When you think of New Zealand, your mind will conjure up an image of a beautiful country, blessed with one of the most spectacular and awesome landscape in the world. With its towering snow capped mountain ranges and international standard ski resorts, New Zealand is a very popular destination for ski vacations.

The country is an island nation is tucked somewhere in the southwest corner of the Pacific Rim next to Australia and is made up of a myriad of islands. However, there are two main island land mass. The land mass are the North Island and South Island with the Cook Strait separating them apart.

During the winter, the 24 skiing resorts and 12 heli-ski operators offer some of the best skiing holidays you can find anywhere. The skiing and snowboarding season starts from June till October. Yes, New Zealand's winter is in the middle of the year as the country is in the southern hemisphere. This is the time when multitudes of skiing enthusiasts from Japan, North America and Europe assemble in New Zealand to enjoy their skiing adventure.

Let's take a look at some of New Zealand's beautiful ski resorts :-

Treble Cone - Treble Cone ski resort is the heart of the country's Southern Alps. This resort offer spectacular view on the beautiful lakeside town of Wanaka. Treble Cone have very reliable and stable snow falls and excellent weather making it one of the most popular ski resorts in New Zealand. Major improvement works done to the skiing trails were done in 2006 and it now have three super highways for both the novice and seasoned skiers.

Treble Cone is approximately 550 ha big making it the largest ski resort in the New Zealand's South Island. It also has the highest vertical drop on the island at an exhilarating 700 meters or approximately 2,300 feet.

Mount Ruapehu - This skiing location is actually a huge awesome volcano and is the location of two of New Zealand's largest ski resorts, The Whakapapa and Turoa. Its 1800 hectares of skiing terrain is undulating and breathtaking. Mount Ruapehu is a world class skiing resort with excellent facilities.

Mount Hutt - Mount Hutt is just slightly more than an hour's drive across the beautiful Canterbury Plains from Christchurch or a half an hour drive from Methven. The resort is high up in New Zealand's Southern Alps.

At Mount Hutt's sixth summit, chairlifts provide access to a wide variety of skiing trails and the novice skier's area is serviced by a dedicated quad chair. With a 150m (almost 500 feet) long Magic Carpet leading into the skiing area for beginners, Mount Hutt have some of the best skiing facilities in the New Zealand. This skiing resort has a wonderful mix of terrain for skiers of every level.

These are just some of the many skiing resorts in New Zealand. If you are looking for fabulous ski resorts for your vacation, why not try New Zealand ski resorts for a skiing adventure of a lifetime?