What next for Wanaka’s Treble Cone Ski Area?
That is a question left hanging after this week’s announcement southern tourism giant Real Journeys and developer John Darby are joining forces to double the size of the Cardrona Alpine Resort by adding the Soho Ski Area.
As well as owning the skifield rights to Soho, Mr Darby is the major shareholder of Wanaka’s Treble Cone Ski Area, which is renowned for its terrain but lacks the profile and profitability of Cardrona.
He holds 60% of the shares in Treble Cone Investments Ltd, a private company that bought the field in 2002.
The other 40% belongs to just over 50 shareholders — mostly ski enthusiasts happy enough with an annual dividend of not much more than a free annual ski pass.
An industry source, who does not want to be named but accurately predicted the Soho outcome in the Otago Daily Times three years ago, believes Treble Cone is likely to become the next part of the Real Journeys empire. He said even with the opening up of the Soho terrain, Treble Cone would continue to be considered the best southern field for advanced skiers although it was "not long-term viable stand alone".
"The obvious party that it needs to be under the umbrella of is Cardrona."
He believed there would be "strong support" from minority shareholders for an arrangement with Real Journeys.
While Mr Darby did not respond to a request for an interview yesterday, in 2014 he said he was committed to Treble Cone and wanted to improve its profitability.
Bringing Treble Cone into the fold would give Real Journeys a huge chunk of southern snow — 345ha at Cardrona, 500ha at Soho and 770ha at Treble Cone.
While none of the skifields admit they compete against each other, and say all development is good for all parties, the source said the Real Journeys ski expansion will create difficulties for NZSki, which has the Remarkables and Coronet Peak skifields.
"On an international scale ... NZSki’s product is challenged.
"It is challenging for them to provide a top international product for the yields and the prices they need to make it work.
"They are very small resorts with limited facilities and limited conditions ... and limited ability to expand."
