The Remarkables, New Zealand

The Remarkables is the other ski resort near Queenstown owned by the same company as Coronet Peak.  These 2 resorts make for a great ski trip during North American summer.  The Remarkables is probably our favorite of the two.

Stats

Real Vertical ?	380 meters (1,247 feet) lift-served
Size	385 hectares (951 acres)
Annual Snowfall ?	367 cm (144 inches)
Lift Pods ?	3
Distinct Trails ?	48
Review Date	August, 2025
Number of visits	1
Our Rating	★★
Resort website	https://www.theremarkables.co.nz/

The Remarkables New Zealand Review

As I mentioned in the Coronet Peak review, these 2 resorts complement each other and a good plan includes skiing both for variety.  Coronet Peak is closer to Queenstown and a much easier drive or shorter bus ride, but The Remarkables is considerably higher and has a more alpine feel.  The base elevation of The Remarkables is very close to the peak elevation of Coronet Peak, but Coronet Peak faces pretty much due south (ideal in the southern hemisphere), whereas The Remarkables faces north west.  The exposure difference offsets the elevation advantage so the snow quality is about the same.  Apparently The Remarkables gets more snow on average, but that definitely was not apparent when we were there.

There is some real challenge at The Remarkables if you get off the groomed terrain.  Most of the interesting stuff is on the Shadow Basin side.  With more snow than when we were there in August 2026 this would be a resort that would almost make the Best 100 list if it was in North America.  But it wouldn’t qualify due to the lift-served vertical of only 1,247 feet.

The very thin snow coverage kept us mostly on-piste, but it was still a lot of fun.  It’s worthwhile noting that in a very good year you could ski the Homeward Run or Outward Bound runs all the way down to parking lot 4 and take the shuttle back up.  That terrain had zero snow on it when we were there so it was hard to imagine that being possible.  If it was open, that would make the vertical drop a solid 468 meters / 1,537 ft. I wonder how many seasons are good enough to allow it?

Lift pods

There are 3 impressive lift pods at The Remarkables:  All served by high-speed 6 pack chairs.  That’s a lot of lift capacity for a resort of this size.

The Curvey Basin Express

Curvey Basin is the main / central part of The Remarkables.  It serves some nice lower-angle intermediate terrain.  The 2 runs at the top that wind down the steeper part of the mountain are interesting and well-covered by snowmaking and grooming.  Heading straight down the upper pitch on the black (Expert) rated Wye Not run was possible when we were there, but just barely and required a lot of rock avoidance since there is no snowmaking on that run.  That’s about it for challenge on this pod, but it is a fun cruise on the groomers.

The Sugarbowl Express

This lift serves some interesting terrain and a mixture of all ability levels up to Red (Advanced), but no black (Expert) runs.  Beginners will love the longest green run on the mountain “Casterway”.  We liked the runs on skier’s right which wind down between large boulders and drop-offs.

The Shadow Basin Express

This is the most interesting and difficult ski pod at The Remarkables.  We skied just about everything that was open there, including a couple of excursions down to Alta Lake on the Alta run.  This is where we found the best/deepest natural snow.  Getting to Alta required a road and then a scramble over rocks with skis on.  It was very windy and icy so skis off didn’t seem like a great idea.  The bottom past the lake gets interesting with less snow and a lot of boulders to ski around.

The groomed runs with snowmaking are great here also, with rolling steep sections, but the bottom pitch was completely bare so it always required taking the Calypso road out.

For Beginners

Beginners their own chairlift “Alta” at The Remarkables, but it’s on the high end of beginner terrain steepness.  There are also 3 carpets in front of the lodge at the bottom.  I think this would be a great place for those still learning.  There is also a way beginners/novices can ski down from the top of the Sugarloaf chair on “Casterway”.  So this should provide enough variety for novices and space to practice for beginners.  I think it’s better for beginners over hear than at Coronet Peak.

Food, Lodges, and Parking

Like Coronet Peak, the base lodge is very modern and large.  It serves almost the exact same food that Coronet Peak does.  They really need to learn how to make salads though.  We found a general lack of green stuff at both Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.  It’s all carbs and meat.

The parking was a series of dirt lots which get either muddy or dry and dusty.  Get there early on a weekday and you might be able to get parking in the upper lot which is a steep walk up to the lodge, but on weekends you will be shuttling from lot 4 unless you carpooled.  It’s a long-ish shuttle but it does run frequently enough to make it only semi-annoying.

Queenstown

Read the Coronet Peak review for more on Queenstown.  Having these 2 resorts close to the town really makes it a fantastic destination and is why we keep returning.

The good

• Modern resort with 3 high-speed 6-pack lifts and a large base lodge
• Good snowmaking coverage
• Excellent grooming
• Spectacular views
• Much more expert terrain than Coronet Peak
• More terrain for beginners than Coronet Peak

The bad

• Although the claimed natural snowfall is almost twice that claimed for Coronet Peak, there was no evidence of that when we were there.  It really needs a lot of snow to open up the steeper runs.
• The parking situation isn’t great on weekends, requiring a long-ish shuttle ride
• A bit crowded on weekends
• Expensive lift tickets unless you have an Ikon pass
• Terrain is not as shielded from the sun as Coronet Peak so it ices up a bit more
• The drive up is frightening at times.  Lots of curves and it’s a very narrow road.  Locals get impatient.  Definitely avoid doing it if you are not comfortable driving on the left side of the road with no shoulder and a very steep drop!  There is bus service from Queenstown.

Would we go back?

Yes, we are already planning a trip back later this year (2026).  This is a very interesting resort and we are hoping for better snow so we can ski more of it next time.