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Ways to Experience The Remarkables Ski Area
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All reviews coronet peak magic carpet snow centre lift passes great mountain fresh snow slopes beginners runs chairlift gear lockers nz abilities ice
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Reviewed June 29, 2023

Everybody knows what it takes to get up the hill we don't even need to focus on that. Today (30/06/2023) it was especially "funny" and the morning was already ruined because of the "usual" things but guys, is common sense banned there? It started okay, had fun for approx 2 hours and then you decided to run your snow canons. Seriously? Nearly crashed twice, someone crashed into me... it's just impossible to ride through the mist without losing 100% of sight, it sticks to your eyes, face, goggles and then you crash...
Talked to someone from staff and got this as a response: "we need snow". Okay. Hope it's not the company's opinion, just an uneducated personnel.

Date of experience: June 2023
Thank Dan W
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed March 26, 2023

We drove up the road to the point where the sealed road ended. and the scenery is spectacular. Too bad they cannot seal the last three km. Worth the effort but you do get high up and some sections of the road are a little scary and need careful driving.

Date of experience: February 2023
Thank Oldjack
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 1, 2022

Our 5yr old daughter had her first ski lessons here.
As a first-time visitor, arrival is confusing.
The signs are ineffective.
As a first-time visitor, I would expect to see clear signage that says '1 - START HERE', '2 - RENT GEAR', etc.
Instead, you walk in and you see queues crisis-crossing each other for the info counter, the gear rental and for some weird reason another computer check-in area.
There were people who were standing in the gear rental queue unaware that they had to sign in/check-in or whatever at this bizarre computer desk next to the rental area before queuing. Only once they got to the front were they told, at which point several were leaving the queue to go to the PCs and then jumping back into their spots. That's a shambles!
Why on earth can't one get a ski pass in many other ways without queuing in a crowded space?
Like posted to you prior to departing for NZ or standalone terminals like at an airport or pick up in town at selected offices??
All obvious stuff and yet it has been determined that long, unorganised queues and confusion is best.

Many apparent new staff members are not knowledgeable about the options or processes.
I asked about the sightseeing pass and was told that's only available from 12:30.
So I come back at 1:30 and was told by another staffer that the pass is available to buy at 12:00 for chair lifts leaving at 12:30, 1:30 & 2:30 and I've just missed the 1:30
Top tip for the management - simply note this on your written material so that if a staffer doesn't know what they're doing at least a piece of paper at the counter can inform customers.

It was a case of luck of the draw in terms of who looked after our daughter for her lessons. The first day went well, with no issues.
On the second day, the instructor left her with the under 5's group and it was basically childcare on ice with kids wandering around aimlessly.
Once we discovered this we spoke with the instructor and had to explain how it's supposed to work based on the first day's experience at which point the lights came on and lessons started flowing again. So that was a wasted morning.

Over 3 days here, our daughter was improving and enjoying skiing.
The parents, however, not impressed and found the overall experience here average and wont be coming back.

Date of experience: September 2022
Thank BlueJewelExplorer
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed August 29, 2022

Kids first ever ski lesson. Harry from Brisbane was awesome, the kids had such a great day with him.

Date of experience: August 2022
Thank mego1381
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed August 19, 2022 via mobile

We booked the 3 day Intro to Snow Package with lessons, rentals and lift passes included. Lockers were $10/day and NZ Ski Bus Express $20 return/day.

As beginners we enjoyed the four beginners areas and magic carpet conveyers. The instructors were helpful and a great group of people in the lessons each day. I’m glad we went with the lessons. We didn’t venture beyond the beginners slopes due to our skill level but took the chairlift up for some sightseeing and beautiful mountain top views over Queenstown. We were lucky with the weather, sunny and relatively warm with good snow. However it was pretty crowded, in particular when it was raining in town and Coronet Peak was closed due to its lower altitude, a lot more people headed to the Remarkables.

The NZ Ski Bus Express to the Remarkables lets this whole experience down. It is an ordeal, it’s a minimum 50 minute wait in line for the bus no what what time you get there, the earliest we got there was 7.10am and we were on the snow 9.30am. 7.15am line up, on snow 9.50am. When we lined up 7.30am we weren’t on the snow till 10.15am after getting all our rental gear, and were late to our 10.00am lesson. I met one person who lined up from 6.20am to get on the first bus. While the first bus is scheduled to leave at 8am, it does tend to leave a little earlier than 8am. They definitely need more buses and/or drivers. The queue starts behind the Snow Centre opposite the Sofitel and wraps around the corner. Everything would be so much enjoyable if you could hop straight on a bus for a 45 minute drive up to the mountain.

Once up on the mountain, I would recommend heading straight to getting fitted for your rental gear, boots, boards/skis and locker as fast as possible. As pretty quickly there is a line up for rental gear. And same on the way down, as soon as your lesson finishes 3.30pm, return all your gear quickly to get in the line up for the return trip, otherwise you will be waiting longer in line for buses as they fill up. We didn’t bother with the overnight storage of rental gear due to the queue, we found it quicker to return and re-hire the next day.

The NZ Ski Bus Hotel pick up was sold out on my dates. I also tried the Info & Snow bus which also sold out. I would say the Hotel pick up bus is worth the extra money if you don’t want to line up for an hour just to get to the mountain. But you would need to book early. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and waited in line for an hour down in town only to drive back up and pick up pre-booked hotel pick up customers at the Holiday Inn. Though on the way back all the buses seem to operate as a hotel drop off and we were able to get off at the Holiday Inn Express each day.

I would say while some people were wearing masks on board the Ski Bus, most people were not wearing masks and mask wearing was not recommended or enforced by the drivers. I am very cautious about wearing a mask on public transport and indoors but I still got covid in Queenstown.

When I looked at going in July the Ski bus was on a stop sale, they stopped selling bus tickets, as they had 7 bus drivers off work with covid and couldn’t meet the demand. On my last day in the snow they said a lot of instructors had called in sick with covid or flu.

The cafeteria was small for the amount of people on the mountain and lunchtime was packed. The food offerings weren’t looking great so we just opted for the pricey $13 vegetarian sushi each day. More accessible water fountains are need to keep hydrated while being active and in lessons.

Date of experience: August 2022
Thank belii
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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