South Island, New Zealand · Ikon / Mountain Collective
Coronet Peak
Ski 280 hectares just 20 minutes from Queenstown, with night skiing, First Tracks and NZ's largest snowmaking system.
Season 2026
Opens
13 June 2026
Closes
4 Oct 2026
Days open
113
Annual snow
2m
The Overview
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
Coronet Peak is Queenstown's closest ski area and the oldest commercial ski field in New Zealand, first opening in 1947 with a single rope tow. The resort spans 280 hectares of skiable terrain on the southern flanks of the 1,649m peak, seven kilometres west of Arrowtown and just 20 minutes by sealed road from downtown Queenstown. The mountain rises from 1,187m to 1,649m with a 462m vertical drop across 32 runs — 14% beginner, 34% intermediate, 25% advanced and 27% expert.
The terrain is characterised by its rolling, undulating profile — often described as roller coaster skiing — with open faces, natural gullies and back bowls that reward confident skiers willing to explore beyond the groomed trails. Northern Hemisphere race teams regularly use Coronet Peak as a southern-season training base, and the mountain is the home field of local Queenstown skier Alice Robinson, a World Cup giant slalom winner.
Coronet Peak is the only resort in the Queenstown region to offer night skiing, with floodlit runs open from 4–9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays plus select Saturday nights from late June through early September. Combined with a First Tracks programme offering exclusive early access from 8–9am, the resort delivers the longest ski day in New Zealand — up to 13 hours of on-snow time.
The resort is operated by NZSki alongside The Remarkables and Mt Hutt, and all three mountains sit on a shared Superpass and 3 Peak Season Pass. Coronet Peak is also included on the Ikon Pass and Mountain Collective, making it accessible to international pass holders without a separate ticket purchase.
462m
Vertical
32
Runs
692 acres
Skiable
2m
Annual snow
Ikon / Mountain Collective
Pass
The Terrain
32 runs across 692 acres skiable
Coronet Peak spreads 32 runs across 692 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 34%, with 4 beginner runs to find your feet and 17 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Terrain split
32
runs
32 runs across 4 grades
Beginner4 runs · 14%
Intermediate11 runs · 34%
Advanced8 runs · 25%
Expert9 runs · 27%
Time it right
When to visit Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak typically runs the longest season of any non-glacier resort in New Zealand, with the 2026 season operating from 13 June to 4 October. The new Snow Factory extends activity even earlier: from 30 May 2026, the learner slopes and a dedicated snow play zone will open for beginners, families and snow tubing, making Coronet Peak the first New Zealand resort to open for the 2026 season.
Average annual natural snowfall is approximately 2 metres, but the resort's comprehensive snowmaking system — capable of laying half a metre of cover across all main trails — means conditions are far less dependent on natural falls than at higher-altitude, non-snowmaking fields. The south-facing aspect helps preserve snow quality, and world-class grooming ensures piste conditions hold up even in variable weather.
The most reliable snow window runs from late July through August, when natural snowfall peaks and base depths are typically at their deepest. Spring skiing through September offers warmer days and fewer crowds, though the lower elevation means the season can tighten if conditions turn mild.
Night skiing runs from late June through early September on Wednesday and Friday evenings, with additional Saturday sessions during the July school holidays. The floodlit sessions draw a strong local crowd from Queenstown and are widely regarded as one of the region's signature winter experiences, with views across the illuminated slopes to the lights of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu below.
Season 2026
13 June 2026
Opens
4 Oct 2026
Closes
113
Days open
2 m
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Coronet Peak, and where to stay
Coronet Peak sits just 18km from Queenstown on a fully sealed access road, making it the most accessible alpine ski area in the Southern Lakes region. The drive takes around 20 minutes from central Queenstown, with no chains required on the sealed road in normal conditions — a notable advantage over most other New Zealand ski fields, which typically involve gravel access roads.
Multiple shuttle bus services operate daily from Queenstown's Snow Centre, with hotel pick-ups available en route. The resort's proximity means it works well as a half-day activity, easily combined with Queenstown's other winter attractions. Arrowtown, the historic gold-mining village, lies just seven kilometres to the east.
Queenstown Airport is the nearest gateway, approximately 30 minutes from the resort, with domestic flights from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and direct international services from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The resort is also accessible from Invercargill (approximately two hours) and Dunedin (approximately three and a half hours).
The base area houses a large purpose-built lodge with restaurants, a bar, Cafe 1200, the iconic Heidi's Hut mid-mountain dining stop, and the Skiwiland childcare centre catering for children aged two to five. A retail shop, rental department and snowsports school round out the on-mountain facilities, and a new Heidi's Hot Tub provides a post-ski soak beside the hut.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Coronet Peak, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
Thredbo Is 'On the Table' as EVT Reviews Its Whole Business
Thredbo is officially 'on the table.' EVT Limited, owner of Australia's most decorated ski resort, has hired Rothschild & Co to review its entire corporate structure - and confirmed Thredbo isn't off limits, even as it books a stronger year of earnings. The resort's own valuation has nearly halved after a brutal 2026 season, and speculation is already running toward Vail Resorts, Alterra, or a New Zealand operator picking it up. Here's what EVT actually said, and who could buy it.
