Nobs and Rich Listers are being personally invited to shell out big bucks to join The Peak Club, Coronet’s version of flying first-class. Emma Ball got a simulated taste of Peak Club high life on Monday when Mountain Scene put the local lass in Queenstown Limousine Line chauffeur Jonathon McNay’s luxury chariot for a blast up to the skifield.

“I’m peaking,” says a breathless Emma. “Is this how the other half ski?”

It’s amazing what a select few skiers can get by adding another zero to the cost of an earlybird NZSki pass.

For 10 times the price of a pre-season pass, a cool $7000 buys an affluent couple no queuing for chairlifts, no hiking from the carpark – and no standing in line with the average punter for burgers and fries.

NZSki marketing boss David Ovendale says The Peak Club gives members a goodie-bag of top-notch perks in Air New Zealand Koru Club-style on the slopes.

High rollers get their own carpark close to the new base building, a pass for early morning First Tracks skiing and preferential chairlift access at peak times via the ski school lanes.

There’s also a luxurious VIP clubroom to chill out in, looking over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, where free snacks and booze are served, Ovendale says.

Membership is limited to about 30 couples and is by invitation only – although the partner membership is transferable.

“In the first instance, a list of invitees was provided by the company’s seven directors, and thereafter we might look to corporate memberships,” Ovendale adds.

“The memberships will be focused on people in this region and those who spend time here in the winter.”

The Peak Club gives access to all three skifields under NZSki’s umbrella and is the first of its kind in the country.

Local multi-millionaire business tycoon Eion Edgar and wife Jan are among the first to snap up the platinum passes. “I thought it was very important to support NZSki and [majority owners] the Davies family [by getting the pass],” Edgar says. “They’ve done an amazing job and the facilities are unreal.

“Having the convenience of the carpark close by, plus access to the lifts and a private place to get away, is a great initiative.”