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
FIS Weighs Holding World Championships in Almost Every Winter, Starting 2032
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation is looking at a major shake-up to its title events calendar. From 2032, World Championships could run not just in odd-numbered years but in every non-Olympic winter too, effectively putting a global title event on the calendar almost every season. The FIS Council has approved the concept following a feasibility study, though an accelerated rollout as early as 2028 is also under consideration.
4 Sept 2026
Mount Buller Becomes Latest Australian Resort to Call Time Early on 2026
Mount Buller closes out its 2026 season this Sunday, joining Falls Creek, Hotham and Charlotte Pass in a cluster of closures landing almost simultaneously and roughly a month ahead of schedule. The culprit is stark: Spencers Creek's benchmark snow depth hit 31.2cm on 3 September, just 18% of the 73-year average and an all-time low for this point in the season. Six of Victoria and NSW's best-known resorts will have shut their lifts early within a span of about two and a half weeks.
4 Sept 2026
Tremblant to Add New Timber Summit Ski Sector for 2027/28 Season
Tremblant has confirmed a major expansion of its Quebec ski area, with a new Timber Summit sector adding 62 acres of terrain, eight trails and a high-speed quad chairlift for winter 2027/28. It's part of a CAD 42.5 million investment that also includes a new beginner learning zone at Versant Soleil opening this coming season. The project has grown considerably since it was first announced back in 2020, when it carried a far smaller budget and an opening date that never eventuated.
2 Sept 2026
Mount Hotham to Close for the 2026 Season on Sunday, September 6
We knew when the Bird Bath Pond Skim showed up on Hotham's Instagram that the season was on its way out. It's been a rough one - I only managed two days on snow all year, at Falls Creek - and now Baw Baw, Selwyn and Hotham have all called it, possibly the worst Australian season I've seen in a decade. Hotham's last day of lift operations is Sunday, 6 September, with a Retro Day, Father's Day après and closing sales before the lifts stop turning for good.
1 Sept 2026
Thredbo to Replace Ageing Gunbarrel Quad With New Six-Seat Chairlift for 2028
Thredbo Alpine Resort has confirmed plans to replace its 37-year-old Gunbarrel quad chairlift with a new six-seat Doppelmayr D-Line, targeting winter 2028. The AUD 35 million project will keep travel time roughly the same but lift capacity from 2,800 to 3,000 skiers per hour. It's part of a broader investment push that also includes doubled snowmaking capacity at Friday Flat for 2027, with the ageing Kosciuszko Express now flagged as the resort's next major lift replacement after Gunbarrel.
31 Aug 2026
Aerial Tram Collides With Crane at Alpe d'Huez: 23 Injured
An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.
28 Aug 2026
Why Glaciers Are Collapsing - And What Happens When They Do
A deadly flood on the Nepal-China border, a decade-old tragedy on Italy's Marmolada, and an unstable glacier right now above a village near Zermatt - three very different mountain ranges, the same underlying story. Warming ice is destabilising terrain that was considered settled for generations, and the results range from catastrophic floods to slow-motion monitoring situations that could go either way.
27 Aug 2026
Pitztal Glacier Set to Reopen for the 2026/27 Ski Season on 26 September
Tyrol's highest ski area is gearing up to open a full month ahead of most of the Alps. The Pitztal Glacier is scheduled to start its 2026/27 season on Saturday 26 September, running through to 2 May 2027, with the lower-altitude Rifflsee area following in December. High-altitude terrain up to 3,440 metres gives the glacier a head start on snow, though as always, the actual opening extent will depend on how September's weather plays out. Early online ski pass bookings can save up to 30%.
26 Aug 2026
Coronet Peak Snow Report
Snow Report
Updated 14 Sept 2026
1649m
summit
+0cm
new snow · last 24 hours
Mainly Clear-6°C / 6°C · N 11km/h
Snowfall
24 hours
0cm
48 hours
2cm
7 days
25cm
Base depth
90cm
Season total
643cm
Total lifts9
Live open status isn’t available right now.
13 June 2026 - 4 Oct 2026
Hour by Hour
Next 39 hours· Updated Sep 15, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Scroll for the full outlook · Open-Meteo
7-Day Outlook
1,649 mUpdated Sep 15, 2026 at 5:02 AMOpen-Meteo
Days 1–7
16cm
Days 8–14
6.8cm
Tue, Sept 15
Light Drizzle
Temp6° / -6°°C
Snow0.0cm(48%)
Wind11 km/h N
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.