Queenstown's 7th annual Gay Ski Week NZ is set to rock with over 300 room nights sold at the base hotel already, and lots of new events planned, says organiser Mike Sanford. "It's awesome to see how international the event has become with many people returning from previous years, as well as a notable increase in Kiwis booked already," Sanford tells GayNZ.com. Gay Ski Week this year will happen from 29 August until 6 September, with plenty to do on and off the slopes. The Base Hotel for 2009 is the newly re-furbished Novotel Lakeside the centre of Queenstown. New events added to the schedule are a Spectacular Skyline Dinner and Show, Snow Gaymes, a cowboy-themed Dinner, the Busted! After-ski party and Night Skiing on Coronet Peak on the last Friday evening. The biggest event for Ski Week is always the White OUT party, moves to the last Saturday night this year, which Sanford hopes will attract Kiwis visiting for just that weekend. "Keeping it fresh and exciting is how we have grown the event to be the biggest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. We are now in the top three gay ski weeks on the planet," says Sanford. "People seem to be taking advantage of the cheap flights on offer, and with the choice of our Action packs or I Don't Ski option, there a lot more coming who don't ski, so we are adding more non ski daytime events. It works well as one partner or friends goes skiing and the other gets out and experiences what else Queenstown and the area has to offer, then they meet up again at nightly after ski drinks at the base hotel Novotel Queenstown Lakeside." Queenstown ski-fields Coronet Peak and The Remarkables are covered in snow already, with reports they could open early. Early bird Gay Ski Week booking deals are available until the end of May – see the official Gay Ski Week 2009 website for more information.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Saturday, 16th May 2009 - 1:27pm