Today, Cardrona Ski Area (simply “Cardrona” or affectionately known as “Cardies”) is well known – around New Zealand and internationally – as a respected, busy and much loved skifield operation. It is also now home base for some of the world’s most accomplished snow sports athletes, including many successful winter Olympians from the Upper Clutha and beyond. Each winter, tens of thousands of ski and snowboard at the field.
But in the years before one man had the vision to develop the farm into a ski area, it was a high country sheep station which was encountering increasing difficulties, like many in the valley at the time.
The man with that vision was John Lee. John and his wife Mary are long time residents of the Cardrona Valley, and at the time were making their living from the farm on the opposite side of the valley. But John had been observing the decline of farming in the valley for many years, and was worried about the future of his community. And so he got thinking.
John knew that the Cardrona Valley community needed to become less reliant on farming. He also observed that people enjoyed visiting the valley for many reasons, and he thought that there mush be multiple ways in which Cardrona could thrive and survive, well into the future.
Eventually those thoughts lead to the idea of focussing fully on the very weather phenomenon that most high country farmers curse: snow. John had the vision for a commercial skifield operation in the valley. It was the perfect idea, an ideal location and the winter seasons were such that there was plenty of snow to go around!
Fast forward a few years, and with Mary’s full support, John and Mary bought Mt Cardrona Station in 1971, on the opposite side of the valley from their farm, ‘Waiorau’. It was on this property that they developed the Cardrona Alpine Ski Area over the following few decades.
John’s ultimate dream was to build a Cross Country Ski Area on their farm ‘Waiorau’, and an Alpine Village in the Valley. Cardrona Alpine Ski Area (now simply known as “Cardrona”) was developed first as there was a model for John to follow, and he had seen how such skifields had been successful overseas. Meanwhile the proposed Nordic Area was on Crown Land designated only for farming, and there would be many hurdles to overcome, so John parked that idea.
The interview below is with John and Mary’s business partner in the Cardrona Ski Area operation – Pat Frengley. In this interview, Pat recalls the journey the Frengley and Lee families went on together, as Cardrona Alpine Ski Area was born, developed and grown. He also recalls both families exiting from the business – as Cardrona Ski Area was taken over by new owners, to take it to the next level.