This Motley Crew

There are ski destinations that work hard to impress you then there are places that let the skiing and environment do the talking. For Australian skier Jonathan Case, his first trip to the Wanaka region and Treble Cone was a revelation, largely because of how little competition there was for the good stuff.

“The biggest surprise was just how few people were out there given how good it is,” says Case, who travelled with a tight group of close friends, all capable skiers and riders. “We had entire lines to ourselves that would be tracked out in an hour anywhere else.”

Treble Cone was another revelation. “It completely exceeded expectations too,” he says. “It’s proper terrain, not a resort playing it safe.” But it wasn’t just the skiing that made an impression. Case was struck by how quickly the landscape transforms as you climb towards the mountain.

“One minute you’re winding up a road that’s basically a goat track populated almost entirely by actual sheep, who have zero interest in giving way and twenty minutes later you’re at altitude looking down over lakes and peaks that don’t seem real.”

That rapid change of scale is part of what gives the destination its personality. For Case, there’s a quiet confidence about it. “Nothing is dressed up for tourists, nothing is trying too hard”, he says. “It’s the kind of place that rewards people who already know what they’re looking for rather than announcing itself to everyone who walks in. You need to know, to know.”

And then there was the heliskiing. “Heliskiing, hands down,” says Case when asked about the moment that made him think, this is why people come here.

Being dropped into the mountains with a small group who could all keep up meant no queues, no waiting and fresh lines. “Just wind and snow and lines nobody else was getting.”

Even before touching down, the experience had already been delivered. “Looking down at the lakes and ridgelines from the helicopter before you even land is its own moment,” he says. “It’s not something the average skier stumbles into, and that’s exactly what made it special.” His verdict? “It is not to be missed. Sell your children, pay the money!”

For Case, though, the experience wasn’t only about the snow. Travelling with friends who matched his pace made the week particularly memorable, with good conversation, food and a craft beer scene adding to the experience.

“The scenery deserves its own mention too,” he says. “It’s the kind of beauty that stops conversation in the car, right up until someone spots another sheep casually holding up traffic on a blind corner.”

So who is this destination for?

“This one isn’t for everyone, and it shouldn’t try to be,” Case says. It’s for skiers and riders who are already strong on snow, who can keep pace with a group that isn’t waiting around, and who want “substance over spectacle.”

“If that’s you, it delivers in a way almost nowhere else does. If it’s not you yet, it’s something to work toward.” And five years from now, there’s little doubt which memory will remain.

Cardrona? “Do not go on a Thursday”, is Case’s recommendation, “the back bowl (SOHO) is great, the rest is fairly pedestrian after going to Treble Cone…Cardrona has a gondola for reals, We loved the Scotch Egg at the Cardrona Pub afterwards. The views from Cardrona were very pretty but never again on a Thursday. Cardrona is well-suited to families rather than a mountain adventure for better riders”. It is worth qualifying that Jonathan Case doesn’t have children and his tolerance for skiing around them or behind them has long since evaporated, and we wouldn’t want him any other way…ha”. 

“The heliskiing day was the standout. Not just the terrain, but earning your place in a group that could genuinely handle it, with some of the best scenery I’ve seen from the air.” Those, he says, are the trips that stay with you  “the ones where the experience and the people are equally rare.”

Although he admits there’s another story likely to survive the years: “The sheep that refused to move for a $2 million helicopter.”

Words: Jonathan Case
Photos by Brendan Reeves and the Motley Crew