
  • KiwiColleen
    New Zealand77 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Our best ski family visit yet!
    We've been coming to Cardrona as a family (driving down from Christchurch) for a ski holiday in August since 2016. This year was our best yet! The snow was amazing, queues were generally pretty good and we all had fun exploring the mountain. We typically put the kids in skiwees but this year they skied with us and it worked out perfectly. If you have all your gear and you're an intermediate skier, highly recommend parking at valley view - awesome way to start and end our day and we felt we could easily go to our car for anything we needed. Captains queue was a bit average without a liftie guide as a lot of people don't know how to queue... Willow's needs clearer signage for people to wait for the chair. I got knocked over by a swinging chair as someone behind us didn't wait in the designated space. Nasty bruise on my arm and thank god my helmet saved it from being worse. Also, get your water at Captain's - it actually tastes good!
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 30 August 2024
  • Alex
    Perth, Australia13 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great skiing spot, ridiculously high food and beverage prices
    It’s a great place for skiing and having fun around snow. Visited Cardrona with my friends for our skiing trip and had an amazing time. The only major issue I could find was the ridiculously high prices for foot and beverages. I understand it’s the only option but $16 for 3 chicken wings should be illegal.
    Visited September 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 19 September 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles800 reviews
Excellent
531
Very good
178
Average
53
Poor
22
Terrible
16

Jenny D
Gold Coast, Australia52 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023 • Family
Let me start by saying there wasn’t much snow but that didn’t stop us having fun on the beginner slopes and every instructor we had for group lessons was fantastic.
But let’s talk about the downstairs cafe. Lunch is expensive but that’s what you expect on a mountain. Honestly, I have no issue with paying a premium for hot food. My issue is with the day we decided to bring our own noodles in a cup and use the boiling water tap in the cafe. I have spent a huge amount of money to bring my family here and wanted to exercise some frugality on one day. The single hot water boiler was out of water by 1:45 which is when lunch starts for those doing lessons. I asked staff behind the counter if it was broken and they said just to wait for it to reheat. I stood at the water heater for a full 20 minutes and every 4 minutes or so got a tiny dribble of boiling water. After 20 minutes I had enough water for one noodle cup and had a queue of disappointed customers behind me asking why I was taking so long. I repeatedly raised the issue to staff but they couldn’t/wouldn’t help. The best the staff offered was for me to buy an overpriced tea, throw away the teabag and use the water for my noodles. I found this a terrible experience, it soured our time at Cardrona and sent a clear message that profit is far more important than the customer experience.
My advice is to have two or more water boilers, and if they aren’t working, do the right thing and provide free or reasonably priced boiling water from behind the counter. This is pretty basic customer service and I’m disappointed that Cardrona doesn’t put the customer first.
Written 30 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, Jenny. Firstly, we're glad to hear that you had a fun day skiing, despite the limited snow conditions! We appreciate your feedback regarding your experience at café. We understand that providing affordable options for our guests is important, and we apologise for the inconvenience caused by the single hot water boiler running out of water. During peak times, the demand on our 60-liter boiler can exceed its capacity, and once it runs out of hot water due to frequent usage, it becomes challenging to re-boil it quickly enough to meet the demand. Similarly, during peak times, the demand for hot beverages is typically high, and this unfortunately limits our ability to provide hot water to everyone. We acknowledge that the situation could have been handled better, and we apologise for the lack of assistance provided by our staff. We appreciate your feedback and recognise the importance of addressing these issues to enhance the overall customer experience. Your comments will be taken into consideration as we evaluate our operations and seek ways to improve our service, including potential solutions to ensure a more reliable supply of hot water.
Written 10 July 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Mauricio Facini
Auckland, New Zealand18 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2020 • Couples
The accessories rental team is in a bad mood, they serve with ill will, they clearly don't care about the clientele. The worst thing about the place. But the store and restaurant staff, differently, are totally the opposite. Friendly and polite. The place is incredible and undoubtedly worth a visit.
Written 26 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

rone498
3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
Won’t go back in a hurry. Massive long lines, short runs, marginal snow conditions. Really not much different than Coronet Peak in overall ski quality, except 1 more chairlift running 5X as many people, awful access road, but ever so slightly more snow. Felt like a second class citizen waiting in long lines for the literally hundreds of red shirted Cardrona ski schoolers - with instant lift line access while we waited for each lift for 30-45 minutes. Extremely disappointing experience.
Written 28 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Paul A
Auckland Central, New Zealand7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Friends
Always good times @ Cardrona even when the weather isn't the best. Usually go there during Winter X Games so that's busier than school holidays and during those times queues are a bit annoying if you are on the MdDougalls or Whitestar and want to watch so it would be great if they upgraded to a six-seater. But then the Captain's is usually relatively empty.

