KEY POINTS:
Fancy taking a run down your own private skifield?
All you need is millions of dollars and the right vision for the rare opportunity to land one of the few freehold skifields in New Zealand.
Expressions of interest are being sought for North Canterbury's Mt Lyford Village and Alpine Resort, which includes some of the highest altitude freehold land in New Zealand.
The family field drew 20,000 skiers in the season just passed, and the 677ha of high country land also features a lodge and land subdivided for alpine chalets, with plans for a further 149 sections.
Doug Simpson, whose family built the skifield from scratch more than 20 years ago, told the Herald it was time for someone else to come in to take the field to the next level.
He said it was very difficult to put a figure on the property, but judging on recent high-country land purchases, it had to be in the tens of millions.
If it didn't attract any tenders, Mr Simpson said the family would further develop the land.
"There is an emotional attachment, but at the end of the day farms have been in families for years and people are selling those now. There's a whole change in thinking now."
Until 1986, Mt Lyford was a high-country station, but the family decided to develop the area after battling high snow risk on their farm during winter.
Mt Lyford now has a variety of ski runs serviced by several lifts, and caters for beginners through to the more challenging slopes.
Marketing agent Philip Cooper, of Colliers International, said it had operated profitably since its inception and was a ripe investment for a tourism operator with scope for expansion.
"The skifield is poised to be taken to a new level of operation by a more dedicated operator who is pursuing opportunities within this market," Mr Cooper said.
Potential buyers could be companies and individuals in New Zealand and overseas, Mr Cooper said.
Expressions of interest close on November 30.
