Cardrona Alpine Resort has officially launched their highly-anticipated Soho Basin - expanding to become  New Zealand’s largest commercial ski area.

The expansion was part of a long-term investment program by RealNZ, Cardrona’s parent company, and it increases the area's total footprint to 615 hectares.

Cardrona and Treble Cone Chief Mountain Officer Laura Hedley says as soon as the conditions are right, they'll be opening the area up for skiing.

"There's 150 hectares of terrain in there, which is huge. It's new terrain, no one's been in there...we were really conscious when we did the terrain trail development so that we could keep it as natural as possible."

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