Cardrona Valley skifield entrepreneurs the Lee family have been joined by Sean and Robin Synnott to try to make the dream of an "alpine Disneyland" ot the top of the Pisa Range a reality.
The Synnotts have joined Snow Park general manager Sam Lee in a new management triumvirate.
The freestyle skiing facility's season opens tomorrow.
The Lees and Synnotts have formed a new company, Alpine Ventures Ltd.
They each have shareholding in Snow Park and the future developments which John Lee has long touted for the Pisa Range.
The Lees have resource consent to build and operate a $19 million gondola from the Cardrona Valley floor to the Pisa Range.
The family also wants to build a Roaring Meg Resort, located south of the Snow Park, and a skifield serviced by three chairlifts, which will also include a hotel and accommodation complex.
The Lees have been looking for a new business partner to develop their plans.
They had put their Waiorau Station on the market in the hope of finding an investor.
Mr Synnott said the new business partnership's immediate focus was on the Snow Park.
Plans for future developments would depend on the self-funding sustainability" of the Snow Park business, he said.
The Lees will retain ownership of their land at Pisa Range.
The Synnotts decided to approach the Lees about forming a partnership last year.
They agreed on terms for the new business in April.
The Synnott family has five children, sons Harrison (17) and Dylan (12), and daughters Reilly (10), Zoi (9), and Illume (4).
All lived in an apartment at the Snow Park last winter.
They have lived in Wanaka for two years, after they moved back to New Zealand from the United States.
Mr and Mrs Synnott have extensive and successful corporate careers in finance, marketing, and computer information systems.
Mr Synnott was born in Papakura, Auckland, and grew up at Manapouri, where his father worked on the hydro-electricity project.
Mrs Synnott is from New York and was educated in Boston.
The couple will take over the strategic planning of the business, allowing Sam Lee to focus on the operational aspects of the Snow Park's winter season.
While the business acumen and strategic skills of the Synnotts were obvious benefits for the new partnership, it was an "incredibly rare" connection the families had made in the pursuit of a shared vision, Mr Lee said.
