When are those people at Cardrona Cone going to stop!
In the past week there have been various hints that Snowboxx, one of Europes largest winter festivals, is coming to Cardrona. Don’t they have enough to do after buying Treble Cone?!
Apparently not, because not only are they again hosting the Real Journeys Winter Festival (June 18-21), but a total of 21 events over the winter including the Winter Games, FIS continental/World Cups, the Jossi Wells Invitational, Junior Nationals and now Snowboxx.
You might recall that Snowboxx has been hinted at for several years. Most recently in conjunction with NZ Ski who looked to bring it to NZ after they lost the venue rights for the Winter Festival. Our first thought after hearing Cardrona was running Snowboxx is that they had lost the Winter Festival, but no, this is in addition. Cardrona will literally be pumping (the music out) this season!
Details are a little scant right now, although there is a website, https://www.snowboxx.nz. It would appear as if it’s being run by the team that deliver Rhythm and Alps, which makes sense as Snowboxx is said to be more of a music festival. And one would have to presume this is a “Wanaka” event, especially given R&A are Wanaka based. Is this the first evidence of Wanaka taking on Queenstown for the winter crown? Maybe right? And it’s not surprising. Cardrona, once SOHO basic is built out, will be the largest ski area in the country, by a long long way, and with Treble Cone in the portfolio, also one of the largest areas, they have a ton to offer, more so that Queenstown many would argue.
There’s no question it’s going to be a busy year in Wanaka this season (although hopefully not too busy in term of lift lines!) Exciting to see all the development, but we’re still trying to figure out when these Cardrona Cone people sleep?