Real Journeys partners up to develop alpine resort

A skifield between Queenstown and Wanaka is set to become the country’s largest alpine resort. Queenstown businessman John Darby and Cardrona Alpine Resort have teamed up to develop the area, which will incorporate Cardrona and a new ‘‘Soho Basin’’ ski area. The development will see Cardrona more than double in size to more than 900 hectares of skiable terrain, while Soho Basin will add an additional 500ha of high-altitude skiable terrain. Richard Lauder, chief executive of Real Journeys Group which owns Cardrona Alpine Resort, said the company had been looking at developing the ski areas ‘‘for some time’’. Soho Basin covers all the southern and southwest faces of Mt Cardrona and was bought by Darby over a decade ago.