Coronet Peak is a commercial skifield in Queenstown, New Zealand located seven kilometres west of Arrowtown, on the southern slopes of the 1,649-metre peak which shares its name. A popular ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere, Coronet Peak offers a long snow season, well received skiing and snowboarding terrain and lift systems. Location The Peak is one of New Zealand's most popular ski resorts due to its proximity to Queenstown, varied terrain and quality facilities, offering two high speed six-seater chairlifts and a high speed beginner chairlift. The view from the skifield south across Lake Wakatipu and the smaller nearby Lake Hayes is a further contributor to the mountain's success. Dubbed the "original" resort ski area Coronet Peak is only 25 minutes from Queenstown. Facilities Coronet Peak has extensive snowmaking and receives about 2 m of snow per year. The season typically runs from early June to early-October or late-September. It is one of the only skifields in New Zealand to offer night skiing on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights from July to mid-September and First Tracks, operating between 8-9am offer a more secluded period before the main traffic hits later on during the day. Coronet Peak (and nearby mountains) are popular locations for school trips because of their extensive facilities. Children 6 and younger receive free day lift passes. Lifts Coronet Peak has a lifts system consisting of a combined six seater chairlift and gondola, the Coronet Express, as well as two detachable chairlifts, the six seater Greengages express and the Meadows Express quad, as well as a T bar. There are also three magic carpet lifts in the beginner area. The lifts can transport 9000 people per hour combined. Ski terrain Popular runs on Coronet Peak include Big Easy (beginners), M1, Greengates and Shirtfront (intermediate), and Exchange Drop and the Back Bowls (expert). Like European Alpine ski resorts, Coronet's Peak offers much well-developed piste skiing. Events Coronet Peak is often the site of calendared international ski races and the training ground for many world class athletes. Operations The field is operated by NZSki Ltd, who also manages The Remarkables skifield just across the valley and Mount Hutt in Canterbury, near to Christchurch. History The field was New Zealand's first commercial skifield, and was opened in 1947 with a single rope tow. Tourism pioneer Harry Wigley of Mt Cook airline fame commissioned Bill Hamilton to design and build this