License to thrill at Cardrona

Cardrona's wide open trails allow snowboarders ample room to perfect their turns. Picture / Lake Wanaka Tourism

I used to know a ski-bunny who would rave on every winter about the incredible powder and how she flipped on to the precipice of a big icy ravine and one of her ski poles almost skewered her in half and man, you should have been there.

Just when I thought her tales of alpine bravado couldn't get any more tedious, she took up snowboarding. Don't you hate those people? It's as though they deliberately set out to make you feel dull and unadventurous.

I made only a few meagre runs in snowboarding before I broke my arm. And I'm reminded of the precarious nature of the sport as we fly into Queenstown. Just as the landing gear clunks down, the plane makes a hair-raising turn and flies through a narrow gap betweenmountain ranges.

If that's not freaky enough, the drive from Queenstown to Wanaka, base-camp for our weekend boarding jaunt at Cardrona, makes our Range Rover feel like an elephant on a gymnastic beam. One wrong move and the car would slip off the road and tumble down into the tussocky base of the towering mountains.

There are other dangers in store when we reach the gear shop in Wanaka an hour later: namely, looking like an idiot. Yes, we're amateurs at this but we don't want to let on, do we? So I make my first stuff-up of the trip and ask for a regular board (left foot forward) when I'm goofy (right).

Goofy is how I feel when, midway through tightening my boot bindings on the mountain the next day, the penny drops. Thankfully my instructor is capable of ignoring my stupidity as well as boarding in either direction, so after swapping planks we move on with the lesson.

It's a disconcerting feeling, standing on a flat, unpredictable piece of fibreglass after so long but Sam makes it simple: lean into the front foot, use your knee to steer, think of your hip joint as a joystick. Although it feels unnatural at first, I'm soon cruising down the beginner slopes at a reasonable speed. When I tried this two years ago, every time I accelerated I would instinctively lean backwards and land on my backside.

We make a few, modest curves until we're comfortable enough to take the chairlift to the next level. My heart is thumping so loudly at the prospect of having to get off at the other end, I almost miss out on the scenery. You feel like the king of the mountain on Cardrona, 1670m above sea level. Swing around in your chair and the world is laid out on the horizon for your viewing pleasure.

Cardrona's other big advantage is the snow consistency, which is dry, not slushy. Whereas nearby Treble Cone boasts tricky, narrow runs, Cardrona has wide, open trails. After a 40cm dump the previous night, we can hurtle painlessly out of control.

This is a good thing if you've brought the kids. Cardrona is family friendly with a childcare centre, a ski school and organised activities. There's also a bar so the grown-ups can wine away their wipe-outs while the little ones whiz by. The more advanced can head to the terrain park for the rails, half-pipes and gravity cross course.

Ski-bunny did have a point. Later, we find ourselves babbling over beers at the historic Cardrona Hotel, probably boring the pants off the locals who are used to seeing city types find their inner child on the mountain.

Most residents we met came to the area on holiday and found themselves unable to leave. One couple abandoned high-flying careers in Australia to open a homestead here.

Aside from the excitement and camaraderie the mountains offer, nearby Wanaka is a gorgeous, lakeside retreat that would make even the most ambitious reassess their office career.

It's not cheap to dine - a pizza, salad and drinks at the laidback Tuatara set us back $60 - but there is plenty to choose from, whether it's fine-dining (Edgewater Resort or the Hub), a good, hearty meal (Relishes) or a glass of wine at the swanky new Bar Luga.

Day two and this time we head up the slopes with instructor Karen. Her best advice is to carve the slopes on the board's edge, as opposed to blatting downhill at full steam. This way we cover more surface area at a controlled speed. A ridge trail takes us to one of Cardrona's limitless basins, and I'm hooting all the way down.

Boarders and skiers of all levels are here, including a group of Japanese daredevils who have scooted under a fence and are leaping off a ridge into the powder below.

It's not until I reach the bottom of this impressive run and overhear a conversation between two older skiers that I realise how snowboarding has revolutionised mountain culture.

"Skiing takes more skill and style than snowboarding," he says to his friend, "and all it takes to learn to snowboard is a couple of days and you're flying. So they get the speed up but they've got no control. They're like young drivers who are yet to fully understand the road rules."

Perhaps, but if this is all it takes to get your licence, I'm hooked.

* Rebecca Barry flew to Queenstown care of Air New Zealand, was hosted by the Cardrona Alpine Resort, and stayed at the Edgewater Resort, Wanaka.

Cardrona Alpine Resort

One day adult lift and rental package - ski $102, board $113. Multi-day passes and packages. Ph (03) 443-7341.

Edgewater resort

Spacious, fully serviced apartments on the water's edge, with a fantastic restaurant (Sargoods), lounge bar and outdoor area. Sargood Drive, Lake Wanaka Ph (03) 443-8311.

WHERE TO EAT

* Ambient wine bar, open from 4pm until late, seven days.
Post Office Lane, off Ardmore St. Ph (03) 443-5400.

* Tuatara Pizza Bar
76 Ardmore St. Ph (03) 443-8186

* Relishes Cafe
99 Ardmore St, Ph (03) 443-9018

* The Hub, Oakridge
Excellent food, accommodation and hot pools. Corner Cardrona Valley and Studholme Rds. Ph (03) 443-7707