ROundhill Ski area – Tekapo


In the heart of New Zealand, the “Heritage Express Rope Tow” makes Roundhill one of the World’s most unique ski areas.

 

The World’s Longest and steepest rope tow

 

Roundhill Ski Area is a medium sized ski area (by general standards), in roughly the middle of New Zealand’s Southern Alps near Lake Tekapo. It is lesser known among New Zealand’s commercial ski areas, but has a lot to offer those that make the trek to visit it. Over 250 kilometers from the nearest city in any direction, visitors to Roundhill enjoy the peace and serenity that is earned by it’s isolation and its friendly vibes, stunning views and amazing terrain go a long way to win over skiers and riders of all abilities and experience levels.

The closest town to Roundhill is a village named Lake Tekapo that offers a small variety of holiday lodging options, eateries and petrol stations. The village is poised at the end of the nearby lake that goes by the same name, just off of NZ Hwy 8. The ski resort is accessed via a narrow gravel road that runs from the town of LT roughly halfway down the length of the Lake and then a slight elevation gain to reach the base area at Roundhill. 

The World’s Longest surface ski lift

The resort has all the basic amenities of any ski area, with rentals, food, drinks, and lessons, but where they really shine is with their stunning lake views, uncrowded slopes, friendly vibe, and of course the longest and steepest surface lift in the world! Named “The Heritage Express,” this lift is basically one big long rope tow that (because of it’s great length) runs through several sheaves from a base altitude of 1,350m (4,429ft) to a summit altitude of 2,133m (6,998ft). Because the rope tow runs through sheaves on it’s haul to the summit, skiers must use what’s colloquially known as a “nutcracker” which is a metal clamp that is affixed to the skier’s waste via a harness and the skier’s must hold closed around the rope as it drags them up the black diamond slope. 

Rope tow

Lift TIckets

Full resort access lift tickets can be purchased on site the day of skiing for $99NZ and $75NZ for a half day adult ticket. Child tickets are $48/$38 and Seniors are $65/$49. A Nutcracker rental is $15NZ.

Transportation

No shuttles here, and it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere. So the best and only way to get there is by renting a car (preferably a 4WD) and driving yourself in. While no route is shown on Google Maps, the ski area is about 32km Northeast down a gravel road from the town of Lake Tekapo.

History

The ski area was originally founded in the early 1960’s by local farmers and was soon taken over by the Tekapo Ski Clun, and later the family Burtscher. The ski area ran until 1990 then was closed for 11 years and reopened again in 2001 when expansion began including adding T-bar lifts and snowmaking and later the famous Wall Rope Tow in 2011. Now owned by Rieder family. 

 

 

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To ride the Heritage Express rope tow, one must first rent a waist harness from the ski shop that comes with a manual rope clamp that is nicknamed a “nutcracker” due to it’s similar appear to the metal tool that is used to open large nuts. Also the harness kind of cramps your groin area (nuts) which might also lend to the name. 

Once you’ve ridden up one of the lower mountain t-bars to find the rope tow house, you can strap into your harness and clip on your nutcracker and you’re ready to go. Ski up to the rope tow and when given the okay from the liftie, you swing your nutcracker clamp around the rope and clasp it closed with one of your hands. To avoid hand or finger injury, it is best to choke your hand down the clamp a little bit as the nutcracker rope clamp is meant to stay affixed to the rope while passing through several sheaves while it drags you to the summit. 

783 vertical meters later, or whenever your arm gets tired, you can release from the rope, tuck away your nutcracker and pick one of many beautiful open faced ski runs on The Wall, with stunning views as you descend. 

 

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Annual Snowfall

RoundHill has snowmaking resources on the lower mountain and also receives an average of 276cm of natural snow per season. (109″) per Snow-ForeCast.com

Vertical Drop

Roundhill boasts the most vertical in all of “Australasia” with 783 vertical meters of skiing/riding. That’s about 2,569ft! The ski area has about 18 runs spread over 550 hectares (1,359 acres).

Season length

A bit short by New Zealand standards, a normal season at Roundhill is usually from late June through mid September.

AMenities

A quaint day lodge at the base provides food and drinks during ski hours, and an adjacent building has ski/snowboard rentals as well as “nutcracker” hire.

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Find out more information

Click the button to be redirected to the Roundhill Ski Area page for more information.

 

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