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peterm

Getting off the lift
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Could be interesting. TC is by far my favorite lift served in New Zealand. The resort doesn't really make much money. Would love to see some additional investment at that resort. Stratgically, not hugely confident of the fit for Vail though especially as there is no on mountain lodging. Perhaps I underestimate how big of a drawing card NZ would be for North American skiers if it is added to epic pass. And NZ is such a small population not sure it really does a lot for bringing people up to North America. So I am dubious.

Cardy is one of the more popular NZ resorts and would seemingly be the better fit for Vail than TC. But still, just skeptical how important it is too have a NZ ski presence given the small size of the market.

Along with what @dbostedo said, consider the Australian market. If you've been to Whistler in Dec/Jan you may have noticed the huge number of Australians there. Maybe Alterra wants a slice of that pie? Factor in that many Australian skiers make good use of the direct flights from Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane into Queenstown and the motivation for Alterra's actions becomes clearer.

So, strategically, Vail may want to partner with a NZ resort or two to protect its share of the Australian market.
 
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dbostedo

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Along with what @dbostedo said, consider the Australian market. If you've been to Whistler in Dec/Jan you may have noticed the huge number of Australians there. Maybe Alterra wants a slice of that pie? Factor in that many Australian skiers make good use of the direct flights from Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane into Queenstown and the motivation for Alterra's actions becomes clearer.

So, strategically, Vail may want to partner with a NZ resort or two to protect its share of the Australian market.

Alterra and Vail both already have an Australian presence. Vail bought Perisher a couple of years ago. And Alterra has Thredbo days included.
 

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
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Not Ikon, UT
Along with what @dbostedo said, consider the Australian market. If you've been to Whistler in Dec/Jan you may have noticed the huge number of Australians there. Maybe Alterra wants a slice of that pie? Factor in that many Australian skiers make good use of the direct flights from Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane into Queenstown and the motivation for Alterra's actions becomes clearer.

So, strategically, Vail may want to partner with a NZ resort or two to protect its share of the Australian market.

LA ——> Queenstown via Auckland is a better route for getting there. Air New Zealand is a fantastic airline
 
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dbostedo

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LA ——> Queenstown via Auckland is a better route of getting there. Air New Zealand is a fantastic airline

I did LA --> Christchurch and drove to Queenstown. It's a cool drive too. Though I don't know what it's like in the winter.
 

Started at 53

Making fresh tracks
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I did LA --> Christchurch and drove to Queenstown. It's a cool drive too. Though I don't know what it's like in the winter.

The South Island is amazing, flying over the Southern Alps is just breathtaking to say the least. The drive up from Invercargil (sp?) to Queenstown is pretty special, especially the last couple of hours.
 

Kyle

Out on the slopes
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Utah
Queenstown and Wanaka are two places that have you trying to figure out how to live there after a couple of days. Here is a picture in early winter similar to dbostedo's picture above. It snowed over a foot the day after this picture was taken but Coronet Peak was hit with extremely high winds and it skied like glop the following day. Would LOVE to go back and try again.
QT Overlook Smaller File.jpg
 

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