It’s a safe bet that if you’re heavily invested in skiing and/or snowboarding, you’ve spent a solid six years of your life agonising on where to travel to next while having late-night arguments with an automated travel website, resulting in neither of you talking to the other for days on end.
The passive-aggressive arguments between you and your computer are finally over now that you can pencil in Queenstown as your destination of choice for the next 50-or-so years, depending on your agility as an elderly snow-menace.
There’s a lot to love about Queenstown’s slopes but in case you’re a busy little bee, we’ve summed it up for you.
Getting There
If you don’t fancy having to catch three flights, two buses and a mule just so you can get your snow on, there are direct flights from Australia and New Zealand straight to Queenstown’s International Airport and smack bang in the middle of the Southern Alps. Handy, no?
None of this ‘sprinting to terminal 5 for dear life to catch an adjoining flight’ nonsense.
Access
Once you’ve safely landed and after you’ve picked another fight with someone who chooses to stand on the travelators (those people are the worst), there’s a matter of deciding on which mountain to conquer. Queenstown’s surrounded by four ski fields, so if you’re an indecisive soul then this may be your biggest fear realised, but for the majority of eager ski-eavers (swing and a miss), this will be music to your ears.
Take your pick of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cardrona and Treble Cone. You can get to the closest resort in actual minutes from town which is just an added bonus.
Equipment
Who here has prepared for a day in the snow, ready to impress the locals with your “I think I’m better than I actually am” attitude when you realise that the mountain itself doesn’t do ski hire, so you have to make do with your woollen coat and ridiculously snug skinny jeans? Just me again? Splendid.
It’s Queenstown to the rescue once again, as they hire out equipment on and off the mountain, with rental shops usually open til 9pm during their ridiculously long ski season. Night owls, consider yourselves catered for.
Unparalleled Views
There’s a reason Australians high-tail out of their respective towns and spend a long period of time up on New Zealand’s mountains. I know first-hand of one friend who refused to stop taking selfies on the ski fields to the point where security had to come and physically remove him at 4 in the morning. He’s not allowed to travel internationally any more, bit of a shame really.
I’ll let the views speak for themselves though.
