List of New Zealand ski lifts
A number of ski lifts operate in both the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
North Island
Whakapapa ([Mount Ruapehu])
10 liftsDouble Happy Chair
Double
4 min
Happy Valley Platter 1
Platter Lift
3 min
Happy Valley Platter 2
Platter Lift
3 min
West Ridge Quad
Quad
11 min
Knoll Ridge T-Bar
T-Bar
10 min
Valley T-Bar
T-Bar
8 min
Far West T-Bar
T-Bar
10 min
Rangatira Express Quad
Express Quad
Delta Quad
Quad
Skywaka Gondola
Gondola
[Turoa] (Mt Ruapehu)
High Noon ExpressSix seater detachable chairlift
10 min
Nga Wai Heke Chair
Quad chairlift
11 min
Movenpick Chair
Quad chairlift
15 min
Giant Chair
Triple chairlift
13 min
Parklane Chair
Triple chairlift
7 min
Alpine Meadow Platter
Platter lift
2 min
Wintergarden Platter
Platter lift
2 min
Alpine Meadow Carpet Lift
Magic Carpet
2 min
[Tukino] (Mt Ruapehu)
Two rope tows[Manganui] (Mount Taranaki)
Currently - 2 nutcracker rope tows, 1 T-bar, 1 learners rope tow.The original was installed in 1946, the first ski tow in New Zealand. This was replaced by the current T Bar in 1974.
The top rope tow has a formidable reputation, rising some 300 metres. This was installed in 1952 and upgraded extensively in the 1980s. An extension to this tow can be installed providing further vertical late in the season.
The lower T bar can also carry a few chairs if necessary, something that the Stratford Mountain Club have indicated that they may install, making for an interesting dual lift.
There is a small rope tow between the T bar and the bottom station of the top tow, installed in the 1980s and electrically operated.
There is a small learners rope tow to the left of the T bar, this was installed in 1964 and upgraded in the 1970s.
A tow was installed in the Ngarara valley to the right of the field in 1983, and this operated til 1986.
Other North Island ski lifts
The Rangiwahia Ski Club installed a rope tow in the 1930s operating off a motorbike engine on the Whanahuia Range in the Ruahines in the Central North Island. The ski club built a hut as well, but this has been replaced by several facilities on the same site since then. Some relics are still there. The site is accessible only on foot.All road ends in Egmont National Park had a rope tow or two at various times, but these have all been removed.
South Island
[Mount Robert] (St Arnaud)
Now closed. 3 rope tows originally.Rainbow (St Arnaud">Saint Arnaud, New Zealand">St Arnaud)
Historically:1 double chairlift
Currently:
1 T-bar
1 poma
1 learners lift
1 rope tow
Amuri / [Hanmer Springs] (Hanmer Springs)
Currently 1 pomagalski, and 1 rope tow. 1 learners tow too. This lift is the only detachable pomagalski left in New Zealand. It was built entirely by volunteers. This lift needs preservation.[Mount Lyford] (Kaikoura)
One T-barTwo platters
One 180m fixed grip
One advanced rope tow extended 2011
There were also two? rope tows installed at Stella Basin, further down the access road from Mt Lyford. A lack of snow has caused these to be removed.
[Temple Basin] (Arthurs Pass)
3 rope tows.[Craigieburn Valley] (Arthurs Pass)
3 rope tows currently. Access, middle, and top.Formerly had a learners tow near the base of the middle tow, which resulted in three tows running from one tow shed / engine. The learners tow was removed in the 1990s. The top tow has now been realigned, as the previous alignment resulted in very challenging loading.
In 1952 a T bar was installed running from the bottom of Craigieburn to Siberia Basin, except this never received much usage. A poma was installed on Hamilton Peak in 1994, but this did not receive much use either. The concrete base of this is still sitting in Siberia Basin.
There is a cone of death on the dogleg on the bottom rope tow where it changes alignment. It looks like a spinning top with a disc on the top to stop the rope flying off it. The disc acts as angle grinder if you don't get your shoulder far enough out of the way. This was installed to bend the towline away from an avalanche path. Great fun.
