More snow graces South Island ski areas
12th May 2009
Yet more snow has graced New Zealands premier ski areas in an excellent build up to next months season opening.
Mt Hutt is buried in snow after receiving another 50cm at the weekend
Mountain crew at Mt Hutt in Canterbury and Coronet Peak and The Remarkables in Queenstown are celebrating the arrival of even more white stuff over the weekend.
Mt Hutt now has a base of 110cm after receiving 50cm of snow at the weekend. The high country ski resort has enjoyed more than 170cm of snowfall over the last 10 days.
Dave Wilson, Ski Area Manager for Mt Hutt, said it was the best early snow the ski area had had in decades.
Ive been working at Mt Hutt for eight years and Ive never witnessed falls like this so early in the season, he said. Methven is buzzing and its great news for local business. Theres nothing like getting great early snow to get the phones ringing hot with enquiries.
Further south in Queenstown, the weekend snowfall delivered 25cm of new snow to the top of Coronet Peak.
The M1 (lower M1) at Coronet Peak glistens with new snow
Coronet Peak has enjoyed up to 50cm of snow over the past seven days providing good base conditions prior to a scheduled season opening on 6 June, according to Hamish McCrostie, Ski Area Manager.
Were well and truly gearing up to open in less than four weeks and were thrilled with current conditions, he said. Well be keeping a close eye on the forecast with a view to start snowmaking around the 25th of May.
Across the valley at The Remarkables, 20cm of snow fell over the weekend. The ski area has received 55cm of snow over the past week.
Ross Lawrence, Ski Area Manager for The Remarkables, said the snow had formed a good base and was doing a great job in cooling down the ground surface.
We had a few keen local freestyle skiers up here over the weekend hitting the rails in the fresh snow which was great to see, he said.
Coronet Peak and The Remarkables are scheduled to open on Saturday 6 June and Saturday 20 June respectively. Mt Hutt is scheduled to open on Saturday 13 June.
LINK: www.nzski.com
For more information, www.nzski.com or contact James Coddington on 027 229 8958
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