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Latest in Queenstown

The Remarkables Adds Scarpa Bowl to Its Inbounds Terrain
The Remarkables is adding new inbounds terrain for winter, bringing the Scarpa Bowl - known locally as the Toilet Bowl - into its lift-accessed network after years as backcountry-only ground. The roughly 500 metre run is reached by bootpacking from the top of the Sugar Bowl chairlift, with a shuttle picking skiers up from the road at the bottom. It's a smaller, faster addition than the resort's planned Doolans expansion, though the new terrain hasn't opened yet due to a lack of snow this season.

Freeride World Tour Qualifier Heads Back to The Remarkables in August
The North Face Frontier, a Freeride World Tour Qualifier event, is returning to The Remarkables in Queenstown from 28 August to 3 September. The event pairs a two-star qualifier at Shadow Basin for newcomers with a four-star event on the Alta Chutes, one step below the professional level. Now in its 21st year, the competition has produced past FWT champions including New Zealanders Jess Hotter and Ben Richards, and comes as freeriding heads toward its Olympic debut at the 2030 Alps Games.

Cardrona and Treble Cone Launch App with New Zealand's First Phone-Based Ski Pass
Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone have launched a new app that includes New Zealand's first phone-based lift pass - no RFID card required. Skiers can now walk from the car park to the lift gates with just their phone. The Mountains App also brings live snow reports, trail maps, webcams, run tracking, and seasonal leaderboard challenges.

The Remarkables Could Become New Zealand's Largest Ski Area With NZD 150 Million Doolans Basin Expansion
NZSki has formally applied to expand The Remarkables into the Doolans Basin - a NZD 150 million-plus (USD 88.5 million) proposal that would grow the resort from 449 to 711 hectares and make it the largest single ski area in New Zealand. A 2.7km gondola, doubled visitor capacity, and four summers of construction. Here's what's on the table.

Coronet Peak Opens for the 2026 Season on 29 May, Leading New Zealand's Winter Kickoff
Coronet Peak has opened for the 2026 ski season on 29 May, making it the first major ski resort to come online in the Southern Hemisphere this year. The early start is powered by the resort's Snow Factory snowmaking system, with limited terrain and beginner-focused operations running through to 12 June before full mountain hours begin.

Whoosh Unveils Queenstown Transportation Network Proposal
Whoosh, a New Zealand-based company, has presented plans for an innovative transportation system in Queenstown, featuring self-driving cabins on an elevated cable network.

Cardrona's Soho Basin Opening Delayed Due to Weather
Cardrona Alpine Resort postpones the opening of its new Soho Basin expansion due to unseasonable weather. The 150-hectare addition promises new terrain for intermediate and advanced skiers.

New Zealand Ski Resorts Expect Up to 15 Inches of Snow
South Island ski areas are set for a significant snowfall, with up to 15 inches expected in some regions. The weather system will bring varying amounts of snow across different resorts, impacting skiing conditions throughout New Zealand.

Top 10 Ski Resorts in New Zealand for 2025 Season
Discover New Zealand's best ski resorts for the upcoming 2025 season. From family-friendly slopes to challenging terrain for experts, find the perfect destination for your next ski holiday.

New Zealand Ski Resorts Welcome Early Snow in Autumn
Several New Zealand ski resorts have received their first snowfall of the season in mid-autumn, signalling the approaching winter and building anticipation for the upcoming ski season.

Cardrona Expands with New 6-Seater Chairlift and T-Bar
Cardrona Alpine Resort is set to enhance its offerings with a new 6-seater detachable chairlift in Soho Basin and a T-bar for the terrain park, both scheduled to open for the 2025 winter season.

Cardrona Alpine Resort Partners with Chinese Ski Region to Boost Global Snow Sports
New Zealand's largest ski resort, Cardrona Alpine Resort, has signed a collaboration agreement with China's Chongli District Ice and Snow Association, aiming to enhance ski tourism and winter sports participation worldwide.

New Zealand's Superpass: Access 10 Ski Resorts on One Ticket
NZ Ski introduces Superpass, offering skiers and riders access to 10 mountains across New Zealand. This flexible pass allows for customised ski trips and includes perks at 60 off-slope venues.
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More from the SnowStash desk

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Levi and Ruka Confirm October 2 Opening on Farmed Summer Snow
Finland's Levi and Ruka open for the 2026-27 season on October 2, more than seven weeks before most of Europe sees a lift turn. Neither resort is waiting on autumn snowfall - both are skiing on snow buried since last spring, insulated through the Finnish summer and dug back out for opening day. It is not a shortcut. It is a decades-old system now spreading from the Arctic Circle to Idaho, Utah, Vermont and Colorado. Here is how snow farming actually works, and why it is catching on.

Sölden's Old Einzeiger Chairlift Gets a Second Life in Montafon
Silvretta Montafon is replacing its ageing Freda chairlift - but not with something new. The resort is having a 1999 four-seater chairlift, retired from Sölden, dismantled, shipped to Vorarlberg and rebuilt with new electronics, cable and clamps. It has to be running before March 2027, when Silvretta Montafon hosts the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships - the biggest winter sports event Vorarlberg has staged. Here's how a reused lift ends up cheaper.