All tows are diesel operated, using tractors.
Broken River">Broken River (New Zealand)">Broken River (Arthurs Pass)
Historically:3 rope tows. 1 access tow, 1 learners tow
Currently:
- The access tow, from above the accommodation buildings to the field itself. Above the tow shed, which is at the height of Palmer Lodge, this tow is known as the Rugby tow, from the former Rugby car engine that used to power it.
- The main tow
- The ridge tow
- Two learners / access tows near Palmer lodge.
[Mount Cheeseman]
2 T barsbefore it had T bars it had rope tows. The bottom rope tow, since removed, used to extend a long way down the access road. 4WD vehicles would have to wait for skiers before crossing under the rope. The bottom T bar is electric, with the top T bar diesel. The top T bar is perhaps the slowest lift in New Zealand. Faster to walk.
Porters ([Arthur's Pass National Park])
3 T bars1 x Intermediate Platter lift
1 x SkiMat Magic Carpet lift
1 x Quad Chairlift
Mount Olympus">Mount Olympus Ski Area">Mount Olympus (Rakaia Valley)
4 rope tows[Mount Hutt] (Methven)
Began in late 1970s with two rope towsHistorically
- The top T bars - 2 T bars installed side by side, above the top of the old quad. One T bar went halfway to the summit, the second T bar went most of the way to the summit, finishing slightly short of the current six-seater. These were diesel powered.
- The Towers Triple chair with mid-station. Fixed grip.
- The Quad
- The Summit Six seater, operating from the base buildings to near the summit of Mt Hutt at 2086 metres
add 1 Magic Carpet
Erewhon (Rangitata Valley">Rangitata River">Rangitata Valley)
Historically:Four rope tows
- Learners tow
- Access tow
- Main tow
- Senior tow
All rope tows were removed when the skifield closed in the late 1980s. The lodge is now used as the base of a cat-skiing operation.
[Fox Peak] (Fairlie)
Currently using 4 rope tows- Skid row learners tow
- Meadow tow
- Shirt front tow
- Apex tow
There is a learners platter lift.
[Mount Dobson] (Farlie)
Historically:1 rope tow
1 further rope tow up the peak to the south.
Currently:
1 T-bar
1 triple chair lift
1 platter lift
Round Hill">Roundhill Ski Area">Round Hill (Tekapo)
Originally Tekapo ski area, before it closed in the mid-1990sHistorically:
- 1 double chair
- 1 T bar
- Learners lifts
- The Heritage Express Rope Tow, a nutcracker rope tow which is the longest and steepest rope tow in the world. 1.5 km long with 650 metre vertical rise. Installed in 2010.
Ohau">Ohau (skifield)">Ohau (Ohau)
- 1 rope tow
- 1 T-bar
- 1 double chair, fixed grip, diesel
- 1 learners platter
[Awakino] (Kurow)
Currently running 3 rope tows - 2 nutcracker and one learners tow.The first lift was installed in the 1950s, running on a Wisconsin engine/ tractor unit transferred from the old Danseys Pass tow. This engine is now sitting below the top towshed, as with most things at Awakino, the history is all around you.
The main tow direction was altered in the 1960s and then extended several times to its present location. It runs off a Ford 3000 tractor, installed within a railway container. The main tow is 800 metres long, rising from about 1450 metres to 1735 metres.
The top tow was installed in the late 1980s and currently runs on a petrol powered engine, the only such tow in New Zealand to still operate with petrol. The ridge tow is about 700 metres long, and rises from 1735 metres to about 1880 metres, close to the summit of the range at this point. This may be the steepest tow in the world.
The learners tow is small, currently petrol powered, and sits adjacent to the top huts. There are the remains of various other tows on the field, most notably the access tow below the top buildings that operated in the early 1990s before snow became unreliable and people obtained 4WDs, and an old learners tow just below the top buildings.
