Porters
Porters is the closest ski area to Christchurch, just 89km away in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. The ski area formerly known as Porter Heights has an under-stated reputation. Since the days of being a club ski field, Porters has really transformed itself into a commercial ski resort. When compared to the neighbouring club fields, Porters has plenty of frills.
The resort is certainly no Aspen but they have grooming, snow-making and a great terrain park. Other recent developments to the resort include a new day lodge with a delightful café, shop and ski hire area.The resort itself affords great views, but from the top the outlook across Lake Coleridge is definitely worthy of a few holiday snaps. Apart from the scenery, there is something quite charming about Porters, and the atmosphere is incredibly family-friendly and welcoming.
Ski and Snowboard TerrainPorters has great deals to attract beginners, but the mountain is not just for novices and young children. There is plenty of
ski terrain at Porters to challenge expert skiers and snowboarders as well. The vertical drop is noteworthy and provides for super long runs such as Big Mama. The skiing terrain isn’t large at only 230 hectares, but there are easily accessed out-of-bounds bowls that provide an extended adventure playground. The size of the resort gives it a nice cosy atmosphere and with only five lifts, it is easy to navigate, which can have associated benefits for families. The main lifts for intermediate and advanced skiers are three t-bars straight up the valley, so unfortunately there is no rest for weary quadriceps.
Porters AccommodationLeft-over from the club field days is the club-run
accommodation lodge which is situated half-way down the access road, so it’s definitely not ski-in ski-out. If you go to the effort of putting accommodation “on-mountain” why not put it near the ski area?? A better alternative is to stay at
Flockhill Lodge near Castlehill, or there are options in Springfield.
Why Ski or Snowboard at Porters?As is typical of New Zealand resorts, Porters has no trees, so the resort is at the mercy of the fickle weather. However when nearby ski areas are closed due to bad weather, Porters sometimes has the ability to remain open. It might only be partially open, but families and shredders can still have fun on the first t-bar and in the terrain park.
What’s really remarkable about Porters is that they offer a snow guarantee so that you can at least test out the conditions. If you’re not happy with the conditions by 10:30am (or 1:30pm on an afternoon ticket) you can get a voucher for another lift ticket on another day. That’s pretty impressive!