Cardrona updates road

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 33

Cardrona updates road

There is good news for Cardrona skiers — and their insurance companies — this season. A further 7km of the road between Wanaka and the tollgate has been tarsealed.

Now only 3km of shingle road remains, reducing chances of broken windscreens.

As well, the Ministry of Works has been spending money on upgrading the Crown Range Road, the quickest route to the skifield from Queenstown.

More work has been done on widening and straightening the Cardrona access road itself, described by the operations manager, Shaun Gilbertson, as an ongoing process. This has included the installation of more crash barriers.

Nearly $lOO,OOO has been invested this year in adding to the windfencing and snowfencing which has already been paying dividends on the mountain. “It is allowing us to have more consistent snow at the beginning and end of the ski season,” he said. Some attachments have also been bought for the snow-grooming equipment, including the latest tiller design. The Cardrona ski area’s smooth, wide-open slopes serviced by three chairlifts are popular with learners and intermediates. And, says Shaun Gilbertson, "we’re opening up new trails as we go along.” Cardrona did rather well in 1988 considering the weather patterns with

a season approaching 90,000 skier days (compared with a record 105,000 the previous year). Already this year a lot more interest from the North American market and Japan has been noted.

This year Cardrona will be the host for the national disabled ski-ing championships just after the August school holidays. The ski area is becoming quite a magnet for disabled skiers with the American team and possibly the Japanese to train there.

® Cardrona, 33km from Wanaka and 57km from Queenstown, two quad chairlifts, one double chair, learners’ tows. Adult lift charge: $4O. Hours: 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m.