The 2025 season is shaping up to be one of the best ever with consistent snow fall throughout the South Island of New Zealand. This guide will give you the information you need to pick the right ski field for you and your family, so you all enjoy a great day on the slopes on the ski fields in the Queenstown area.

Your guide to family skiing holidays in Queenstown
Skiing for Families at The Remarkables
Remarkables Ski Field Overview
The Remarkables or the 'Remarks' as its now locally is the mountain range that towers over Queenstown to the east. The skifield is tucked in behind the main ridgeline so you can’t see it from town. There are four chairlifts, plus a covered magic carpet in the learner’s area. The range of ski runs go from pretty much flat to scary steep and make it a fantastic destination if your family includes a wide range of abilities from absolute beginner to world-class professional freeride skiers.
The Best Place to Stay
The Remarkables base building is under an hour by car from Queenstown, making any of the local hotels or AirBnBs great accommodation options.
How to get to the Remarkables Ski Field
You can either drive yourself or take the Ski Bus from any one of several pick-up points between Queenstown and the mountain. If driving yourself,you must carry tyre chains and know how to use them - even if you have a four wheel.drive vehicle. The road is steep in places, can be icy, and there are very large drop offs – so you should be a confident and experienced mountain driver. Because of that and the fact that the top carparks fill up fast and early, the better option is taking the Ski Bus. You’ll get dropped right outside the door of the base building, and the buses can carry your skis and snowboards too. The only thing is you must book your seats on the bus.
Terrain
As we hinted at above there are options galore. The Remarkables is a perfect place to learn to ski or snowboard, but can also reward experts too. One of the best things about the Remarkables from a family point of view is that all the trails lead back to the base area, which means that ‘see you at the bottom’ can only mean one place – which is great for family coordination.
Best Family Trail
Curvey Basin is a family favourite that is dead ahead as you look up the main basin from the base building, and is served by a six-seater chair lift. The Alta chair serves a shorter flatter run that’s great for people who’ve just graduated from the magic carpet.
Facilities
The base building is arguably the best in New Zealand, with a huge cafeteria, rental department, and ticket sales. There’s a monster deck with lots of tables out front which is lovely on a sunny day.
Remarkables Lift Tickets
Buying your family’s lift passes online before you head up the mountain is the easiest and quickest way to go. Check out all the options here.
Ski Gear Rentals
We strongly recommend hiring your gear from us at Outside Sports in Queenstown or Wanaka before you head up the hill. Our gear is tuned before every rental and is from the world’s top brands like Rossignol and Atomic. Hiring from us also saves you a lot of time and hassle, when you'd rather be skiing.
Ski Lessons
Anyone can learn to ski and snowboard at the Remarkables. The ski school gets very busy especially in the school holidays so bookings are essential.
Hot tips for the Remarkables
Take the Ski Bus rather than driving yourself. The service is door to door and you won’t have to worry about getting a car park or fitting chains.
Skiing for Families at Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak Ski Field Overview
Coronet Peak is the closest ski field to Queenstown – about half an hour’s drive from town. It attracts a wide range of people but is probably better suited to skiers than boarders because the snow tends to be firmer than at the Remarks. Coronet hosts the Snow Machine party every year.
The Best Place to Stay
The Coronet Peak ski field is very close Queenstown and Arrowtown, making any of the local hotels or AirBnBs great accommodation options. You can also look at even closer accommodation options near the bottom of the ski field access road at Arthur’s Point.
How to get to Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak is located on the main Queenstown/Arrowtown road. The turn off to the access road is under 15 minutes from either town. Like Remarkablesyou can either drive yourself or take the Ski Bus from any one of several pick-up points between Queenstown and the mountain. If driving yourself, you must carry tyre chains and know how to use them. The road isn’t as dramatic or long as the Remarkables access road, so it’s more suitable for less experienced mountain drivers. However once again, because the handiest carparks can fill up fast and early the easy option is taking the Ski Bus. You’ll get dropped right outside the door of the base building, and the buses can carry your skis and snowboards too. Just remember to book your seats on the bus.
Terrain
Coronet Peak offers a slightly different type of terrain. It’s more like a large, rounded hill than a full-on alpine experience like the Remarkables.Overall the terrain is easier, but the main trails can be narrower, meaning beginners might feel safer at the Remarkables.
Best Family Ski Trail
The Meadows Express four-seater chairlift to the right of the base building serves several nice easy runs. The Coronet Express to the immediate left of the base building gives access to longer winding trails with options for advanced skiers to drop into steeper pitches.
