Cardrona Alpine Resort in New Zealand is gearing up for the 2009 ski season, a little over three weeks away, with the best pre-season snow base levels in over a decade, 120cm on the upper mountain and 80cm in the base area.

Continue reading ‘Cardrona in final stages for June 26 opening’

The Burton NZ Snowboard Open (NZO) have announced that ater three years of tremendous competition at Snow Park NZ, contest will step back across the valley to Cardrona, where it all began.

With Cardrona having invested heavily in new facilities over the past couple of years and with 22-foot pipes now being the ‘standard’ globally for high level events, this is a strategic move for the organisers of the Burton NZ Open.

“We are pleased with the move,” says event manager Reuben Yeoman.

We have enjoyed a great three years at Snow Park NZ and it is with some sadness but also enthusiasm that we have made this move. Cardrona have done a phenomenal job over the past couple of years in bringing their pipe and park up to international competition standard and in doing so have created a great venue for hosting international events. We are simply moving with the times and giving the riders what they want.”

The first stop on both the prestigious Burton Global Open Series and TTR World Tour, the Burton NZ Open will run from Tuesday 11th through to Saturday 15th August. Cardrona offers terrain suited to all ability levels and is famed for its wide open, undulating terrain that is perfect for beginners and intermediates, whilst the Arcadia and Tulips chutes offer extra challenge for more advanced riders. Trails are up to 1.5km (just under a mile) in length, the toughest being the Arcadia chutes. Uplift includes quads and magic carpets for beginners.

The resort is also home to some of New Zealand’s premier terrain parks, with up to four half pipes, a gravity cross and a range of beginner freestyle features.

Cardrona is located in the Crown Range between Queenstown (57kms/60mins) and Wanaka (34kms/35mins) in the South Island of New Zealand.

www.cardrona.com / www.opensnowboarding.com