Mount Dobson is a ski resort in the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Located 2.25 hours from Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 and 3 hours from Queenstown

Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....

, it claims an easy access road, the highest car park of any ski resort in New Zealand, and the earliest start to the season in 2006. It features a chair lift, a T-bar and a beginner's ski tow, serving 14 trails over an area of 400 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s. The resort caters primarily at skiers of intermediate ability, with a 25/50/25 breakdown of beginner/intermediate/advanced slopes.

The resort is situated in a 3 kilometre wide treeless bowl, facing south west between Fairlie

Fairlie, New Zealand

FairlieUrban AreaPopulation:723Extent:Territorial AuthorityName:Mackenzie District CouncilPopulation:Mayor:Website:Extent:Regional councilName:Environment Canterbury...

 and Tekapo . Other features include a natural half pipe, the "Largest, sunniest learner/intermediate slope in New Zealand" and groomed main trails. There is no accommodation at the resort, and visitors are directed to nearby Fairlie.