Lift system ultimate Ski: Ski Resorts > New Zealand > Treble Cone

Lift system

In the hope that less is more, Treble Cone has recently streamlined its lift operation and now has only three lifts (plus a magic carpet) - but they are put to good use.

Treble ConeHigh-Speed 6 person1
Fixed grip quads1
Total chair lifts4
Surface lifts1
Magic Carpets1
Rides per hour6,200

In 2005 the resort installed a new Saddle Quad chairlift which transformed Saddle Basin, allowing access to areas skiers could only previously traverse to from the top of the Saddle T-bar. In 2006 the resort took out the Saddle double chair and the T-bar, leaving the new quad to provide access to the whole Saddle Basin.

The antiquated T-Bar on the home basin was also removed. What’s left is New Zealand's first six-seater chair, now re-named the Volkswagen Express. Climbing at a tangent from the same base area is the “Nice ‘n easy platter”, accessing some of the resort’s beginner terrain.

There are plans for New Zealand’s first ski-area gondola – not on the slopes, but to bring skiers and boarders to the base area, thus avoiding a rather long and primitive approach road from Cattle Flat (at the base of the ski-field access road) to the slopes.

Long-term plans for a gondola were re-visited after the deaths of three young Australian skiers when they drove off the access road in 2004. The proposed lift, covering a vertical rise of 954m, would travel 3.3km in under 11 minutes, and be able to carry 2000 people an hour.
Like many ski area access roads in New Zealand, the one to Treble Cone has long been a subject for discussion because of its steep incline with tight switchbacks and lack of safety barriers.

Additionally, on busy days the ski area can run short of parking space, with cars parked up to a kilometre down the access road. A gondola would obviously alleviate the problem.