A tow was installed in the 1960s in the remote Hut Creek catchment behind the St Marys range. The old Case tractor drive unit for this sits forlornly in the snow just off the main ridge, but has not operated for over 50 years.
[Treble Cone] (Wanaka)
Historically:- Main double, installed in the early 1980s.
- Saddle T Bar. Replaced by the Saddle Quad.
- Saddle Double - diesel fixed grip, moved to Saddle Basin in 1995? after it was replaced on its old alignment by the current six-seater. Replaced in 2006? by the Summit Quad.
- Main T Bar, removed in 1990s?
- Six seater express - detachable six seater, installed in 1996?
- Saddle Quad - fixed grip quad from the old base site of the saddle basin double to near Tim's table, above the top of the old T-bar.
- Learners lifts
Cardrona">Cardrona Alpine Resort">Cardrona (Wanaka)
- Learners Carpet 17 vertical metres
- McDougall's Chondola 180 vertical metres
- Captain's Express 265 vertical metres
- Whitestar Express 320 vertical metres
- Valley View 300 vertical metres. This is being converted to a "chondola" arrangement, with several gondola cars being installed onto the main wire rope.
1x double chair - the La Franchi double, more or less on the alignment of the current Whitestar Express.
Note: Calculated from Stats - official verification still needed
[Snow Farm] / Snow Park (Wanaka)
[Coronet Peak] (Queenstown)
Historically:- A "double" rope tow. Snowboarders would have loved this, if those things were invented back then. Installed in 1947 and designed by William Hamilton, the inventor of the jet boat, who also perfected the nutcracker device that is still used today.
- The Happy Valley Poma - the original learners lift, running diagonally right from the base buildings towards the Lunch Rocks. From memory it had three large spans and two jumping off points. Removed in 1994
- The Shirtfront Double chair - installed in 1952 as one of the first chairlifts installed in New Zealand. This was the main lift of the field until 1994, whereupon it was then moved to replace the Happy Valley poma on a new alignment as the Meadows double chair. It lasted here until the start of 2010. Rumour has it that they didn't need to slow it down for suitability as a learners lift. Converted to electric at some stage in the 1960s.
The chairs on the lift could also carry sleds for the "cresta run" sled track at Coronet peak. This operated until the early 1990s.
- The Greengates triple. My favourite old lift. Installed in the 1970s on the western part of the field. This had real character, with the entire drive unit sitting on rollers within a frame mounted to a dynamic cable counterweight, presumably to take up the slack from the several large spans that the lift went through higher up. It had a mid-station a short distance up the line. Removed in 2007 and replaced with a six-seater Greengates express. The mid-station was rarely used, except when snow conditions on the lower runs prevented access back to the base.
- The Blue Gums poma, a small learners poma below the Rocky Gully T Bar. Removed in the 1990s.
- The Coronet Express detachable quad - installed in 1994
- Greengates Express six seater - installed in 2005, on an alignment slightly to the west of the old Greengates triple.
- Meadows Quad - installed in 2010, replacing the old double.
- Rocky Gully T-bar, in Rocky gully on the right of the field, installed in 1981
[The Remarkables] (Queenstown)
Historically:
- The Alta Double, sometime in the late 1990s
- The Alta Quad - fixed grip, installed in the late 1990s.
- Curvey Basin Six - six-seat detachable express installed in 2014
- Sugar Bowl Quad - fixed grip, installed in the 1980s, used to have a mid-station
- Shadow Basin Quad, still with a mid-station.
- Learners lifts
Invincible (Glenorchy">Glenorchy, New Zealand">Glenorchy)
Other South Island lifts
- Danseys Pass
- Lees Valley
- Kelly Range
- Kakanui Mountains, above the Pigroot
- Rock and Pillars
A larger tow at Leaning Lodge, installed in the 1960s and operating until an avalanche in the early 1970s. Parts of this rope tow, including two towers, are still in place below Leaning Lodge Hut.
Installed by the Southland Ski Club and operated until the early 1950s when the club shifted to Coronet Peak.
- Mt Luxmore