NZ MTB Trip

zooks

zooks

Likes Dirt
Hey All,

Planning a trip down to NZ Queenstown for 5-6 days late Nov.

Will the Skykine area be enough? Is it worth visiting the Christchurch area for a day or so?

Any other tips/suggestions? Preferably an area with lift/shuttles. Will most likely be hiring a car

Thanks
 
Dh bike or trail bike?
If the latter and u get sick of the bropark sticky forest is good, craigieburn u can shuttle and Christchurch adventure park has a lift.
 
Yes it’s enough but exploring never hurts!

Also have Wynyard jumps area (can self shuttle)

Cardrona about an hour away (chairlift)

If you don’t mind riding up there also a couple really good local trail areas. Look up Salmon Run (trail) and there’s about 3-4 good long options up there.

Queenstown hill also has some crazy trails but aren’t marked on Trailforks but are basically in town just a different hill to the bike park

I wouldn’t go as far as Christchurch if it’s your first time over in QT.
 
Thanks guys!

Was looking at Cardrona and Coronet Peak operating times and they don’t open till mid Dec.

Does this mean the lifts are not working and self shuttle or completely closed?

Was looking at going 27th Nov - 3rd Dec
 
Being an Alpine area, depending on weather there could still be snow on the bigger hills around that time of year. You can self shuttle or pedal up the lower part of Coronet easy enough though and there are probably 5-6 different options. It's only upper Rude Rock and the DH track you access from the chairlift. I haven't ridden Cardrona but think it is all lift access apart from one track from the village down to the main road.

Queenstown is a fair bit lower so is a safer bet but still pretty unpredictable weather wise. It rides pretty well in the wet apart from a couple tracks, Salmon run is basically built in a river. No surprises there.
I wouldn't bother going to Christchurch personally, it's on the dry side of the island and tracks are generally pretty clapped out. Just go for a hike at Mt.Cook and ride Craigieburn if you want to go for a drive out that way.
 
Check out Bike Glendhu in Wanaka as well. Easily done as a day trip and they have shuttles.
It's an awesome place to ride with stunning views over Lake Wanaka.
 
We did a family trip of the south island and at Queenstown you can hire bikes (decent ones) so you don't need to take a DH one, you could take an XC/AM bike and check out some of other places. We Started at Christchurch and went all the way down to Milford Sound, along the way in just about every place we stopped and stayed, I saw cars with mountain bikes, especially in Christchurch and Dunedien. I'd look up into the many hills and mountains and see what looked like prime MTB territory. There would be trails everywhere I'd imagine. The place is just stunning. I'd be checking out everywhere I could in the time you've got.
 
northvanguy said:
Queenstown hill also has some crazy trails but aren’t marked on Trailforks but are basically in town just a different hill to the bike park
Click to expand...

There's a reason they aren't on Trailforks, they want them kept as quiet as can be. ;)

A rule of thumb for anyone not up on the lingo; don't travel to a new area to ride trails that aren't public trails. They aren't public for reason and the trail builder does not want random squids riding his stuff then broadcasting it on social media to get 4 likes from your Nan & Auntie. And don't consider Strava or Trailforks as certifying it as public, it isn't.

There is more than enough club backed stuff in Queenstown to ride. In fact, there's more quality riding in Queenstown than there is of all of Australia. Another bonus is the trail grading system is actually accurate. A blue trail is more legit than Australia's black trails. A New Zealand black should properly frighten you and a Double Black? Make sure you have big boy pants on. And the Red Pro lines? You'd be a chance at qualifying for Red Bull Rampage if you're confident on that stuff.
-As for transport, l;ook up Queenstown Bike Taxi's. They run a no fuss shuttle on local stuff.
-The quality of trails on Coronet are amazing and easily shuttled. Rude Rock, Zoot, lower Zoot, Carry on, Hot Rod; all amazing. You can ask QBT if they'll pick you up in the bottom of Skippers Canyon too. To get there you ride most of Rude Rock then onto Pack Track, thats a rad ride. If you do fancy a fun adventure, ride some of Hot Rod then onto the water race. That then joins Bush Creek that takes you into Arrowtown, its a great scenic ride and again; QBT will likely pick you up there.
-Do a whole bunch of pedal up's in Wynyard, especially on McNearly Gnarly. That trail is how a jump trail should be built.
-Do more pedal up's above the bike park. The Beeched As climb over to Kelly's table into Bluegazi then onto McNearly is some of the best chill riding you'll ever do. While you're in Wynyard try to do all the marked trails in there.
-Cardrona is a good hour from Queenstown, the trails are fun but pretty susceptible to the wind and may mean the chairlift will not run. That place has the cool option of riding from the top of the hill to the pub in the valleyt, it's a long run but fuck it's good to ride into the pub and sink some tinnies. ;)
-For an XC style ride, you can check out 7 Mile, it's great for some shorter tracks.
-As for the bike park (now called Ben Lomond Trails), it's awesome. There's so many trails to ride and tends to reward more skilled riders. There's no green shit is what I'm saying ;) Don't get me wrong, there is easy stuff but you wouldn't take your kid there for their first time riding a mountain bike.

Hit me up if you need to know more details, I'm happy to help. I go every summer and have an account at Atlas bar ;)
 
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