25 Aug 2026
Ski-E-O! Is the Ski Resort Tycoon Game We Didn't Know We Needed
I'm not a gamer. I'm a skier and snowboarder who happens to have a laptop. So when a ski resort management game called Ski-E-O! landed on Steam, I wasn't expecting to lose an afternoon to it - but here we are. Real mountain terrain, a full weather system, storms that roll in and wreck your snow base, avalanche danger, and enough depth to make RollerCoaster Tycoon feel simple by comparison. Early access lands in November. Here's what a few hours in the free demo actually looks like.
23 Aug 2026
Sugar Bowl, California, Rebuilds Its Historic Village Gondola
The rumours are true: Sugar Bowl is tearing out its Emerald gondola, in place since 1983, and replacing it with a new 8-person Doppelmayr system - nearly doubling uphill capacity to 1,800 people an hour. It's the fourth generation of a gondola line that dates back to 1953, when Sugar Bowl became the first resort on the West Coast to run one at all, and it's just one piece of a $100 million overhaul touching lodges, parking and snowmaking. Here's what's changing, and what's staying the same.
23 Aug 2026
Two Confirmed Dead as Search Continues After Swiss Alps Fire
The death toll from Thursday night's fire at Restaurant Beverin in Thusis, Switzerland, has begun to firm up. One Swiss outlet, citing Graubünden Cantonal Police, reports that two of the five people initially reported missing have now been confirmed dead, leaving three unaccounted for. The building's collapsed stairwell and structural instability have slowed recovery efforts throughout. Here's what's changed since the fire broke out, and what's still unconfirmed.
22 Aug 2026
Selwyn Snow Resort Closes Early as Rain Ends Its 2026 Season
Selwyn Snow Resort has called an early end to its 2026 season, a day after Victoria's Mount Baw Baw did the same. Rain on Thursday stripped what was left of the snowpack, and the cold nights needed to rebuild it through snowmaking never arrived. It's a rough result for a resort that only just found its footing again after being burned to the ground in the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires and a multi-year rebuild. Here's how the season fell apart, and where Selwyn's been since the fire.
22 Aug 2026
Mt Baw Baw Becomes First Australian Resort to Close for 2026
Mt Baw Baw is calling time on its 2026 season this Sunday at 5pm, becoming the first Australian resort to close for the year after warm spells and rain wore through its snowpack. Lifts stop, but the resort stays open, entry fees get waived, and there's one last Bollywood Weekend before the lights go out. Fifty-seven days after opening, here's how the season ended and what it means for the rest of Australia's struggling snowpack.
21 Aug 2026
Arosa to Replace 40-Year-Old Hörnli Lifts With New Gondola and Chair
Arosa's Hörnli sector is getting its biggest overhaul in decades. The 1986 gondola and 1994 chairlift linking toward Lenzerheide are both being replaced, with capacity up, tower count down and a new base station lower on the hill. At roughly CHF 67 million, it is the largest single investment Arosa Bergbahnen has ever made - and the target opening has already slipped a year, to December 2028. Here is what is changing, and why the timeline moved.
20 Aug 2026
Sundance Mountain Resort Is Getting a New High-Speed Quad and More Back Mountain Terrain This Winter
Sundance Mountain Resort's back mountain is finally getting a proper lift. The Electric Horseman Express opens for 2026-27, unlocking a new bowl next to Bishop's Bowl and three expert gladed chutes across roughly 105 fresh acres - on top of the Storyteller ridge run that debuted in preview form last season. It's Sundance's biggest expansion since 1985, and it turns a three-lift slog into a single six-minute ride to Bearclaw Summit.
19 Aug 2026
Current conditions
Snow Report
Updated 25 Aug 2026
1649m
summit
+9cm
new snow · last 24 hours
Light Drizzle-3°C / -1°C · NE 5km/h
Snowfall
24 hours
9cm
48 hours
12cm
7 days
75cm
Base depth
70cm
Season total
427cm
Total lifts9
Live open status isn’t available right now.
13 June 2026 - 4 Oct 2026
Hour by Hour
Next 42 hours· Updated Aug 26, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Scroll for the full outlook · Open-Meteo
7-Day Outlook
1,649 mUpdated Aug 26, 2026 at 5:02 AMOpen-Meteo
Days 1–7
38cm
Days 8–14
5.8cm
Wed, Aug 26
Heavy Snow Showers
Temp-1° / -3°°C
Snow10cm(100%)
Wind5 km/h NE
Live snow from the resort feed; forecast from Open-Meteo, via Supabase.
Understanding the Coronet Peak snow report
Planning a day at Coronet Peak? Our snow report combines official mountain data with live weather so you know exactly what conditions look like right now, from the 1187m base to the 1649m summit.
Snow measurements
Snow depth at Coronet Peak is tracked at both the base and summit, since the two elevations often see different totals — roughly a 462m difference here. We report fresh snowfall over the last 24 hours and 7 days alongside the running season total, in both metric and imperial units.
Weather conditions
Snow quality tracks closely with temperature and wind. We surface both alongside the snowfall data so you can judge whether conditions at Coronet Peak are holding up or starting to soften.
Data sources
We pull Coronet Peak's conditions from on-the-ground mountain reporting, then layer in forecast data so you get a fuller picture than either source alone. The mountain is served by 9 lifts, including 2 quad chairlifts and a 6-person chairlift.
When to check
Conditions can change overnight, so mornings and late afternoons are the best times to check back on Coronet Peak.