Ski New Zealand: South Island Snow Odyssey

Customer Reviews

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  Claudine

  · August 21st, 2023
  The Intrepid/Haka 12-day ski trip, called Ski New Zealand: South Island Snow Odyssey, is spectacular skiing locations thanks to NZ beauty, let down by rough accommodation and haphazard Intrepid and Haka organisation. I was repeatedly given wrong or lacking information by Intrepid. The scenery is spectacular and George is a great guide. The guides do all the hard work of fitting chains, driving, breakfast supplies and bookings. Craigieburn lodge is charming with great food. Hostel share bathrooms are okay and common rooms are generous. All had wifi. I was lucky to have a great group of 8 people. Otherwise, this tour was one unpleasant surprise after another. Especially the substandard accommodation, and essentials you need to pack that you’re not told about beforehand. Intrepid failed to tell me the meeting point had changed, so I had a very unpleasant start. I found myself stranded alone at 6am in a dark unmanned lodge foyer, with no message for me, no tour and zero response or help from Intrepid when I contacted them. Intrepid also misled me by advising me it was twin share. I discovered the accommodation is very basic youth hostels with mixed dorms. Your tour group is not always roomed together and you have others added to your hostel room who are not on the tour. It’s just random bunk assignment with no regard for group or gender. On tour, there’s no clear advance info provided on facilities, so it’s hard to prepare. This accommodation setup does not suit the demographic on the tour, especially women. On equipment, I was not told you need to bring your own towel and soap. I was also not told you need a backpack to downsize luggage to reach Craigieburn lodge, where rooms have no power points. Contrary to the tour advice, bring avalanche gear like the locals do to the the club resorts. This tour is not for intermediate skiers as indicated - advanced only - at club fields. The nutcracker rope tows are not like Australian rope tows. These are tough, using a harness and heavy metal clasp. Intrepid need to be more upfront about this difficulty level of these slopes and different tows. People get hurt. I did. The tour has zero systems or precautions to stop everyone getting sick or substitutes for sick tour guides. So our whole tour caught a virus, missing ski days. This is unnerving and surprising in this pandemic era. As indicated in the itinerary, there is lots of bus travel when changing mountains every day. While good to explore, l this makes for a holiday of early starts, long days, and driving discomfort, with drive time cutting into ski time. Intrepid don’t tell you that this 12 day tour is two tours of 7 and 5 days joined together. The guides and people change at Christchurch when you switch from commercial to club fields. My tip is to give this tour a miss unless you are advanced skier ready to rough it off the slopes. If so, bring avalanche gear for the clubs like the locals, plus towel, soap and extra backpack. Prepare to catch a virus. And pay for the single supplement if you can’t sleep through snoring or need some privacy. You may be better off booking directly with Haka, so they don’t forget to pass on information to Intrepid travellers like happened to me. To their credit, Haka did switch me to some single rooms and a female dorm when I complained a second time about the misinformation; on the fifth night into the tour. My first complaint about the starting disaster received no earlier response. Never again. This tour was not for me. I felt unsafe at the beginning, sick and uncomfortable for most of trip, and got hurt (my arm on the tow), while struggling with the conditions on and off the snow, despite a nice crew. None of this helped my skiing confidence and thus fun. The Intrepid customer service and information, other than the kind excellent guides (George and Grant), is unreliable at best.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hello Claudine – Thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed review. It great to know that you enjoyed the beauty and scenery New Zealand has to offer, that you had great guides and group, but it is disappointing to learn that the trip did... Show more
  Trip date: August 2023