The move marks the end of an era for ski industry pioneers, the Lee family. This will be the first winter in 33 years they will not have owned or operated ski facilities in the Cardrona area.
Speaking from Germany yesterday, Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds (SHPG) managing director Tom Elworthy said it was ''possible'' Snow Park could still operate as a ski area for events and training purposes, but he did not think it had a future as a public facility, because ''it's too expensive to run and the market is too small''.
Snow Park was developed by 33-year-old Sam Lee in 2002 as the world's first dedicated freestyle resort. Mr Lee took on the business again on April 1 after Robin and Sean Synnott's tenure expired.
He announced last month the facility would not open to the public this season, citing the cost of bringing it back up to standard as a fully operational park within a limited time frame.
Snow Park was scheduled to host several high-profile competitions this season, including the Burton Open and two slopestyle World Cup qualifying events during the Winter Games.
SHPG, owned by a group of Christchurch businessmen, would hold discussions with interested parties over the next few days to determine if it could still run those events and cater for high-performance training camps, Mr Elworthy said.
''[Snow Park has] been a difficult business in the last few years but we'd like it to continue in some form.''
However, it would require ''serious additional capital outlay'' as it no longer had the equipment needed to build and maintain terrain such as the half pipe.
''We hope to continue to offer some of the park's facilities.
''There's obviously issues around the viability of some of those, in particular the half pipe and the costs to operate that.
''Making profits out of half pipes is very difficult and if we can't make a profit we can't do that.''
Mr Elworthy said SHPG had seen opportunities in some of Snow Park's other facilities, including its workshops and lodge - which would provide accommodation for proving ground vehicle-testing crews.
''That was what tickled our interest if you like ...''
He declined to reveal what the company paid for Snow Park, but said it was ''a fair price'' and the deal had ''happened quite quickly''. The company takes ownership tomorrow. Mr Lee said his family was ''happy with the deal''.
Sam Lee's father, John, established the Cardrona ski area across the valley on Mt Cardrona Station in 1980 and sold his shares in 1985-86. He then established the proving ground facility in 1991, which was sold in 2005.
In 1997, John's wife, Mary, established New Zealand's first cross-country ski area, Snow Farm, which was sold to the Pisa Alpine Charitable Trust in 2011.
