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Temple Basin resort snow
Lat Long: 42.92° S 171.58° E
Ski New Zealand

Temple Basin Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Temple Basin at 1708 m altitude

Issued: 11 pm 20 Apr 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Temple Basin: 0.8 cm on Tue 21st  (after 9 AM)

Visitor reviews for Temple Basin Ski Resort

Temple Basin Ratings

Overall: 3.8. Based on 20 votes and 4 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.0

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Temple Basin is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.6

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Temple Basin has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 5.0

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 5.0

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.3

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Temple Basin

Public Transport: 3.7

  • There are no buses or taxis to Temple Basin
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.3

  • No places to stay in/near Temple Basin
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 4.8

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 2.2

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Temple Basin

Ski in/Ski out: 5.0

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.3

  • There are no child care facilities at Temple Basin
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 1.9

  • Temple Basin relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 1.8

  • There are no snow groomers at Temple Basin
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Temple Basin are groomed daily

Shelter: 4.0

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Temple Basin is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.5

  • If snow conditions are poor at Temple Basin, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.7

  • Temple Basin usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 5.0

  • The staff at Temple Basin are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Temple Basin are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 5.0

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 3.8

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.3

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.0

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.8

  • No intermediate terrain at Temple Basin
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.3

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 2.4

  • Not even a kicker at Temple Basin
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.2

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Temple Basin
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.4

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Temple Basin has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 4.1

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 4.0

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.2

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.6

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 3.3

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.4

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 4.5

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 5.0

  • Overall, Temple Basin is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 4.6

  • Overall, Temple Basin is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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August 14, 2017
Simon from Ski New Zealand New Zealand
Temple basin is a cool environment, particularly for younger people. Although there are negatives associated with skiing Temple (rope tows, avalanche danger, difficult access to some of the very best terrain, sharing dorm rooms). However, these things may not sound like negatives to some. The very best terrain here is 'experts only' so for some that is a big plus. If you are an intermediate to advanced skier there is fun to be had, though more limited. It might, however, be a place to try and introduce yourself to bigger mountain skiing; deeper powder, steeper slopes, chutes, climb-only accessed terrain. It really has it all for a budding big mountain rider or alpinist. The scenery is also spectacular on a good day, though the weather is quite unpredictable I would imagine. Choose your days carefully.
August 29, 2010
Sickbird from Ski New Zealand New Zealand
Temple Basin is the only ski area in the Southern Alps, all the other ski areas are in the foot hills blocked by the Alps, that is why Temple gets the big dumps from the NW! The best memory I have is skiing Temple 11.00pm under lights freshies up to my nipples!
July 01, 2008
local from Ski New Zealand New Zealand
Sickest place I have ever skied. Wide open powder bowls to steep and deep powder chutes !!!! What more could you want..Don't go if you don't want to party hard after a days riding.
August 30, 2005
Oli Robinson from Ski New Zealand New Zealand
Temple Basin is without a doubt the best field I've ever ridden or skiied at. If you can handle the walk up and rope tows then you will be blown away by the awesome natural terrain and primo snow. Temple Basin gets snow when no other field does due to its norwest aspect, perfect for plenty of freshies. Amazing club atmosphere, be ready to party at the lodge with awesome food and cheap accomodation on the mountain. Transworld snowboard magazine reviewers once said something like "If I had to stay at one place for the rest of my life to snowboard, it would be Temple Basin".