For a lot of riders in the southern hemisphere we missed out on either all or majority of the 2020 season and there is going to be a mad rush to make up for that in the 2021 season. Helping everyone to have a better season is going to be Cardrona who today advised that they are not only opening up new terrain in the Soho named Willows Basin but they are also going to install a new chairlift! That’s two new chairlifts in New Zealand for the 2021 season as Mt Hutt will also be pulling back the covers on their new 8-seater Nor’west Express chair ready for riders come June / July 2021.2021 is going to be a great season to be riding in New Zealand, all the Aussies are now crossing their fingers and praying that the borders find a way to open and remain open at some point before the season ends. New year, new lift! This is our first move into Soho, with 65ha of new terrain, and a whole lot more uphill lift capacity than we had in 2020. Here's our GM, Bridget Legnavsky, to fill you in.
High alpine shot of Soho Basin where the new Willows Quad will be located - Pic Credit James Mulcahy - Cardrona Here is the full rundown from Jen Houltham - Communications at Cardrona Full article can be found here“In 2021 we'll be skiing and snowboarding in Soho - Willows Quad is being installed this summer!”“We couldn't be more excited to announce that this winter we'll be adding another chairlift to our network. This will open up the first new major section of skiable terrain in New Zealand since we put in Valley View. Willows Basin is all go for Winter 2021!!”SO WHERE IS WILLOWS?Willows is in Soho Ski Area, on the southern face of Mt Cardrona. It's the closest basin to the Whakatipu Basin, overlooking Queenstown. For those of you who are familiar with Cardrona, it sits below the last couple of corners on the Skyline trail - you'll be able to access it from the top of McDougall's via Skyline.
The new Willows trail map - you can see where it is accessed from Skyline. Jim Niehues supplied painting - Cardrona “The view out there is stunning - you're facing Queenstown, and it feels like you can almost reach out and touch the Southern Alps. It's a pretty special place, and is going to make you feel like you're going on a real adventure on the mountain.”WHAT KIND OF TERRAIN IS IN WILLOWS?Willows is made up of two big bowls, with undulating intermediate terrain. It opens up 65 hectares of great skiing and snowboarding! The basin is south-facing with fantastic snow quality. The photo below was taken on October 1, 2020, showing just how long the snow holds up there.WHAT KIND OF LIFT IS IT?So remember how we pulled out the McDougall's Quad and replaced it with the Chondola? Then sent the old lift away to Doppelmayr to get it upcycled and refurbished to modern standards? Then went to install it in Pringles and made the call to stop the project when we found some rare lizards? Well it turns out that lift fits perfectly in the Willows terrain! So we've managed to re-use the quad lift... just not as we originally planned. More lifts in Soho are planned for the future, including the main Soho express chairlift which will link the area to the top of Captain's Basin.Putting the lift in Willows is a great solution because not only does it unlock Soho, it helps relieve some of our capacity challenges. We'll also have Valley View back this winter, which means we'll have 44% more uphill lift capacity than we did in 2020. We're over the moon about that, and hope you will be too!
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About the author
Michael Fulton
Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.
