Cardrona Alpine Resort
Cardrona, New Zealand
Objectives and Solutions
Cardrona Alpine Resort is located between Queenstown and Wanaka in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. As one of New Zealand’s premium ski areas, consistent snow cover is essential when Mother Nature does not provide.
Cardrona’s investment in snowmaking has paid off: with limited natural snowfall for the second consecutive year in a row, Cardrona trails have opened on time thanks to unitizing every available opportunity for snowmaking despite the marginal temperatures and windy conditions.
Automation
SMI has provided a fully automated snowmaking system covering 21 hectares (53 acres) of trails and 60 new vault locations.
The system consists of 24 fixed position fan guns and 30 mobile carriage guns, maximizing capacity on main trails while giving flexibility to move machines as the winter season progresses.
snowmaking
Cardrona has expanded its snowmaking capacity significantly during the past few seasons, adding 22 Puma fan guns to the existing fleet of 32 Super PoleCats.
"SMI equipment has the horsepower to produce bulk amounts of snow during marginal conditions and can be throttled back for a high-quality finish on top."
