Needs the right conditions. The saddle is fun although they need a detachable lift as it'd be quicker to walk up and quite often closed due to avi risk so can be frustrating. If I had to choose between there and Cardrona and everything was open I'd go TC for sure unless you're a park rat. But, in all honestly, the best terrain in the country hands down is Turoa on the North Island. It's epic shits on anything the South Island has and anyone who has skied all over the country will tell ya the same and if they don't they haven't skied Turoa or Whakapapa. Go in spring as you will score good weather and the season will go through 'till the end of October.
Stop calling your ski mountains fields! Fields are flat and are used for growing plants. New Zealanders, throw off the British term and start calling your resorts something else.
Without a doubt NZ's best and most challenging ski resort. Every other ski area seems boring when compared to TC.
Not a good place if you are a beginner. Very basic facilities when compared to other international ski resorts.
We have been going to TC each year for the last 5 years. It is without doubt the premier resort in NZ for serious skiers. World class runs and chutes, more reliable snow than the other NZ resorts and generally colder, so better quality snow. Also easy access to some great back-country ski touring.
However, it does suffer from terrible queues on the two chair lifts and an overloaded car park during weekends and holidays. Until these two things are fixed TC remains limited and a quaint resort with great potential.
Treble Cone is by far the most exciting and diverse of the NZ ski fields. I have been coming to Wanaka to ski TC for over 10 years and always find new routes and have a great time. I highly recommended the field; so much that 15 friends from Australia are coming over to see what it's like! It's also great how uncrowded the field is, even right in the middle of the school holidays; no 45 minute queue times here!
The one thing I would like to see in the future is a better terrain park. There seems to be quite a few sweet rails floating around but they are only put up well into the season. It would be excellent to have the terrain park with some of these rails put up and maintained from the get go, especially during July! (and school holidays).
The terrain up at TC is just amazing. From a great beginners area which you can use for free to the chutes, natural halfpipes, steeps, moguls or just a nice groomer you will find everything up there. You may think it's small and with only 2 lifts on the mountain you will get bored quickly up there, but that's not true. So many locals and returning staff up there will tell you another story.
Great resort, poor snowpark, in good snow conditions very nice off-piste and the year I had been there I had to buy lots of packs of Speights beer to get half price ski pass.
We have been in Treble Cone in de winter of 2003. It's an excellent resort!!! There was only a little snow but the tracks were very good groomed and the people working there were very friendly!! They even had a free shuttle from the bottom of the mountain to the chairlift station!! If you are near Treble Cone you've got to go there!!