Commissioners David Collins and Gillian Macleod returned after a two-year hiatus to hear a final amended gondola application from Snowline Holdings Ltd, Treble Cone's parent company.
Snowline director and gondola project manager Richard Hanson told the commissioners the gondola would have two distinct operating seasons.
"Our existing skifield and winter operations will be underpinned by summer visitors using the gondola."Visitors to Wanaka during the nine-month period outside of winter numbered 224,000 last year, whereas the resort had 59,000 visitors for the three-month skifield season.
Treble Cone also had to compete with two other Wanaka skifields for visitors during winter, he said.
The summer months would be the main focus for the gondola's operation and the ticket and price structure would reflect this, Mr Hanson told the commissioners.
Ticket prices would be based on a "per ride" basis, except during the peak ski season, when visitors would be able to buy a day pass allowing unlimited rides on the gondola and skifield chairlifts.
Mr Hanson provided details about gondola fare structures in response to questions raised during a submission by Wanaka resident Tina Haslett.
She wanted more details about how the gondola would be economically viable and sustainable in its operation.
The skifield needed to do more to bring back locals, attract more visitors, and access more skiable terrain, before it went ahead with a gondola, she said.
Ms Haslett, who visited Treble Cone eight times during the 2008 ski season, said there had been what he called "an ethnic cleansing of locals from Treble Cone this year".
Mr Hanson told the Otago Daily Times the comments were "a bit harsh".
Securing resource consent for a gondola was the first step in an overall management plan for the skifield and would make it "a lot easier" to make investment decisions".
Snowline wanted to open up more terrain across the mountain, but was constrained by the limited space for visitors and transport to the skifield, he said.
The gondola would herald a public transport system to transfer people from Wanaka to the gondola base buildings.
Upper Clutha Environment Society president Julian Haworth said having public transport from Wanaka linked to the gondola would be "the ultimate in sustainable management".
Snowline cut the number, height, and size of the gondola's base buildings, but shifted its location away from a site the commissioners recommended in an interim decision released in December 2006.
Mr Collins said he would have preferred the base buildings to have remained where originally suggested, but he was still prepared to grant consent.
He adjourned the hearing for a list of conditions to be completed and presented to the commissioners before a final decision is released.
