Damson

I'm looking at possibly incorporating a few days skiing into our reccie next July/August and wondering where is the best place for us. We may well be doing North and South islands so are open to suggestions

I'm a nervous, wide cruisy blues type and the rest of the family are more up for a challenge although probably still blues too.

I know we aren't looking at an Alps set up but in a ideal world would like accomodatio either on mountain or with easy access to the slopes. Ski in/out accommodation would be good if possible. We'd prefer a lodge/motel type of base. Ski hire essential too, although we would probably bring our comfy boots.

The way the itinerary is shaping up I'm not sure if will be able to fit it in but wanted to explore it as an option.

Cheers

Snap Shot

Mt Ruapehu is the largest skiable mountain in New Zealand. The fact that it is a live volcano does not deter any one !

You can stay at the posh, lovely, Chateau Tongariro which is 6kms from the base facilities of the mountain. There's other accommodation and facilities at Tongariro too.

There's accommodation at National Park (blink and you'll miss it) village.

My husband skis there and loves it. I've been there too but I don't ski. The nearby village of Raetahi is an old railway village. The Angel Louise café is a nice place to stop by for coffee or a meal. Around 10kms away is a busier ski village.

escapedtonz

I'm another one that would recommend Mt Ruapehu. There are 3 ski resorts.
Whakapapa and Turoa being more commercial with Whakapapa on the North side and Turoa on the Southern. There is a smaller less commercial and more club skiing resort on the Eastern slopes called Tukino but never tried it yet.
Majority of the time we go to Turoa as we feel it offers the best and longer runs if you go to the top and they are served by proper sit down lifts. We also steer clear of the weekend for obvious reasons. It can get busy busy. There's also plenty parking and easy access.
This is close to a ski resort / village called Ohakune that offers good accommodation, bars, clubs, cafes, restaurants and lots of equipment hire. It's a proper party town over the ski season.
First time visitors will have to pay $105 each for a day ski lift pass which is on a plastic card that you can leave in your pocket. $99 for the ski lift and $6 for the card. After this you can purchase ski lift access online using the same card and they just load it up remotely so you can turn up and just go straight through onto the lifts.

Equipment hire probably around $70 for the day.

There is an NZ website called GrabOne that often offers cut price deals in the form of a voucher that you print off and just hand over to the merchant. I've used these a few times to get half price equipment hire for the day but have now bought my own boarding gear.

Woodlea

Meanwhile on the Mainland:
Home
Craigieburn Valley Ski Area | Canterbury, New Zealand
Ski Porters - Ski Area, Snowboard & Ski Christchurch - Porters Ski Area - Christchurch, New Zealand
All the above easily accessible in day-trips from Christchurch and Mt Hutt in the link below. Broken River the only one to offer accommodation, and it only has rope tows, and it is a club field.
Queenstown and Wanaka below:
https://www.nzski.com/
Skiing New Zealand - Treble Cone Snowboard & Ski Resort, Wanaka NZ » Treble Cone

Snap Shot

My husband was in Rangiora for a conference last year. He agreed with his boss to delay his return to work and therefore fly home on his return ticket.

He paid to take his skis on board the flight.

He met me at Christchurch airport when I arrived and we drove on to Methven so he could ski. I used the roads around Methven as running practice while he skied on the nearby mountain which I can't remember just now.

On one day I drove into Christchurch to revisit where we once lived before returning to Methven.

The restaurant that was part of the hotel complex was great. The pub in Methven was good too.

Woodlea

Did he like my home town? I didn't think we had a conference centre in the town

Mt Hutt.

Snap Shot

He didn't say whether he liked Rangiora or not. He was just there for work. The conference was a hui which took place at one of the offices of the NZ Govt Dept he works for.

Pom_Chch

It'll be worth checking out www.bookme.co.nz for cheap lift passes for ski fields in Canterbury. Deals pop up quite regularly on there, sometimes at 50% off. If you go to Porters, Mt Cheeseman or Craigieburn make sure you drive to the Otira Viaduct just past Arthur's Pass township. Tis impressive! And good to see Kea up close (just watch out they don't eat parts of your car, they're fond of rubber it seems!) Oh and a hot chocolate in the Wobbly Kea Cafe is a must - unique little place that one! And also stop off and pay Castle Hill a visit. You can't miss it - it's a collection of huge rocks en route to the ski fields, definitely worth a poke around. We went with some friends wee boys who we played Hobbit spotting with around the rocks - good times

Damson

Thank you all so much; this is really helpful. Research so far looks like Wakapaka is favourite as I think it's going to fit in logistically. The Skotel looks ok, with the attraction of it being so handy for skiing. Having said that, as I'm without computer at the moment and am managing on my phone, I haven't checked in your recommendations pom_chrch which sound fab too so I shall get googling on that too. Good tip about bookme as well. I've already spotted a few things so I'll keep an eye on that.

My observations so far are that accomodation seems good and pretty reasonable but entrance fees for tourist attractions are pretty expensive; probably swings and roundabouts.

Dartsailor

Snowplanet Auckland!😀