Facilities
The base building is very well set up and has mind-blowing views back over Queenstown. There’s a huge cafeteria, rental department, and ticket sales. Like the Remarks there’s an awesome deck with lots of tables.
Coronet Peak Lift Tickets
Buying your family’s lift passes online before you head up the mountain is the easiest and quickest way to go. Check out all the options here.
Ski Gear Rentals
We strongly recommend hiring your gear from us at Outside Sports in Queenstown or Wanaka before you head up the hill. Our gear is tuned before every rental and is from the world’s top brands like Rossignol and Atomic. Hiring from us also saves you a lot of time and hassle, when you'd rather be skiing.
Ski Lessons
Anyone can learn to ski and snowboard at Coronet Peak – and it’s the same story - the ski school gets busy especially in the school holidays so bookings are essential.
Hot tips for Coronet Peak
Take the Ski Bus rather than driving yourself. The service is door to door and you won’t have to worry about getting a car park or fitting chains. If you're a boarder you'll probable prefer the Remarks or Cardrona
Skiing for Families at Cardrona
Cardrona Ski Field Overview
Cardrona is New Zealand’s largest ski field and is located more or less midway between Queenstown and Wanaka. There is lots of variety in the terrain – but it tends more to the beginner and intermediate end of the scale. Having said that the terrain-park is world-class and elite freestyle skiers from all over the world make Cardrona their home every winter.
The Best Place to Stay
Stay in Wanaka rather than Queenstown if you’re planning on spending most of your time at Cardrona. Cardrona is on the Wanaka side of the Crown Range, which can sometimes be closed due to snow and ice over winter cutting off direct access from Queenstown. The alternative route from Queenstown to Cardrona is via Cromwell and Wanaka which takes around two hours. Cardrona also has several family apartments at the base building that you can stay in. Contact your specialist ski travel agent for details - but get in quick as they are popular!
How to get to Cardona Ski Field
Cardrona is located on the main Queenstown/Wanaka road. The turn off to the access road is around 25 minutes from Wanaka and 45 minutes from Queenstown (if you come over the Crown Range). The road up the mountain is well maintained and not super scary, so if you’re careful it should be OK for most drivers, and most people do drive themselves, but there are shuttles from Queenstown and Wanaka – book here
Warning!! The Cardrona Valley road is often crazy icy in the mornings – so be very careful. Just about every local has a tale of woe after icy accidents in the Valley.
Terrain
Cardrona has a mix of trails, but most are fairly wide and flowing. The skifield itself runs along a ridge and is quite spread out. Each section is served by its own chairlift. There is nothing crazy steep or challenging except for a few cliff bands and chutes. However the newly opened Soho Basin chair has opened up exciting new options for more advanced skiers.
Best Family Ski Trail
The McDougall’s Chondola is your starting point for a long traverse to the right to the Captain’s Express chair. This chair basin with a variety of runs, which while not suitable for beginners with just one or two days under their belts (that’s McDougall’s) it’s pretty easy terrain, with a few options for more advanced skiers to have fun too.Facilities
Facilities
The base area at Cardrona is partly new this season following a fire over summer. The ‘village square’ area is equipped with bean bags and is an awesome place to chill out during the day.The base area contains a big restaurant, rentals etc. The buses arrive and depart right outside the door.
Lift Tickets
Buying your family’s lift passes online before you head up the mountain is the easiest and quickest way to go. Check out all the options here.
Ski Gear Rentals
We strongly recommend hiring your gear from us at Outside Sports in Queenstown or Wanaka before you head up the hill. Our gear is tuned before every rental and is from the world’s top brands like Rossignol and Atomic. Hiring from us also saves you a lot of time and hassle, when you'd rather be skiing.
Ski Lessons
The plentiful gentle, super wide green trails at Cardronaarguably make it the best place in the Southern Lakes for beginner skiers and boarders. Like the Remarks and Coronet they have very good first timer deals that include lift passes and lessons. Find out more and book your family in here.
Hot tips for Cardrona
Be very, very, very careful driving in the Cardrona Valley. It can be treacherously icy for days at a stretch and it’s easy to get caught out on the many shady parts of the road. Also tyre chains are frequently required for the Crown Range road during winter – so make sure you have them with you in your vehicle at all times - and that includes four wheel drives. The weather can change quickly and you don’t want to be stranded.