# Ski instructors in Treble Cone

> The longest vertical in the South Island, above Lake Wanaka, with steep sustained terrain and the best off-piste in New Zealand.

- Region: Wanaka, Otago
- Country: [New Zealand](https://alpinepal.com/en/ski-instructors/new-zealand)
- Time zone: Pacific/Auckland
- Currency: USD
- Coordinates: -44.634, 168.896
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7837389

Page: https://alpinepal.com/en/resorts/treble-cone
Last reviewed: 14 September 2026

## About Treble Cone

Treble Cone has the longest vertical in the South Island and the steep, sustained terrain to justify it. It looks out over Lake Wanaka from a west-facing hillside, and the view from the Home Basin is the one that ends up on the posters.

It is unambiguously an advanced skier's mountain: two large basins, long fall-line runs, and the best lift-accessed off-piste in the country, particularly the Motatapu Chutes and the Saddle Basin. Intermediates have plenty to work with; complete beginners do not.

Being west-facing, it catches the afternoon sun, which softens the snow late in the day in a way the south-facing fields do not.

## Where lessons start

Not a beginner mountain, and an honest instructor will say so. What it is very good for is the step into off-piste: an experienced piste skier taking a first proper look at steeper, ungroomed terrain with someone who knows where the snow is holding.

## Getting there

Wanaka is about 30 minutes and Queenstown around an hour and a half. The access road is one of the steeper and rougher ones in New Zealand — unsealed, narrow, with a serious drop on one side. Chains and nerve, as the locals put it.

## Resort areas

- Home Basin
- Saddle Basin

## Meeting points

- Treble Cone base building terrace

## Instructors at Treble Cone

_No instructors have joined here yet._

## Qualifications required in New Zealand

New Zealand has no state licence. The professional standard is the Instructor certification (NZSIA / SBINZ).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can beginners ski at Treble Cone?

Complete beginners, no — and an honest instructor will say so. It is an advanced skier's mountain: two large basins, long fall-line runs and the best lift-accessed off-piste in the country. Intermediates have plenty to work with. For a first week, Cardrona, on the road between Wanaka and Queenstown, has the gentlest learning slopes in the Southern Lakes.

### What is the Treble Cone access road like?

One of the steeper and rougher in New Zealand: unsealed, narrow, with a serious drop on one side. Chains and nerve, as the locals put it. Wanaka is about 30 minutes and Queenstown around an hour and a half. Being west-facing, the mountain catches the afternoon sun, which softens the snow late in the day — worth knowing when you agree the time of a lesson.