Limited off-piste as you need decent snow coverage to hit the best diamonds trails but there are plenty of other cool drops and steep areas for adrenaline junkies around the Captain's. If the usually used for racing trails are open, you can get some decent speeds while carving it up hard :)

Food/Beverages got a lot more expensive from the 2023 season to what I remember so you may want to pack lunch and bring your isotonic drinks with you :)
Written 9 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for sharing your review of Cardrona Alpine Resort! We appreciated your detailed feedback as we are continuously seeking to improve our offerings to our guests. We hope you continue to have fantastic experiences at Cardrona, and we look forward to welcoming you back for more memorable adventures on the slopes! ⛷️
Written 26 October 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

KiwiColleen
New Zealand77 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
We've been coming to Cardrona as a family (driving down from Christchurch) for a ski holiday in August since 2016. This year was our best yet! The snow was amazing, queues were generally pretty good and we all had fun exploring the mountain.

We typically put the kids in skiwees but this year they skied with us and it worked out perfectly. If you have all your gear and you're an intermediate skier, highly recommend parking at valley view - awesome way to start and end our day and we felt we could easily go to our car for anything we needed.

Captains queue was a bit average without a liftie guide as a lot of people don't know how to queue... Willow's needs clearer signage for people to wait for the chair. I got knocked over by a swinging chair as someone behind us didn't wait in the designated space. Nasty bruise on my arm and thank god my helmet saved it from being worse.

Also, get your water at Captain's - it actually tastes good!
Written 31 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ciaran
2 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Friends
We recently went to Cardrona for its MTB riding, having my own bike and gear all i needed was a pass to ride, the lady first, spelt my name wrong and then secondly, printed my name wrong on the card and did not change it...

After having a “great” start to my experience we then hit the tracks, first impression was that the MTB for cardrona is like a add on like a just cause we can type of activity to add to cardrona.. so the tracks were not built the best, for the little flags on the “jumps” were not really jumps.. more of a joke.

And also for the life crew, a 10am smile should be the same as a 5pm smile as it is a tourist industry, word gets out easy when everyone is giving of the vibe of not wanting to be there.

All in all first and last time ill be there!!
disappointing as there is so much hype to it but once you are there its pretty down buzz.

Definitely not worth the money!! $55!!!! Nope...
Written 10 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Ciaran, We're gutted to hear you didn't have a great experience up here - the bike park is our key offering in summer, and our trail team put in many hours to produce an amazing network on our mountain. So you're aware; the flags are required from a safety perspective for any time you're likely to leave the ground, and we have a pretty boss jump line too (it's called the Mile High Club) - we hope if you make it back up you can check it out! We've passed on your feedback to our lift crew and guest services team - that's definitely not the experience we want to provide, so it's really good learning for our team. We hope you do make it back up here sometime soon so we can show you how rad biking up here can be! Kind regards, Jen
Written 11 February 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Passenger746464
Melbourne, Australia2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022 • Family
Cardrona Resort staff both up at the mountain and down in Queenstown are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. With what appeared to be a very busy start to the ski season and obvious staff shortages throughout Queenstown, Cardrona staff went above and beyond to support our experience. Thank you.
Written 18 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
THANK YOU! Reviews like this warm our hearts. We appreciate your kindness and patience during this time and hope you made some unforgettable memories up the mountain.
Written 20 July 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Alex
Perth, Australia13 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2024 • Friends
It’s a great place for skiing and having fun around snow. Visited Cardrona with my friends for our skiing trip and had an amazing time. The only major issue I could find was the ridiculously high prices for foot and beverages. I understand it’s the only option but $16 for 3 chicken wings should be illegal.
Written 19 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

steve w
Auckland, New Zealand67 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Family
Great snow, despite it being an average winter. Two things make this a 3 star review.

At no time in the last seven days did I see a ski patrol. What I did see, was parks riders, both skiers and boarders hammering down the slow area at the bottom of All Nations, whizzing around novice skiers trying to get there confidence up, scaring the living daylights out of them.

It's appallingly bad. Do something about it.

Second, Captians cafe is still the biggest joke on the mountain. A sold out day, yet the queue for coffee was 25 minutes. Grumpy staff, grumpy patrons, but.....BUT, they still only had one of two coffee machines going.

Unbelievable.
Written 20 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We're sorry to hear about the concerns you had during your recent visit to Cardrona Alpine Resort. Your feedback is valuable in helping us improve the guest experience. Regarding the ski patrol issue and the behavior of some park riders, we take safety on the slopes seriously. We will investigate the situation and make necessary adjustments to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all our guests, especially those who are learning to ski or snowboard. We also apologise for the inconvenience you faced at Captains Cafe, including the long queue and service issues. To better address your concerns and gather more details about your visit, we kindly ask you to email us at feedback@realnz.com with the date of your visit and any additional information you can provide. Your input will be instrumental in helping us make the necessary improvements for future guests. Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, and we hope to see you again in the future with an improved experience.
Written 3 September 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Nathan M
Napier, New Zealand96 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Family
Having skied in the North Island for most of my life I have had a revelation. This field is so well run, so professional it puts RAL to shame. The snow conditions were quite low but it stayed in great condition through out the day. Crisp squeaky snow on a solid base. The staff managed the high numbers well and the free shuttle bus from the bottom carpark was great. We will be back.
Written 8 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your wonderful review! We're thrilled to hear that you had a fantastic experience skiing with us. We take great pride in providing an excellent experience, even when the snow levels are low. We can't wait to welcome you back for another memorable skiing adventure in the future. Thank you for choosing us!
Written 10 July 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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CARDRONA ALPINE RESORT (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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